eric Posted May 28 Share Posted May 28 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! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.F.N. Posted May 28 Share Posted May 28 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 😎!! 2 Quote "You live every day. You only die once." Where is Major Tom? - - - - - PC3, HX3 w. B4D, 61SLMkII, SL73, Prologue 16, KingKORG, Opsix, MPC Key 37, DM12D, Argon8m, EX5R, Toraiz AS-1, IK Uno, Toraiz SP-16, Erica LXR-02, QY-700, SQ64, Beatstep Pro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stokely Posted May 28 Share Posted May 28 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! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doerfler Posted May 28 Share Posted May 28 I have no recollection of this 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivan May Posted May 28 Share Posted May 28 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. 😛 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RABid Posted May 28 Share Posted May 28 I do not remember that. I do wish that I still had that blue Synclaivier album that I sent off for. 1 Quote This post edited for speling. My Sweetwater Gear Exchange Page Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProfD Posted May 28 Share Posted May 28 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.😁😎 2 Quote PD "The greatest thing you'll ever learn, is just to love and be loved in return."--E. Ahbez "Nature Boy" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leroy C Posted May 28 Share Posted May 28 I recall some 1-900 numbers ... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eric Posted May 29 Author Share Posted May 29 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. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProfD Posted May 29 Share Posted May 29 Now, the question is who among us ordered and still has the Wavestation VHS demo.😁😎 1 Quote PD "The greatest thing you'll ever learn, is just to love and be loved in return."--E. Ahbez "Nature Boy" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dockeys Posted May 29 Share Posted May 29 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. 1 Quote Yamaha MODX8, Legend Live. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHarrell Posted May 29 Share Posted May 29 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? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baggypants Posted May 30 Share Posted May 30 My Dad would have gone bananas if I'd rang an international number to listen to a synth. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzpiano88 Posted May 31 Share Posted May 31 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. 1 Quote J a z z P i a n o 8 8 -- Yamaha C7D Montage M8x | CP300 | CP4 | SK1-73 | OB6 | Seven K8.2 | 3300 | CPSv.3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eric Posted May 31 Author Share Posted May 31 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProfD Posted May 31 Share Posted May 31 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. 🤣😎 1 Quote PD "The greatest thing you'll ever learn, is just to love and be loved in return."--E. Ahbez "Nature Boy" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveMcM Posted May 31 Share Posted May 31 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 1 Quote Wm. David McMahan I Play, Therefore I Am Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.