I thought this was going to be another 1-800 number ad compilation, but was pleasantly surprised by the documentary content, and yet again, putting one aspect of my childhood I had forgotten about into proper context.
I was an over the road trucker back in the 90s, and I remember using phone cards, LOL! It was all horribly expensive!!! And it just really sucked... Then I got a cell phone in 93, and quickly found out what *Roaming* was all about, *OUCH!!!*
Way back into the 80s I remember almost all the movie theaters had an answering machine (with the actual answer taking turned off) that would play that day and the next's schedule.
Wow I didn't think anyone else remembered 1800-MUSIC-NOW. As a poor kid obsessed with music, I spent a lot of time on that line listening to the same clips over and over
The Snow Plow Show I actually knew the CEO of MCI Worldcom. It was a huge stock scam, that started in a small town I grew up in. He’s in prison for the rest of his life.
Back where I grew up, we didn't have any old CALL-ATT ads. Just 1-800-COLLECT ads. I was bewildered when I realized they kind of disappeared in 2004 (or sometime around that).
The way phone billing worked is so interesting to me having grown up with cell phone plans. I didn't really know what "long distance" meant untill a couple of years ago.
BenneLuke That goes back to analog phone service where you had to call a switchboard operator, who would have to plug into the long distance operator, who would have to plug into the hub operator, who would have to plug into the operator of the town you were calling, who would dial the number of the party that you wished to talk too. Sometimes you would have to reserve a time to make the call. Overseas calls were even more complicated.
Those old 10-10 number ads brought back a memory of living in a dorm in the 1990s, and a neighbor of mine calling out on a speaker phone using a long chain of digits. God was that obnoxious.
Haha! I remember we went on a family trip to Universal Studios back in 2000 or so. Of course, we _had_ to go on _Back to the Future._ And, of course, they had the "Doc" character in front of the ride, going on about how Biff stole his time machine. I went, "Why don't you just dial '10-10-321' and call the police on him?" 'Cause Christopher Lloyd was advertising that phone service in character as Doc at the time, don't-ya-know. (EDIT, 1/9/18: Apparently he didn't advertise _as Doc_ at the time. That was for DirecTV. Still, he did do a few 10-10-___ commercials.)
This is why I still watch archive. Its not just compilations. Its jokes, historical context and explanation as well as hard to find gems. *You deserve a lot more subs and notoriety* your work is very much appreciated. -loyal subscriber
You forgot time and temperature numbers! WWV in Fort Collins, Colorado -- which broadcasts on shortwave radio -- also has a call-in number to hear time announcements from the National Institute of Standards & Technology's atomic clock.
Wow! USACinemas reference! Nice. USACinemas started as Sack Cinemas in the Boston area and became USACinemas while expanding in 1986. In 1988 USACinemas merged with Loews Theatres.
Okay. I was hoping OddityArchive would react somehow, but it seems we have to do it ourselves (or by myself, if you don't want to join). But that's okay, I think. There's plenty of info regarding that topic. For example, what TV and radio channels were there and how people got video games in the Soviet block.
I remember when MovieFone first launched while in my pre-teens...since the "777-FILM" number was so easy to remember, I even passed it onto one of my teachers at the time!
ottawaoctane Same, I used to buy them at gas stations up untill 2006 to make international calls. Now a days I just pay the 5 extra dollars sprint charges to make unlimited international calls.
My first college ID still had a 1-800-CALL-ATT number on it. Most students by then had basic cell phones and 2 years later I had to get a new ID and it no longer had the number on the back.
In my area there was this number 4361200 that the local newspaper ran. It had information and more importantly... PHONE GAMES!! They were mainly choose your own adventure "press one now, press two now" type stories but it was fun.
Aside from 10-10-9000 and the stale 411 for directories, by late 2000's Google had it's own flop of a 411 service called google-411. They even went as far as putting a dedicated google 411 button on some new phones around that time. (I seen some of these phones mostly cordless types advertised in Target flyers.) The good old days of prank calling businesses, and even a certain conference line for absolutely free on payphones, before payphone owners caught on and payphones were already dead as a dinosaur.
