"Picture cover". Constitution Avenue, NW This figure is also included on CalRaisins.org. So, just like at Thanksgiving dinner, while CALRAB tried to calm everyone down and broker peace from the head of the table, squabbling raisin packers aired old grudges and argued about who was and was not getting their fair share of the cash. Earlier this year, the CRMBwhich did not respond to my request for commenthired a brand new Vice President of Marketing. But in 1986, that's just what happened when the California Raisin Advisory Board launched a series of ads by the California Raisins, a group that existed only in . 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. 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. Now, somebody just had to turn Seth Werner's concept into a real commercial. We apologize for the interruption. 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. RV: I said, 'I'm going to do it where it feels authentic.' MATTHEW MALCOLM: I mean you can't just leave any field barren here, because something's gonna grow. The "Heard It Through the Grapevine" theme is fabulous. This special saw the Raisins hiring a new manager with the goal of making a comeback. Some people were saying they weren't getting a big enough slice of the Dancing Raisins pie. If you saw a commercial you liked, you couldn't look it up on YouTube and send a link to a friend. Strong came up with the idea and asked Motown writers Holland-Dozier-Holland to work on it with him. Your email address will not be published. Like that. They all want to have them back [sigh] I don't know if it's just because they love the dancing raisins, or I think more than that, is they just want a powerful campaign, you know, backing up California raisins. SW: Remember, these were Fresno guys, not big city ad men. They grow grapes in the beautiful California sunshine and turn them into raisins. As for the music, the commercial featured Buddy Miles, a Carlos Santana collaborator and drummer for Jimi Hendrix, singing "I Heard It Through The Grapevine"picked because of the obvious connection between grapes and raisins, but also because the song had seen a resurgence after the Marvin Gaye version had been used for the opening scene of the 1983 hit movie The Big Chill. If you need to request an image for publication or other use, please visit Rights and Reproductions. California Raisins T-shirt ~ I Heard It Through The Grapevine ~ Claymation 80s. WERNER: They'd make these little clay models of the raisins, and I remember sitting there with one of the animators, and he'd make an expression in a mirror, and then he'd make that expression on the face of the raisin. But in 1994, the raisin industry abruptly pulled the plug on the ad and its spinoffs, and still debates whether or not it was successful. Their cover of Marvin Gaye's "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" peaked at #84 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1988. Sarah Wyman is our showrunner. Javascript is required to view shouts on this page. [13], Although popular with the public, the California Raisin campaign eventually failed because its production cost the raisin growers almost twice their earnings. If you have any issues please contact me before leaving negative response I will always do my best make it right! In 1987, Vinton featured the Raisins singing "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" in A Claymation Christmas Celebration, a Christmas TV special he produced that won an Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program. See terms. SW: But you know who was on that shelf? 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. Free shipping for many products! The problem, FCB's account supervisor said at the time, was that though customers understood the health benefits of raisins, they had emotional connections with various vice products, like cigarettes because of the long-running "Marlboro Man" ads, or beer based on the popular "Miller Time" ads. Although Vinton made one last Claymation TV movie about the Raisins in 1990, the end of the '80s brought a decline in the Raisinss popularity. Please take time to look at pictures I try and show condition clear as possible. So when his friends were like WERNER: 'What are you gonna do with that? RV: Oh no, to me it at one point it kind of went beyond that. For the last 10 years, he's violated the law and gone against the Raisin Administrative Committee. The California Raisins II is a 1990 claymation television special directed by Will Vinton, featuring the advertising characters The California Raisins. The tape was rewound and the presentation repeated.". He said: WERNER: He would not approve the nose that I put on the raisin, no matter what I did, he wouldn't approve of it! By the time "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" hit #1, the song had been sitting there for more than two years. SW: I, before I started working on this story, did not even eat raisins. SW: Ross Vannelli is a music producer. [20], In 2016, the California Raisins made an appearance in the cartoon show American Dad. SW: Even now, decades later when the dust has settled, one thing is still a question. Kalem Barserian, along with around 40 raisin growers, packers, and industry members, was in that room. Oh! I believe it might have been a public service announcement', 'Dear Judy: Generally when you hear from me, a problem is involved. HARDEES AD: Announcing the big plush bendable California Raisins at Hardees SW: There were California Raisins Halloween costumesthey were bestsellers in 1988. My girl!BK: Yeeeeah the marketing guys at Del Monte filed a complaint with the Department of Food and Agriculture over it. 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. I mean, we didn't do anything short of that. If you require a personal response, please use ourContact page. Because that's a whole market supply and demand on both the national and international basis. If you have any issues please contact me before leaving negative response I will always do my best make it right! 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? HARRY OVERLY: I know for a fact that there is animosity that still exists within the industry of what happened back then. I don't like raisins. Honey, honey yeah. Learn more about our approach to sharing our collection online. 