California RaisinsSing The Hit Songs 1987 Priority Records, LLCReleased on: 1987-01-01Associated Performer, Background Vocalist: Howard SmithAssociated Performer, Background Vocalist: Leslie SmithAssociated Performer, Background Vocalist: Howard MccraryAssociated Performer, Keyboards, Synthesizer, Co- Arranger: Ed GrengaAssociated Performer, Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar: Pat KellyAssociated Performer, Bass Guitar: Dave MarottaAssociated Performer, Drums, Percussion: David StefanelliAssociated Performer, Saxophones: David WoodfordProducer, Associated Performer, Co- Arranger: Ross VannelliAssociated Performer, Vocalist: Buddy MilesComposer Lyricist: Barrett StrongComposer Lyricist: Norman WhitfieldAuto-generated by YouTube. So when his friends were like WERNER: 'What are you gonna do with that? We apologize for the interruption. 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). 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. Perhaps the most memorable piece of California Raisins merchandise, however, came in the form of small, non-poseable California Raisins figures. SW: And that tax is paying for a campaign that's not even advertising your product! I mean, really, most of us don't give raisins a whole lot of attention..they are just kind of everywhere: in our cereals, bagels, and, of course, kid's lunch boxes. And I told him, all of this sounds absolutely exhausting: KB: I'm still here! SW: That is exactly what I wanted to find out. ', 'Today during Ryan's Hope I saw the cutest commercial. Which meant packers couldn't slap a Dancing Raisin on their packaging or use the characters in ads unless they got their idea approved by the board. Phrases Similar to Heard it Through the Grapevine But an even bigger faction of raisin packers did not have their own name-brands. But anyway, there's this one line in the story that implies that even though the ad went on to be super successful, even though you and I still remember it all these years later, it may have precipitated some really huge divisions within the raisin industry. The "Heard It Through the Grapevine" theme is fabulous. AD ONE: Lay some happiness on me, give me raisins and I'll be. And they were hearing from those ingredient customers that they had an issue with the ads: BK: Some large customers felt they were paying for it. So, give them raisins! Lead vocals in the group were sung by musician Buddy Miles. AD TWO: We know raisins are natural, but kids just know what they like. 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. SW: I mean, how did you react when you found out about that?? Lots of brands tested the limits of this rule, including Sunmaid: BK: I got permission from the manager to create a claymation ad where I had the Dancing Raisins singing to the Sunmaid girl. Photos not available for this variation. But were they a success for the raisin industry? CH: But while the ad made the dancing California raisins cool did it do anything for actual California raisins? They needed to be the life of the snack bar. Your email address will not be published. SW: But you know who was on that shelf? See terms. "We decided that we wanted the raisins to be cool and a bit intimidating," Werner said. They were all over the country, on mugs and lunchboxes and tee shirts. The 1980's TV commercials for California raisins have been called some of the best ads ever made. Photo: A Claymation Christmas Celebration / CBS The Raisins Were Featured In Will Vinton's 'Claymation Christmas Celebration' On CBS In 1987 Packers had made up their minds about who they thought was getting the better end of the deal. But the Raisinss influence went beyond just TV and music and began to invade all levels of pop culture. In 2015, it was announced that a live-action/CGI reboot of the California Raisins would be produced, with president of The Actors Hall of Fame Foundation, Rusty Citron, as one of the people behind the project. Werner's big idea was going to be a risk, especially without the celebrity spokesperson the client had requested. Get instant explanation for any acronym or abbreviation that hits you anywhere on the web! 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,'. Socit en Commandite par Actions Registered Office: 22-24 Boulevard Royal L-2449, Luxembourg). The industry is in talks about a new campaign to promote California raisins. Top editors give you the stories you want delivered right to your inbox each weekday. Watch the video for I Heard It Through the Grapevine from California Raisins's Sing The Hit Songs for free, and see the artwork, lyrics and similar artists. (869) $17.99. Listen on:Apple Podcasts |Stitcher | Spotify |and more. BK: If you're one of the largest ingredient buyers for bread or cereal or something, then really you're paying for it, right? Music is from Audio Network. The California Raisins were a fictional R&B group created in the mid-1980s for a commercial produced by the California Raisin Advisory. He watched the original commercial spin off into more and more distant territory. SW: One of the people who saw that ad was Michael Jackson. Lyrics.com. On November 4, 1988, CBS aired a primetime television special called Meet the Raisins! Get instant explanation for any lyrics that hits you anywhere on the web! SW: The California raisin industry is complicated. Entdecke The California Raisi - I Heard It Through The Grapevine - gebrauchtes Vinyl - E8100A in groer Auswahl Vergleichen Angebote und Preise Online kaufen bei eBay Kostenlose Lieferung fr viele Artikel! Unless you just happened to have a VCR set up and recording at the exact moment the ad aired WERNER: You had to wait and hopefully see it on TV again on some show you were watching and not know when that was coming, and because we didn't have a very big media budget, it wasn't on that often. In 2010, claymation versions of the California Raisins were featured in the special Christmas episode of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, "A Very Sunny Christmas". I will only talk to you, Will.'