Scary Logos

[firepoint525]

Channel 2 news here in Nashville (WNGE-TV at the time) used to close out their newscast with Frank Mills' "Music Box Dancer" back in the late '70s, which apparently was what led to it becoming a (belated) hit:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jH87IPMnn9s

 

[Dave]

The Screen Gems "S From Hell" never bothered me that much, in fact I always thought it was pretty cool. These are the ones that ALWAYS had me leaping from the couch in sheer pants-wetting terror...

Warner Bros. (with the logo zooming out on the screen with the overview of the Warner Bros. studios. Don't ask...)

Bing Crosby Productions (God, that thing was scary! Especially in color after an episode of "Hogan's Heroes".)

 

[Newname]

I used to like the old 'Stephen J. Cannell Productions' closing, which showed him furiously typing away(accompanied by a series of notes seemingly rising to a crescendo...similar to the 'Revue' them mentioned earlier)...but giving way to a much mellower guitar riff, as he'd rip the papers out of the typewriter, throw them in the air, and the leaves of paper formed the stylized 'C' in Cannel's last name.

 

[kirkiefan]

I was 16 years old before I even figured out CBS's logo was an eye...LOL

Hey, I was WAY older than 16 when I figured that 1 out ;D :
And the old Columbia Records logo was an ear, correct ??:-\

...I thought the Columbia/CBS Records logo was a phonograph stylus...

Actually Columbia Records (under CBS ownership) used an illustration of the "Magic Notes" logo used in the 1920s and 30s coupled with a ribbon microphone with the letters "CBS" on the top of it. This was to illustrate CBS' purchase of the Columbia Gramophone Company in the 1940s which was spun off by the network a decade earlier. In the late 1950s,the now famous "Walking Eye" was introduced...a modified CBS Eye logo with record grooves around it with legs on the bottom of it. The logo was quite synonymous with the taglines "Gueranteed High Fidelity" and later "360 Sound" during Mitch Miller's iron fisted rule over the label..vowing never to promote Top 40 rock until he steped down in the late 60s I think.

 

[FreddyE1977]

I used to like the old 'Stephen J. Cannell Productions' closing, which showed him furiously typing away(accompanied by a series of notes seemingly rising to a crescendo...similar to the 'Revue' them mentioned earlier)...but giving way to a much mellower guitar riff, as he'd rip the papers out of the typewriter, throw them in the air, and the leaves of paper formed the stylized 'C' in Cannel's last name.

Too bad he has no current shows in production. Would be kinda cool to see him fling
a laptop over his head at the end of each episode!

 

[Newname]

I used to like the old 'Stephen J. Cannell Productions' closing, which showed him furiously typing away(accompanied by a series of notes seemingly rising to a crescendo...similar to the 'Revue' them mentioned earlier)...but giving way to a much mellower guitar riff, as he'd rip the papers out of the typewriter, throw them in the air, and the leaves of paper formed the stylized 'C' in Cannel's last name.

Too bad he has no current shows in production. Would be kinda cool to see him fling
a laptop over his head at the end of each episode!

(Cue the music): NEER-NEER-neer-neer-neeeeeerrr!

Somebody put a collection of Cannell on YouTube,claiming the last one was from 1999(a now-white-haired Stephen J. throwing the paper around).

 

[wiifm]

The "CBS Special" intro (with the word "special" spinning around and then the big musical sting at the end) that ran before the all of the Peanuts specials in the 1970s and 80s always gave me the willies.

Other terrifying TV moments included EBS Tests and the Seal of Good Practice. :-\

 

[Ultimajock]

Actually Columbia Records (under CBS ownership) used an illustration of the "Magic Notes" logo used in the 1920s and 30s coupled with a ribbon microphone with the letters "CBS" on the top of it. This was to illustrate CBS' purchase of the Columbia Gramophone Company in the 1940s which was spun off by the network a decade earlier. In the late 1950s,the now famous "Walking Eye" was introduced...a modified CBS Eye logo with record grooves around it with legs on the bottom of it. The logo was quite synonymous with the taglines "Gueranteed High Fidelity" and later "360 Sound" during Mitch Miller's iron fisted rule over the label..vowing never to promote Top 40 rock until he steped down in the late 60s I think.

