History's Dumpster = GLORIOUS trash! Kitsch, music, fashion, food, history, ephemera, and other memorable and forgotten, famous and infamous pop culture junk and oddities of yesterday and today. Saved from the landfill of time...
This CD was from the Mount Vernon City Library (WA) and particularly strange because these recordings aren't even from Lionel Richie at all. The singer(s) don't even sound close to Lionel Richie. Or Diana Ross on "Endless Love".
It was released in 1993 not on Motown (Lionel Richie's home label during his '80s hit making streak), but on something called Starnice. That was the first warning sign, along with the crummy, non-descript packaging.
A Googling of Starnice reveals it to be a Hong Kong based label with other titles of presumably similar knock-off material of other acts. Regardless, the CD is a fake and not worth anyone's money unless you like really bad anonymous karaoke covers better than original hit recordings (which I'm presuming most of you don't.)
I'm also sure this wasn't intended for sale in the U.S. where recordings like this are illegal to sell unless they are marked as not the original performer on the packaging. This is how these recordings otherwise get sold in America, as worthless anonymous "tribute" albums. I can't believe there's an entire bastard subset of the music industry dedicated to this crap (I once broke off a budding relationship with someone over the fact that she bought a Glee CD - no joke.) But this disc is a flat out fraud. It promises Lionel Richie, but gives you not one, but two and possibly three, maybe even four schmucks with detectable Chinese accents.
This disc starts out with an anemic cover of "Say You Say Me", bungled up lyrics in "Hello" ("I've been alone with you inside my head".) It's just droning electronic keyboards and lame attempts at sounding like Lionel Richie.
And since it is a cheap, chintzy knockoff, I've included it for your masochistic pleasure. But most of you probably would rather have a tax audit instead of hearing this garbage.
It's 1985 and you're flipping through the late night TV channels, looking for a late movie or some kind of background noise to do whatever else. And you land on some crazy local UHF TV channel. Which is showing this infomercial.
Don't forget your "Scream Bag" (Photo: Peter L. Walsh/Baltimore or Less)
It's right here you wonder what the hell you are watching. And who (or what) the hell is Santo Gold? Is it jewelry? Some unknown rock star with a penchant for randomly screaming his own name? A factory with a boiler room office? A wrestling federation? A horror movie? A paper bag? WHAT?
I remember seeing this infomercial back then and for decades and even now, adjectives still fail me. But we aren't over yet. Here's the second half of the infomercial.
- Santo Gold was cheap steel costume jewelry coated with a microscopically thin coating of gold. People who were considering purchasing these things during the infomercial were encouraged to buy larger sets to sell at flea markets (as opposed at real jewelry stores.) They also came in spools to make custom length necklaces.
Phil Spector saw Santo Gold's look on TV, looked in the mirror and had an epiphany.
- "Santo Gold", the alleged rock star was Santo Victor Rigatuso. The creator of Santo Gold (the jewelry) and financier of an upcoming B-horror/comedy movie called Blood Circus. Rigatuso also went by the less ethnic sounding Bob Harris (are you still with me?)
To my knowledge, there were no known documented studio recordings by anyone named Santo Gold in 1985 or before. Nothing on the Billboard Top 40/Album Rock charts or radio playlists of 1984/1985 refer to Santo Gold (there was an album by Santana, but nothing from Santo Gold.) Which makes his credentials as "rock star" a stretch. And his music ("?") wasn't even rock. From the infomercials, the song he sings sounds like a jewelry advertisement as sung by Disco Tex & The Sex-O-Lettes.
- Blood Circus was the movie that was to spread the Santo Gold gospel to the masses (once the infomercial blitz had paid off, I assume.) The plot was this; Alien wrestlers come to Earth to fight human wrestlers and promptly devour them before defeating them (rather than the more traditional method of defeating them before devouring them.) The movie was filmed at Baltimore Civic Center (now Royal Farms Arena) and was billed as a wrestling event and movie filming. The audience actually had to pay $10 each to attend. Some bit-part actors were actually paid off only in Santo Gold jewelry!
- The "Scream Bag" was a paper bag.
