In the mid-to-late 80's, when 1-900/976 numbers were at their peak, a commercial aired for a service where children could become rockstars and sing via the telephone with a fictional clown called Chuckles the Clown. The commercial began with a claymation clown (the titular Chuckles of the service) singing, and then cut to a boy jumping on his bed in his bedroom while his mom vaccums the room. A few seconds later, the boy turns into a rockstar and Chuckles tells the viewers about the hotline. This ad has been remembered by many children who grew up in the 80's, but has never been found on the internet. However, in 2009, an ad for a Easter Bunny hotline with similar animation showed up on YouTube, but has since been taken down. All that remained for a long time were the lyrics to the ad, which were posted on an 80's pop culture newsgroup.
Rediscovery[]
On June 6th 2021, ThatGamingAsshole posted on the Lost Media Wiki forum stating he had a copy of the commercial on a DVD converted from an old VHS. It is best guessed this airing of the commercial occurred in November 1987 during an airing of “USA Cartoon Express” as the premiere of an episode of The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin is also on the tape. TGA later uploaded the commercial to his YouTube channel with a higher quality version being added the next day.
Upon viewing the commercial, it was found the lyrics to the commercial were mostly accurate to the original forum post other than “Chuckles Band” actually being “Wizards Band” and the mom simply placing items on the boy’s bed rather than vacuuming the room. The company behind the commercial was found to be “Phone Medium. Inc.” and the phone number 1-900-909-4646.
Lyrics/Dialogue[]
Chuckles: “Time to rock and roll with the Wizards Band, We are waiting for the sound of your tone. You can be in the Wizards Band, Just sing into the telephone!”
Boy: “I’m gonna be in the Chuckles Band, gonna sing into the telephone!”
Chuckles (speaking): “That was fantastic! You really should be a recording star! I want you to be the next guest star at my party so call right now!”
Announcer: “One nine hundred four six four six, children ask your parents for permission. Two dollars first minute, thirty five cents each extra minute.”
Video[]
Chuckles the Clown 1-900 Ad Higher Quality Version