Random. Does anyone remember calling a 1-800 number to listen to synth demos?

[eric]

Way back in the '80s. I believe the product was either the Korg M1 or maybe one of its successors, such as the 01/W or T series.

 

I have a vivid memory of an advertisement with a 1-800 number to call, where one could listen to a 2-3 minute demonstration of the synth, with some narration and really great sounds. It was really cool at the time, though I suspect we might not appreciate it as much today. I've done a little bit of Google searching and didn't immediately find it.

 

I called this number dozens or maybe hundreds of times. I was completely hooked on it! Does anyone remember this? I can probably answer this if I go dig around in my Keyboard Magazines from around later '80s. It was a marketing technique that didn't seem to last very long. There might even be people on the forum that were involved with this. I would love to hear it again!

[J.F.N.]

51 minutes ago, eric said:

Way back in the '80s. I believe the product was either the Korg M1 or maybe one of its successors, such as the 01/W or T series.

 

I have a vivid memory of an advertisement with a 1-800 number to call, where one could listen to a 2-3 minute demonstration of the synth, with some narration and really great sounds. It was really cool at the time, though I suspect we might not appreciate it as much today. I've done a little bit of Google searching and didn't immediately find it.

 

I called this number dozens or maybe hundreds of times. I was completely hooked on it! Does anyone remember this? I can probably answer this if I go dig around in my Keyboard Magazines from around later '80s. It was a marketing technique that didn't seem to last very long. There might even be people on the forum that were involved with this. I would love to hear it again!

 

Oh wow, a youtube predecessor, how progressive! It sounds really cool 😎!!

[Stokely]

On a land line, with its amazing hifi frequency response    

I don't actually remember that, though I was around and probably would have called it for sure had I known about it!

 

[Doerfler]

I have no recollection of this

[Ivan May]

4 hours ago, eric said:

Way back in the '80s. I believe the product was either the Korg M1 or maybe one of its successors, such as the 01/W or T series.

 

I have a vivid memory of an advertisement with a 1-800 number to call, where one could listen to a 2-3 minute demonstration of the synth, with some narration and really great sounds. It was really cool at the time, though I suspect we might not appreciate it as much today. I've done a little bit of Google searching and didn't immediately find it.

 

I called this number dozens or maybe hundreds of times. I was completely hooked on it! Does anyone remember this? I can probably answer this if I go dig around in my Keyboard Magazines from around later '80s. It was a marketing technique that didn't seem to last very long. There might even be people on the forum that were involved with this. I would love to hear it again!

When I was a kid, the only 1800 number we called was the Miss Cleo psychic lady. Of course it was a giant scam, but I still have fond memories of her. 😛 

[RABid]

I do not remember that. I do wish that I still had that blue Synclaivier album that I sent off for.

[ProfD]

No recollection of the 1-800-number for synth demos.

 

I do remember those sound pages that were featured in Keyboard magazine.   

 

That was over 3 decades ago.  D8mn.😁😎

[Leroy C]

I recall some 1-900 numbers ...

[eric]

I was digging around a bit more and might have found it. Here's a 1991 advertisement for the Korg Wavestation with a reference to the phone demo.

I will go through a few magazines from this era to see if there's more than this...I have a recollection of a more prominent phone demo advertisement. My memory is not fully working to remember much more than having this on speed dial and listening to it over and over.

 

P.S. the Korg 1-800 number is no longer valid. Seems to connect to a medical device sales line. LOL.

 

[ProfD]

Now, the question is who among us ordered and still has the Wavestation VHS demo.😁😎

[Dockeys]

That’s really cool. I remember having a demo cassette tape that I got from Yamaha that contained the sounds of the DX27 or DX21. In played it to death and both one of them eventually. 

[CHarrell]

1 hour ago, eric said:

Seems to connect to a medical device sales line. LOL.

 

Some people accuse Korg's modern synths of being sterile, but this is a little on the nose, don't you think?

[Baggypants]

My Dad would have gone bananas if I'd rang an international number to listen to a synth.

[jazzpiano88]

I remember as a kid we got our jollies calling “Dial a Prayer”. 
We’d also call “Time and Temperature”. 
There was also a line called “Dial a Bus” and a shuttle bus would come by your house.  
 

Those were the days when the rotary phone was on the wall.  It was great fun dialing by clicking the hook like Morse Code.  

There were also various numbers to call for phone company functions like getting a call back.   A friend of mine had a phone company test rig and knew how to call long distance.   Fond memories of a simpler time.  

[eric]

6 minutes ago, jazzpiano88 said:

I remember as a kid we got our jollies calling “Dial a Prayer”. 
We’d also call “Time and Temperature”. 
There was also a line called “Dial a Bus” and a shuttle bus would come by your house.  
 

Those were the days when the rotary phone was on the wall.  It was great fun dialing by clicking the hook like Morse Code.  

There were also various numbers to call for phone company functions like getting a call back.   A friend of mine had a phone company test rig and knew how to call long distance.   Fond memories of a simpler time.  

 

I fondly remember those days. In my area, we had a time number that was known as "TIGER11" which was the number you'd dial on your rotary phone based on the alphanumeric assignments. There was also a weather number that was 268-1212. There was a thing called *68 and *69, though my memory is hazy on what they did. I believe if you got a hang up or prank call, *68 would dial back the last caller. When I was growing up, we had a maize yellow Bell rotary phone hanging on the wall in the kitchen. I finally talked my dad into adding a long coily cord to it, so if I wanted to have a "private" chat with my girlfriends, I could wrap that bad boy around into the hallway by the living room. My, how things have changed.

[ProfD]

24 minutes ago, eric said:

There was a thing called *68 and *69, though my memory is hazy on what they did. I believe if you got a hang up or prank call, *68 would dial back the last caller.

*68 would call back last caller.  *69 would block your phone number.

24 minutes ago, eric said:

I finally talked my dad into adding a long coily cord to it, so if I wanted to have a "private" chat with my girlfriends, I could wrap that bad boy around into the hallway by the living room.

Same here.  Pre-cordless phone. 🤣😎 

[DaveMcM]

On 5/28/2024 at 5:53 PM, ProfD said:

No recollection of the 1-800-number for synth demos.

 

I do remember those sound pages that were featured in Keyboard magazine.   

 

That was over 3 decades ago.  D8mn.😁😎

I still have a Korg Poly 800 sound page