I actually ordered from 1-800-MUSIC-NOW a few times. Then one of the public radio networks had a service with a better selection (which worked better as long as you had a catalog number for whatever album you were looking for) and I bought from them a few times. And then, the internet happened. Of course.
I remember moviefone but mostly as a website. In 2004, I would sometimes go on the moviefone website to look at trailers for films. The trailer I mostly remember from moviefone is shark tale. Funny how both things did not hold up in 2019
Gregory Borlan I remember going on moviefone as well as a kid I too mainly watched the movie trailers I remember the super size me one which I later watched at school and proudly own on dvd
Carl and Florence! They should've had one with George and Weezie, too! I'm 46, so I am very familiar with these numbers 😁 I miss the ole time and date, "popcorn" line, kids today would be like "you mean you had to actually do something to get the right day and time?" lol
+OddityArchive; My favourite dial-it was the Apology Line (here's a link to the man who ran it's... yes, his web page, which explains all about it fully and there's plenty to listen to). I don't know if this was a local thing (NYC), asks I can't remet how I found out about it. It wasn't an advertised service. It was an art project, wherein people would call in and... apologise. There were quite a few very creepy calls (Mr Apology - as he was known - would listen to the calls and then , each month, would pick out a selection of the most interesting).. There were several in which - yes, they were genuine - the caller talked about really grusome things they'd done. If anyone has ever seen or heard an actual killer, they don't talk of their crime as is seen in film. It can be very casual, but VERY detailed. There were times I know I sinister hung up). There were also touching ones, sad ones. Each month, the recording you'd listen to was appx. 20-min. Mr Apology would sometimes comment or, in the case of very few, appeal to the caller who had made a particular apology and ask them if they would contact him - privately. As it wasn't advertised, the people who knew about it were not the average person (if they're were any pranked calls, we - the listeners never knew about then l because this wasn't a 'j-rky b-ys' type of stupidity. People who called knew they didn't have to worry - no matter what they said (no messages were passed on to the cops). I miss it, because I've never used so-called 'social media' - I KNOW enough people, I value those people and I don't have an ego which needs additional stroking from fake friends. Numbers such as this one let you in to someone else's troubles, but not enough that the veil of anonymity was removed. People talk WAY too much publicly (as an example, this... Oddity Archive is great, but you've got idiots who post things like their kids first walking or whatnot. This is A PUBLIC site. If one wants to 'share'stuff like this, then they can do it through proper channels, but when someone comes across something like this and finds it ridiculous to be out here - and leaves a comment saying so,, the idiot who posted the video gets all angry, not thinking THIS IS WHAT 'PUBLIC' means! Anyway, another good nostalgic episode. Thanks! A fan
Honestly, I wish social media (with the exception of this site, minus the corporate bs) would just go the way of the dodo and people would go back to BBS, IRC, messengers, or even Discord. Anything really that can provide anonymity and a sense of community without the centralization and mass stupidity of social media, not to mention the corporate meddling.
I work for the phone company, business with landlines on measured rate services go nuts when the 1000+ phone bills hit. Also directory assistance costs like 5.50 a call,
I hear those speech samples (or at least similar ones) at 16:24 all the time in demos of low bitrate speech codecs. They had what sounded like an Australian/New Zealand accent to them, so they might have been different from the ones in this video.
Few years since this video. But back in the late 90's, I had discovered one of those 10-10 numbers, that would allow me to place a collect call to a payphone (as long as it accepted incoming calls). Naturally, I didn't do it from home! And speaking of payphones, if I was out-and-about and needed the time, I'd also call the time number collect (saved on dimes). :D
AT&T: Reach out and touch someone, really AT&T?! Do you want us to become pedos or perverts?! That slogan is bad but the CBS's You've got the touch is less bad then that slogan AT&T.
Now I know that George Carlin was paid to sell a phone number. This is a strange fact about him- almost as strange as his tenure as the narrator for Thomas the Tank Engine in the U.S. I never understood that. Why did George Carlin agree to voice a low-budget kid's show about trains?