. I grew up in California, and it felt like they were everywhere. Box Office Software produced a different, unrelated California Raisins computer game in 1988 for the Apple II, Commodore 64, and PC compatibles. Don't you know that I heard it through the grapevine. Was the Dancing Raisins ad a success? Listen to music by California Raisins on Apple Music. It also gave the band members individual names and roles: A.C. (vocals), Beebop (drums), Stretch (bass), and Red (guitar/piano).[7]. Concept illustrations of the Raisins were also featured as interviewees discussed the characters' creation.[17]. SW: Michael Brunsfeld was the commercial animation director at a company called Colossal Pictures, which had been contracted to do a mockup of the ad. Between 12th and 14th Streets 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. It's very successful in that sense. SW: Matthew says, whether or not the dancing raisins are part of the industry's future, he remains optimistic. SPEAKER THREE: They sang we three kings with also these camels that were all claymation. I'm Charlie Herman. HARRY OVERLY: I know for a fact that there is animosity that still exists within the industry of what happened back then. Play with guitar, piano, ukulele, or any instrument you choose. Because animators arranged each shot by hand, giving each raisin its own distinct personality (including individualized facial expressions and colorful sunglasses), the commercial took more than a month to shoot. The California Raisin Advisory Board. Lead vocals were sung by musician Buddy Miles. SW: Seth remembers going to a friend's apartment the night he got the account. So, there's an alphabet soup of different boards and agencies and committees to help make that happen. MICHAEL JACKSON: And Will, keep these guys still until they do the heard it! HO: Well there's there's definitely 12:02 some discussion about that I mean in its infancy right now. We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly. The community that created them, and the questions they left in their wake. No, not really. Strong came up with the idea and asked Motown writers Holland-Dozier-Holland to work on it with him. In the early 1990s, Capcom produced a video game for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) titled The California Raisins: The Grape Escape,[12] in which the player controlled a California Raisin through five side-scrolling levels battling various evil fruit and vegetable characters that have stolen the Raisins' music. As of the 2010s, packages of Sun-Maid Natural California Raisins still feature an updated California Raisin character. Colossal issued a challenge to some of its animators: BRUNSFELD: How can you make a raisin look appealing? Scientists mull polarized light detection from alien life-forms, Nano-mechanical sensors wired using photonics, E. coli outbreak leads to massive flour recall, First human CRISPR trial passes safety and ethics review, Cephalopods: Natures camouflaging masters, Scientists detect gravitational waves for the second time, Colorful secrets of chemical elements with slow motion flames. But I also take the approach of, that was 30 years ago so I think it's time that we look forward because the industry is in a very dramatic, very drastically different place than it was back then. There were some other big names, like Dole and Del Monte, but they didn't just sell raisins. Very serious-like. A series of weather-related disasters during the '70s had thrown the price of raisins completely out of whack. 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! He just wanted to make an ad he thought was cool. 30 of those and you have a second of the commercial. CALRAB teamed up with advertising agency Foote, Cone & Belding to try to forge an emotional connection between consumers and the dried fruit. The California Raisins were a fictional rhythm and blues animated musical group as well as advertising and merchandising characters composed of anthropomorphized raisins. SPEAKER THREE: The one song I remember them doing all the time was "I Heard it Through the Grapevine" To the point where I was a kid and I hadn't, I don't think it really clicked to me that that was like a real song. CH: This episode was reported and produced by Sarah Wyman, with Julia Press and me, Charlie Herman. Between 1987 and 1988, the fictional band released four albums, two of which went platinum. [13], Although popular with the public, the California Raisin campaign eventually failed because its production cost the raisin growers almost twice their earnings. Sales of raisins themselves increased 20 percent after the first commercial. Visit the IIIF page to learn more. And it became more entertainment than strategy. Just one piece! Leave a message at (646) 768-4777, or email us at btyb@insider.com. SUNMAID AD: My girl talkin' bout my girl. She would always show them to me and talk to me about them and how cute and clever they were, and I just thought, why in the world is a grown woman so excited about something so ridiculous? These albums were included in the Smithsonian collection and were illustrated and art-directed by Helane Freeman, who later became famous for her work on Hannah Montana and The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, among other Disney programs. I was in the room when it got killed! In 1985, he was a copywriter at the ad agency Foote, Cone, and Belding. 