RCA VideoDiscs 1981 opening in mono and stereo

This is the 1st version opening for RCA SelectaVision videodiscs featuring an edited rendition of Isao Tomita's "Promenade" from his electronic interpretation of "Pictures at an Exhibition" by Modest Mussorgsky.
This video clip features the original monaural sound and a remastered stereo track that I have furnished for this clip.
The opening was sourced from a monaural CED copy of "Tora! Tora! Tora!"
The videodisc was played on an RCA SJT-200 CED VideoDisc player.

[@TimelordUK]

God bless Tomita. Wonderful musician.

[@User0000000000000004]

LAWL! Not even joking, my cats LOVE this intro! Each time I play it, they'll come from anywhere in the house they're resting and look at the TV. I don't know what it is about the sound, but they LOVE it! I've never seen this behavior before or since with any other media, only this. ???????

[@matthewschreck6418]

I still remember when my Dad brought home the RCA videodisc player. He bought it as soon as it came out. They were significantly less expensive than VCRs. The movies cost a third of a VHS title. The pictures was better than VHS too. The first movie we rented was "Heaven can Wait". The first time I saw this introduction the hair stood up on the back of my neck!

[@raoulbasurto]

I feel you. This totally sent me back to my childhood. My mom also bought it right away. I do remember there weren’t too many titles published. I only remember 2 of them: she bought me Peanuts’ Little Red Hair Girl and she bought for herself the Gisselle Ballet. This intro song has been playing on my head for decades. Can’t describe what I felt as I listened to it again.

[@User0000000000000004]

Anybody else remember looking at catalogues of VHS titles in the early 80s and seeing copies of movies for like $500? Back then the only reason to purchase movies was for rental purposes. I'd be surprised if many people remember the world before home video rental and how unbelievable cool you were if you had a copy of a recent movie on VHS. A friend of mine's family owned a little video store (pre-Blockbuster) and would always get us stuff. I was the coolest kid on my block.

[@Militaria_Collector]

Ahhh heaven can wait!!!! Warren Beatty! Such a good movie! We had a selectaVision also. And war of the worlds terrified me as a kid.

[@TheGlitchyMario]

I grew up way after the CED, so I never had one. Years ago, my dad brought up his player once, and I remembered a technology connections video on it, and rewatched it, and thought it was interesting. This summer, I found one at a garage sale for 5$, and I scooped it up. It was beat up, and had melted belts, but I was able to fix it up. Thus, I became obsessed with the format. Then my uncle said that his neighbor found one in their closet. I got that player, along with a lot of the exact same disks my dad watched as a kid. I am still waiting for parts to fix the player, and my dad ordered some disks off eBay that he remembered. The CED is my favorite video format ever. It may have failed, but it tried, and is super interesting because of it.

[@steadfastcoward]

Of course you have the entire Tomita album to edit from, as RCA did, he was their artist.

[@ctg8563]

I want an 10 hour version. It's that satisfying

[@dpchase84]

CTG85 let’s make it. I loooooooooove it. I would watch it.

[@joeplavin]

It’s from mussgorsky’s pictures at an exhibition

[@alexkuhn5078]

Anyone feel like this intro goes from totally 90s to totally 70s all of a sudden?

[@1234-z8x]

Alex Kuhn well it was from the 80s, so it's between those time periods

[@ynjlky7121]

Tomita's recording was also from 70's but CED SelectaVision discs and players were never released here in Japan(Hitachi manufactured the CED players for exporting outside Japan). Victor/JVC invented their own similar-looking but completely different VHD videodisc.

[@nickallen4127]

@@ynjlky7121 Does This Appear on FHE CEDs?

[@mosesjones5376]

It does feel that way. The first part feels 90s while the ending part when it says "A Selectavision VideoDisc Presentation" suddenly feels 70s.

[@martyjackson4166]

More 70s than 90s I’d say. Since the CED was released in 1981, this animation was probably made in 1979 or 1980, so it is pretty much a 1970s animation. Even if it was in 1980, 1980 was still essentially the 1970s in most regards, just with less disco in the US.

