72 Hits of the '50's with Jeff Conaway (Record Offer, 1978)

Here's a record offer commercial for a four-record LP compilation, headlined as 72 Hits of the '50's, with Jeff Conaway from the Broadway production of Grease (before he appeared in the 1978 movie version, and way before landing a supporting role in the TV series Taxi) and Elaine Petricoff (currently on the faculty of AMDA College).
This set - actually titled The First Authentic 1950's Rock & Roll Collection (www.discogs.com...) and in print, at that point, since at least 1972 (the year Grease first opened on Broadway) - also has a few 1960-63 (pre-Beatles) tracks, thus this isn't a strictly '50's compilation album.
Tunes excerpted in this ad (played way up in pitch, by about 4 to 5 percent) include "Baby Oh Baby" by The Shells, "One Summer Night" by The Danleers, "Lover Please" and (a re-recorded version of) "A Lover's Question" by Clyde McPhatter, "Hushabye" by The Mystics, "Little Darlin' " and "The Stroll" by The Diamonds, "Just to Be With You" by The Passions, "Sea of Love" by Phil Phillips, "He's So Fine" by The Chiffons, "A Little Bit of Soap" by The Jarmels, "Earth Angel" by The Penguins, "The Great Pretender" by The Platters, and "You Cheated" by The Shields. Other tracks mentioned in the lower-half credit roll include "Imagination" by The Quotations, "Down the Isle of Love" by The Quin-Tones, "I'm Just a Dancing Partner" and "On My Word of Honor" by The Platters, "Memory Serenade" by King Curtis, "Rock 'N Roll Revival" by The Five Discs, "I Wonder Why" by Dion and The Belmonts, "A Sunday Kind of Love" by The Harptones, "Angels in the Sky" by The Crew-Cuts, "More Tequilla[sic]" by The Wailers, "Ding Dong" by Tony Orlando, "Oh What a Night" by The Shells, "The Wanderer" by Dion, "Heaven and Paradise" by The Meadowlarks, "She's Gone" and "Somewhere" by The Five Satins, "Ballad of a Boy and Girl" by The Graduates, "There's a Moon Out Tonight" by The Capris, "Come Dance With Me" by The Tokens, "Great Balls of Fire" by Jerry Lee Lewis, "My Boyfriend's Back" by The Angels, "I Only Want You" by The Passions, "I Pray (For You)" by The Moonglows, "I'll Be Forever Loving You" by The Fascinations, and "Hey Senorita" by The Penguins.
Ending voiceover by Jack Reynolds.
We saw a version of this commercial way back when in a shabbily constructed re-creation of a Roller Super Stars broadcast that someone made (20 seconds into this clip www.fuzzymemori.... The picture quality was so poor that I never noticed it was Jeff Conaway of Grease and Taxi fame. I wonder when this commercial was originally produced. Perhaps during Jeff's time as an original member of the Grease Broadway musical, pre-movie?
This copy of the commercial came right at the very end of an EIAJ recording which is why it is breaking up at the end. I'm sure some day I'll find a better copy.
"72! Dig it, baby..."
This aired on local Chicago TV on Wednesday, February 15th 1978 a little after 7pm.
About The Museum of Classic Chicago Television:
The Museum of Classic Chicago Television's primary mission is the preservation and display of off-air, early home videotape recordings (70s and early 80s, primarily) recorded off of any and all Chicago TV channels; footage which would likely be lost if not sought out and preserved digitally. Even though (mostly) short clips are displayed here, we preserve the entire broadcasts in our archives - the complete programs with breaks (or however much is present on the tape), for historical purposes. For information on how to help in our mission, to donate or lend tapes to be converted to DVD, and to view more of the 4,000+ (and counting) video clips available for viewing in our online archive, please visit us at:
www.fuzzymemori...

[@barryrogers7554]

I was around 7 or 8 years old when this commercial first aired in 1972 or '73. This ad turned me on to 1950s rock and roll and made me the oldies fan I still am today. I never thought I would see it again. God bless you for bringing back a cherished childhood memory.

[@mr.djcooncoon8196]

Me too Barry...Are you from Brooklyn too?

[@eddysokoloff8738]

Check the legs, they're like a form of tarnished polythene! And Conoway, set in Grease lol

[@danieltucker4821]

I knew this commercial was much earlier than 1978 as I also remember seeing it as a kid in the early '70's.

[@johnrenteria75]

cashing in on the American Graffiti, Happy days & Grease era... I miss the 70s when the oldies station played 50s rock n roll music

[@rudedog4]

Yeah, me too.

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

@@rudedog4 Me too. Now 20 years ago was 2001.

