Grapevines

This week Hugh’s challenge features old songs that were used for commercials. In the mid to late 1980s, the California Raisin Advisory Board produced a series of claymation commercials featuring singing raisins. They became so popular that the Raisins had their own figurine and merchandise line, a cartoon show and a movie. The first song used in the commercials was “I Heard it Through the Grapevine.  The California Raisins released four studio albums  between 1987 and 1988, and “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” made it to the Billboard Hot 100.  The first video is a compilations of some of those commercials. I have also included the original 1967 version by the great Gladys Knight and the Pips. It’s funny that the label is variations of purple, just like the raisins.

I have fond memories of the raisins. My mom had a huge plastic jar of the figurines in the livingroom. One of the fast food chains (Hardee’s) gave them away.

Join Hugh’s 51 Weeks:51 Hits from the Past – Week 30