WANG - We're Gunning For IBM!

WANG - We're Gunning For IBM!

WANG - We're Gunning For IBM!  That was the slogan WANG Labs Inc. the computer hardware and software maker launched during Superbowl XX in 1986.  It was a bold strategy for Wang Labs, the global computer giant most notable for Wang Word Processors and Engineering computers.  Wang was rapidly losing market share through a series of bad decisions during the mid-eighties concerning staying proprietary or jumping on the IBM and Microsoft bandwagon.  Dr. An Wang was an inventor, far ahead of his time, rolling out Wang Imaging, global WangNet, Integrated Office Software platforms, integrated Voice, Data, Images, Networking - years before companies were ready or willing to buy them.  He had a "PC" ready to go in 1981, two floppies, screen and keyboard and disks all in one unit, with a cable to a modified IBM Selectric as the printer, but he blew it!  He kept it proprietary and marketed it to Engineers.  He made his own DOS, his own CPU boards, his own OS, etc. etc. so that far far too late Wang tried to get on the generic MSDOS run IBM compatible PC train, but it had already left the station.  Word Perfect software for generic PC's then killed Wang's money maker, Wang WP.  Wang lost billions, and laid off thousands every year until they went under in the nineties.

The TV commercial launched the last gasp desperate campaign where Wang was attempting to out do IBM, the Ad agency had the brilliant idea to utilize the helicopter from the 1983 movie Blue Thunder and the 1984 TV Series.  They had a clueless corporate exec sitting at his big exec desk with the "Think" plaque on it (to make sure you knew he worked for IBM), busy swatting flies (smaller computer companies) and behind him, many floors up in his office skyscraper, this sleek black attack helicopter with the blue Wang logo on the nose rises up and trains it's weapons on him, he slinks down in his chair, and the announcer voice says "Wang.... We're Gunning for IBM!"  It was short and effective and like a punch in the gut, and everyone was talking about it the next day.

Unfortunately the rumor was that Dr. Wang saw it for the first time on air, and thought it was too aggressive and violent and in poor taste and he nixed it immediately.  It might have only aired a few times before being pulled.  Here is my plastic drink cup with the Wang logo on it, the slogan, and some bullets and bullet holes printed on it leftover from the campaign. I understand there were even Tshirts!  

 Wang Rainbow Commercial

Wang Organist Commercial

Wang Office Automation People Commercial

Wang Networking Commercial

Wang Juggling Commercial

Wang Freestyle Demo

Wang Computers & Word Processing Commercial

 

Wang Opera Commercial

Wang Meeting Practice Commercial

Wang FreeFone Commercial

TAK-A-BOOST ! Cola Style Soft Drink Syrup

TAK-A-BOOST also known as BOOST ! aka Drink-A-Toast Cola Type Drink Syrup
Click above link to check out the Take a Boost company web site.  What is Tak-A-Boost?

My dad grew up in Riverside New Jersey in the thirties and forties.  He grew up drinking a home mixed soft drink called Take A Boost or Boost for Short.  A brown syrup slightly reminiscent of cola but different, unique.  You bought the syrup and mixed it with water to have an economical (if bubbleless) soft drink.  It's also prepared and served economically at Deli's, restaurants, etc. in Southern New Jersey.  It's sold in grocery stores and other outlets in Burlington County mostly, the headquarters is in Riverside NJ.

Some people did and do use tonic water or seltzer or club soda etc. to make a fizzy version, but most people drink it flat, or in a "slushy" form.  If you mix it according to the stated formula, I think it's a little strong.  Some people mix it weaker, some stronger, it's up to you.  When my mother met my father during his basic training in Missouri during WWII, and went with him to Riverside and they married and she stayed there while he went to fight Germany and Japan, she drank Tak-A-Boost.  So when I was an adult, and she and I drove there from Missouri, she had me buy a couple gallons of Boost syrup to take back home.  I didn't like it at first, but developed a taste for it, and we almost drank it all.  The company says not to use the syrup after 3 to 4 months, so I guess I can't use that last little bit I have that's twelve years old.  Better head back to NJ.

If you've never tried a drug store invented soft drink invented in the past that you mix yourself, you should give Boost a whirl!  I understand some people have been successful in having it shipped.  It was invented at the turn of the century as a cough syrup and wart remover, and originally had cocaine in it.  During prohibition they made them remove that. The druggist inventor tried diluting it and selling it as a drink in his drug store.  You can read about the history on the net.  Other local specialties in Riverside are Charle's Chips, Tastycakes, Scrapple and Cheesesteaks.

MING The MERCILESS! - Akira Kateshi Hexstatic Video Edit

One of the MOST AWESOME Video Mixes to Buck Rogers I've Ever Seen.  MING THE MERCILESS LOOKS EXQUISITE!  Love This, Love It, Love It. VROUK APPROVED!

ULTRAMAN - REQUIEM For A DREAM

I Love Ultraman, the original that was on when I came home from school in grade school.  Since then, apparently there have been 8 incarnations of Ultra Man.  A Fan made this video of all of them, apparently working together, and set it to the music Requiem for a Dream.  The result is dreamy and beautiful if you are an Ultraman fan like I am. VROUK Approved.

ALICE DEEJAY

 

Alice Deejay -The Lonely One

This particular version of the video is kind of squished horizontally, but I like it that way because it makes the three dancers that comprise Alice Deejay look taller and thinner during their main dance sequence.  I LOVE the dance routine the three of them do in this video, so much I'd marry all three of them just because of that dance!  It's so sad the group is scattered to the wind, if I were rich I'd pay to reassemble them and have them come dance that dance in Vegas nightly!  :)  Alice Deejay was an interesting creation at the turn of the century, you should research them on Google and Youtube and read all about how they were formed, their career and where are they now.  Two more songs I like below.  

 

Back in My Life

Better Off Alone - Lorya Bootleg AWESOME VERSION!

More incredibly yummy dancing by the threesome.

These three songs are from the album Who Needs Guitars Anyway?

VROUK APPROVED!

ROBERTA FLACK First Time Ever I Saw Your Face

 

Roberta Flack

The First Time, Ever I Saw Your Face - 1972

The Definitive Version

My mom and I used to load up our car Saturday night with anything we thought we could sell in the early seventies, then go get in line at the Heart Drive In Theatre approach lanes at 4 am and wait until 8 when they opened the gates.  We'd pay four dollars for a car to be sellers at the weekend Swap and Shop.  We'd spread our junk out on a blanket and wait in the chilly mornings, trying to woo passersby to buy our pitiful stuff.  We were pretty poor so this was an important way to try to get some extra cash, it was alot quicker than a garage sale and you could do it any given weekend.  

In the cavernous parking lot of the theater with the curved rows of humped up gravel and the big blank screen, a pole sticking out of the ground with two speakers on it for every parking space, the proprietor would play top forty music through the pole speakers.  Tinny, but with all the echos and hundreds of speakers, it had a haunting ethereal sound coming from everywhere.  One song stands out above all the rest from this time period as being evocative and otherwordly to me - hearing it in that environment.  Roberta Flack and her megahit The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face.

Well, I've set the stage, now you can imagine how the song sounds to me and always will.

Worshipful, sad, poignant, hopeful, wistful, and full of Spirit.

Copyright 2011 VROUK

SOD SHEEP ON DRUGS

You guessed it, ANOTHER band I discovered while listening to Dr. Speedlove, this one's SHEEP ON DRUGS or SOD.  Definately worth checking out their other youtube videos prior to this one.