Wednesday, August 31, 2005

Puttin' on the Hits

Do you still have nightmares about a man with an orangutan puppet around his neck when you hear the song 'Guitarzan'? If you have any clue what I am talking about, you remember the lip synch game show from the early 80's, Puttin' on the Hits, with your fabulous host Allen Fawcett:



He now has that typical former star look (slightly bigger head, still too-large hair and pain-hiding smile) and held a show at the Palace Station in Vegas.


But seriously, I loved this show and can still hear him saying, "... a perfect score of 30!"

1 comment:

America's Puttin on the Hits said...

In 1981 Mr. Wood offered “Lip Sync” contests in which ordinary people would compete for prizes and cash awards in contests held in area nightclubs and other host establishments. These early contests, in which amateurs mimicked popular recording artists without actually singing the songs, were staged by Mr. Wood who promoted the productions and developed the contest format and rules.

In late 1982 Mr. Wood decided that “Lip Sync” contests held more than local interest and
began, ultimately to promote the concept on a nation wide scale with an ultimate goal of producing the concept for national television. In order to further these efforts, Lip Sinc
International, Inc. was incorporated on May 28, 1983. Mr. Wood traveled extensively from his offices in Houston, Texas producing Lip Sync contests, promotional shows, concerts, and fundraisers throughout the United States and elsewhere. In connection with these efforts Mr. Wood devoted considerable effort to overcoming skepticism by the owners of the host establishments, sponsors, and the media for the concept, and they developed considerable interest in the concept by both the public and the contest performers.

Mr. Wood also refined and further developed the concept as an entertainment form of mass appeal with sponsors, extensive advertising in all media, defined formats, rules and regulations, slogans, trademarks, service marks, licensing programs, video production and talent searches.

“Lip-syncing” as it came to be popularly known, became a national sensation, appearing
with considerable success in nightclubs, universities, malls, and other locations throughout the country. From early 1981 and thereafter until Puttin’ on the Hits first appeared on television in September 1984, this national phenomena received the attention
of dozens of local television stations around the country. Lip Sync International’s Lip Sync performers appeared nationally on numerous occasions on such shows as “PM Magazine”, “The Dance Show”, “Entertainment Tonight” and internationally on the television show “Entertainment USA” airing on the BBC in Europe and on CTV in Canada. Likewise, news accounts and feature articles about the contests appeared in numerous publications in Chicago and around the country during this early time period. In early 1984 Mr. Wood and his company joined forces with dick clark productions taking on the position of consulting producer for the series. Mr. Wood immediately converted his numerous LSI contests in over 17 cities around the country to official auditions for “Puttin’ on the Hits”. He further used the mark on all of his promotional materials and continued licensing dozens more organizations to host official auditions for the series providing a continuous flow of eager contestants for the series. Grand Final winners from these contests and auditions from over fifty cities across America advanced to the next level of competition and a chance in
Hollywood to compete for the $25,000 Puttin’ on the Hits Grand Prize.

Mr. Wood has decided that the “All New” Puttin on the Hits show format he had created is again a viable entity and has began marketing the series for television as America's Puttin on the Hits.