John Lithgow: Dial 10-10-321- Then 1, Then the Area Code, than the Number. Its just that Simple!" I always HATED 10-10-321. In 1998, at 15 years of age, I saw it as an ANNOYING gimmick that would only appeal to the lowest common denominator. Also, I'll ALWAYS refer to Lithgow as the "10-10-321 Guy". Though at the time, he starred in the WB hit Sitcom 3rd Rock From The Son at the time, the only other work I recognized from him was 1984's Footloose where he played the Bible Thumper. The Carl Winslow ones were no better, either. 10-10-321 was pretty much a colossal commercial failure, MCI is believed to have reportedly lost by August 2001 a total of $43 Million in Operating Losses from the service. MCI is now known as the Anti NN Overloards "Verizon". Back during 1998-2000, 1-800-Collect its more better executed counterpart was widely popular. People mostly used THAT, or 1-800-CALLATT with David Arquette and Marlon Wayans.
Logan MacGyver "1-800-C-A-L-L-A-T-T. It's free for you, and cheap for them!" It's been 15-20 years, but they were so good at promoting it that it's still there, in the hidden recesses of my mind. It was a collect calling service, which meant the receiving party would accept the charges (this is before unlimited flat-rate phone service, or widespread cellphone use, for that matter.) The idea was that it would cost the receiving party less to use the service than to make a standard collect call. Also their spokesperson was Carrot Top.
Remember magic jack? For free you could call long distance just by hooking up magic jack.
I thought this was going to be another 1-800 number ad compilation, but was pleasantly surprised by the documentary content, and yet again, putting one aspect of my childhood I had forgotten about into proper context.
excrono you were wrong.
Ah the dark days of calling collect and 10-10 numbers, such memories, that thankfully ended once I got my first cell phone.
"You have a collect call from: MomDadcomepickmeup Bandpracticeisover"
I was an over the road trucker back in the 90s, and I remember using phone cards, LOL!
It was all horribly expensive!!!
And it just really sucked... Then I got a cell phone in 93, and quickly found out what *Roaming* was all about, *OUCH!!!*
Ben, I'm glad you like our own _(Australian)_ 'Men At Work!' (saw your CDs!)
"Who Can it Be Now?"
Oddity Archive is the most underrated RUclips channel. Ben, you should have at least ten million subscribers!
Way back into the 80s I remember almost all the movie theaters had an answering machine (with the actual answer taking turned off) that would play that day and the next's schedule.
Copper Hamster My hometown theater had one.
Hey, everyone. A great big phoney.
You beat me right to it! 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Wow I didn't think anyone else remembered 1800-MUSIC-NOW. As a poor kid obsessed with music, I spent a lot of time on that line listening to the same clips over and over
The 1-800-CALL-ATT ad with Carrot Top just unearthed a fifteen year old forgotten memory in my brain. Thanks, Ben!
I'm more familiar with the 1998 Dave Arquette ones and the 1999 David & Marlon Wayans ones.
I tried to call the Neil Diamond number but it just said an “Application error occurred. Goodbye” and hung up
I'm going to leave that MCI number running on speakerphone every night before bed to help put me to sleep.
The Snow Plow Show I actually knew the CEO of MCI Worldcom. It was a huge stock scam, that started in a small town I grew up in. He’s in prison for the rest of his life.
TheLegendkiller2100 Yeah. I knew he was crooked since I was a kid.
Sweet dreams, Brad.
But...but...but I want to still talk to a real chicken!!!!
Snow Plow Show is the best show on the Interwebz
These days, a chicken leg is a rare dish.
Back where I grew up, we didn't have any old CALL-ATT ads. Just 1-800-COLLECT ads. I was bewildered when I realized they kind of disappeared in 2004 (or sometime around that).
A 1990s phoney oddity I saw was in the UK, British Telecom was selling Levi 501 jeans via their payphones.
2:23 Norm MacDonald as Quentin Tarantino, is that you?
The way phone billing worked is so interesting to me having grown up with cell phone plans. I didn't really know what "long distance" meant untill a couple of years ago.
BenneLuke That goes back to analog phone service where you had to call a switchboard operator, who would have to plug into the long distance operator, who would have to plug into the hub operator, who would have to plug into the operator of the town you were calling, who would dial the number of the party that you wished to talk too. Sometimes you would have to reserve a time to make the call. Overseas calls were even more complicated.