We don't know much more about this particular mess beyond that. We honestly don't. There are no known copies of the film and what known footage exists only on the scratchy, pixellated YouTube videos of the infomercials.
Some money from the jewelry came in. But by 1987, he still hadn't found any distribution for Blood Circus. He could have also gone straight to the then very lucrative VHS home video market with Blood Circus (which would have been perhaps the best alternate route.) Rigatuso did not. Finally, there was a showing for one week only at selected Baltimore area theatres. But according to one source, only three people showed up; Two reviewers and an extra from the filming.
When Blood Circus failed to get anywhere. Rigatuso later went into finance with a paper credit card for $49.99. Redeemable only for the Santo Gold jewelry he was probably still up to here with by then. He later began advertising alleged $2000 chunks of a millionaire's estate for an unbelievable $52 each.
I guess it was unbelievable, as he was finally convicted of mail fraud in 1989 and sentenced to 10 months in prison. That would be the end of the whole Santo Gold fiasco, right?
Nope.
In 2008 he finally recorded that elusive album we never saw in the '80s, titled I Am The Real Santo Gold. (No word from Slim Shady - aka Eminem.) One of the songs was a tribute to Donald Trump ("You're Fired") and another was titled "Obama Stomp".
In 2009, a female pop singer named Santogold was forced to change her stage name to Santigold, due to legal pressure from Rigatuso.
And then there was this.
There was an ad that appeared on eBay in 2011. The ad was selling a 35mm film copy of the Blood Circus movie. And starting bid was $21 million. Reserve price? $750 million.
Let's simplify this; The 1997 movie Titanic and one of the biggest grossing movies of all time costed $200 million to make. Blood Circus reportedly costed $2 million.
So until there is a complete, viewable and verified print of this film (and expectations considerably lowered.), the legend of Santo Gold's Blood Circus will only remain in cheesy '80s obscurity.
Today, I'm going to give folks in other states and around the world a primer into the world of legal marijuana here in Washington State. In Colorado, the rules and particulars are pretty much the same with not too many variables. And future state legalization laws and the cannabis sales systems in other states will likely follow ours and our friends in Colorado's example.
Support for legalizing recreational marijuana is spreading. And there is a lot of curiosity about it. Especially amongst those who are completely inexperienced with cannabis. Or haven't used it in many years in other states and countries. Or haven't used in many years, or even decades.
To help give cannabis users of all stripes an idea of the new world of legal recreational marijuana that is coming nation wide. And yes, that includes new users too. I'm going to talk about legal marijuana here in Washington State. Consenting adults have the right to choose and have proper information given to them to help make informed choices. "Just say no" is not a choice. (And terrible manners too. Why not just politely say "No, thank you"?)
I-502 And it's Effect
Recreational marijuana has been legal in Washington State for nearly three years and we've learned this much:
1. The world didn't end.
2. Marijuana is safer than alcohol
3. The crime level has fallen significantly.
4. The state economy is booming with thousands of new jobs and hundreds of new businesses. With more opening weekly.
5. Tourism has increased.
6. Drug and alcohol overdose rates have fallen dramatically.
When marijuana was legalized in Washington State, social conservatives automatically assumed the worst. They predicted millions of stoners laying about on the dole, eating chips and watching Netflix all day long. And stoned out drivers clogging up the highways. And the stoners would be demanding the legalization of cocaine, heroin, crack and meth.
Absolutely NONE of that has happened here.
And as far as the so-called "gateway drugs" are concerned, that's usually the salt, sugar and high fructose corn syrup in nearly everything and/or the caffeine in coffee and sodas. To say nothing of alcohol and tobacco. Are we going to ban these things?
Good luck with that.
Bottom line; The legalization of recreational cannabis in Washington and Colorado in 2012 was an experiment in social freedom gone wonderfully right. And the critics were wrong.
More states have legalized. Alaska is the latest state to legalize recreational marijuana. Washington DC has also legalized it and California and Vermont may be next. Expect more in all but the most extremely conservative states in the next 10-20 years. But even they will fall with time.
And finally, marijuana is a plant. It is NOT a "drug". Coffee is a plant. It contains a mind altering, sometimes disorientating substance (caffeine). Yet coffee is not called a "drug". Why is cannabis?