[@bryanhutchens1812]

well, you know youre getting old when music u remember new, is now on the classic rock stations

[@anonuser5852]

They don’t even have “oldies” stations anymore, they’re all “classic hits” stations that play 70’s/80’s pop. You have to either have satellite radio or get WAY out into the boonies to find an actually oldies station anymore. Oddly, I was playing around with a radio app a year or two ago and it seems like there are still a lot of oldies stations in Europe, though.

[@mr.djcooncoon8196]

@@ChristopherSobieniak WCBS-FM (101.1 FM) the oldies station in NYC was done by 2004...Was a one time powerhouse FM station since 1972...All the listeners and DJs passed away...

[@jessegarcia2458]

Jeff Conway played the lead in the Broadway of grease..Before it became a movie.

[@rudedog4]

After all these years i still remember almost every word of this commercial. I Saw it everyday back in the mid 70's watching Channel 52 in L.A. after school shows, Speed Racer, The Little Rascals, Kimba, Ultraman and Johnny Socko and his Flying Robot. Damn i'm old.

[@mr.djcooncoon8196]

Yes...I was a big Kimba fan in the 60s as a 3 yo...

[@cristopherderose]

I thought I was the only one!

[@shawnmalone9711]

This was on TV in So. California 1972-1975. My mom bought this album. She said it reminded her of high school record hops.

[@joeambrose3260]

It saids '78. WTF ?

[@shawnmalone9711]

@@joeambrose3260 This commercial was on TV until 1978. This commercial was based on the wave of nostalgia for the 1950s in the 1970s. People were yearning for a simpler time before the agonies of Vietnam , riots in the cities and Watergate. My mom sent away for this album in 1973, because there were songs she remembered from junior high school and high school in the 1950s. This commercial was on several channels in Southern California: Channel 5 , KTLA , Los Angeles , Channel 9, KHJ , Los Angeles , Channel 11, KTTV, Los Angeles , Channel 13 , KCOP , Los Angeles and Channel 52 , KBSC , Kaiser- Corona. I was around and can vouch it was on TV in the early 1970s.😃

[@joeambrose3260]

@@shawnmalone9711 Thanks. I asked for it and you delivered and then some. Now I'm wondering if Jeff got GREASE on Broadway by someone seeing this or vice - versa. Oy vey !

[@shawnmalone9711]

@@joeambrose3260 I think he was already in the play "Grease". Check out the side of his car, it has the word " Grease" painted on the side. You can do a Google search for the Play "Grease", 1972, to see if Jeff Conaway was in the stage production.

[@shawnmalone9711]

@@joeambrose3260 Go to a video called The Life and Sad Ending of Jeff Conaway. I think you 'll find out what you need to know.

[@theobvious1262]

This was one of the best 50s compilation albums available in the 70s. In Canada, I remember seeing it much earlier than 1978 - maybe 1975. Jeff Conaway was pretty cool as the "greaser"

[@mayavenuemisfit814]

This commercial first aired in the States in the early 1970s, with the original price being $6.98 for albums and $9.98 for 8-track tapes. By the time of this particular airing in '78, obviously the prices had increased to keep pace with inflation. I believe Fuzzy has a recording of the original cut, on one of the Roller Super Stars commercial breaks on this channel.

[@rodneykingston6420]

Boy, I remember this so clearly that I know this commercial must have ran for years, and much earlier than 1978! It brought me my Abbot and Costello movies on KPLR-TV Channel 11 in St. Louis on Saturday mornings.

[@fromthesidelines]

SURE, I REMEMBER THIS ONE!!! Also appeared on several independent New York TV stations, too....

[@wmbrown6]

What P.O. box number and zip would they have used? Obviously different from Chicago . . .

[@mr.djcooncoon8196]

WNEW Metromedia channel 5 in NYC....Mostly on weekends...

[@dianaparker4807]

@@mr.djcooncoon8196 I remember this commercial from the 70s when I was very little. Like 1973 or something. It aired on WNEW channel 5 in NYC.

[@crossbronx63]

Wow I was 11 living in the Bronx. We had a b&w tv so this is my first time seeing this in color

[@bryanhutchens1812]

i was 10 and remember this commercial so clear

[@chipdrusano]

My name “Chip” was a popular boy’s name in the 50s & 60s!

[@dianaparker4807]

Jeff Conaway was essentially living in the 50s for an entire decade between being in Grease on Broadway for years and making movie etc.

[@maynardsmoreland]

I remember this commercial well. It aired in the San Francisco bay area as early as 1973 or so. I recall that it was around the time the show "Happy Days" started, and that was in 1974.

