Jaws Merchandise Part Two

my collection of Jaws paperbacks.

 

A rather battered version of the original novel

 

Jaws 2 novelisation, notably based on the first version of the screenplay rather than the final film

 

 

 

Night of the Loving Dead - Nekromantik Merchandise!

With the news that the infamous Nekromantik has finally been passed by the British censors and will be out on Blu-ray via Arrow later this year - uncut, no less - it seems apt to post a couple of Nekro products from the time the film first came out.

 

 

This is the original soundtrack seven inch picture disc.

 

And here is the frankly weird comic book!

Godzilla - Aurora style (and bonus electronic knock-off!)

As the new Godzilla tears up the box office, here's my Aurora model kit of the original Big G. 

The first Aurora kit I ever owned (I can't tell you how excited I was!), he's now missing a couple of fingers but still looks great!

 

In the 1990s, I bought this 'walking dinosaur' from electrical retailer Tandy. Looks familiar, doesn't it?

 

Day of the Dead Display standee

This *cough* three dimensional standee was produced to be displayed in UK cinema lobbies, though how many actually were is anyone's guess. 

Paradise Found - Phantom merchandise

I love Brian De Palma's Phantom of the Paradise, recently reissued by Arrow on Blu-ray. To see how much I love it, check out my review. Here are some Phantom goodies from back in the day. Firstly, the soundtrack LP, which is just wonderful.

 

Then there is the tie-in novelisation, which differs from the film in tone and content considerably.

 

And finally, the edition of Cinefantastique that cover-featured the movie.

Tight Fit Heart Shaped Vinyl

Once upon a time - 1982 to be precise - all you needed for a hit single was a 1950s tune, a skinny camp bloke in a vest and two busty dolly birds in leopard skin. Amazingly, Tight Fit had a handful of hits, but it was all over by the time Secret Heart came out (also in 1982 - it wasn't a long career). Notable for the fact that the label seems to be on the wrong way round, this heart-shaped red vinyl single is, of course, pretty bad. But I could never resist a gimmick record.

 

 

The Velvet Hammer!

"Barney Garrett and Jack Marsh are two members of an extraordinary profession. They are part of the Special Squad, a unit of the C.I.D., which is armed and prepard for an eventuality at a moment's notice.

"But though Garrett and Marsh are intelligent, dedicated, expert marksmen, and rained in judo and karate, they are, nevertheless, men with their own private dramas - Garrett with his promiscuous wife, and Marsh with his ever-feuding girl friend.

"THE VELVET HAMMER is an authoritative novel dealing with a section of the police force not generally known to the public. It is also a close and revealing study of two men who have to reconcile their domestic happiness with a job involving murder, drugs, blackmail and prostitution."

No-nonsense stuff from author Donald Franklin and New English Library, published in 1974.

 

Taxi Driver CED Video Disc

One of the more short-lived video formats, the CED video disc was an LP-sized movie system that featured a floppy disc held in a case - you inserted the entire package into the player! It was actually played with a record player-like stylus, and was only good for about 60 plays before it would be worn down to a point of being unwatchable.

As unappealing a format as it was, the actual discs are often things of beauty, and I'll be uploading my collection over the next few months. First up, this amazing artwork for Taxi Driver - a 1983 release.

Jaws Merchandise - part one

I was a big fan of Jaws back in the day - still am, in fact. I've seen it on ever theatrical release since it first came out and owned a lot of Jaws merchandise - the game, the 'shark in a bottle' model kit, the soundtrack LP, the sew on patch, the T-shirt and more. Most of these have long since been lost, but I did manage to hold on to the coffee mug and the necklace (I also still have the soundtrack LP and Lalo Schifrin disco single, but those are for another day...).

Channel Four launches in the TV Times

On November 2nd, 1982 at 4.45pm, Channel Four launched in the UK, giving us a whopping four channels of choice  - at least in peak viewing time. In the early days, C4 broadcast evenings only. The opening show was indestructible quiz show Countdown (with long forgotten hostesses Beverley Isherwood and Kathy Hytner) and other highlights of the first half-week included The Paul Hogan Show, The Comic Strip Presents... Five Go Mad In Dorset, the rather grim documentary The Animals Film, The Munsters, The Tube, Pleasure Palaces (a series about cinema going) and Woodstock. None of these things seem to involve Hot Gossip, who nevertheless get a nipply shot on the front cover.

 

Famous First Issues: The Daily Star

It's hard to believe now, but the launch of the Daily Star was big news. When this first issue appeared on November 2, 1978, it was the first British national newspaper to launch for 75 years. Very much in the tradition of The Sun and the Daily Mirror, it was a mass-market tabloid (produced in Manchester, though that didn't last) and featured its very own version of the Page 3 Girl, The Starbird, who appeared across the whole of page 7 (Karen Richardson was the debut pin up). The cover story was about a non-fatal window plunge by model Kitty Percy, and other vital stories included nightclub boss Louis Brown skipping the wedding of Bruce Forsyth and Anthea Redfern, a boozy confession from Jimmy Geaves, a story about a vicar who likes to paint naked girls and the opportunity to double your wages to £100 a week. There are also letters of support from top celebrities like Stuart Hall, Cilla Black, Tom O'Connor, Tim Brooke-Taylor and... erm... Ronnie Dukes.