You can effectively end the underground black market, the dangerous synthetic drugs, increase tax revenue and help stamp out the gangs and drug cartels while SAVING resources, untold billions in tax dollars and unclogging courts and prisons. With common sense regulations and taxation. Like here in Washington State.
And I'll admit while I-502, which legalized recreational marijuana in Washington State was an excellent decision on the part of voters, the bill left a LOT to be desired and it's very heavy handed, I'm hoping the law will eventually be amended to reflect the actual realities of today's cannabis user rather than decades of false and negative stereotypes.
Preparing:
An excellent source of information, including dispensary menu prices, selection and where to buy is Leafly. Leafly is one of the very best sources of information about cannabis and related products available online and your first stop before you shop. It's full of information on the various strains/products, their availability, dispensaries in areas around the US where both medical and recreational cannabis is legal, plus current news and feature articles.
And the Leafly information pages on the various cannabis strains/products are generally spot on with the descriptiveness of them and their effects.
There is also WeedMaps, which is more Washington State specific.
They often have the menu selection for each dispensary. Be aware that some dispensaries that affiliate with Leafly may not have menus available on WeedMaps or vice versa. And some dispensaries don't publish their menus online at all. Or keep them updated. But most do. Also read the reviews for each dispensary.
(Note: Some dispensaries also do not publish their prices online. That's because prices can also fluctuate depending on availability of some products.) It's not like a convenience store, where you can find the same products in each store day after day.
The Dispensaries:
First, many of you who smoke pot illegally in your state have probably never seen an actual recreational cannabis dispensary. Or have any clue of what one looks like.
Most look something like this.
The big video screens in most dispensaries have the current menu selection and other information. Worth a glance.
They are professional retail establishments. But mostly obscure, hidden in light industrial zones and office parks. You'll never see big flashy signs, they're required to keep a low visual profile on their facades. But they are very clean and very safe. Not much different than a finer shop of any kind. Their staffs are often really friendly people.
The products are always sold from behind the counters. There are no consumer accessible shelves. This is for security reasons. And required by law.
Recreational cannabis can be an intimidating thing to buy if you're not used to it. Even for longtime cannabis users like myself were when I first started shopping at a legal dispensary. On the streets where it's illegal, you got what you could get off the streets with questionable potency (too low for some people, too high for others.)
Now we have a full market selection of not only THC levels, different strains and even flavors of pot to smoke. But the different gourmet food and drink products as well as concentrates.
You can vape it in special oils through an e-cigarette. You can eat it in specially made candies and cookies. You can drink it in infused drinks. And there are other cannabis products.
If you're new to dispensaries:
- You MUST be 21 or older to purchase at or even enter a recreational marijuana dispensary in Washington State. There is a doorman/woman at most dispensaries (some have locked access doors and they have to unlock it before you can come in.) They are there to make sure you're of age. Legal marijuana dispensaries are very classy, upstanding places and they pride themselves on maintaining that image.
- Don't be shy. Or scared. You don't need any special card. Or have to sign up for anything or join any club. After you're screened at the door, just walk in. Someone will always greet you.
- Most dispensaries also sell heatproof glass smoking pipes, bongs, vaporizer systems and of course, lighters. If you prefer pre-rolled, they have those too in selected varieties (they cannot open a bag and roll any for you. However you can buy a grinder and rolling papers at most dispensaries and do it yourself at home.)
- Don't be embarrassed by the selection. Marijuana comes in many varieties. Each strain of cannabis or cannabis infused product has a different effect and level of THC content. Pre-rolls tend to have the lowest. BHO waxes the highest.
There are three main varieties of cannabis that you should know about.
Hybrids - Hybrids are "the best of both worlds". They have both distinct body and head highs and can vary from one type to another.
If you're not sure of anything, ask for the best sellers on the menu.
Be aware of this:
- You can't legally buy more than an ounce of smokable recreational marijuana from a dispensary. There are also limits to edibles and concentrates. Always ask before you buy a larger amount of these.
- There are also no free samples. Don't ask.
