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P . O . B o x 2 2 I I 3 AOFTEN ERROR NEVER IN DOUBTN S u n s e t S . F . C A 9 4 1 2 2IN

January, L986 Blooper Syndrome: Turning Trash to cash Happy New Year!

They say therers no garbage in India because everything can !: =9]a' TheUsA'rni'otainrnent rndristry has accompJ-ished the same goal within the last ten

V..t" and the result has been cataslrophic, not gnly for viewers andii=terr"r=, but for the underlying fabric of Americarrs work ethic.eftfro"gn it r.y seem as if Ed-UcMahon, Dick Clark and Steve Lawrence have

"iigi"ited the'current hodge-podge of fnavel adnirationt TV blooper shows,

itre-synarome has actually 6een gestating f9r qulte some time'i l-ri 'r poriinated by two trends - personality-Iicensing -

lnq rhome-moviel

=v"ai"*L. The incr-eased abirity o! stars to merchandise their personna Iseerii ight of the Living Dead: Protecting Licensing Rights for Deceasedcel;brit iesr ish zri encouraged the exploitation of TV or f i ln footage of"iir= rnaking rnistak6s. star{,ing with star Trek out-takes, the industryf"g"n to ta[,e notice of this previously-relegated-to-novelty-status artform

known as rrblooper coLlectionsrlThis increased.- interest in star-errors paralleled a second trend - home 1---lnoviett syndrome - the increased fascinaLion of Arnericans with their ownmovie or TV self-image. Through this syndrome, we accepted a hand-held

Continued on Page 4

FROM th6 Editor

stock soaPs.The incredibre number of Live-Aid-styled recordings has created a new Grammy

category - g.=t--Tai-peauctible perforrnance. sure favorite in the male

category - Lou Reed on Sun citY'From the rrYourve Got to Serve 3ornebodytt D?p!..- Boot It, the- radical

computer collective that opposes. ffoply aiSX technology has been subpoenaed

in the wake oi-"-nigh-revei-p"""ti"ti'o'n oe Department of commerce computer

fi les. AIso named in the =nUio"tt", The A&R Report, {see ish 41' rrTlre New

corp.tt"" undeigroundrr See ya in Court. TiIl next ish - ed'' @ 1e85 A&R

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lorrt Y*ng itil h,on. nwdd' /arrt?oung.tlrcody in fhe cqn: f h (mnno Tear Yorrhn)hos Aown, Lon af tfie Connon /uphl-,and €very Ttrne Yo, h hro,l You mke Ilie.. ,t Ae'tf w;+{, You,'

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Johrny Rotfen wrtl setl over z€o, ooo.

Is the whole worldinto one big softmoptop? Just whenthought yourd gonethe l imi ts ofpersonali tyl icensing, a longcomes a CIass-A

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Synbols and state seals?-1-':::---::'l-:--:-":-:::--:j- [Broopers, conrinued from page r]

version of life as more trrealisticrr than the traditionaf stuaio-professionalism associated with the entertainrnent industry. Nothingtypified the rise of this trend more significantly than the career of AllenFunt. With a sometimes bumpy camera and grainy ttpeeping tomrr atmosphere,candid camera warked a thin l ine between voyeurislic- tniirrs and hurnanisiicsociology. Funtrs work not only brought us to the edge of the current slewof blooper TV shows, but also lead the way to the camera deja vu experiencedin 8t . Elsewhere and Hi l l Btreet Blues.Thus these two trends - the desire for more rrrealistic/intinate contact withcelebrit ies and a fascination with a rrsub-Hollywoodrr quality presentation ofreality - cornbined to form a monster far diffeient tnan exp6clea. What wegot' was rrBlooper Syndromerr in which we are taught to accepl rnistakes andrrout- takesrr as the t rue real i ty of l i fe.Blooper Syndrome, seen in its true l ight, is the pronise of loweredexpectat,ions. It is a nethodology being shoved down our throats by a unitedfront of nultigloms, and in true Arnerican tradition, celebrit ies are beingused as endorsements. ff Chuck Heston flubs some lines on The Colbys thenit must be okay if f screwed up ny l ife. We are all acceptable out-takes.The distance between our role models and ourselves has been stabil ized.The problem, of course, is that by creating a culture so fascinated by ourown errors, we are opening the door to the rrmistake-proofrf society - i worldin which a concern for tright or wrongr is a suspicious anti-hurnan view.Itrs not whether the word is misspelled, itts whether you had a good tirnernisspel l ing i t .What do the nultigloms have to gain frorn all this? A dispirited andlower-achievement oriented work force is a less aggressive less rebell iousworkforce. A world prepared for blooper syndrome is a world prepared forthose big global economic and social bloopers on their way OH-OH! Look Outfor that cat_jn the road.. .oh, wel l everybody nakes mistakes.

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astrologer - care Bear with ls 1ryp-^rdoll in.your futurc? yes, soft, cuddly dous will be made in twoan apron? Now that werre I $*l"g.SJ{{ ^llrq"g .pgfi,ig- -.tean; sizes: ? jn. (t5.es) and t2 in. 6lr.e5).reducing the astrological I lTtgo,whose ?shol6gical a!t! wiu be in- rt"y nauiinfitclaneeable aprons list-

table to faceless cabbage I trodueed at the N.es. YoI*.IU_V_ f.air in ingthipersonalitytraiEof eacfiof ftCrlzfaces, why donrt we do t5e I Fbbntary. Ohev will be availa6le in tov asT"otoiicatlign;ina"o-"with;2s;A;;

, ! and departnent stores by early fall.) Th6 UooHef Uv ffin. -- -

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a MAIL THIS COU?ON TO: The A&R Reportt t r e n ( x^ f i epo rE IP.O. Box 22113 a

I Sunser Sra . S .F . CA 941?^ rr I I I I I I I I . I I I I I - T I r I I r - - 1 . - I