...well, that does make some sense. Actually, the CBS repurchase of Columbia Gramophone (by then renamed American Recording) was in '38. And the first rock act to make any chart movement of note on Columbia, Paul Revere & The Raiders, was signed in '63, and The Dave Clark Five were leased by subsidiary label Epic in '64, so I have to think that Miller was gone from the A&R office by then. Actually, Miller did put together what he claimed would be a rock 'n roll subsidiary for Columbia around '58, Date Records, but what Miller put out on it was so watered down that Alan Freed promptly announced a label-wide ban on Date product for his radio and TV shows...a dozen years after that, Miller had his chorus record a version of John Lennon's "Give Peace a Chance" and then signed the petitions calling for Lennon to remain in the U.S. in '74-'75, so go figure ;-) ...

 

[dxnemo78]

The "CBS Special" intro (with the word "special" spinning around and then the big musical sting at the end) that ran before the all of the Peanuts specials in the 1970s and 80s always gave me the willies.

Other terrifying TV moments included EBS Tests and the Seal of Good Practice. :-\

That intro was by Morton Stevens. It never bothered me much, just meant something good was coming on (Charlie Brown, Rudolph, Frosty, etc.). Stevens also gave us the melancholy and terrifying CBS Movie & Late Movie themes of the 70's (Da Daaaaa.....Da DAAAAAAAA.......) Also the cool Hawaii Five-O music 8)

Those EBS tests were a real pants-pi**er!! As a goofy kid, I once switched on my cassette recorder and captured it, puntuated with a loud scream of my own ;D

 

[Stanislav]

The "CBS Special" intro (with the word "special" spinning around and then the big musical sting at the end) that ran before the all of the Peanuts specials in the 1970s and 80s always gave me the willies.

Other terrifying TV moments included EBS Tests and the Seal of Good Practice. :-\

That intro was by Morton Stevens. It never bothered me much, just meant something good was coming on (Charlie Brown, Rudolph, Frosty, etc.). Stevens also gave us the melancholy and terrifying CBS Movie & Late Movie themes of the 70's (Da Daaaaa.....Da DAAAAAAAA.......) Also the cool Hawaii Five-O music 8)

Those EBS tests were a real pants-pi**er!! As a goofy kid, I once switched on my cassette recorder and captured it, puntuated with a loud scream of my own ;D

There's a funny, classic comic radio EBS test that has circulated for decades -- they have a group of people sort of jazz/scat-singing the text, and the test tone plays "Mary Had a Little Lamb." They also punctuate it with sound effects; for instance after the phrase "in the event of an emergency," you hear an audience in mock horror going "oooooOOOOOO!" You can find a RealAudio file of it on this page (scroll down to "Funny EBS Test -- I didn't want to hotlink to it) -- there is mention of the people behind it, and the site claims that some stations actually used this on-air as their regularly scheduled test (which I'm sure earned no smiles from the FCC).

 

[FreddyE1977]

The "CBS Special" intro (with the word "special" spinning around and then the big musical sting at the end) that ran before the all of the Peanuts specials in the 1970s and 80s always gave me the willies.

Other terrifying TV moments included EBS Tests and the Seal of Good Practice. :-\

I remember when Channel 9 in Steubenville, OH (was then WSTV-TV) had a bizarre lead-in to their EBS tests. They put up a slide showing a radio tower, Civil Defense logo and words "Emergency Broadcast System". Then they cued up a jazzy tune, sounded like The Ray Conniff Singers or something similar, or like Muzak trying to cover some hard rock tune with a "safe" adaptation. Very much like a lot of singing commercials from the 70's. They sang the script that every other station was having read by an announcer. "This is a test....of the Emergency Broadcast System....la la la la". Was really strange! Somehow it made that tone a bit less jarring though. Anybody else remember this?

