Kennywood Park - Freddy Cannon (1986)
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- Опубліковано 3 лют 2013
- Here's the story behind this video... In 1986, I was contacted by Andy Quinn one of Kennywood Park's marketing people. He asked if I was interested in creating a TV spot for the amusement park. As it turns out, Kennywood was in the middle of a "divorce" with their advertising agency.
Kennywood wanted a fun commercial to capitalize on the fact that girls go to the park to meet guys and vice versa. They also wanted to feature as many rides as possible.
I immediately thought of the classic summer song, "Palisades Park" by Freddy Cannon. By chance, a music producer friend, Dave Bernard, happened to know the phone number of Freddy Cannon. (There was no email, internet or Facebook in 1986)
I spoke directly to Freddy at his home in Tarzana, CA. He offered to fly to Pittsburgh to re-record a new version of his 1962 hit, "Palisades Park". Chuck Barris of "The Gong Show" fame had written the original hit song. Barris had sold the licensing rights to MPL, Paul McCartney's music publishing company. After a few days of long distance phone calls and FAXes, all parties agreed to allow me to re-record the song for a Kennywood Park TV commercial.
I re-wrote the lyrics of the hit song, substituting the names of Kennywood's rides. A week later, Freddy Cannon arrived in Pittsburgh and recorded, "Kennywood Park" at Jeree's Recording Studios, with musicians from the oldies group, "Solid Gold".
The location film shoot was a fun, 2-day romp through the amusement park. Dawn Lambing was our star. (I can't remember her co-star's name???) All the extras were park guests who didn't mind being on TV. Deb Docherty, my AD on the project, had to move our film crew through the crowded amusement park, without alienating park guests.
I used an Arriflex 35mm BL4 camera to photograph the commercial. The first day, we shot all the afternoon and night scenes. The following day we picked up missing shots and the rider's rollercoaster POV footage using an Arriflex 35mm 2C camera, hard mounted to the front car of the coaster. I remember that both shooting days were overcast requiring HMI back and edge lighting for many of the scenes.
Film processing and film-to-tape transfer was handled at Producer's Color in Detroit, Michigan. I edited the long-form "music video" on 1" tape at our Pittsburgh based post-production facility. The commercial was so popular that it aired for 2 years in '86 & '87. This long-form version is from the original 1" analog tape master. - Фільми й анімація
1986 , I was 13 years old and a western Pennsylvania boy . We were all in love with this Kennywood girl and knew every word to this song . Classic !!!!
Amazing that Freddy Cannon himself was brought in to sing this update on one of his classics.
A-men. This commercial is the best from the 80's in the Pittsburgh area. It brings back lots of memories and the best times of the 1980's.
The Eat N Park christmas commercial would like to have a word...
Freddie "Boom Boom" Cannon was born on December 4, 1936. He celebrated his 87th birthday on December 4, 2023 (Palisades Park was released in July 1962 and reached #3 on Billboard Hot 100 charts. It was his biggest hit).
My freshman year in high school, and I was at the park during a day this was being filmed. Such a HUGE part of my teen life! I still have the 45rpm!
This is a great version. And Freddie still sounds great! Got to get my butt out to Kennywood, need a wooden roller coaster fix.
Yes I did enjoy it Freddy Cannon I'm sure still also tours from time to time I can also think of Jimmy Clanton, Venus in Blue Jeans, Just a Dream and Go Jimmy Go. Again no too many more pioneers are left. Wow Freddie's play on "Palisades Park" which doesn't exist anymore.
Glad you enjoyed it. We had a lot of fun making it... Freddy Cannon was also a great guy. The day after his recording session with us, he re-visited the park himself and Carl Hughes and his wife showed him a poster from 1963 when he performed at Kennywood. Liz Miles also interviewed him for KDKA's Evening Magazine. Glenn
Greatly enjoyed it, thank you!😊
Totally enjoyed this! Many, many thanks!
Awesome. This commercial has been burned into my head since I was 10 years old
The 1980's and Kennywood.....does not get any better than this. Thanks for posting. I have seen the commercials but never the full 2 minute commercial. Very good job!
Kennywood Day was everything back then.
I have many happy memories from Kennywood Park. So enjoyed seeing this!
By far the most classic and memorable Kennywood commercial ever! I was only 8 when it first came out and still remember pretty much every single word to it! Thanks for sharing the history!
This is really cool, thanks for sharing the story of it's origin.