I remember having to call L.D. after 6pm, or on weekends when rates were cheaper!!!!!!!
Those old 10-10 number ads brought back a memory of living in a dorm in the 1990s, and a neighbor of mine calling out on a speaker phone using a long chain of digits. God was that obnoxious.
I had forgotten about these until I saw the Annex video, too. I was thinking it’s not old enough for nostalgia, but soon realized it’s been 20 years!
Haha! I remember we went on a family trip to Universal Studios back in 2000 or so. Of course, we _had_ to go on _Back to the Future._ And, of course, they had the "Doc" character in front of the ride, going on about how Biff stole his time machine. I went, "Why don't you just dial '10-10-321' and call the police on him?"
'Cause Christopher Lloyd was advertising that phone service in character as Doc at the time, don't-ya-know.
(EDIT, 1/9/18: Apparently he didn't advertise _as Doc_ at the time. That was for DirecTV. Still, he did do a few 10-10-___ commercials.)
This is why I still watch archive. Its not just compilations. Its jokes, historical context and explanation as well as hard to find gems. *You deserve a lot more subs and notoriety* your work is very much appreciated.
-loyal subscriber
1800-ARCHIVE call now while the rates are low
You forgot time and temperature numbers! WWV in Fort Collins, Colorado -- which broadcasts on shortwave radio -- also has a call-in number to hear time announcements from the National Institute of Standards & Technology's atomic clock.
I was (admittedly) thinking more in terms of commercial phone stuff here.
That last few years transition to the internet becoming mainstream was remarkable.
Wow! USACinemas reference! Nice. USACinemas started as Sack Cinemas in the Boston area and became USACinemas while expanding in 1986. In 1988 USACinemas merged with Loews Theatres.
If you only saw the Soviet block telecommunications...
You know what? I'd be very interested in hearing about that!
Bring it on! Spill!!
Okay. I was hoping OddityArchive would react somehow, but it seems we have to do it ourselves (or by myself, if you don't want to join). But that's okay, I think. There's plenty of info regarding that topic. For example, what TV and radio channels were there and how people got video games in the Soviet block.
This is CCCP1, Russian television.
1-800-collect.. man that says 90s through and through
I remember when MovieFone first launched while in my pre-teens...since the "777-FILM" number was so easy to remember, I even passed it onto one of my teachers at the time!
I've been waiting for ages for him to mention TMBG's Dial-a-song. This delighted me to no end.
I use to get phone cards at the store and dial in to a service and then call the number i was calling!
ottawaoctane Same, I used to buy them at gas stations up untill 2006 to make international calls. Now a days I just pay the 5 extra dollars sprint charges to make unlimited international calls.
My first college ID still had a 1-800-CALL-ATT number on it. Most students by then had basic cell phones and 2 years later I had to get a new ID and it no longer had the number on the back.
What year was this?
In my area there was this number 4361200 that the local newspaper ran. It had information and more importantly... PHONE GAMES!! They were mainly choose your own adventure "press one now, press two now" type stories but it was fun.
Aside from 10-10-9000 and the stale 411 for directories, by late 2000's Google had it's own flop of a 411 service called google-411. They even went as far as putting a dedicated google 411 button on some new phones around that time. (I seen some of these phones mostly cordless types advertised in Target flyers.) The good old days of prank calling businesses, and even a certain conference line for absolutely free on payphones, before payphone owners caught on and payphones were already dead as a dinosaur.
i actually used goog-411 regularly prior to owning a phone with (non-2g, non-charged-by-the-kilobyte) internet access... it was seriously invaluable
I actually ordered from 1-800-MUSIC-NOW a few times.
Then one of the public radio networks had a service with a better selection (which worked better as long as you had a catalog number for whatever album you were looking for) and I bought from them a few times.
And then, the internet happened. Of course.
Damn, the shortest 20 minutes of my whole week. Love this stuff!
Yes, there was a time children, when communication was difficult and expensive.