[@goldbergje]

Yes, I remember it airing earlier than '78. Around '75 or so in local markets. Great stuff.

[@shawnmalone9711]

@@FuzzyMemoriesTV Yes , you are right. Maybe Chicago got this commercial a few years after it played on TV in Los Angeles. Thank you for uploading this video , I never thought I would see this commercial again. My mom sent away for this album in 1973 and she really enjoyed it. I' m sad because I grew up listening to oldies but now in 2020 , these songs aren't played on the radio stations in Los Angeles. You have to listen to satellite radio or KZbin to listen to Oldies but Goodies.

[@mr.djcooncoon8196]

I remember as a 10 yo listening to Doo Wop on WCBS 101 in NYC during that short mid 70s 50s craze...

[@smichelle65]

@@shawnmalone9711 These were the songs that played on oldies station K-EARTH 101 A.M. when I was a kid in the 70s (mom had her car radio set to that station). Now, K-EARTH's "oldies" are songs from the 90s!

[@ertznay3142]

If someone were to release the equivalent of this album today, those kids would be waxing nostalgic over songs from 2002.

[@usa02]

The late Jack Reynolds (who provided the ending voiceover for this commercial) was a staff announcer at WUAB Channel 43 in Cleveland, Ohio from 1968 to 1987.

[@ADAMSIXTIES]

Grew up watching this commercial. Never knew that was Jeff Conaway (Bobby Wheeler in Taxi). 72, dig it baby!

[@cristopherderose]

I remember this being played in the Los Angeles market, as well!

[@visaman]

If this was produced in '72 hence the reference to 72 hits, the the songs would have been 14 or 15 years old at that time. So, if a similar commercial was produced today, the songs would be from the early 2000s.

[@enricosanchez894]

Nostalgia for the early 2000s? That's pretty funny.

[@AndrewVOdom]

Enrico Sanchez : and will never happen...They are trying but even nostalgic kids (now parents) who came of age in the early 2000’s know that music has very little staying power...vs ‘50s to mid -70s...

[@imasonofadeadbeat2928]

The world will come to an end before today's shit becomes nostalgic.

[@Savadorason1]

-This commercial makes me smile. Almost seemed to really be from the 50s. But this came on tv around 1972 or 73, not 1978. But even though the 50s weren't that far back back then, there was already a kind of home sickness for those days, more than any other decade before or since, with a possible exception of the 80s. lol

[@FuzzyMemoriesTV]

Read the video description. Never said the commercial was produced in 1978. This aired on local Chicago TV on Wednesday, February 15th 1978 a little after 7pm.

[@Savadorason1]

The Museum of Classic Chicago Television (www.FuzzyMemories.TV) -Then re-read what ya wrote. Says 1978. What are people going to go by if they don't already know any different. I distinctly remember this from the early 70s being that I was still in school then, when this came on.

[@smichelle65]

Thanks for posting this; I was just looking for this commercial last week. I remember this airing around 1975 or 76, and I will say that this is the clearest I've ever seen this commercial (it always aired on very low-frequency UHF channels)

[@rudedog4]

That's where i remember it from too.

[@mayavenuemisfit814]

Many independent television stations on the higher numbers of the UHF dial depended on commercials like this to survive and make money.

[@montauk6]

I THOUGHT that was Jeff Conaway at the time, thanks for uploading this memory and confirming!!!!

[@mr.djcooncoon8196]

This commercial ran at least for 5 years from 1972 on starting when I was about 8 yo...I didn't know this was Jeff Conaway until recently, he was pretty good here. I remember seeing this mostly on the weekends on channel 5 WNEW Metromedia (we lived in Brooklyn)...I never forgot her saying: THE FIVE SATINS...I remember my mother saying the girl looked like her greaser friend "Chickie" (real name Zelda)....

[@bowmanka]

72, Dig it Baby!

[@DinkErie814]

I remember seeing this on old WXIX Cincinnati tape from the mid 70's that my buddy's dad had laying around. There was no 1 800 number though, you called a 513 area code to buy these. Now you can order this stuff on the internet. Lol

[@GregoryBoydmusic]

We used to Peel out ...Dig it baby!!! Love this. My Uncle love the Dig it baby line. Wow flashback!

[@dannystrat]

I've been looking for this commercial since I got online! Great to see it again! There seems to be MANY songs from the early 60s here, though! Not entirely 50s.

[@Johnnyboy792]

My family actually ordered these and it was a lot earlier. Closer to 1974 :)

[@3cheaptrick]

This came out in 1974 .

[@FuzzyMemoriesTV]

Read the video description. Never said the commercial was produced in 1978. This aired on local Chicago TV on Wednesday, February 15th 1978 a little after 7pm.