- Please be aware that the dispensary staff cannot legally give you any medically related advice. So don't be offended if they rebuff any medically related question. That's not what they are there for. Only your doctor can help you in that category. Please understand and respect this.
- Taking selfies or photos in/of the interior and around the premises without express permission from management is frowned upon. Always ask first before you whip out your phone. Even though cannabis is legal here, many users are still sensitive to their privacy. Please respect that.
- You also can't consume cannabis in any form anywhere on or near the premises of a dispensary. They are not hangouts. Feel free to browse the selection, ask questions and buy. But you can't stay and consume anything there.
The Selection:
Pre-packaged recreational cannabis and cannabis product come in thick plastic, foil backed, vacuum sealed packages. It preserves the freshness of the cannabis and unopened, it can keep for a few years. They are also foil-backed for security reasons.
You have to remember this is not your uncle's stash. This is Top Shelf stuff. No stems or seeds. And quality product. All prices include tax.
You might notice 3.5 grams (on the streets, it's called an "eighth" or 1/8th of an ounce and the standard street distribution amount) for $60 for some popular strains is a LOT to pay for good cannabis (on the street, eighths usually sold for $40 and there are eighths that still sell for $40 at most dispensaries.) Some products however do not come in sizes higher than 2 grams. Check for availability.
But the good thing going in the legal market out here is you know exactly what you're getting, it's very high quality and the weight is correct. Plus you have a wide selection of products and prices. So you're not getting ripped off. If $60 is too expensive, look for lower cost eighths. But $40 is usually the lowest price for an eighth of cannabis in most recreational dispensaries.
Flowers
Also called "buds", this is the prime cannabis product and the vast majority of what is sold. There are hundreds of varieties of sativas, indicas and hybrids to choose from. They are sold in 1 gram, 2 gram, 3.5 gram and 7 gram (quarter ounce) packages and also in pre-rolled packages. Again sizes and availability differ from product to product and place to place
Storing Cannabis Cannabis, like tobacco, tea, coffee or any other plant based material needs to be stored in an airtight container and in a cool dark place away from sunlight. Black plastic 35mm film canisters were often the best for storing small amounts. But any good, airtight container will do.
Advanced Cannabis Products
Eating Cannabis Infused Products:
If you've never tried them before, eating a cannabis product is like eating any other brownie, cookie or candy. Kick back. Relax....You won't feel a thing at first. But depending on your metabolism, you'll be feeling the effects anywhere from 15 minutes to 2 hours. And when you start to feel it, it will be instant. Like "Hit you like a train" instant. You'll be talking with someone in mid conversation and suddenly, everything will get funny. Or you'll forget what you were just talking about.
It might not be the thing you want to happen in public though. The sudden high can go in any direction. But some people can get panicky and/or really disoriented (and sometimes both when you're in a crowded party full of strangers.) It can get really scary and bum your whole trip. So stay in a nice comfy place with good friends or by yourself if you're new to the edibles and drinks.
Be aware the edibles are usually very expensive. But they're usually also very potent. You may think four small candies for $12 is crazy. But eat just one of these and you won't.
Vape Pens:
The vape pen concentrates are not for lightweights. With a 40% - 80%+ THC content, it's for the advanced stoner.
The packages containing vape oil cartridges look like hardly anything (the photo of the vape cartridge above is only slightly smaller than actual size) and a total rip off for $35-60 or more. But this isn't plant material, it's concentrated THC.
Since pure vaping oil is VERY thick, use a 350 mAh, 510 thread e-cigarette battery, which is the best power for these cartridges. Higher regular e-cigarette ones, 650 mAh and above, can ruin them. You can find these for cheap on eBay and other sources for $7-25.
These are pure cannabinoids you're inhaling, not burning plant material or e-liquid. So the clouds won't be as fluffy when you exhale like with e-cigarette liquid. Take gentle tokes and inhale it slowly and hold it as long as you can. You may not even see any significant vapor when you exhale, but give it a few seconds and you WILL feel it.
The vaping oil cartridges are very strong concentrates. And stealth too. You can puff them almost anywhere discreetly. That's why they're so popular today. But as always, be careful.
