Starting in 1979, late night TV viewers had their ears assaulted by hard-sell ads for musicians they had never heard of (or didn't know sang), such as Roger Whittaker (bio), Jim Nabors, Boxcar Willie (bio), Zamfir (master of the pan flute - bio), and yodeller Slim Whitman (bio), whose voice literally causes heads to explode. The ads made astonishing claims -- "sold more albums in Britain than the Beatles and Elvis combined!" And a lot of viewers -- some perhaps stoned -- called now. (Roger Whitaker -- 4 million albums. Slim Whitman - 4 million albums. Boxcar Willie - 3 million. Zamfir - 1.1 million). Others just watched, dumbfounded. [more inside]
posted by msalt on May 1, 2008 - 61 comments

Friday Flash! A new take on an old song, chock full o' irony -- Flash animation to Slim Whitman's There's a Rainbow in Every Teardrop You're Cryin'.
posted by sparky on Sep 6, 2002 - 2 comments