[@natashazent919]

Johnnyboy792 .o

[@carolleslie517]

Conaway is so young here!

[@ericktapia4687]

@@FuzzyMemoriesTV whats the song at 1:32?

[@ADAMSIXTIES]

72. Dig it baby! Save seyodie charges. I didn't know what that was when I used to watch these things.

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

C.O.D. That means "Cash On Delivery", meaning you pay after it was delivered.

[@aboxofbroken8tracks983]

I never noticed until now that it actually says "Grease" in cursive script on the car door. I guess the connection to the 1972 Broadway production couldn't be clearer than that!

[@philipdefibaugh5683]

Jack Reynolds was a voice-over artist who also worked briefly as a color commentator for WWE and was the father of WJW TV 8 personality Tony Rizzo.

[@rjm1403]

72 .. Dig it Baby

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

My parents got this album!

[@elijahvincent985]

Later the same year, he'd desperately try to answer the question "What does the yellow light mean?" on a certain sitcom that collects fare for riding around.

[@machinegunfrank1693]

Wow, I remember this!

[@rbjnla]

"72, dig it Baby"

[@giselestrauch5146]

this is a great find of jeff he was on happy days in 1976! as a bully!!

[@bababobo9016]

Jeff conaway - kenickie from grease

[@3cheaptrick]

The First Authentic 1950's Rock & Roll Collection on Juke Box Records in 1974 not 72 Hits that the ad says but and easier way to write it down on paper when ordering when the ad came up on the TV in the 70's with no VCR or DVR to record it and play it back like today .....There are two different front covers of the Greaser on front one has him in the middle as seen here and another has him off to the right with a pink or red background and the records came in box sets with a book about Rock N Roll History or they would come in a double gate fold jacket storing all four records without the book .... The sound quality was not that great in this set on some recordings you would hear shifting from the left to the right channel on some mono songs that were not necessary at all it was just to give you that { Stereo ] effect and most of those songs were not big hits like the ones you heard in this ad so you bought a four record set of 72 song for $9.95 in the Seventies and you got what you paid for dig it or not baby ....

[@dgtileco]

I agree with maynard..1972 or 73.Bay Area on KTVU 2

[@rrobinette3552]

I remember this commerical watched it on cable tv (Morro Bay, CA). It was on KTVU bay area tv station. I remember paying the postman cash for this when it arrived.

[@kamdan2011]

Does the car have GREASE written on the side of it?

[@realrealonerealrealone2182]

And he still looks high😊

[@ftsjr]

This wasn't 1978. It was more like 1972 or so.

[@FuzzyMemoriesTV]

Airdate, not production date.

[@al18631963]

I remember this commercial What's the girl name in the commerical and did she do anything else after this commerical

[@FuzzyMemoriesTV]

Read the video description.

[@nickhaag2660]

i HAD THIS most of the songs were badly edited

[@newdomtanner]

This was earlier than '78. I'd say '74-'75????

[@jessecoffey4737]

These are pitched up so high you'd suspect they were soundalikes!

[@orangehornet57]

I remember this commercial too. The longest line I've ever been in to see a movie was Grease. But we had to see another movie before Jaws. This sounds like a good collection. However, some artists such as Elvis probably weren't included. Would this have been one of the first such collections to include remakes?

[@bachrocktheamericahatersan5799]

+orangehornet57 I imagine The Colonel wouldn't allow his Elvis on this compilation.

[@pacochamaco5552]

+orangehornet57 No Key Seven remakes here- these are all the real deal, so order yours today!

[@DinkErie814]

At 1:24 Did anybody else notice the fake New York/New Jersey accent?

[@ericktapia4687]

What's the song at 1:32?

[@imasonofadeadbeat2928]

You Cheated by the Shields (1958)

[@ericktapia4687]

What’s the song in 1:33 like the singer??

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

You Cheated by The Shields

[@bryanhutchens1812]

i wonder if i sent 10.00 if id still get the records. lol

[@chuggachuggawoowoo]

Try it

[@charliecastillo9795]

whose the girl?

[@pacochamaco5552]

+Charlie Castillo Probably somebody's grandma by now! :D

[@FuzzyMemoriesTV]

Read the video description.

[@ericktapia4687]

Whats the song on 1:32? Someone tell me

[@enricosanchez894]

Just some bimbo they found.

[@imasonofadeadbeat2928]

@@ericktapia4687 You Cheated by The Shields (1958).

[@yepitsme3336]

This is so cringeworthy lol

[@bryanhutchens1812]

i was 10 and remember this commercial so clear