WOW! What a treasure this is. I am a Native to south western Pennsylvania, born and raised in the Canonsburg area. So of course growing up as a kid of the 1980's we always went to Kennywood. I remember this commercial! Nice to see it again. I miss the old "Laser Loop" which is featured in the commercial. So much has changed. I live in California now,...but I miss Kennywood.
Grew up in the same area and loved Kennywood Park. Went there as much as possible as a kid.
Great commercial, but this footage is WAY better! Thanks for the technical info, and I'm really surprised to hear you shot on film!
Back in 1986, many commercials were originated on 35mm film, then transferred to videotape for editing and release to TV stations. The only other option was hand-held video cameras that were used to shoot the TV news and "live" shows... Times certainly have changed. Thanks.
wow! I've been a huge fan of Palisades Park (Freddy and also Gary Lewis' version) and can really appreciate this version! Especially from the late 80s wow! He still sounded great! Thanks for creating this!
Thanks Michael... the ad was fun to shoot and Freddy Cannon was a very interesting guy when he came to Pittsburgh to re-record his amazing song that literally an "anthem" for summertime fun.
Thanks for sharing this video and background on how it was made. I miss the burg. This commercial is a part of my memories from our adventures to Kennywood. We couldn't afford to go every year. In fact, going once every 3 or 4 years was a stretch for my parents. But the times we could afford to go... priceless memories. I remember running to the TV when this commercial came on. I was 8 years old. Great memories.
I work skycoaster in 1998 at Kennywood but this commercial always makes me feel so nostalgic
Freddie and the Shades of Brass performed at Paul Smith's College, Paul Smith's NY one Friday night in the late 60's.
I was so jealous of this commercial. I went to Bethany College in WV. The friend of the main actress, that turns around was paid to be in this commercial. When I was selected from a crowd at Kennywood to be in the commercial a couple of years later.. I road the Raging Rapids for free 6 times!!!! But was absolutely drenched! Proud to be in a Kennywood commercial. And after the experience, I totally understood why actors and actresses get paid sooo well!!! Love this commercial!
Glenn, Thanks you very much for posting the video on You Tube. It is, and probably always will be, my favorite Kennywood commercial. The fact that Freddy Cannon is singing it makes it even better!! Thanks Again!!
Mark Cromer
that was great. so much fun.
I just heard the song on SiriusXM's 60's on 6 with Phlash Phelps. Great video and great music. I bet the folks in PA would get a kick out of hearing this again after so many years! Thanks for all the hard work this took to put together.
Thanks John... Phlash Phelps played our "Kennywood Park" song a couple years ago, it's great that it's been revived after 33 years!
This song is still a banger I swear
I don't remember the school... but I do remember that the woman from the school band was pissed that the Dawn (our young actress) jumped into the band line. She thought she was a drunk, which of course was not the case... Glenn
Wow, I remember seeing this commercial/video as a kid, but I never realized it was the original artist; I think I just assumed that someone else had Weird Al'ed it. Anyway, this definitely takes me back to my childhood. 😄
My pleasure! I really felt it was an effective ad campaign. Having been in the radio business for 25 years, I've always felt that the best ad campaigns don't come from agencies in NYC. I thought it ironic that this track is forgotten by most, yet the park is still in business. And the song "Palisades Park" will endure, but sadly, the park did not.
Thanks for that gr8 behind the scenes glimpse. I remember this commercial and wanting the lead guy's hair! I love you brought that idea to life and even rallied the original singer to re-record. In this age of email...I can't imagine pulling a production together via phone calls and fax. For us 'burghers, this is such an iconic spot. Bravo!
Thanks Brett for taking time to comment. I wish I still had access to the original 35mm negative, I'd re-transfer it in 1080P...
Thank you so much. I've been looking for the full length version of this songs for a very long time.
Kennywood is the first amusement park I ever went to. I was about six years old in 1951.
That was so awesome to read thru the back story on how you made this! Thanks for sharing and bringing back some childhood memories!
this was really great ! I never knew Freddy Cannon did this for Kennywood Park.
Yes indeed that's the real Freddy Cannon recorded at Jeree's Sound Studios with musicians from Pittsburgh's group "Solid Gold" doing the backing track.
I remembered this commercial from when I was 10 for some reason. Every so often it pops in my head and I remember loving this song and hoped to meet a girl at the park like this fella did, but again I was 10. I have been to Kennywood at least once every summer since the day I was born. This year will most likely break that tradition due to the pandemic. Absolutely love this video though. Thank You for making it, I treasure this ad more that any other and I hesitate to call it an ad because it's much more than that. It captured a certain vibe of the era much the way John Hughes was able to do and also that kid magic/fantasy world that every kid wants daily. Thanks again for making it and putting it here for me to find. Outstanding!