 

 

The Sweeney paperback collection

Popular 1970s TV series The Sweeney spawned nine paperback tie in novels (all original stories) plus a novelisation of the the second film spin-off. 

Note the incorrect spelling on the cover of the first book (corrected in later editions). The first novel was originally printed as Regan earlier in 1975 (the title of the original Sweeney pilot) and it still referred to under that title inside.

While the first novel is credited to series creator Ian Kennedy Martin, the rest are by 'Joe Balham', who may be a pseudonym of crime writer Alan White. These all appeared between 1975 and 1978.

 

King Kong Board Game (1976)

One of a surprisingly small merchandise tie-ins for the much-hyped 1976 remake of King Kong, this was an unnecessarily fiddly, overly complicated and not very entertaining board game, in which you had to stop Kong reaching the top of the World Trade Center. This involved having human figures standing on the board who could be knocked off by the spinning Kong and assorted cards that offered assistance in the way of equipment. If a player successfully attacks Kong five times, they win. You can also win by carrying out a Special Mission (rescue the girl from Kong). The awkwardly sized board and lack of fun made this a 'play once and then shove to the bottom of the pile' game. Released in 1976 by Ideal.

Mine-a-Long-a-Max - When Max Bygraves and the National Coal Board joined forces to Do It The Safety Way

1976 saw the release of this curio - a health and safety 7 inch single produced by the National Coal Board (this may be the sole release of NCB Records), where the unlikely figure of Max Bygraves - who I suspect has never been down a coal mine in his life - sings a jaunty ditty telling miners that "common sense saves accidents, do it the safety way". he's backed by the Grimethorpe Colliery Band - sadly the only collaboration from these giants of the entertainment world.

Singalong fans will be thrilled to know that the lyrics appear on the back cover, and include gems like "Unless the roof's supported / it's odds on it will fall / And if you're underneath it / it's not very nice at all", which frankly sounds a bit of an understatement. The lyrics were by Coal News competition winner Jack Birchall, administrave officer at Lancashire's Bickenshaw Colliery. The music is by Ron Goodwin.

According to the sleeve notes, "the special sing-along style of Max Bygraves gives the whole arrangement hit parade appeal". An ambitious boast.

The Haunting (of Hill House) Film Tie In

The June1962 Popular Library movie tie-in edition of Shirely Jackson's 1959 original (here sold for 40c instead of the $3.95 Viking Press hardcover. The Haunting is copyrighted as 1963 on the cover, interestingly, and the film wasn't released until September of that year. The most logical explanation for this is that the publishers accidentally stated 1962 instead of 1963 as publication date. Anyone know more?

Can You Tell What It Is Yet? - Stylophone Fever

Launched in 1968 and defunct by 1975, the Stylophone was a crude analogue electronic keyboard that you played with a stylus. It was promoted by Rolf Harris, who, as well as appeaering in TV ads, hosted assorted 'playalong' 7 inch singles. Allegedly easy to follow, these seemed to require the ability to read music to have any chance of playing a tune. Unfortunately, as the stylophone only had one volume level - namely LOUD - the likelihood of many people persevering long enough to learn Hello Dolly, Pennsylvania 6-5000 or Jingle Bells was slight. However, if you have a taste for industrial noise, then this is a fine instrument and I'm glad to finally own one.

 

 Pictured is my (working) stylophone and collection of three Rolftastic 7 inch 'LPs'.

 

Le Club Dorothée - French pop meets Ewoks!

One of the joys of second hand record shopping is stumbling upon a cache of stuff you've never heard of, but have an instinctive understanding will be great. So it was on Record Store Day 2014. As usual, I didn't buy a single RSD release, but did find a collection of 1980s euro pop singles! They included these six releases by Dorothée - including two about Ewoks! How could I resist?

According to Wikipedia:
"In 1981, the presenters of Récré A2 acted in a musical performed in the Olympia, a famous concert hall in Paris. The show was actually the adaptation of her disc. In 1982, Jean-François Porry, one of her producers, created a whole album for her. From 1982 to 1997, she recorded one album a year! Her first hits were Tchou tchou le petit train (choo choo the tiny train), Rox & Rouky (French theme for The Fox and the Hound), Hou ! la menteuse (boo the liar), La Valise (the luggage). The single “Hou la menteuse”/”La valise” was probably the most successful one of her career. The song “la valise” is an enumeration of what she puts in her luggage, and there will be a new version in every album! The next years, she recorded some of her main hits: Pour faire une chanson (to make a song), Qu'il est bête (he's so dumb), Allo allo monsieur l'ordinateur (hello hello mister computer), Vive les vacances (long live holidays), Maman (mommy)… and she also got an award for the French theme of the film Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure. In the meantime, she carried out presenting Récré A2 and performing on stage in musicals (Dorothée - Tambour Battant in 1981 / Au royaume de Diguedondaine in 1982 / Pour faire une chanson in 1983 / On va faire du cinéma in 1985). She was also the star of a Christmas show in 1983."

Full bio

Marvel Superheroes

A free poster given away with the first issue of Marvel UK weekly The Titans, October 1975. Now framed and on the wall!

The Aurora Wolfman

The Aurora model kit of The Wolfman. This is the glow in the dark version, though oddly mostly painted. Created by the editor mid 1970s.