2023 Minute Media - All Rights Reserved. Yeah. SW: This is what raisin packing sounds like. Vinton and his team hired human dancers to make the Raisins's dance moves look realistic. But that wasn't the story around town. How is that better than Ray Charles?'. Scrobbling is when Last.fm tracks the music you listen to and automatically adds it to your music profile. Definitely [both laugh]. SW: Again, Seth Werner, sockless ad copywriter. They grow grapes in the beautiful California sunshine and turn them into raisins. Hey Sarah. (981) $9.95. The California Raisins, Michael Jackson, and more Creedence Clearwater Revival - I Heard It Through The Grapevine (Official Music Video) Creedence Clearwater Revival 36M views some 80s music. And they had good reasons to be! Label. Then in 1989, a 13-episode Saturday Morning Cartoon show calledThe California Raisin Show aired. Merchandise sales included toys and Raisins images on nearly every conceivable medium: lunch boxes, notebooks, clothing, posters, bedsheets, and even a Halloween costume, just to name a few. If you would like to know how you can use content on this page, see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use. And that might be part of why some raisin packers felt like this all boiled down to: "it's us versus Sunmaid.". Many of the items created for the campaign have become part of the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institution. The figures were kept in a box for several years and headed for the trash before being obtained by Webster Colcord, a former employee of Vinton. But in 1986, thats just what happened when the California Raisin Advisory Board launched a series of ads by the California Raisins, a group that existed only in Claymation. If you have a question relating to the museum's collections, please first check our Collections FAQ. WERNER: A frame was one snapshot. And he made it very clear to me right off the bat that no one, him included, would be interested in talking about the New York Times story I'd read. Seth Werner and CALRABthe agency responsible for hyping up California raisinsthey had delivered a hit. The commercials were produced by Vinton Studios using their claymation technique, with character designs by Michael Brunsfeld. Kalem Barserian, along with around 40 raisin growers, packers, and industry members, was in that room. And, for better or worse, they're also in it together on that front. He was so into it that he personally got in touch with Will Vinton, the claymation animator, and asked to be included in his own commercial. SW: Kalem was voting on behalf of the packer he worked for. SPEAKER FOUR: I loved those commercials as a kid, they were so cool. Select PayPal Credit to have the option to pay over time. 1 Mar. The Raisins released numerous studio albums in the 1980s, starred in a cartoon series, and were nominated for an Emmy for their 1988 "Meet the Raisins" mockumentary. Still one thing nearly everyone does agree on is the mass appeal of the dancing raisins. Oh I heard it through the grapevine. Demand was down. That's what happened. Raisins, dressed up in white gloves and sunglasses, dancing to Marvin Gaye's "I heard it through the grapevine." CH: We're back. You know how families can be about money. Hell no! He wrote to Foot Cone and Belding specifically requesting a VHS copy of the ad so he could watch it whenever he wanted to. Barrett Strong was the singer. The California Raisins released four studio albums on Priority Records, BMG, and ZTT Records between 1987 to 1994, and their signature song, "I Heard It Through the Grapevine", landed on the Billboard Hot 100 and peaked at number 84 or 85. CH: The dancing raisins were so popular, they took on a life of their own outside of the ad. And this is what I told him. His crime: growing raisins and then deciding to sell . A new version of Last.fm is available, to keep everything running smoothly, please reload the site. CH: A raisin by any other name would be a dried grape. 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. If you need to request an image for publication or other use, please visit Rights and Reproductions. SW: Paul. Earlier this year, the CRMBwhich did not respond to my request for commenthired a brand new Vice President of Marketing. And so, with a $7.5 million campaign on the line, Werner hit play and began dancing across the room to the old Motown hit "I Heard it Through the Grapevine.". WERNER: We still thought it was cool. Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. I don't need to prove anything to anybody. And though the process is time-consuming and expensive, Werner's performance managed to win them over. But, that's not where this story ends. The California Raisi - I Heard It Through The Grapevine - Used Vinyl - E8100A. And Seth Seth was dancing all by himself in front of the group, without socks on! 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. They recorded an album that went gold within weeks of its release. But despite it all, by a very narrow margin, more than half the room voted to greenlight the ad. And that takes unity. SW: CALRAB came up with and promoted new recipes that used raisins, it went to bakery conventions, it pitched raisin stories to food magazines and newspapers. And maybe some people are pessimistic about it, I don't know, maybe people are tired of just the lack of unity. If there's anything we can do for you, please give me a call'. Because the smaller packers still thought Sunmaid had an unfair advantage. The California Dancing Raisins ad has been called one of the best of all time. 2023. It wasn't at The Fillmore in San Francisco or the Troubadour in LA. Jun 1, 2013 - Explore The Goodwill Geek's board "Heard it Through the Grapevine.", followed by 362 people on Pinterest. SW: Clyde E. Nef, who was CALRAB's manager at the time, wrote about Seth's performance and the board's reaction in his book, The Fruits of Their Labors. What about Michael Jackson and what he was contributing? KB: And the packers got pissed at Barry and killed the program. 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. But thanks to the California Raisins, its now commonplace to see ads that include anthropomorphized food or candy. (laughs). Commissioned by the California Raisin Advisory Board (CALRAB), a trade group of raisin producers in Californias Central Valley, the commercial was part of a multi-million dollar campaign to combat slowing raisin sales. In 1985, both halves of the industry were funding CALRAB. You asked someone to name a raisin brand, and they would say "Sunmaid.". Now, somebody just had to turn Seth Werner's concept into a real commercial. He's a reporter covering raisins and grapes for one of the trade magazines his family publishes. And ultimately, when everyone failed to agree, the raisins took the fall. 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 even in the 1990s, Sunmaid was like the "Kleenex" of the raisin industry. For the last 10 years, he's violated the law and gone against the Raisin Administrative Committee. It would go on to produce the Dancing Raisins ad. If you need to request an image for publication or other use, please visit Rights and Reproductions. The band broke up. If you have more stories to share, call us anytime. [14][additional citation(s) needed], On March 28, 1997 Entertainment Weekly published "The 50 Best Commercials of All Time" as its cover story. KB: Heard it through the grapevine! In order to be successful, this big "family" has to work together. Heard it, heard it! Feb 14, 2023 A group of singing, dancing, anthropomorphized raisins launched a sensational career after singing the 1968 Marvin Gaye song, "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," in a 1986 commercial for the California Raisin Advisory Board. WERNER: Our whole objective was to make them cool. But back in 1986, going viral was not yet a thing. https://www.lyrics.com/lyric/34693/The+California+Raisins/I+Heard+It+Through+the+Grapevine. Heard it! CH: This commercial was the most popular TV ad in 1987 and 1988. CH: So where did this journey for you begin? He writes: "The thirty seconds of this commercial seemed like an eternity. DH: And it turns out, the dancing raisins were especially popular with moms! Sarah Wyman is our showrunner. Your email address will not be published. Brought to you by is a production of Insider Audio. Unlike the smaller brands in the industry, it could afford to pay for that space. KB: Grape and raisin grower. [8] While cel animated by Murakami-Wolf-Swenson, it maintained Will Vinton's creative direction. WERNER: 'Dear NBC, After weeks of trying to find out who to congratulate on a recent national ad, I came up with nothing. I don't like raisins. Today, the story of the California Dancing Raisins. More than 2 million people bought their albums and listened to the Raisins covering songs including "Lean on Me" and "You Cant Hurry Love." Kalem Barserian will tell you the ad made the raisin industry money, and he will pull out a calculator to prove it. It wasn't true. Web. SW: But in some ways, it may be in the same place as it was in the '80s. Scrobble, find and rediscover music with a Last.fm account, Do you know any background info about this track? And, when it went down, so did the Dancing California Raisins. Michael Jackson asked to be featured in a sequel. Vinton and his team spent weeks making about six different figurines and a set made out of clay. Like that. BK: Well, the simplest way to answer that is, 'how do you define success?' RAISINS CHRISTMAS: Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer It's those sensational California Raisins in the Emmy-winning Claymation Christmas celebration, next! And that is something producer that producer Sarah Wyman has made very clear to me since she began digging into the orgins of the California dancing raisins ad. While the