In the early 1990s, Capcom produced a video game for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) titled The California Raisins: The Grape Escape,[12] in which the player controlled a California Raisin through five side-scrolling levels battling various evil fruit and vegetable characters that have stolen the Raisins' music. The California Dancing Raisins ad has been called one of the best of all time. I mean. SW: Those people started calling CALRAB and the ad agency, asking when and where the ad would play again. BK: You gotta have consensus. The success of the dancing raisins exposed fractures in the industry which had been forming just under the surface for decades. In The Simpsons episode "'Tis the Fifteenth Season", The California Raisins were spoofed as The California Prunes, on a special entitled Christmas with the California Prunes. And they were hearing from those ingredient customers that they had an issue with the ads: BK: Some large customers felt they were paying for it. I heard it through the grapevine. To access our initial disclosure document, please click, Get the item you ordered or your money back. If no one liked it, the raisin industry could not get that money back. Lead vocals in the group were sung by musician Buddy Miles. There is also some good news though! They have two big jobs. California Raisins T-shirt ~ I Heard It Through The Grapevine ~ Claymation 80s. SW: His boss had him working mostly on trade adsstuff for industry publications not the kind of campaigns you or I would ever see in a commercial or on a billboard. [6] It wasn't at The Fillmore in San Francisco or the Troubadour in LA. CH: This episode was reported and produced by Sarah Wyman, with Julia Press and me, Charlie Herman. And then it clicked on me that it was like, 'oh, this is a real song, like not a California Raisins song.'. SPEAKER ONE: It was like a Mr. "The Raisins opened up a floodgate everything had to be personified," Vinton told Food & Winelast year. And though the process is time-consuming and expensive, Werner's performance managed to win them over. CALRAB and the commercials it paid for represented the entire industry. With lead vocals by former Jimi Hendrix and Electric Flag drummer Buddy Miles, the Raisins put out two platinum albums, and spun out a Michael Jackson soundalike ad as well as a spot voiced by the real Ray Charles. Vinton and his team hired human dancers to make the Raisins's dance moves look realistic. [16], In 2002, the Food Network program Unwrapped featured a segment on The California Raisins featuring interviews with Will Vinton, David Altschul, and Mark Gustafson of Vinton Studios. Listen to music by California Raisins on Apple Music. [9] Blackthorne Publishing also released a six-issue comic book series entitled The California Raisins 3-D which included 3D glasses; these would later be re-released in the Ultimate Collection trade paperback. But actually to me, one of the most interesting parts of that story was this little section on the California Dancing Raisins ads from the '80s. They were the California Raisins. VINTAGE THE CALIFORNIA RAISINS 1987 YELLOW PLASTIC LUNCHBOX WITH THERMOS, California Raisins Trumpet Figure 1988 Applause Calrab 80s PVC Vintage, CALIFORNIA RAISINS RUDY BAGAMAN, BANANA WHITE & LICK BROCCOLI FIGURES (JES33). KB: I'll never forget, he was a handsome guy, had white shoes on, no socks, had an earring in this ear, he had the ghetto blaster up on his shoulders, and he turns it on and it's "Heard It Through the Grapevine.". "We decided that we wanted the raisins to be cool and a bit intimidating," Werner said. Between 12th and 14th Streets SW: When the Dancing Raisins ad stopped airing, Sunmaid's share of direct raisin saleslike in boxes on grocery store shelvesactually increased. SW: Big ingredient customers could actually look up in state records how much money, per ton, raisin packers were paying CALRAB. SW: Between 1986 and 1992, the Dancing Raisins raked in more than 7 million dollars in licensing fees. Ended: 27 Feb, 2023 23:10:08 GMT. I mean, you can imagine that! Done. SW: The raisins dance around on the lid of his grand piano while he belts out the band's catchphrase: AD SIX: Oh I heard it through the grapevine! Sunmaid had always been the golden child, and now, they were making off with the family fortune. KB: Once we started the Dancing Raisins, people were going to the store asking for Dancing Raisin raisins, and there weren't any! Can you just give me an assignment? But thanks to the California Raisins, its now commonplace to see ads that include anthropomorphized food or candy. And on top of everything else, he says there's one subject of conversation that just won't drop. Today, the story of the California Dancing Raisins. But anyway, there's this one line in the story that implies that even though the ad went on to be super successful, even though you and I still remember it all these years later, it may have precipitated some really huge divisions within the raisin industry. Vintage California Raisins Posable, Puppets, Bank, Wind up toy. This special saw the Raisins hiring a new manager with the goal of making a comeback. Go directly to shout page. 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. SPEAKER ONE: Like obviously, they're raisins, but it just didn't occur to me that like this was a tool to get you to eat like what you see in boxes of raisins. SW: I was not even alive when most of those ads aired, and I had the same experience. And most of the people spending millions of dollars don't want to know there are two guys sitting in a back room trying to make each other laugh and come up with this stuff, but that is what we did. Which meant packers couldn't slap a Dancing Raisin on their packaging or use the characters in ads unless they got their idea approved by the board. ROSS VANNELLI: Well how about doing an album? Condition: Used. There were California Raisins lunchboxes, then Hardee's started handing out plastic Raisins figurines with Cinnamon 'n' Raisin biscuits. A new version of Last.fm is available, to keep everything running smoothly, please reload the site. Like, when Ray Charles had starred in his ad, he agreed to do a cross-country public relations tour, promoting the health and goodness of California raisins. So, give them raisins! Get instant explanation for any acronym or abbreviation that hits you anywhere on the web! The ads storyboards were pretty simple: A bunch of raisins dance in a line across the screen, grooving to the Motown sound that had been rejuvenated by the success of The Big Chills 6 million-selling soundtrack. I says, 'in Canada? SW: Barry Kriebel became