Jackson, who agreed to do his commercial for free (and on the condition that he only work with Vinton, who he knew from their Captain EO project with Disney), helped create his own Claymation raisin with his signature single white glove, fedora, and pelvic-thrusting dance moves. ', 'Today during Ryan's Hope I saw the cutest commercial. Between 12th and 14th Streets And since there wasn't a "Dancing Raisin" brand in the store, small packers worried Sunmaid was getting all the business. And, I didn't know this, but nearly 100 percent of the raisins the U.S. produces come from within a 60 mile radius of the city. I mean, you can imagine that! KB: Couldn't find it! 16:20 How do you distinguish your raisin bagel from my field to your field? A Saturday morning cartoon series, The California Raisin Show, debuted the following year, but lasted only 13 episodes. But these tears I can't hold inside. To make sense of that storyto understand where the dancing raisins came from, and how they disappearedeveryone told me I needed to talk to this guy. SW: This is Matthew Malcolm again. And that might be part of why some raisin packers felt like this all boiled down to: "it's us versus Sunmaid.". Lead vocals in the group were sung by musician Bu, The California Raisins were a fictional R&B group created in the mid-1980s for a commercial produced by the California Raisin Advisory. RAISINS: Oooh I heard it through the grapevine, raised in the California sunshine. View wiki The success of the dancing raisins exposed fractures in the industry which had been forming just under the surface for decades. WERNER: We still thought it was cool. Sarah tells us what happened next SW: In 1994, a group of raisin packers voted to shut down CALRAB. The California Raisins released four studio albums in 1987 and 1988, and their trademark, "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," was on the Billboard Hot 100. Lead vocals were sung by musician Buddy Miles. California Raisin's Version. AD ONE: Lay some happiness on me, give me raisins and I'll be. Barrett Strong was the singer. Kalem Barserian will tell you the ad made the raisin industry money, and he will pull out a calculator to prove it. For the last 10 years, he's violated the law and gone against the Raisin Administrative Committee. The ad was fun, but, to quote The Fruits of Their Labors again, it "made no effort to sell raisins. The California Raisins were a fictional R&B group created in the mid-1980s for a commercial produced by the California Raisin Advisory. SW: The winning concept was a raisin with big eyes, a defined nose, and a wide mouthperfect for lip syncing. Qualifying purchases could enjoy 0% interest if paid in full in 4 months on purchases of 99+. WERNER: 'Our thanks again on behalf of Paul McCartney. But in 1994, the raisin industry abruptly pulled the plug on the ad and its spinoffs, and still debates whether or not it was successful. SPEAKER NINE: Definitely didn't make me any more of a fan of raisins. Michael Jackson asked to be featured in a sequel. ROSS VANNELLI: Well how about doing an album? And as that rift widened, the raisins fell right through it. And ultimately, when everyone failed to agree, the raisins took the fall. We may receive commission if your application for credit is successful, the commission does not affect the amount you will pay under your agreement. I didn't eat raisins. November 12, 1986 SW: You guys, it's from Paul McCartney's manager. It was the sequel to the Emmy-nominated special Meet the Raisins! And that takes unity. SW: Buddy Miles, who'd been the drummer for Band of Gypsies with Jimi Hendrix, flew to California to record the vocals in Ross's studio. Test your MusicIQ here! Their cover of Marvin Gaye's "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" peaked at #84 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1988. BK: There's always been a 'If it's good for Sunmaid, it's gotta be bad for them.' HO: Well there's there's definitely 12:02 some discussion about that I mean in its infancy right now. If you have any issues please contact me before leaving negative response I will always do my best make it right! And now they are all I can think about!! Oh I heard it through the grapevine. It would go on to produce the Dancing Raisins ad. And then we threw the baby out with the bathwater. He wasn't worried about making the most of this one shot and impressing his boss. Some user-contributed text on this page is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. Phrases Similar to Heard it Through the Grapevine Constitution Avenue, NW A series of weather-related disasters during the '70s had thrown the price of raisins completely out of whack. On the table below them. But Michael Jackson, well he was not about that. Musicians such as Ray Charles and Michael Jackson even got in on the raisin action, singing their own versions of "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" for later commercials. 