by BeckEye from The Pop Eye
As those of you who read my blog know, I post a "Forgotten Classic Video" every week. When I came across this old commercial on Facebook today, I considered posting it as my forgotten classic, even though it isn't technically a video. (Even if it is more "'80s video" than any '80s video I've ever seen.) Luckily, I have this blog as an outlet too, because I couldn't NOT post this thing of beauty. If you were alive in 1985, there is no reason why you shouldn't remember this. It is the most awesome car commercial ever for one of the least awesome cars ever - the Plymouth Duster.
Seriously, who writes jingles like that anymore? How do you even fit the words "my Plymouth Turismo Duster" into a song and make it sound good?? This is, like, 100 times better than that craptastic new American Idol single.
I used to love this commercial so much. I knew all the words and sang it all the time. And I wanted nothing more than to finally reach driving age so I could buy a Duster of my own and zoom off into some bitchin' world that looked like the "What About Love" set, where everyone knew how to do splits and flips and wore the coolest clothes.
Turns out, by the time I was able to get my own car, they had stopped making Dusters, but I did come close. My first ride was a Plymouth Reliant, known for its super-sexy boxiness. Unfortunately, it never inspired anyone to sing and dance around it. (Ah, the good ol' K-car. I destroyed that poor thing.)
I had completely forgotten that Finola Hughes was in this commercial. You know, Olivia Newton-John was always my idol, but Finola just shot up in my estimation. I mean, she got to do the Duster commercial and dance with a loincloth-clad John Travolta. I would never complain about my life if I had those two totally rad items on my résumé. So, I certainly don't feel bad that she's stuck on that stupid How Do I Look? show now (if that's even still on).
I'm sure that's not Finola singing though (I read an interview where she admits to having a horrible voice), and I've been Googling like mad trying to uncover the voice behind the curtain with no luck. If anyone knows, do tell. You'll be my hero.
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4 comments:
The absolute coup de gras of the whole thing for me was taking the picture with the Polaroid camera.
Perfect Becky, just perfect! Thanks for this trip down memory lane.
Ah, the Polaroid.
To put it in perspective, though, I didn't see my first CD (as in "compact disk") until somewhere around 1988 or so. This was still back in the Walkman era of cassette tapes... According to the Innernets Microsoft Windows 1.0 was introduced in November, 1985, priced at $100 (that's like, $250 in today's so-called "money").
I kinda miss the 80s.
Awesome! Now I'll have that in my head all day
OHMYGOD How did I miss this? And thank you SO much for confirming my excited suspicion that the "star" was Finola Hughes! I loved her in General Hospital.
I love the vocal on this too--especially the hernia-inducing "in my duster--MY DUSTER!"
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