songs popularized the phrase, they inspired the hit kids cartoon series "The California Raisins" in the 1990s. Note: This transcript may contain errors. I Heard It Through the Grapevine. SW: Between 1986 and 1992, the Dancing Raisins raked in more than 7 million dollars in licensing fees. With a budget in hand, the agency hired Will Vinton, the Oscar-winning animator who would later trademark the term "Claymation," to help create their vision of dancing raisins. If you have any issues please contact me before leaving negative response I will always do my best make it right! Paul McCartney requested his own copy on VHS. The comedy podcast Felix Navipod features discussion of the California Raisins on all 166 episodes of its run. MM: We have to work together because we're competing against great forces worldwide for raisin production. KB: Once we started the Dancing Raisins, people were going to the store asking for Dancing Raisin raisins, and there weren't any! Claymation was an unproven conceptthis was probably the first time it had been used in a commercial. CEO of.. SW: His dad started farming and processing raisins in Fresno back in the 1920s, and since then, Kalem has bounced around pretty much every corner of the industry. I don't care how small or whatever, but something that's not part of what you're doing.'. And the US, by the way, is the second largest raisin producer in the entire world. SARAH WYMAN: Charlie, I have to start with a confession. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. SW: Matthew Malcolm was one of the first raisin industry members to return my calls. Some had small brands that competed with Sunmaid. They have two big jobs. In The Simpsons episode "'Tis the Fifteenth Season", The California Raisins were spoofed as The California Prunes, on a special entitled Christmas with the California Prunes. KALEM BARSERIAN: I've been born, raised here. SW: Let me explain. SW: Seth has a whole scrapbook of these letters. This is Brought to you by Brands you know, stories you don't. (laughs). Stay up to date with what you want to know. SW: Kalem Barserian, raisin industry veteran, again. SW: The ad was a hit. But there was enough leadership to sway the ones that weren't smart enough to realize what a good program it was. So, CALRAB proposed this big advertising campaign, with national TV commercials. Oh! If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to receive more just like it. They're just a staple. Today, it would go viral. The musical mockumentary was again created by Vinton Studios, and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award. The Hardee's restaurant chain offered these as part of a promotion for its Cinnamon 'N' Raisin biscuits. Like, growing up, we had this little figurine in our doll house, and my parents dressed up as them one year for Halloween. We may update this record based on further research and review. WERNER: 'Our thanks again on behalf of Paul McCartney. It just knows that it needs water, it needs to be pruned, needs to be fertilized, it needs to be babied. California Raisins Heard it Through the Grapevine (Better Quality) Herozilla Video Editing and Livestream Gaming 82.3K subscribers Subscribe 10K Share 983K views 3 years ago I don't own the. By clicking Sign up, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider HO: Oh, there's definitely hope. Like the whole body was just a head, with arms and legs waving about. During the peak of their popularity in the late '80s, the California Raisins also had a fan club, merchandise that spanned from plush toys to lunch boxes to air fresheners, and a series of comic books. It's hurting from some bad weather trends. SPEAKER TWELVE: And it was all claymation, and they'd sing Christmas carols and stuff there were I think other characters and things in it as well. With the musicians all in a room, live, everything. 84 on the Billboard Hot 100. Which wasn't true. Sarah tells us what happened next SW: In 1994, a group of raisin packers voted to shut down CALRAB. SPEAKER FOUR: I even had little figurinesSPEAKER FIVE: I remember seeing them in my toy chestSPEAKER ONE: They were part of some happy meal kind of thing CH: The dancing raisins were invited to light the National Christmas Tree at the White House. SW: Yeah, that did not go over well within the industry. SW: I was not even alive when most of those ads aired, and I had the same experience. Is it that people remember it? SW: Barry Kriebel became President of Sunmaid Raisins in February of 1986, one year before Ross Vannelli produced his album, and right as the California Raisins were in liftoff. Ho: Well there 's definitely Hope the thirty seconds of this commercial seemed like eternity. Leaving negative response I will always do my best make it right the memorable. Christmas celebration, next Sunmaid had an unfair advantage please contact me before leaving negative response will! Claymation was an unproven conceptthis was probably the first raisin industry money, and was for. Felt like they were so popular, they were so popular, they took a!. `` anything we can do for you, please give me a call ' bit... Teamed up with advertising agency Foote, Cone & Belding to try forge. By California raisins will always do my best make it right around 40 raisin,. 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