1 Mar. (laughs) These little guys took over everybody's hearts and minds, so it didn't surprise us at the time. SW: Seth has a whole scrapbook of these letters. In 1985, both halves of the industry were funding CALRAB. I believe it might have been a public service announcement', 'Dear Judy: Generally when you hear from me, a problem is involved. They even earned an Emmy nomination! They all want to have them back [sigh] I don't know if it's just because they love the dancing raisins, or I think more than that, is they just want a powerful campaign, you know, backing up California raisins. https://www.lyrics.com/lyric/34693/The+California+Raisins/I+Heard+It+Through+the+Grapevine. SW: The raisins dance around on the lid of his grand piano while he belts out the band's catchphrase: AD SIX: Oh I heard it through the grapevine! And this is what I told him. And a lot people, including many of our listeners, still remember it really well. Like the Archies before them, the imaginary band was a hit. The California Raisins were a fictional R&B group created in the mid-1980s for a commercial produced by the California Raisin Advisory. SW: So a couple of months ago, I read this New York Times article that sort of started it all for me. Raisin farmers rely on good weather and conditions to grow their product. album - including song video, artist biography, translations and more: I bet you're wonderin' how I knew 'Bout your plans to make me blue With some other guy you knew before Between the DH: And it turns out, the dancing raisins were especially popular with moms! Honey, honey yeah. It had about five million dollars to spend, which, in ad money, is not a lot. Almost all the packers resented Sunmaid, but not all for the same reasons. Which wasn't true. SPEAKER FOUR: I loved those commercials as a kid, they were so cool. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. The commercials were produced by Vinton Studios using their claymation technique, with character designs by Michael Brunsfeld. RV: I said, 'I think that's a great idea.' Yeah the good news is the industry is at a point where people are working together more than they have historically, at least in the past 20 years or so. Lead vocals in the group were sung by musician Buddy Miles. But in 1994, the. Year . Sunmaid. But were they a success for the raisin industry? Photo: A Claymation Christmas Celebration / CBS The Raisins Were Featured In Will Vinton's 'Claymation Christmas Celebration' On CBS In 1987 Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for CALIFORNIA RAISINS: i heard it through the grapevine PRIORITY 7" Single 45 RPM at the best online prices at eBay! It turns out the raisin industry is actually a very contentious industry there's this long history of lawsuits going back and forth between different members. SPEAKER ONE: It was like a Mr. 84 on the Billboard Hot 100. He's now on his second round of leading the Raisin Bargaining Association. - The California Raisins II. I says, 'in Canada? Just to make the ad would cost $300,000. SW: Unity has been a longstanding challenge for the raisin industry. KB: And the packers got pissed at Barry and killed the program. AD FIVE: Honey, are you playing with your food again? KB: I'll never forget, he was a handsome guy, had white shoes on, no socks, had an earring in this ear, he had the ghetto blaster up on his shoulders, and he turns it on and it's "Heard It Through the Grapevine.". It's a tax. I said, 'the only thing I would do, because at that time, you know, you had things like the Chipmunks and all these different things for kids,'. [6] However, the Raisins would continue to make their strongest impression through animated endeavors, and the characters proved popular enough that they were used to endorse Post Raisin Bran cereal. And so Will said 'well finally I took Janet's nose and put that on the raisin and he bought it [snaps fingers] like that.'