Thanks Chris for your comments. I'm glad you enjoyed the video and it brought back some good memories. I don't believe this 2 minute long-form version of the complete Freddy Cannon song ever aired on broadcast TV. The 30 second cut-down was the primary commercial that Kennywood used for their advertising campaign.
@@PrzyborskiProduction I do remember it being a lot shorter. This full length version is outstanding. By the way, it actually brought a tear to my eye, several if I'm being honest. Maybe for missing those days? I'm not quite sure why, but your work moved me and I'm better for it. Thanks again.
I'm glad the video brought back some great memories for you. This full 2 minute version never aired on TV, the various scenes were used to create the TV commercials that aired for 2 years. Thanks.
I loved the commercial when it aired, and just stumbled across this... I didn't know a full music video existed!
Like others have noted, this Kennywood's best ad/video. You did something no one else has done before or since- captured the true spirit of the Park and its guests. I hope they gave you a lifetime pass.
All I can remember "And we're off! Like a dirty diaper" Bob Griffith, abt 1954 or 1955.
The band clip was in one of the several clips Kennywood used from this video. But the band clip does look very spontaneous and that is why it worked so well.
Great video! Best quality I've seen. I still have the 45 of this song.
+pinballshawn I use a Ternanex to up-sample the NTSC standard definition to HD. It works really well and cleans up the image. Remember, this footage is 30 years old. Today, we'd shoot it in 4K digital. Thanks.
I don't even know what made me google this commercial. Thank you so much for posting it and the story behind it. I'm from Butler, we thought it was so cool to see the Butler HS cheerleaders in it. This brings back so many good memories of Kennywood and growing up. I was11 when this aired but pretty sure it was played for a few years after. It always made it feel like summer was officially here when it came on. Thank you!
Thank you for the in-depth behind-the-scenes info!
You can tell how old this commercial is it got the lazer loop for crying out loud
forever!
From 1986 but I think I remember this add continuing to be used in 1987 or even 1988 as well. Classic stuff
I can't thank you enough for posting this. I've always loved this commercial. I had bought the '45 that was released after this came out but for the life of me can't find it. Gotta keep looking. Thank You Again!!!!!!
Glenn, fantastic job on this whole project, I love the back story! just had a friend in phillly read about this and asked if I knew where to find a copy of the whole song, so emailed him the link for this page! I don't care what they do with video today to emulate the look of film, nothing beats the real thing, especially 35mm.
Excellent video, I wonder who the young lady that's in most of it is and who is the young lady eating the ice cream cone so I can see if they are any other commercials or videos.
Yes I say Please bring back the Whales Mouth with that great big red tongue carpet...even if only to place it in "Lost Kennywood" as a picture taking location.....And please bring back the SPIN ART! WE were pretty poor but we could always afford a spin art suvenior.
Thanks for the info about Tom... I directed and photographed every frame of this video and I believe I may have said the comment you mentioned. I remember Andy Quinn of Kennywood telling me that girls go to Kennywood to meet guys and guys go to meet girls and that had to be the main theme of the commercial. I'd love to learn Tom's last name so I could add it to the story... Thanks!
Just a fantastically produced and directed music-video before it all got way to technical and of course, Freddy Cannon, well he owns that song!
I'm glad you enjoyed the video. Phlash Phelps on SiriusXM played this re-recorded version of Freddy's song a couple years ago.
Hello Glenn. This was just added to my Facebook feed. Those were the days. The "guy" in the green striped shirt was my room mate and very close friend. His named wasnt Tom. It was David. He did a lot of modelling that year for local deapartment stores as well. You did a great job on the video and he had fun filing it.
Arden, thanks for the email. Let me know David's last name and I'll correct the story. Or have David write to me with his last name... Thanks
It's groovy!!
So many memories ty!
The res is amazing for 1986!
The record was put out on the KDKA label and the proceeds went to a Children's Hospital or some such charity.
I actually bought the 45 in one of the gift shops.
Cool story. Thanks for sharing
love banjo kid at 1:37 !
I remember some of this footage that made it on the TV. As it turns out 86 was the last time I visited the park. I now live in Philly and the park that I remember is all different now I hardly recognize some of the images I see.
Palasades park must have been really cool1! Reminds me of Kennywood commercial!!! That is when the park was last in
it's prime; 80's maybe early 90 until some group bought the park and
commercialized it:(.