BHO wax
- BHO
BHO (or "dabbing") is smoked through a special pipe that requires a blowtorch. I don't have any personal experience with this method. Besides, that's a lot to buy and prepare when all you simply want is a good stone.
For this, I defer to the Ultimate Cannabis Authority; High Times magazine.
Another thing to remember is BHO waxes are extremely strong, 70% THC and beyond. It's absolutely not for the squeamish.
Finally
If you're a cannabis user living in a state or country where cannabis is illegal, join a pro-cannabis legalization group (Google for the ones in your state/country.) Get to know your state/country's laws on cannabis and volunteer to collect signatures to put a legalization bill on the ballot in your state/country. Or donate money to help the cause.
We live in changing times today. Public attitudes about marijuana are changing in favor of legalization. And it's important we keep fighting the good fight for cannabis legalization nationwide and around the world. And vigorously defend our rights once it is legalized.
And the best defense is to always set a good example of responsibility.
There are forces who will do anything to push us back into the dark ages of prohibition for nothing more than vicarious control over the lives of people who disagree with them and we must never allow that. Because if they can succeed in doing that, they will be emboldened to attack other rights we fought long and hard to gain (such as LGBT rights, which they already are.)
But for now, let's light up and celebrate what we have gained. Which is a LOT compared to even 3 years ago. But never give up the fight.
If there is one post on this blog that has gotten indisputably the most views of all, it is the Forgotten Cigarette Brands post, scoring nearly 27,000 views (and the most comments ever) in the two years it's been published.
For those who enjoyed that post, I'm happy to inform you I've only scratched the surface. It's a smoker's goldmine out there and I had been planning some sequels.
So back to the cigarette aisle of yesteryear.......
Magna (Late 1980s) - Magna as I remember was pretty harsh tasting discount brand (we used to call it "Magma") targeted to young men. They were the brand you bought when you didn't have enough to buy Marlboro or Camel. But didn't want to be seen with a generic brand cigarette.
Mapleton (1970s?) - This one was a "flavoured" cigarette, blending maple and rum with tobacco to give it a taste I shudder to think. This wouldn't be the only one - or the most extreme. There was also...
Twist (1970s) Twist was - brace yourself, a LEMON flavored MENTHOL. Gives "pucker up" a brand new meaning.
Cambridge (1980s) Cambridge was a discount brand that tasted like a Merit clone. I actually liked Cambridge. But they vanished by the early '90s.
Now (1980s) A low tar brand.
Bucks (1990s) was a '90s discount brand. Not the greatest smoke. But it worked when you needed the nicotine.....
Free (Early 1980s) - To quote Dorothy Parker "What fresh hell is THIS?"A NON-TOBACCO cigarette? Yup, Free was the brand you sought when Carlton was simply too much. I tried a Free back in 1981 and I gagged. I mean upchuck gagged. They were the worst EVER. Free didn't last long (obviously), first, they were horrible. Second, they got shoplifted a lot by unsuspecting smokers ("But officer, it says it's 'Free'!" If I were a cop, I'd have let the shoplifter go and let karma do it's job.) And having no nicotine and questionable ingredients was a total buzzkill. And finally, you could legally sell these to kids, as it contained no tobacco and nicotine (therefore, no warning label either.) This upset a lot of parents. And Free vanished.
Go To Hell! (1983) - Go To Hell! (There, that settles it) was a novelty brand for pissed off smokers. In the early '80s, legislation in more and more states began limiting where you could or could not smoke. Up to then, it wasn't uncommon to see ashtrays in stores, hotels, beauty salons, city buses, airplanes, restaurants and virtually everywhere - even in doctor's officers and hospitals, you saw smokers everywhere happily puffing away. Well the non smokers began putting the kibosh on that in earnest. Starting with airplanes and little by little, the stores, buses, hotels, hospitals, everywhere became off-limits to the cigarette puffers, first in designated areas, and finally outdoors, then 25 feet away from building doors/windows. Then the restaurants and bars fell and today, it's against most apartment leases to smoke inside your own home. Well in 1983, some big tobacco companies smokers weren't going to take it. And they rebelled with a campaign for smokers to begin demanding their rights. And nothing brings about a friendly, intelligent, civil discourse like "Go To Hell!". Unfortunately for the smokers, the tide was turning irrevocably and now it's getting nearly impossible to smoke anywhere (In Seattle, they've recently began banning smoking in public parks.) Even though smokers are running out of places to smoke, I don't think tobacco will ever be made illegal. We're slowly ending one black market over one plant (marijuana) and quite successfully. We don't need to be creating another.