I remember moviefone but mostly as a website. In 2004, I would sometimes go on the moviefone website to look at trailers for films. The trailer I mostly remember from moviefone is shark tale. Funny how both things did not hold up in 2019
Gregory Borlan I remember going on moviefone as well as a kid
I too mainly watched the movie trailers I remember the super size me one which I later watched at school and proudly own on dvd
He should do one on phone phreaking
Carl and Florence! They should've had one with George and Weezie, too! I'm 46, so I am very familiar with these numbers 😁 I miss the ole time and date, "popcorn" line, kids today would be like "you mean you had to actually do something to get the right day and time?" lol
+OddityArchive; My favourite dial-it was the Apology Line (here's a link to the man who ran it's... yes, his web page, which explains all about it fully and there's plenty to listen to).
I don't know if this was a local thing (NYC), asks I can't remet how I found out about it. It wasn't an advertised service. It was an art project, wherein people would call in and... apologise.
There were quite a few very creepy calls (Mr Apology - as he was known - would listen to the calls and then , each month, would pick out a selection of the most interesting)..
There were several in which - yes, they were genuine - the caller talked about really grusome things they'd done. If anyone has ever seen or heard an actual killer, they don't talk of their crime as is seen in film. It can be very casual, but VERY detailed. There were times I know I sinister hung up).
There were also touching ones, sad ones. Each month, the recording you'd listen to was appx. 20-min.
Mr Apology would sometimes comment or, in the case of very few, appeal to the caller who had made a particular apology and ask them if they would contact him - privately.
As it wasn't advertised, the people who knew about it were not the average person (if they're were any pranked calls, we - the listeners never knew about then l because this wasn't a 'j-rky b-ys' type of stupidity. People who called knew they didn't have to worry - no matter what they said (no messages were passed on to the cops).
I miss it, because I've never used so-called 'social media' - I KNOW enough people, I value those people and I don't have an ego which needs additional stroking from fake friends. Numbers such as this one let you in to someone else's troubles, but not enough that the veil of anonymity was removed.
People talk WAY too much publicly (as an example, this... Oddity Archive is great, but you've got idiots who post things like their kids first walking or whatnot. This is A PUBLIC site. If one wants to 'share'stuff like this, then they can do it through proper channels, but when someone comes across something like this and finds it ridiculous to be out here - and leaves a comment saying so,, the idiot who posted the video gets all angry, not thinking THIS IS WHAT 'PUBLIC' means!
Anyway, another good nostalgic episode. Thanks!
A fan
Honestly, I wish social media (with the exception of this site, minus the corporate bs) would just go the way of the dodo and people would go back to BBS, IRC, messengers, or even Discord. Anything really that can provide anonymity and a sense of community without the centralization and mass stupidity of social media, not to mention the corporate meddling.
4:03 is that the dad from Family Matters? I'm pretty sure thats Carl Winslow.
I work for the phone company, business with landlines on measured rate services go nuts when the 1000+ phone bills hit. Also directory assistance costs like 5.50 a call,
4:02 oh look, Carl Winslow!
I needed some 90's nostalgia...
And you got it.
Although a lot of the episode went older.
You got even more nostalgia than you bargained for.
I used to call 1-800-MUSIC-NOW all the time, too. I remember it actually being MUSIC-NO, too!
I hear those speech samples (or at least similar ones) at 16:24 all the time in demos of low bitrate speech codecs. They had what sounded like an Australian/New Zealand accent to them, so they might have been different from the ones in this video.
oh hey
its weird paul
I did not hit her! I did NAHT!
I wonder if he knows?
8:40 "Boring phone stuff"? How DARE YOU. ;)
I love obscure factoids about AV.
Is the black guy in the commercial the same actor that played the cop in the original Die Hard?
Yup. Carl Winslow from Family Matters.
Or Reginald VelJohnson from our universe.
1-800 MUSIC NOW was the best ever! I would call it on my school's public phone to check out music before Napster was a thing.
This brings back childhood memories. Cool video
Few years since this video. But back in the late 90's, I had discovered one of those 10-10 numbers, that would allow me to place a collect call to a payphone (as long as it accepted incoming calls). Naturally, I didn't do it from home! And speaking of payphones, if I was out-and-about and needed the time, I'd also call the time number collect (saved on dimes). :D
Why Does The Announcer From That 1-800 Music Now Comercial Sound Like Hank Hill?