With the loss of Bobby Rydell there's maybe a handful of the pioneers of rock n roll left. Frankie Avalon, Connie Francis, Chubby Checkers, Gary US Bond, Gary Lewis who still from time to time still tours. These are all that come to mind, you might think of others.
I love these days and i loved the way he was kissing his girl at the end now thats what i call Great memories.!
This was recorded when I was in high school. Dawn Lambing's younger brother Paul rode my school bus (Kiski Area grads) and he talked about some of the production. Her co-star's first name was Tom. I remember this because the producer who shot the kissing scene in the sky said "a little less tongue, Tom" to get him to tone it down a bit.
I wish I would have had a chance to ride Laser Loop but I was 4 when they removed it and was only at White Swan before.
I remember White Swan Park! It was awesome. My Father's trucking association always had a summer picnic there!
You didn't miss much, it sucked.
Thanks so much for the kind comments Kevin... Today's amusement park advertising is just high-energy quick cuts of new or intense thrill rides. and sorry to say, I never got a lifetime pass. Today the park is owned by an out-of-state (actually out-of-country) corporation and they do system-wide creative that's customized to their specific parks.
Those owners are destroying kennywood
I still of the 45 for this song. Bought it at the gift shop.
Great commercial for Kennywood .
The creative possibilities to rework a new version of this video are many. Imagine pairing up the two young people as they are today and interspersing cuts from the original video and them visiting Kennywood Park today to the soundtrack of Bill Medley and Jennifer Warren's "I had the time of my life." If I were pitching the concept, I'd tell the Kennywood people that they will get young people by default, no need to cull them because they are going to do the park anyway. Bringing in older people who have more disposable income on a nostalgia excursion would be a more profitable target market. Intersperse cuts of the original video with the same couple today reliving their youth is such an upbeat celebration of life it would capture people's hearts. A great tagline statement at the end of the video could be "Come back to Kennywood and celebrate the times of your life." Ahhhh....if only....
You have some great ideas Larry, but in today's world of marketing and advertising, that type of spot would be too complicated to pull off. The song and girl meets boy storyline is 2 min long. Today most ads are 30's and 15's. When this campaign was produced, Kennywood was owned by 2 families in the Pittsburgh area. They loved the amusement park industry and could make quick marketing decisions. Today Kennywood is owned by a out-of-state corporation that runs and owns several parks. They seem to create very similar, generic, formula ads for each park. Thanks.
Thanks... I'm glad you enjoyed the video... Glenn
In this song, the Oberheim DMX is heard.
Yep!! Loved that drum machine!
👍👍👍👍
This is when commercials were good. P.S. HE holds on Thunderbolt coaster and SHE has here hands up!!!
Thanks Mike... We thought it would be fun to do a role reversal and have the girl dominate the potential relationship. Andy Quinn (one of Kennywood's previous owners) asked me in the pre-pro for this project, to capture the idea that girls go to Kennywood to meet guys and guys try to meet girls. This was the peak of MTV's popularity, so music driven TV spots were pushed by clients and agencies. Today, many commercials are created as the result of focus group testing. It's rare to see an ad without a voice-over announcer telling you what you're seeing. Thanks.
awesome, wish that guy in the polo was me. god...
You know what the neatest thing would be? To get those same two actors and show them celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary at Kennywood!
That's a great idea for a commercial and it would be loved by folks in Western Pennsylvania. The girl and guy in my 1986 commercial still live in the Pittsburgh area. Unfortunately, Kennywood is no longer locally owned and marketing decisions are made by Palace Entertainment in Newport Beach, CA. I'm sure that this season most of the park's advertising will promote the new roller coaster that's being touted as the biggest in PA. Thanks.
@@PrzyborskiProduction Well, it was an idea... Then the song lyrics could be changed...like: "You can watch all the kids on the Whip...but you can't ride because of your deteriorating hip" (sung to the tune of Palisades Park) Well, I guess they're not THAT old yet :) But thanks for the response! I must say, that 1986 Kennywood commercial was fabulous. It's a great concept and the shooting style, editing, and pace was fantastic. GREAT JOB!
@@PrzyborskiProduction I would imagine a commercial of this type to show a flashback of the original commercial intermixed with some shots of the couple today, going into the park. All of a sudden we see they have two teenage kids with them; a boy and a girl. As they all walk through the park, the kids look excited and break away from their parents. The parents look up in awe, at the new Steel Curtain coaster as the shot pulls back to show the enormity of the scene. Then we see shots cut back and forth of the kids on the Steel Curtain along with the parents amazement of what they are seeing. We then see the kids coming out of the ride exit to join their parents. The dad shakes his brave son's hand and the mom hugs her daughter. We close on a long shot of them walking away; one happy family, with a screen overlay saying, "Kennywood - We're Ready for the Next Generation" I know something like this would never come to fruition, but I like to think about stuff like this :)
@@PrzyborskiProductionThis new corporation seriously need to go….