Campaign Cigarettes - Yes, you could even vote with your lungs as late as 1988. Even at that time, these weren't anything new, they were used in campaigns going back to Eisenhower/Stevenson. Nixon also freely handed them to his campaign workers.
They lurk around shopping centers and box stores....Shady people, usually young men (but sometimes young women) in vans and SUVs.
They look at you and lick their chops as they pull over to you and make you a deal you just can't refuse; a brand new set of surround sound speakers and subwoofer for $200.
And this wasn't just any run of the mill surround sound set-up. This one is from a super boutique audiophile brand, renowned all over Europe; Olin Ross. Only the super snobs can afford this stuff. But by some strange ordering fluke, today is your lucky day and they just happened to have this Olin Ross surround sound thing that retails for $5,000 in a high-end audio shop, but if you act quick and run to the ATM and pull out $200 cash, you can get this thing off their hands and be the envy of everyone on your block...
Who is Olin Ross? you ask?
He/She then whips out a glossy brochure and even reviews in an audiophile magazine. And you begin to salivate at the superlative filled testimonials and reviews by audio experts who were left breathless by the performance of this thing.
So....You give them $200 and even an extra $20 for beer money because they were so cool. You race home and begin to set this thing up.
And it's right there you find out you've been had.
You got speakers, but really crummy and tinny sounding ones. The subwoofer is particleboard slapped together with glue. The volume control has static and overall, it's garbage. The magazine with the glowing reviews? Fake. The brochure? Fake. The company web address on the brochure? Fake too. And you wouldn't have bought this at all if you knew what it really was.
You my friend, have fallen victim to the White Van Speaker Scam, aka "The Speaker Guys"
It's not a new scam, it goes way back into the early '70s. And it isn't just speakers or even exclusively white vans the cons use. But any fishy sounding person who sells any kind of stuff from the back of a van or SUV in the parking lot of a Walmart, Home Depot or a supermarket. I have heard many stories from people who got screwed already so when I was first approached by these cons in the '80s, I was able to fend them off (but not easily, they just don't know the meaning of give up.) But in recent years, the scam has really been on the rise.
You can find more details here.
And it's not just in America. You can find these scammers all over the world.
Protecting yourself is easy; Buy A/V equipment only from reputable dealers and not from vans.
Here's a list of some of the brands associated with this scam. Also be aware many of these brands are also being sold on eBay as well. So buyer beware:
It was an ordinary Sunday night in Chicago in late November of 1987. Folks were unwinding to enjoy their evening in front of the TV and all was going according to plan.
Some people had the WGN-TV 9:00pm newscast on. But during the sports segment, the WGN-TV signal was suddenly interrupted by a strange signal. Someone in a Max Headroom mask with a new sheet of corrugated steel rocking behind him, mimicking one of the video effects of the Max Headroom show had appeared on the video carrier. But the signal had no audio.
Quick thinking engineers at WGN knew exactly what the problem was. Somebody was hijacking their microwave studio-transmitter link (STL) signal, which relays a wireless signal from the TV studio to their transmitter, which sends the signal out for public broadcast on the Hancock Building in downtown Chicago. They quickly changed their STL signal frequency which eliminated the interference.
However on the viewer end, there was nothing they could do. Fussing around with the antenna or fine tuning their TVs did nothing because their reception was actually just fine. It was WGN-TV's own microwave uplink signal that was being taken over. Their reception of WGN-TV's broadcast signal itself wasn't the problem. But all reception, whether by antenna or cable was affected by it, as cable subscribers received the final stage feed - the same that was going out over the air.
Needless to say, it was a surprise to viewers. Who thought someone was messing with their TVs or someone at WGN-TV was goofing off. But not nearly as surprised as the WGN engineers. This was not supposed to happen. At all.