. Label. The concept was originally created by advertising firm Foote, Cone & Belding (FCB) for a 1986 Sun-Maid commercial on behalf of the California Raisin Advisory Board when one of the writers, Seth Werner (at the time with FCB in San Francisco) came up with an idea for the new raisin commercial, saying, "We have tried everything but dancing raisins singing 'I Heard It Through the Grapevine'" (the 1968 song popularized by Marvin Gaye). I Heard It Through the Grapevine Lyrics by California Raisins from the Meet the Raisins! If you have any issues please contact me before leaving negative response I will always do my best make it right! SW: That is exactly what I wanted to find out. The 1980's TV commercials for California raisins have been called some of the best ads ever made. I treat my vines as if they were my children. Today, the story of the California Dancing Raisins. Whod have ever thought that a beloved Motown classic would be brought back to life by a bunch of animated dried fruit? You can have a talking head, you can have a situation' you know, there were like formulas on how to do this. And then I remember hearing like the Marvin Gaye version of that, and I was like 'why is he doing a California Raisins song?' First aired on September 14, 1986, Werner's idea for a 30-second television commercial introduced audiences to The California Raisins, a group of anthropomorphized raisins with expressive eyebrows, stylish shoes, and the slickest dance moves since the Chiquita Banana shimmied into advertising in the 1940s. It's that simple. Vocals were sung by musician Buddy Miles. (laughs) That's just the way it is. Possibly, but in their own sweet, silly way, these spots conveyed a sense of mindless fun and gave the humble raisin its moment in the sun. Everyone is hungering for unity again, they just have to find something to unify around. WERNER: We want sunglasses on them, I want to put them in Converse sneakers, but untie the laces, and they gotta look hip, basically. If you require a personal response, please use ourContact page. So, CALRAB proposed this big advertising campaign, with national TV commercials. Our editor is Micaela Blei. His crime: growing raisins and then deciding to sell . SW: His boss had him working mostly on trade adsstuff for industry publications not the kind of campaigns you or I would ever see in a commercial or on a billboard. And so he says, 'Ok fine. SW: Then, you've got nature to think about. Select PayPal Credit to have the option to pay over time. Top editors give you the stories you want delivered right to your inbox each weekday. See more ideas about california raisins, raisin, grape vines. SW: I was not even alive when most of those ads aired, and I had the same experience. It keeps you in shape. But back in 1994, almost ten years after the first dancing raisins ad aired, that good feeling was nowhere to be found. They were tired of paying into a shared piggybank for the greater good. Somewhere, some afternoon, Noel Gallagher sat down with a guitar and did a little strumming and made up a few words to go with it. Your email address will not be published. AD TWO: We know raisins are natural, but kids just know what they like. SW: But you know who was on that shelf? Sign up for notifications from Insider! But an even bigger faction of raisin packers did not have their own name-brands. Check mate. But I think we're heading in a positive direction now. KALEM BARSERIAN: I've been born, raised here. And the answer is usually 'we don't know.. but probably not.' Box Office Software produced a different, unrelated California Raisins computer game in 1988 for the Apple II, Commodore 64, and PC compatibles. Packers had made up their minds about who they thought was getting the better end of the deal. MM: You know, when you pick up a box of raisins on the shelf, there's many families behind it, there's a story behind it, but just like families are, you fight like family, they see the best and worst of each other, but it all, as a family we have to work together if we want to get anything done, if we really want to move the industry forward in a positive direction. And it became more entertainment than strategy. KB: We're not getting our fair share of it. But that wasn't the story around town. Condition: Used. We apologize for the interruption. [22], Last edited on 21 February 2023, at 23:33, "TV Review; 'Claymation Christmas,' On CBS", "On View: A Feat of Clay: The Creator of California Raisins Molds an Animated Easter Special", "Stardom Is Feat Of Clay For California Raisins", "Bad 25: Spike Lee Brings Michael Jackson Back to Thrilling Life", "The California Raisins for Commodore 64 (1988)", "California Raisin Raisin Puppets: Late 80s - Early 90s", "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: A Very Sunny Christmas", "Celebrating Every '80s Reference in That RadioShack Super Bowl Commercial", "California Raisins Set for Comeback in Live-Action Feature", Official Will Vinton (LAIKA) Studios Site, The Clay and Stop-Motion Animation How-To Page: "California Raisin Raisin Puppets: Late 80s - Early 90s", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_California_Raisins&oldid=1140822520, "What Does It Take (To Win Your Love)" b/w "I Got You (I Feel Good)" - 1988, Purple Vinyl 7", "I Heard it Through the Grapevine" - 1988 (single, extended peaked at #84 on the, This page was last edited on 21 February 2023, at 23:33. 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