Mego 2-XL Robot commercial 1978
I’ve gathered up a few seventies-related stories from the past week for you to peruse. I hope you find them retro-actively enlightening. Is that a thing?
LET’S TALK MEGO’S 2-XL TALKING ROBOT
Boing Boing has some fun chatter (an article & podcast) analyzing Mego’s 2-XL Talking Robot toy from 1978. This charming little fellow provided minutes of quality entertainment!
Boing Boing quote:
“So what you’re looking at, actually, is not a robot but a VERY clever use of eight track tapes. The 2-XL has four buttons, which are the same buttons you’ll find on an 8-track player. The data cartridges inside the 2-XL were merely 8-track tapes, and the 2-XL is really just an 8-track player with blinking eyes – but that shows the brilliant idea on how to use the format for something interactive.”
The article contains a commercial for the 2-XL from 1981 – so, here’s a bonus commercial from 1978. I have a need to keep things 70s-centric. Thank me later!
Mego 2-XL Robot Commercial (1978)
LOOK WOT HE DUN!
Dave Hill and Slade (1974)
The Guardian chats with Slade guitarist Dave Hill and the memories flow like strawberry wine and foot-stompin’ glitter.
The Guardian Quote:
“…Lead guitarist Hill was always the crazy one. He was famous for his pudding-basin fringe, glittering face, gold capes, mighty stacks (disguising his diddy, 5ft 4in stature) and ray-gun-shaped guitar called Super Yob. In his heyday, he drove a silver Jensen Interceptor and a gold Rolls-Royce with the number plate Yob 1. Hill was marketed as the yob’s yob.”
HAMILL? HE’S HORRIFIED
‘An elegant weapon.’ Star Wars (1977)
There’s a quick little piece at the Hollywood Reporter on Mark Hamill’s reaction to a viral Star Wars meme and some on-set photography.
Hollywood Reporter Quote:
“‘This makes me cringe every time I see it,’ said Hamill of the meme, adding, ‘I don’t remember doing this in the movie. I think it’s just an on-set production still, otherwise Obi-Wan wouldn’t look so remarkably unconcerned.’ And he is correct. In the film, Luke does not look at the lightsaber as he does in the meme.”
BUNNY WAILER PASSES
Bunny Wailer at Rototom Sunsplash (2015)
It’s likely you caught the news of reggae master Bunny Wailer’s passing at age 73 last week. However, it’s worth jumping over to Rolling Stone for a nice overview of why Wailer is so revered.
Rolling Stone Quote:
“While Marley and Tosh served as the Wailers’ primary singers and songwriters, Livingston played an indispensable role in providing harmonies to the trio’s songs. The Wailers next teamed with Perry and his Upsetters for 1970’s Soul Rebels and 1971’s Soul Revolution; around that time, Livingston wrote and recorded one of his signature songs, ‘Dreamland,’ a track he revisited when he released his solo LP Blackheart Man in 1976.”
Links:
Slade guitarist Dave Hill: ‘I’d come out of work, put on my costume and suddenly I’d be Superman!’
Mark Hamill Addresses Popular Luke Skywalker Meme: “This Makes Me Cringe Every Time I See It”
Reggae Icon Bunny Wailer — Founding Member of the Wailers — Dead at 73
Previously on 70s In The News: Peter Frampton, Paul McCartney