This brings me back to the day of making collect calls to get picked up by my folks.
Angel Ledezma I used 1-800-COLLECT at summer camp.
I love oddity archive Ben is the best!
George Carlin did a commercial for 10-10-220!? Wow.
AT&T: Reach out and touch someone, really AT&T?! Do you want us to become pedos or perverts?! That slogan is bad but the CBS's You've got the touch is less bad then that slogan AT&T.
They should have went with BT's choice, it's good to talk!
This man has far too many Chris Rea CDs!😅
Why sample and buy music over the phone when you can sample and pirate music over the phone courtesy of Napster?! Hey-ooo! 😅
Nice Weird Paul cameo
Creepy intro music...sooo good.
284-7847 (BUG-RUGS). Doesn't work here anymore.. But that was for testing lines.
My cellular bill showed up n my email while I was watching this...
Love this bizarre theme song, you write it?
Did Torgo?
I only have time for a 6 second movie review...
I miss Red Box'n back in the day on payphones....
The Neil Diamond Helpline is no longer functional...
They might be Giants actually just relaunched their dial a song program like literally yesterday
Apparently RUclips found this worthy of demonetization?
Aesthetic-555
WAIT, WAIT, GEORGE CARLIN DID AN AD?
The one I remember is 10-10-220.
Yes he did. He sold out just like all the other boomer hypocrites 🤣🤣
In the 90s you could dial a chicken and i was where?
It was an Australian Gimmick for a Chicken Fast Food Chain in Pert Amboy back in '88.
Now I know that George Carlin was paid to sell a phone number. This is a strange fact about him- almost as strange as his tenure as the narrator for Thomas the Tank Engine in the U.S. I never understood that. Why did George Carlin agree to voice a low-budget kid's show about trains?
My understanding is that it had something to do with many years of back taxes owed to the I.R.S (also the reason for Carlin's Fuji videotape ads).
Oh hi, Ben.
John Lithgow: Dial 10-10-321- Then 1, Then the Area Code, than the Number. Its just that Simple!"
I always HATED 10-10-321. In 1998, at 15 years of age, I saw it as an ANNOYING gimmick that would only appeal to the lowest common denominator.
Also, I'll ALWAYS refer to Lithgow as the "10-10-321 Guy". Though at the time, he starred in the WB hit Sitcom 3rd Rock From The Son at the time, the only other work I recognized from him was 1984's Footloose where he played the Bible Thumper.
The Carl Winslow ones were no better, either.
10-10-321 was pretty much a colossal commercial failure, MCI is believed to have reportedly lost by August 2001 a total of $43 Million in Operating Losses from the service. MCI is now known as the Anti NN Overloards "Verizon".
Back during 1998-2000, 1-800-Collect its more better executed counterpart was widely popular. People mostly used THAT, or 1-800-CALLATT with David Arquette and Marlon Wayans.
what was the 1800ATT thing
I wasnt alive at the time and I dpmt live in the USA
Logan MacGyver "1-800-C-A-L-L-A-T-T. It's free for you, and cheap for them!" It's been 15-20 years, but they were so good at promoting it that it's still there, in the hidden recesses of my mind. It was a collect calling service, which meant the receiving party would accept the charges (this is before unlimited flat-rate phone service, or widespread cellphone use, for that matter.) The idea was that it would cost the receiving party less to use the service than to make a standard collect call. Also their spokesperson was Carrot Top.
There is that Eminem 1800 get rev hotline for his new album that still is up I think
I meant 1833
👍👍👍👍
What song is that at the beginning?
Pavanned, by some guy named Ben Minnotte
Chris Roseberry AKA, the guy whose video we're having this conversation on.
I use a smartphone. My phone service provider is TracFone. It is a Pay as you go plan. No long term contracts. In fact, no contracts at all.
I like cats. Mostly Calicos..,.although most are cute...
13:26
A BAAAAT CREDIT CAAARD!?
Couldn't resist.