Friday, December 7, 2007

Retro Commercial: Mr. Microphone

If the line "Hey Good Lookin', we'll be back to pick you up later" means anything to you, chances are that you remember the 1979 commercial for one of the most famous creations by Ron Popeil... Mr. Microphone. If we are to believe the commercial, Mr. Microphone served a variety of purposes.

1. In the days before karaoke, it was a great way to liven up a dull party or make an ass out of yourself by singing terribly off key.

2. You could practice your singing and dancing at the same time. I still can't make out what the high-steppin' brotha is singing.

3. For any wannabe Lotharios, it could aid in pickin' up the ladies... yeah right!

Although this commercial ran constantly, I don't think I actually knew anyone who had one of these damned things. Given the power of television, I'll bet that millions of them were sold. I'll admit that it would've been cool to at least play around with one for awhile. I think my big Christmas gift that year was a Fonzie/Happy Days pinball machine so if I did get a Mr. Microphone, it probably would have been tossed in the closet within a couple of weeks.

After watching this commercial again after all these years, I wonder if "Good Lookin" waited around for the Christopher Atkins lookalike to come back to pick her up. Personally, I think he had to at least toss in a set of Ginsu knives in order for her to give him a second look.

See if you recognize the dude who has "Mr. Microphone" in his coat pocket at the beginning of the commercial. I had to watch the commercial a few times to make sure it was him. Although he isn't a household name, you may remember him from a recurring role that he had on a popular nighttime drama. You can click
here to find out who he is.


6 comments:

pjazzypar said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
pjazzypar said...

I remember this one really well. I recognized Joe Tata's voice, but he seemed a lot younger than he was on BH 90210. I especially recall the guys riding in the car saying that they would be back to pick the lady up later. I always thought...why not pick her up now? Chances are she won't be there when you come back.

Holly Smith said...

I had to cheat and click to find out who it was. But being a teenager of the early 90s, I of course know Nat from BH90210. I had never seen that commercial. The funniest part is the group on rollerskates. Great find!
www.mamapj.com

The Rock Chick said...

Well, Malcolm, I don't we don't really know each other, but I did have a Mr. Microphone. It was one of my favorite things actually and helped jumped my Rock Chick career.

It's also probably the reason I don't have a Rock Chick career! LOL

Jessica

Malcolm said...

Pjazzy: The one thing that I remembered before seeing the commercial again was the "Hey Good Lookin' we'll be back to pick you up later" part. I had never thought about it, but you are right... why didn't he pick her up then if she was that good looking. I know the car was full, but they could've made room (or kicked somebody to the curb).

Holly: I figured you were down with 90210 back in the 90s. There's no shame in my game... I was too.

Jessica: Well, now I can say that I know someone who owned a Mr. Microphone. Do you have any recorded demos you wanna share from those days?

Pop Art Diva Enterprises said...

I hate to admit it, but I wanted one of those things back then. God only knows why - maybe so I could annoy people, lol.

 
Remarketing tags may not be associated with personally identifiable information or placed on pages related to sensitive categories. See more information and instructions on how to setup the tag on: http://google.com/ads/remarketingsetup --------------------------------------------------->