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,'. The growers are the ones with the vines. Vinton and his team spent weeks making about six different figurines and a set made out of clay. Besides appearing in short commercials, The California Raisins shared their musical chops in television specials. 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. Oh! 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. Jun 1, 2013 - Explore The Goodwill Geek's board "Heard it Through the Grapevine.", followed by 362 people on Pinterest. KB: Couldn't find it! Audiences quickly connected with the Raisins authentic R&B sound, and The California Raisins version of "Grapevine" even reached No. While the vines may feel special to their growerslike children!to you and me? 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. Would everyone contribute to the cost of an ad campaign? To access our initial disclosure document, please click, Get the item you ordered or your money back. And they should pretty much be still once they do their heard it! WERNER: We went there because we had to meet the growers, and so we would drive, what was it, an hour, 90 minutes to Fresno from San Francisco, and the account people were all nervous on the way there like 'what are we going to do?'. If I tell everybody some fictitious story about you know, Chicken Little, right now to you, they might know it in Madera by 2 o'clock. Some user-contributed text on this page is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. And this broke the mold. Oh! Between 1987 and 1988, the fictional band released four albums, two of which went platinum. SW: One of the people who saw that ad was Michael Jackson. The claymation raisins singing and dancing to Marvin Gaye's "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" became a kids TV show, recorded an album that went platinum, launched a range of toys and costumes, and starred in an Emmy-winning Christmas special. CH: We're back. [Ebm E Ab Eb Cm] Chords for California Raisins Heard it Through the Grapevine (Better Quality) with Key, BPM, and easy-to-follow letter notes in sheet. HO: Well there's there's definitely 12:02 some discussion about that I mean in its infancy right now. [8] While cel animated by Murakami-Wolf-Swenson, it maintained Will Vinton's creative direction. BARRY KRIEBEL: Well that's the problem with the advertising! African American History Curatorial Collective. [19], In 2014, the California Raisins made a cameo appearance in the RadioShack Super Bowl XLVIII commercial "The '80s Called". SW: The winning concept was a raisin with big eyes, a defined nose, and a wide mouthperfect for lip syncing. SETH WERNER: It wasn't back then, and it still isn't now. ', SW: Barry Kriebel was president of Sunmaid at the time. Connect your Spotify account to your Last.fm account and scrobble everything you listen to, from any Spotify app on any device or platform. CH: But while the ad made the dancing California raisins cool did it do anything for actual California raisins? "We decided that we wanted the raisins to be cool and a bit intimidating," Werner said. And the US, by the way, is the second largest raisin producer in the entire world. If there's anything we can do for you, please give me a call'. This is Brought to you by Brands you know, stories you don't. Dancing Raisins "Heard It Through the Grapevine". If you would like to know how we handle complaints, please click, . Unlike the smaller brands in the industry, it could afford to pay for that space. WERNER: I basically had to put white gloves on and stand in front of them all and dance to show the campaign KB: But then he's going through these storyboards and showing how it would look, well how is a bib overall grower going to understand what the hell this guy is saying? Condition: Used. Possibly, but in their own sweet, silly way, these spots conveyed a sense of mindless fun and gave the humble raisin its moment in the sun. Right or wrong, It depends on wherever the votes are. SW: Let me explain. He has faith in the industry's ability to work this out. While todays commercials may depict M&Ms and cookies with unique personas, the California Raisins hold a special place as '80s pop culture icons. MICHAEL JACKSON: And Will, keep these guys still until they do the heard it! SW: But by 1994, the packers had reached a consensus. SW: All of those different factors combined add up to the final, and most important challenge for the raisin industry. SW: The ad was a hit. But as that money flowed back into CALRAB's coffers, the disagreements became more serious. You're making us put up $32.50 for generic advertising, and Sunmaid's getting the benefit of it. Will Vinton told Seth the hardest part was getting his nose right. SW: Almost as soon as it disbanded CALRAB, the raisin industry got to work developing another agency to take its place. And Seth Seth was dancing all by himself in front of the group, without socks on! Lead vocals in the group were sung by musician Buddy Miles. 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. The show would have animated raisins acting as rockstars, and the song, "I heard it through the grapevine," was the California Raisins number-one single. SW: This is what raisin packing sounds like. SW: That's another thing that makes the raisin industry different. (981) $9.95. WERNER: We still thought it was cool. And if you ever saw him. SW: But even as the dancing raisins scored these victories, back in Fresno, things were heating up. We may update this record based on further research and review. They starred in two claymation TV shorts, and a Christmas special that won an Emmy! America's favorite raisin. Get instant explanation for any lyrics that hits you anywhere on the web! Definitely [both laugh]. SW: This is Seth Werner. I heard it through the grapevine. Year . I don't care how small or whatever, but something that's not part of what you're doing.'. album - including song video, artist biography, translations and more: I bet you're wonderin' how I knew 'Bout your plans to make me blue With some other guy you knew before Between the SW: Unity has been a longstanding challenge for the raisin industry. And I told him, all of this sounds absolutely exhausting: KB: I'm still here! 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