[@mylesmccloud8746]

Headphones recommended for best results.

[@3bydacreekside]

Yeah I forgot I needed a head there for a second.

[@multiverseone8115]

@@3bydacreekside a head 🤣

[@mana_beast_beats1114]

Why do the notes sound so familiar.

[@TravisTarrant]

We had a video disc player and we loved it. Thanks for sharing this.

[@MW-qt9ts]

I was sitting here forever thinking, 'WHERE HAVE I HEARD THIS?!' while listening to this on repeat. I finally remember. Neil Cicierega - Promenade (Satellite Pictures at an Exhibition) I hate myself.

[@B_Estes_Undegöetz]

RCA lifted this from the tune from the “Promenade I” in Modest Mussorgsky’s 1874 composition entitled “Pictures at an Exhibition for Piano”. I don’t know the name of the artist who adapted it for RCA, however.

[@MW-qt9ts]

@@B_Estes_Undegöetz Fair enough but it's certainly not why I knew it.

[@Eliotime3000]

@@B_Estes_Undegöetz The artist was Isao Tomita.

[@cade32X]

SOME SOME SOME SOME SOME SOME SOME SOME SOME SOME SOME SOME SOME HEY NOW

[@Reed488]

Did anybody else hear this theme in the S2E9 of "BoJack Horseman" ("The Shot") when Princess Caroline traveled into her fantasyland? If they included that music as an homage directly to RCA SelectaVision and not to Tomita's "Promenade," I will consider it the most brilliantly and hilariously-obscure reference I have ever encounted in a television show or movie.

[@jimmymoon6007]

Considering it was also used as the theme to The New Statesman, I wouldn't be surprised if it was just used as a piece of music. But one can hope.

[@1000davetron]

You know, I had the same thought when I saw that episode!

[@Fighthouse154]

The difference from mono to stereo is amazing

[@breadmoneyarchival]

Tomita’s rendition of Pictures at an Exhibition brought me here.

[@xmvirus202]

The stereo remaster sounds amazing, thanks for posting this!

[@SanderOlbermann]

My second favorite version of pictures at an exhibition. The first being ELP's.

[@o0oSolidSnakeo0o]

Was gonna say the same thing

[@Zestyclose-Big3127]

Holy crap you're right. I knew they had a live album with that title but never that they actually played it. I've been missing out.

[@Maskddingo]

Good job. this is a high quality capture of the opening. Most CED's I have that contain this opening don't even play it this well. My first experience with CED was when my family took a vacation to Disney World in '86. The resort we stayed at provided a CED player in ever suit and they had an on-site rental house you could go to and get the discs. Back then, being only 6, I thought it was a laserdisc, but looking back I remember the caddies and pushing them into the player at the resort

[@brandonreina4219]

WDW (Walt Disney World) currently had a PS3 (PlayStation 3) in every room at one of the resorts in which people use Amazon to purchase classics (The Princess Diaries, Barbie and the Three Musketeers, Ice Princess, Mary Poppins, Muppets Most Wanted, Clueless, Grease, Titan A.E., Bratz, The Freshman, Grown Ups, etc) or new releases (Ralph Breaks the Internet, The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, The Grinch, etc) Once a new release (or classic) is downloaded (from the Amazon server) to the PS3 (PlayStation 3), people have a 24 hour viewing period of the movie (before it gets deleted by the studio that owns the rights)

[@Militaria_Collector]

My god... I havent heard this in probably 35 years. Wow!!!! This preceeded the opeming monologue on "war of the worlds" and i cant tell you whicj was more spooky.

[@WOSArchives]

Impressive collection. A perfect match, a Old-Skool music format and an Old-Skool video format combined to restore either one. Like a film collector finding a missing film soundtrack on disk.