They are not deserving and are not worthy of owning Kennywood….
I hope that in the future generation of the bloodline of whom originally owned Kennywood, buys Kennywood back….
😍🥰🫶🙌❤🎉
pallisaids park in a nutshell
LOL ! Great! A (few) years back, was a barrel ride, you stood all around the walls, it
would spin, and you were stuck to the side...And THEN the floor would drop ! ! !
We would turn around, upside down and everyone else would get queezy...watching.
Wow...the ol' days!!!
That was the ride called "The Rotor" and it was across from The Old Mill.
There’s a newer version of the song 👇 ua-cam.com/video/qa-9dXP-tCQ/v-deo.html
Kennywood Park (song) in a nutshell: If you come down to kennywood you will find a girlfriend At KeNnYwOoD pArK!
These days, all your liable to get at Kennywood is suckerpunched and robbed.
Does anyone know what the song that the Hillbilly Shooting Gallery plays is?
Freddie took Palasades Park , changed the park ... Why ?
You are very observant.. For a number of years, I directed and photographed most of the Kennywood, Idlewild and later Sand Castle commercials. The St. George Group was their ad agency and Brad Wucher was creative director of the agency. Whenever there was a good or difficult to redo scene, we'd save the footage and use it several times. There was a classic shot of the Wave Swinger at dusk that we used at least 3 or 4 times. Thanks...
1:23-1:24 me and Kenny kangaroo in love
I was too young to remember these years of ads but I feel like I remember a guy with a green striped shirt in ads from the later 80's, when their campaigns were "The Great Escape" and "Summertime." Is it possible that some of this footage was used in those ads?
Wait is the guy in the green striped shirt u???!!!
I have that 45!
I don't know who the blonde boy is but he's hot as hell! 🔥😈🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Do you remember what school the marching band was from? Was it Norwin?
Did Freddy Cannon really record this?
Anything the great Freddy Boom, Boom does is OK with me. Curious to know is there no tunnel of love at Kennywood Park? Hence the change in the words?
When I was putting together the shot list for this commercial, Andy Quinn and Henry Henniger (who ran the park) did not want to include the "Old Mill" ride as the focus would be on their newer, more popular attractions. Hence the re-write of the lyrics doesn't include "Tunnel of Love". Also, Kennywood didn't have a ride called "Tunnel of Love"... Thanks
If this was shot on 35mm film, can you remaster this in 4K?
The simple answer is yes... however the original 35mm negative probably no longer exists. It was common in advertising for ad agencies and clients to dispose of original film elements once a project was transferred to videotape and edited. After a couple months, my company would usually ship the original film negative of a project to either the ad agency or directly to the client after a project was completed and on-air. Most clients and agencies would simply dispose of the film after a year or two. Major ad agencies would store production elements with a contracted film vault service. It's theoretically possible that the original negative from this production is in a box, somewhere in the back offices of Kennywood Park.
It goes on and on. After 40 seconds, we saw what there was to see. It needed to wrap up.
Sorry, I no longer have any of the original 1" film transfers from over 25 years ago. We used to do lots of kick-ass spots for Kennywood, Sandcastle & Idlewild Park, but since 2008 it's all owned and controlled by Palace Entertainment. Thanks.
Oh my… remember this god awful commercial 😆 that’s pretty bad if I call a commercial from 1986 “bad”
That moment when kenny the kangaroo 3rd wheels
Today Kennywood is owned by Parques Reunidos, and is a dump today. Place is dirty, rides are not maintained.....so sad because this is the Kennywood I grew up with as a kid.
Qwa😊
And then they smashed
Damn I was born too late I was born in 96
Wild1995, that band sure looks like Hempfield. Their uniforms were pretty old-fashioned by the late 1986, but I always liked them. Absolutely not Norwin.
mjbari3 Norwin also had old uniforms. I went to Norwin and I remember hearing some were on the commercial. But I wanted confirmation from the creator. But he cant remember.
Cool. I remember the Norwin uniforms from the early 1980s, but they were pretty plain, with an 'N', I think.
Just looked at it again for a refresher. Those colors are absolutely white, light blue, and dark blue; Hempfield's colors, not Norwin's.
Jim Messina wore the same striped shirt so you know this dude is cool, just not as cool.