Old Record World/TSS Commercials from the New Wave Era

Record World was a mall-chain record store popular in the New York/New Jersey area in the 70s and 80s. They had an amazing selection of everything from the hits of the day to obscure imports you couldn't get anywhere else. My uncle was a manager at the one in the old Mid Island Plaza (now the Broadway Mall) in Hicksville during the shop's heyday in the era of New Wave, just when mall culture was hitting its stride and Record World was the place where the cool, hip music kids hung out.

Record World, at least in the Tri-State area, continues to exist in some capacity, as FYE, neck and neck with J&R Music World as the last man standing in the commercial record store food chain in 2009. Record World was changed into The Wall sometime in the early 90s, which was then transformed into FYE within the last ten years. Some say it's only a matter of time before they become a victim of the recession, but as someone who visits their local FYE subsidiaries, Coconuts and CD World, in Totowa on a regular basis, those places are still hopping and their used CD selection rivals that of Vintage Vinyl, quite arguably.

In any case, enjoy these old commercials we dug up from FYE's glory days as Record World/TSS, which I personally feel grateful to have experienced firsthand as a young youth. The Yes one is great, gotta love the tomato squeeze at the beginning, there.
-Ed.

THE HOT ROCK (1972)

This amazingly underappreciated 1972 heist film starring Robert Redford and George Segal was filmed all over East Meadow, including the Nassau County Jail and Hempstead Turnpike, where during one key car chase scene, they pull into the parking lot of the old Modell's, where Home Depot is now. All done to the funky, funky soundtrack music of Quincy Jones...

Here is the trailer, which features said chase scene. Enjoy!

RIP FORTUNOFF

"It's the end of an era!" exclaims the voice on the recent spat of commercials announcing the liquidation sale of Fortunoff, a furniture/jewlery/appliance retailer who has been in business here in the Tri-State area since 1922.

It's sad to see a place you grew up going to, especially as a New Yorker, fall victim to the economy, as this guy who posted a YouTube commentary on the fall of Fortunoff so eloquently puts it.

My grandmother and mom used to take me to Fortunoff when I was a kid, and my fiancee wanted to register there for her wedding shower.

Though I might not have been a regular at Fortunoff, it's sad to see a place I remember since my youngest days go away just like that.

CORONET IN WESTBURY

Coronet on Old Country Road in Westbury was, at root, a children's furniture store, but they also had a killer toy department as well, easily one of the best on Long Island (next to Child World, of course). The first time I ever went in there I found the ultra-rare first issue Cobra Commander figure, which I was trying to find literally everywhere to no avail. I believe I also found a rare Star Wars figure in there, too, one of the Bounty Hunters from Empire, 4-LOM, maybe?

The store has been closed for well over a decade, but memories of those super-cheezy, super-on-the-cheap local commercials with those two dudes and the Coronet mother still exist for the world to see thanks to YouTube.

BAYSHORE ROLLER RINK

Long Island Oddities has a great feature photo essay on the old Bayshore Roller Rink, which apparently still stands to this day and has proven to be a hang-out spot for obnoxious kids with terrible graf skills and urban explorers alike.



Check it out along with some of their other killer spoils from their local adventures at www.lioddities.com.

WPIX Sunday Movie Commercial Break 1984

Attn: Sunday afternoon TV watchers of the 80s...Here is a seven-minute commercial break from Christmas 1984 loaded with all the classic Tri-State area based commercials, including Apex Technical School, NBO, Crazy Eddie and the Money Store, and a few national nuggets, too (holla, Rosie!).

STORYTOWN U.S.A.

Growing up, one of my favorite times of the year was when my grandfather would take me to my Aunt Madeline's house in Saratoga Springs, NY. I have been going up to Saratoga since I was a baby, and it remains arguably my favorite town in the state of New York.

Whenever we would go up to visit my aunt and cousins in Saratoga, my grandpa would take myself and one of the cousins to Lake George and Storytown USA, now known as The Great Escape/Splashwater Kingdom and a part of the Six Flags franchise. Papa used to take my mom and uncle there when they were kids, and he kept the tradition alive by bringing me during my wonder years.

If you could bottle up and sell that excitement and happiness I felt when I saw that big Storytown road sign approaching after the long car ride, I guarantee the world would be in a much better place.

A little history of the park, thanks to whoever wrote the entry on Wikipedia:

The Great Escape was opened in 1954 as Storytown USA, a Mother Goose themed amusement park by businessman Charles Wood who bought the land with his wife for $75,000.[1] In 1957, realizing that the park was geared only toward small children, the park opened its Ghosttown area, the first of many themed areas opened in the parks history.

In 1983, the park officially changed its name from Storytown USA to The Great Escape. For publicity, the park placed bumper stickers on every car in the parking lot. This practice stopped a few years later due to complaints.

In 1984, the Great Escape opened the Steamin' Demon, the first of its eventual seven roller coasters. The showpiece attraction at The Great Escape is the Comet. Re-opened at The Great Escape in 1994, this roller coaster already had a 41-year history as The Comet at Crystal Beach (an amusement park near Niagara Falls, Ontario). It was saved shortly after the park closed down forever after the 1988 season. Charley Wood, the owner of Great Escape Fun Park and Fantasy Island in Grand Island, New York successfully bid for The Comet and it sat in storage for a few years in Fantasy Island before making its way to the park in Queensbury, NY and reopening in 1993. Roller coaster enthusiasts recognize it as one of the best wooden roller coasters in North America.