 

[kirkiefan]

Don't really consider that scary much less the NAB Seal of Good Practice...what scares me from the 70s onward is that no station or television show uses it on the air anymore...how sad.

The most unusual EBS test came from WERK(AM) "990 WERK" in Muncie,Indiana during its Top 40 era in the 1970s where the introduction from Cheech and Chong's "Sister Mary Elephant" is used up to the point where the nun character says "young man..read your essay." From that point on a quisi-voiced Cheech Marin wannabe says "THIS IS A TEST ..." and so on. Sister Mary Elephgant shouts "SHAAADDAPPP!!!" and goes into the test.

After the silence you hear the carrier come back on where a synthesizer tone plays "Mary Had a Little Lamb" The final note drug out of course is the 1,000 Hz tone required back the before the switchover to the two tone system and the elimination of having to shut off the "plate" or high power button on the xmtr during the course of the test. Cheech Wannabe retunrs to the air for the standard test closing and you hear Sister Elephant recite "thank you" at the end.

Unusual...but off the wall funny,especially in that part of Hoosierland where the politics are extremely arch-conservative.

Dan Quayle would have been appaled. I laughed my butt off!

 

[RicoGregg]

Other terrifying TV moments included EBS Tests and the Seal of Good Practice. :-\

Those EBS tests were a real pants-pi**er!! As a goofy kid, I once switched on my cassette recorder and captured it, puntuated with a loud scream of my own ;D

There's a funny, classic comic radio EBS test that has circulated for decades -- they have a group of people sort of jazz/scat-singing the text, and the test tone plays "Mary Had a Little Lamb." They also punctuate it with sound effects; for instance after the phrase "in the event of an emergency," you hear an audience in mock horror going "oooooOOOOOO!" You can find a RealAudio file of it on this page (scroll down to "Funny EBS Test -- I didn't want to hotlink to it) -- there is mention of the people behind it, and the site claims that some stations actually used this on-air as their regularly scheduled test (which I'm sure earned no smiles from the FCC).

I remember when Channel 9 in Steubenville, OH (was then WSTV-TV) had a bizarre lead-in to their EBS tests. They put up a slide showing a radio tower, Civil Defense logo and words "Emergency Broadcast System". Then they cued up a jazzy tune, sounded like The Ray Conniff Singers or something similar, or like Muzak trying to cover some hard rock tune with a "safe" adaptation. Very much like a lot of singing commercials from the 70's. They sang the script that every other station was having read by an announcer. "This is a test....of the Emergency Broadcast System....la la la la". Was really strange! Somehow it made that tone a bit less jarring though. Anybody else remember this?

I have my own childhood horror story regarding EBS, or Civil Defense as it used to be called. One fine late 50s' day in Southern California, all the radio stations went off the air except for the stations at 640 and 1240. A program ran on both stations (KFI @ 640, KRNO, San Bernardino @ 1240) simulating live coverage of a war breaking out and enemy air attacks "in our area". It ran for about an hour. I clearly heard the KFI announcer (it might have been Dick Sinclair) say at the beginning that it was simulated, but how many 8-year olds know what that word means? I was home alone, but it seemed a lot safer to do that back then. All the local air raid sirens blared loudly. I thought it was real. I kept the radio on as I hid under my parents' bed, tightly holding the dog next to me. I was terrified.

The program finally ended, the announcer once again said that it was only a test, a simulated drill, the area air raid sirens sounded the all clear, the other radio stations signed back on, and we all went back to normal. I breathed a sigh of relief, and tuned the radio back on to rock n' roll. I later found out other kids also thought it was real and hid. So did some adults.

I'm sure somewhere that day, maybe at a sidewalk cafe, sipping wine, Orson Welles had a good smile.