First, it's very hard to get this kind of equipment. STLs aren't sold at Radio Shack or even your most sophisticated consumer electronics supplier. They are strictly for broadcasters. Only professional broadcasting engineers can get them and specifically for the TV and radio stations they work for.
Second, they produce signals at very high frequencies far out of the range of consumer level electronic goods. And the STL signal frequencies are unknown to the general public. Only professional broadcasting engineers know them. So the person doing this must either have either been an a disgruntled engineer or have had high level training in broadcast TV engineering.
It didn't end there.
Two hours later, the Max Headroom pirate was back. This time during an episode of Dr. Who on public TV station WTTW (Ch. 11). This time there was barely discernible audio.
WTTW engineers however were completely taken by surprise and the pirate transmission on WTTW lasted for 90 seconds.
However not before the Max Headroom character went on a bizarre rant, which ended with the person in the Max Headroom mask bent over and exposed his butt, which was spanked by someone in a maid outfit before the pirate signal cut out on it's own and the WTTW signal returned. WTTW also transmitted from the Sears Tower, rather than the Hancock building like WGN-TV, which only added to the confusion amongst local broadcasting engineers.
However, this isn't the first time something like this happened. A year and a half earlier in April of 1986, a disgruntled satellite dealer named John MacDougall hijacked an HBO satellite feed for the East Coast with a static message over a colour bar test pattern with no audio.
MacDougall was moonlighting at a satellite uplink facility in Ocala, Florida, giving him access to transmitting satellite dishes. He was protesting HBO's decision to scramble their C-Band satellite feeds, requiring satellite viewers to pay for expensive descrambler boxes and a monthly subscription fee, which outraged thousands of satellite TV viewers who spent several thousand dollars on their C-Band satellite dish systems to avoid paying for pay TV services.
Bear in mind this was in 1986 and we're not talking about the Dish or DirecTV type of satellite. Those cable alternative satellite dishes wouldn't appear for another decade. Second, these were C-Band satellite dishes, as pictured. Which are still used for open international broadcasting, radio stations and a few subscription channels. But Dish and DirecTV use a different band and proprietary system than C-Band for their home subscribers. Most domestic subscription as well as many basic channels now use scrambling.
However, MacDougall was caught because he made several mistakes. First, it was far easier to triangulate where the interfering signal was coming from, as there were only two places in the Eastern half of North America that could uplink a signal to HBO's satellite. Second the character generator for MacDougall's message was the only one used for his location. Since the exact time of the incident was well recorded, it was as simple as narrowing it down to the person who was on duty at the satellite uplink when it occurred.
MacDougall paid a $5,000 fine and was placed on a year of probation. He still sells satellite TV equipment.
Both stories made international headlines. And made broadcast engineers
far more vigilant in protecting their uplink signals, satellite or STL (which both are digital and
far more sophisticated today than anything they were in the 1980s.)
The Max Headroom hijacker however never attempted another broadcast intrusion. And to this day has never been caught.
Oh no, it's another one of those damn child singer records. But on a more serious subject.
PowerSource were a Texas based Christian pop group. Like many acts in this genre, they were/are largely unknown outside these circles. And "Dear Mr. Jesus" is unquestionably a Christian themed song about child abuse, sung from the perspective of a 6 year old girl writing a letter to Jesus after seeing a TV news report of "a little girl beaten black and blue". Not only that, she confesses at the the end "Please don't tell my daddy, but my mommy hits me too."
Six year old Sharon Batts, the lead vocal on this song, wasn't the designated lead singer of the group. Just on this particular song. And thankfully, she wasn't physically abused.
This song almost became a Top 40 hit in 1987. CHR, Adult Contemporary, Country and of course, Christian radio stations were playing this in December of 1987 shortly after the track was added to the playlist of New York City's influential Z-100 and the song broke. A distribution deal was quickly secured, leading to a nationwide re-release of the song.
It was also timely, as the story of a little New York City girl named Lisa Steinberg made national headlines then after she died after being beaten by her adoptive father while he was under the influence of crack cocaine.
The song made #61 on the Billboard Hot 100 and remained on the charts for seven weeks.