In addition to typical amusement park rides the Great Escape offers a variety of unique shows, most notable of which is a high dive show featuring a team of divers scaling an 80-foot (24 m) tower and plunging into a ten foot deep pool.

Other milestones include:

* 1954 — Charles Wood opens Storytown USA.
* 1957 — Ghosttown section of the park is opened [2].
* 1960 — Jungleland section of the park is opened [3].
* 1967 — Alice in Wonderland walk through adventure is opened [4].
* 1982 — addition of about eight adult spinning rides.
* 1983 — Name change from Storytown USA to Great Escape Fun Park along with the addition of Steamin' Demon looping rollercoaster and a few other adult rides.
* 1986 — Opening of Raging River, a river-rapids water ride.
* 1994 — A used wooden track and steel frame rollercoaster called the Comet was brought from Crystal Beach, Ontario and reassembled at Great Escape and opened, giving the park three rollercoasters.
* 1995 — Great Escape opens its waterpark Splashwater Kingdom.
* 1996 — Acquisition by Premier Parks, which later bought and changed its name to Six Flags.
* 1997 — Addition of Boomerang Coast-to-Coaster(a very much duplicated ride), a forward and backward looping coaster. Was and currently is still the tallest rollercoaster at the park.
* 1998 — Addition of Alpine Bobsled, an alpine themed bobsled type rollercoaster (Previously located at Six Flags Great America from 1990 to 1995 as Rolling Thunder and Six Flags Great Adventure as Sarejevo Bobsleds from 1984-1988).
* 1999 — Addition of Nightmare at Crack Axle Canyon, a combination rollercoaster and dark ride featuring four-person cars, but only operated with two people. (Indoor Schwarzkopf Jet Star rollercoaster).
* 2003 — Addition of Canyon Blaster (Family rollercoaster by Arrow Dynamics from defunct Opryland USA).
* 2004 — The Great Escape's 50th Anniversary.
* 2005 — Debut of Looney Tunes National Park: a Looney Tunes themed children's area which included eight new children's rides (including Road Runner Express, the park's seventh rollercoaster) and a re-themed restaurant as well as a cartoon walk-through. Replaces the old Jungleland area. Accompanying Looney Tunes National Park are the Looney Tunes characters. The Flash Pass system is introduced.
* 2007 — The Tornado opens in the Splashwater Kingdom.
* 2008 — Wiggles World Children's Theme Area and The Mega Wedgie, a Proslide Bowl. At the Great Escape Lodge, The Trapper's restaurant is converted to a Johnny Rockets, serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
* 2009 - Sasquatch. A S&S Power Inc. Combo Tower. Relocated from Six Flags New Orleans.

This ride will be located where the Rainbow used to be.

In February 2006, The Six Flags Great Escape Lodge & Indoor Waterpark opened up with positive reviews and sold out weekends throughout the first month. This major addition includes a 38,000-square-foot (3,500 m2) waterpark exclusively for lodge guests. This is New York State's first indoor waterpark.

With the closure of Houston's Astroworld in 2005, the park has received the dismantled Serial Thriller (Vekoma SLC) coaster as well as their former Tidal Wave shoot-the-chutes water ride. The Great Escape's General Manager was quoted as saying, to the Queensbury Town Board, that the Tidal Wave ride was "too old" and would not be assembled in the park and to expect the Vekoma SLC to be assembled at the park.

During the 2005 season, the park introduced a new line queuing system, the "Flash Pass." For $10, guests can use Flash Passes an unlimited number of times on rides that often have long waits, including the Comet, Alpine Bobsled, Desperado (no longer Poland Springs) Plunge, Raging River, and Canyon Blaster. The park is also offering Flash Passes for free for guests wishing to ride the Nightmare, which has drastically reduced the ride's normally long wait time.

The park debuted several new features for the 2006 season. These included character greetings from the likes of the whole Justice League.

Admission prices since 2007 have been $39.99 for visitors over 48" tall at the gate ($32.99 if purchased online), $24.99 for visitors under 48" tall, $24.99 after 3:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 24.99 after 4:00 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, and free for visitors aged two and under. Season passes and group rates are available. There is also a $10 fee for parking, which a season pass can also be purchased for $30.

New for the 2007 season, The Great Escape added a Proslide Tornado water attraction to Splashwater Kingdom. This is the first renovation/adding to Splashwater Kingdom in 10 years. The Tornado will take riders through short section of enclosed slide before coming out at the top of a giant funnel. The same ride is already featured at several Six Flags parks, including Six Flags New England & Darien Lake. Along with the addition of the Tornado, the park re-themed their dive show to a pirate themed show, branded their pizza restaurant a Papa John's, and brought back the Superstars and Legends: Elvis! Show (Which featured throughout the summer not only Elvis, but also Buddy Holly, and Billy Joel) to JollyTree Theatre.


I have pictures of me chillin' at Storytown with Papa, my mom and my grandma in one of our last family outings together before my grandmother passed away, which I will post as soon as they are dug up out of storage.

In the meantime, check out these two YouTube clips I found of old super 8 reels of family trips to Storytown, one from 1966 and another from 1973, the year I was born.