I have an entire reel of those EBS test announcements that are upbeat, musical, and even humorous. There's around 20 of them done in different styles, including rock and opera, my personal favorite of the bunch. Sometime in the 70s', Civil Defense, still an official bureaucracy and in charge of the EBS tests nationwide, had them done for the precise reasons listed above by the other posters: They scared and intimidated people. They wanted to put a more human face on when EBS test time came. It was a good PR move. People liked them and no longer feared the EBS test.

I miss seeing the Civil Defense triangles on AM radio bands, though. On some radios, it looked very cool.

 

[Markieo]

Memories of me at 6 years old, the end credits to "Bewitched" would start to roll, and I'd be running to the other side of my house yelling "Help! Help! Screen Gems! ABC! Screen Gems!" Then I'd hide in the closet until the synth music started to play and I'd drown it out with my own version "Dur Dur Ding a Ling Ding RRRing RRRINNNNNNNGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!" That evil "S" still pops in my dreams and nightmares to this day! I also wasn't crazy about BCP, Four Star, The WB Shield over the studio, The Screen Gems Dancing Sticks from "The Flintstones" 4th and 5th seasons, and Rankin Bass. Viacom's "V of DOOM", on the other hand, I loved that one!

 

[Dave]

Can't believe I forgot this one (and apparently so did the rest of you), at the end of every episode of "Batman" (or "Daniel Boone", "Lost In Space", "Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea", etc.) sweating through the closing credits, only to be greeted by:

TWENTIETH

TELEVISION

FOX!!!

AAAAHHHH!

 

[RicoGregg]

Now that I think about it, that jack-in-the-box that popped out at the beginning of the Paramount-produced Harvey Cartoons (Casper, Herman & Catnip, etc.) was kinda creepy. :-[

 

[Duncan Park]

I don't recall any of the program closing logos being particularly frightening to me. I must have been psychologically numbed by flying monkeys (Wizard of Oz), Civil Defense PSA's (Regarding where to find a "Fallout Shelter") and Grandfather Clock (Captain Kangaroo).

 

[Stanislav]

I don't recall any of the program closing logos being particularly frightening to me. I must have been psychologically numbed by flying monkeys (Wizard of Oz), Civil Defense PSA's (Regarding where to find a "Fallout Shelter") and Grandfather Clock (Captain Kangaroo).

Now that you mention it, Grandfather Clock WAS a little creepy.....

 

[kirkiefan]

I know I have mentioned this in previous posts but the one that creeped me out the most was the Kinephoto disclaimer for NBC in the 50s and 60s. Never understood why,but I remember having nightmares of the chimes playing faster and faster waking me up screaming as a little kid....How dare you General Sarnoff!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xrrD7K_mYc

The animated contemporary late 60s snake logo was a lot more cooler when it changed colors.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ev1xhRvY-A&feature=related

 

[FreddyE1977]

[/quote]


I have my own childhood horror story regarding EBS, or Civil Defense as it used to be called. One fine late 50s' day in Southern California, all the radio stations went off the air except for the stations at 640 and 1240. A program ran on both stations (KFI @ 640, KRNO, San Bernardino @ 1240) simulating live coverage of a war breaking out and enemy air attacks "in our area". It ran for about an hour. I clearly heard the KFI announcer (it might have been Dick Sinclair) say at the beginning that it was simulated, but how many 8-year olds know what that word means? I was home alone, but it seemed a lot safer to do that back then. All the local air raid sirens blared loudly. I thought it was real. I kept the radio on as I hid under my parents' bed, tightly holding the dog next to me. I was terrified.

The program finally ended, the announcer once again said that it was only a test, a simulated drill, the area air raid sirens sounded the all clear, the other radio stations signed back on, and we all went back to normal. I breathed a sigh of relief, and tuned the radio back on to rock n' roll. I later found out other kids also thought it was real and hid. So did some adults.



[/quote]

Yes, that was an honest-to-goodness CONELRAD alert. That would have been off-the-scale in terms of scary when compared to an EBS test, especially for kids. CONELRAD became obsolete when the Soviets ditched long-range bombers in favor of ICBM's, but the EBS would persist for another 25 yrs or so.