[@murdaone261]

#227 #338 #325 #337 ENERGY FORT KNOX GENERAL & UNITED STATES CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE DIRECTOR LAMONTE M. WARD WITH KATLYN MONTA THOMAS MACHINE AS WELL E'0 👣 $O$ P. ADK G15L4 III.I% 93 BHB DAMU PIRU CUTTHROAT LOST DIAMOND 💎 PROGRAM TOKYO COST OF LIVING SIGNAL ♀️ D:BC PM D/AG/BB...🛰️💻🖱️💲💸💲🤌💵💷🏦💶💴🐊💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯©️™️®️🔒

[@thepirategamerboy12]

I could listen to this on a loop, and never get tired of it.

[@User0000000000000004]

Sorry, I couldn't hear you over the looping intro.

[@laservisions]

it's beautiful

[@anthonybrunotheodd]

I don’t know why but this startup sequence reminds me of the commercial for the first Mother game. The live action one with the kids.

[@ez2me2009]

I love what you did. It's amazing! Great work.

[@comettoPL]

In 1982 they abandoned this jingle - maybe it is the reason the CED failed next year...

[@AngusArtEntertainment]

Ah, the memories come rushing back!

[@KelvintoKind3]

Thanx, I love this intro a lot more than 2nd intro

[@saxongreen78]

A rather old fashioned logo from RCA...colour bars and block font a la 1968!

[@julianjv7325]

Great opening tune.

[@demolama]

Ah the sound of my childhood

[@TheMediaHoarder]

@Watcher3223 I have every CED title- the only disc containing this old intro with a stereo signal was "Memories of Videodisc" made for employees when the format was discontinued. The intro on that is not in stereo (I have the whole disc posted here.) I have the Tomita album this came from on quad 8-track!

[@erin19030]

I spent five years of my life demoing this machine to colleges, high schools and CE shows.

[@johannesdolch]

Best splash screen I have ever seen.

[@User0000000000000004]

Back then they didn't have splash screens yet. They called them Sploosh Screens. Little known fact.

[@JordanBahrPian-UkePlayer]

This now makes me think of Animusic

[@Setebos]

This would work as an opening for PBS shows. I always thought it was one of the nice things about the RCA disc system.

[@danielgrimm4441]

Major flashback I miss these days

[@anthonybrunotheodd]

The 80s?

[@Militaria_Collector]

SAME!!!!😊

[@Paladingrad1992]

The only bad thing about these discs is that as the wear out they skip just like a regular record. Still, it was so neat to have one of these back then. I still get mine out and play it every now and then.

[@scottmoore1614]

We loved it, too! I was about ten years old when my family got one back in the early 80s. There was an RCA store near our house that displayed movies from the floor to the ceiling. It was very impressive! I also remember some of them developing little skips after a while but we didn’t care! It was so cool because it was the only thing going at the time. That’s amazing that your’s still plays! The one we had, along with the plethora of movies, is still at my parents house (in the basement play room). My dad and I have often wondered if the thing would still work.

[@cedfan1]

BEEEEEEE-AUTIFUL !!! = ) THX !

[@cornishchris8404]

I like that logo

[@Ryan98063]

What on earth did they use to make those 4 chimes at the end? I can't tell if it's synthesized or just suffering from an analog artifact of a recording, like the selectavision-version hiss and squealing from a Cassette tape during periods of silence

[@User0000000000000004]

Google the various synthesizers of the day and start listening. They weren't as ubiquitous as today, shouldn't be too difficult to find the source.

[@linmagnoliaturkey]

0:38

[@elvirarinaldioficial]

Clasicos en vhs de Matias Salazar..."gracias a el por usarlo como cortina de su canal"

[@systemshocker2875]

I could have sworn one Disney tsum tsum episode had the music from this logo

[@feline2024]

Joshua Ortiz Which episode

[@systemshocker2875]

@@feline2024 not too sure

[@ChaseMC215]

That's because this is sample music

[@christopherguzman1883]

Una consulta: Isao Tomita también compuso para la presentación del logo del Pioneer Laserdisc?

[@sugarfrosted2005]

What weird thing to be referenced by Niel in mouth sounds.