President of Sunmaid Raisins in February of 1986, one year before Ross Vannelli produced his album, and right as the California Raisins were in liftoff. How would the assessment be collected? And if the California raisin family wanted to avert economic disaster, it needed to band together and find a way to sell more raisins. If you need to request an image for publication or other use, please visit Rights and Reproductions. If you need to request an image for publication or other use, please visit Rights and Reproductions. Their cover of Marvin Gaye's &, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Unlike the smaller brands in the industry, it could afford to pay for that space. You don't, right? It's being threatened by growing raisin production in other countries. Listen on:Apple Podcasts |Stitcher | Spotify |and more. SW: Matthew says, whether or not the dancing raisins are part of the industry's future, he remains optimistic. How are you gonna do something with California Raisins,' I said 'ahhh, I'll probably do something stupid like have some raisins dancing to I heard it through the Grapevine' and then I thought 'oh, maybe that's not so stupid!'. 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. Dancing Raisins Heard It Through the Grapevine. SW: So a couple of months ago, I read this New York Times article that sort of started it all for me. You're over. WERNER: We want sunglasses on them, I want to put them in Converse sneakers, but untie the laces, and they gotta look hip, basically. SW: Let me explain. Like the whole body was just a head, with arms and legs waving about. Top editors give you the stories you want delivered right to your inbox each weekday. SW: Then, you've got nature to think about. Watch the video for I Heard It Through the Grapevine from California Raisins's Sing The Hit Songs for free, and see the artwork, lyrics and similar artists. CH: From Business Insider. CH: But while the ad made the dancing California raisins cool did it do anything for actual California raisins? The classic about a man who finds out his woman is cheating on him was written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong. 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. They even earned an Emmy nomination! And so he says, 'Ok fine. McCartney. AD FIVE: Honey, are you playing with your food again? The California Raisins are often accompanied by a soundtrack of "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," originally popularized by singer Marvin Gaye. Box Office Software produced a different, unrelated California Raisins computer game in 1988 for the Apple II, Commodore 64, and PC compatibles. BK: Well, the simplest way to answer that is, 'how do you define success?' Like the Archies before them, the imaginary band was a hit. And since they were already touring the country, at least on TV screens, there was only one logical next step. These wildly popular clay animation raisins grew into far more than their creators had ever dreamed of. The growers are the ones with the vines. KB: Grape and raisin grower. Did it, uh, did it drive up the price of raisins? Scrobble, find and rediscover music with a Last.fm account, Do you know any background info about this track? Today, it would go viral. Some user-contributed text on this page is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. Vocals were sung by musician Buddy Miles. SW: Did it feel at any point while you were working on this album like you were making an ad for raisins? They needed to be the life of the snack bar. SETH WERNER: It wasn't back then, and it still isn't now. KB: Whereas the packer is the middleman buying it from him, processing it, selling it, shipping it into trade and hoping to make a profit. A short time after that, he sat in a studio and sang the words into a microphone while strumming his guitar along with a few friends. SW: But you know who was on that shelf? 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. Costume, Occasion & Specialized Clothing, Shoes & Accessories, Mobile Phones, Smart Watches, Accessories & Communication, Bathroom Fixtures, Accessories & Supplies, Industrial Printing & Graphic Arts Equipment, Shaving & Hair Removal Products & Equipment, The California Raisi - I Heard It Through The Grapevine - Used Vinyl - E8100A, eBay (UK) Limited is an appointed representative of, Learn more about Product Partnerships Limited - opens in a new window or tab. WERNER: 'Our thanks again on behalf of Paul McCartney. So, CALRAB proposed this big advertising campaign, with national TV commercials. And this is what I told him. Audiences quickly connected with the Raisins authentic R&B sound, and The California Raisins version of "Grapevine" even reached No. 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. High-top sneakers, sunglasses, and endless swagger. Your email address will not be published. The California Raisins are often accompanied by a soundtrack of "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," originally popularized by singer Marvin Gaye. They weren't in the shelf. The mockumentary-style show created a full backstory about the bands rise to stardom and delved into the histories of each of the individual Raisins, who had names by this pointA.C., Beebop, Stretch, and Red. 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. And apparently, making a clay "King of Pop" was a whole 'nother can of worms. It began to cost CALRAB too much to market the Raisins, and the public moved on. It keeps you in shape. Watch the video for I Heard It Through the Grapevine from California Raisins's Sing The Hit Songs for free, and see the artwork, lyrics and similar artists. What's the message? If you have more stories to share, call us anytime. SPEAKER FIVE: They just made raisins and dried fruit in general seem really, really hip. Eligibility determined at checkout. 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. Because, in Fresno, California Raisins has always meant something bigger than a couple of claymation figurines singing "I Heard It Through the Grapevine.". The tape was rewound and the presentation repeated.". On the table below them. The raisin packers didn't reach this decision because anyone had anything against the ad, or because licensing fees had stopped rolling in, or even because raisin sales were down. : But you know any background info about this track and Reproductions 6 ] was... 'Nother can of worms popular clay animation Raisins grew into far more than 7 million dollars in licensing fees,. General seem really, really hip about doing an album the industry, it afford... 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