[@DEEW0R]

AG Cook gang rise up

[@elvirarinaldioficial]

Like si venis por clásicos en vhs en la intro obvio

[@Les2107]

Elvira Oficial yo solo vine por la intro de cada video

[@Les2107]

Quien mas vino por mi, los argentinos¿

[@elvirarinaldioficial]

@@Les2107 🇦🇷🇦🇷🇦🇷🇦🇷

[@pookie67]

@Watcher3223 oh, it's from a "Tomita" piece, i didn't notice that. Cool

[@TylerMusicBoi]

Oh my gosh! 0:11 reminded me of The Ring! haha... good intro though. CED is definitely a unique format!

[@wf94chile]

0:11

[@dpchase84]

I never knew about this track. I come here from Technology connections. Who else?

[@the_hamrat]

Me too

[@neonthefox3550]

I certainly did too

[@stansmolin1870]

I had recognize Promenade in the Technology connections’ video immediately. I just decided to prove my guess.

[@PatFrenchLeafsFan1]

Wasn't this used on TV airings? I remember seeing that on a TV airing of Paper Moon when I was 11 to 13.

[@bluballanimations]

Is that... CCG88?

[@ma55aracin9]

check this out i've got this same ident on one of my tapings of "The Ten Commandments" -this one from 1994- when that flick aired on Univision channel 11, but without Tomita's signature fanfare to some weird editing screwup....

[@gerardosulbaran5979]

COMO SE LLAMA LA CANCION DEL OPENING GRACIAS

[@ericmodzelesky4810]

I wanted a laserdisc player.

[@Watcher3223]

I'm sure a lot of people who sunk money into buying these things new wound up saying the same thing.

[@etcetera36]

This is actually on a CED, not a LaserDisc.

[@Jaymac720]

This was for the CED, RCA’s 17 year endeavor to put video on vinyl. LaserDisc was developed by Philips MCA and was an optical analog format. Both had huge clunky discs that didn’t last all that long and were both killed by VHS and ultimately DVD

[@scottmoore1614]

We called it the RCA video disc player. My family had one growing up and we had a lot of the movies. It was great for the time (early 80s) but some did develop “skips” after a while. We still loved it because it was the ONLY thing going at the time. Eventually replaced by VHS, Laserdisc and DVD.

[@User0000000000000004]

Well I want a toilet made of solid gold but it's just not in the cards now, is it?

[@matt697845]

It just screams desperation. Slow clap for the formerly great Radio Corporation of America.

[@yolauxyz123]

wow....

[@Headroom23]

What process did you use for the remaster?

[@User0000000000000004]

LAWL!!! HAHAHA!!!!!! F'ing nothing. Remaster? LAWL!!!! Start at Wikipedia, bruv. You can't remaster video!

[@Headroom23]

@@User0000000000000004 HELLO! MCFLY! You must be stuck in 1955. Of course you can remaster video.

[@BobbieBees]

I always loved this music as a kid..... Now I have to try and track down this album...... Tomita - Pictures at an Exhibition kzbin.info/www/bejne/f4fZgoSDp6qIsLM

[@jakkakasunset5485]

When I open civilization

[@firefish4418]

M3

[@firefish4418]

2021 06 03

[@904mappy3]

キュアニッカ

[@mraiwa1000]

What is the name of this song?

[@Watcher3223]

The song's name is in the description. "Promenade" from "Pictures at an Exhibition." Specifically, the interpretation of "Picture at an Exhibition" by Isao Tomita.

[@mraiwa1000]

***** Is there a longer version?

[@Watcher3223]

mraiwa1000 Yes. The music in this video was an excerpt from the full piece. Tomita - Promenade 1

[@mraiwa1000]

But that is only 1 min long? I was asking if there was a piece that was larger? I love this song

[@Watcher3223]

That's pretty much it unless you listen to the whole album.

[@firefish4418]

Ákos

[@firefish4418]

HP

[@firefish4418]

J,,,,,

[@KC_and_Carl]

​@@firefish4418 stop

[@ironiceire]

0:28 Squid Game

[@linmagnoliaturkey]

0:39

[@linmagnoliaturkey]

0:28