Pinball

This week is "Fads of the 70's Week!"

Though pinball had been around for many years its peak in popularity was in the 1970's. It also happened to be its last hurrah due to the invention of the video game. Arcades quickly replaced rows of pinball machines with games like Asteroids and Pac-Man, which earned incredible amounts of money compared to the pinballs of the day.

I for one played a lot of pinball in my youth because one of my best friend's had a pinball machine in his den...so we didn't have to worry about quarters. It was a Bally's Spirit of '76 pinball machine (see the screen grab from Car Wash below). We spent hours playing it.


I've always loved the artwork of pinball machines, too. They were very cool and graphic and sometimes sexy. A few years ago I bought three pinball backglasses on ebay to hang as wall art (Evel Knievel, The Six Million Dollar Man, and KISS). When I moved to the suburbs I hung them in my basement/work studio. Check out the photo below – a little peek into the wacky world of Franklin Mint...

And here's a shot of Brooke Shields on the set of Tilt (1979) standing in front of the Evel Knievel pinball machine...

Speaking of Brooke Shields and Tilt... why isn't that movie on DVD? I own it on VHS and it's a fun nostalgic watch. Here's a scene...

Tilt is the story of a young girl, who's a pinball wizard. Because she does not get on with her parents, Tilt (Brooke Shields) is contemplating running away from home, and skipping school one day she decides to play pinball at Mickey's Bar. There she meets and befriends a gambler/hustler and the two hit the road betting and scamming people at various pinball joints. It all leads up to Tilt playing the pinball champ, Harold "The Whale".

And speaking of pinball wizards, perhaps the most famous pinball movie – and probably what sparked the whole 70's pinball craze – is The Who's Tommy (1975). In 1969 The Who released the rock opera album Tommy, which centers on the title character, a "deaf, dumb, and blind kid", who nevertheless becomes a "Pinball Wizard" and who later uses pinball as a symbol and tool for his messianic mission. Six years later they made the album into a film. Here's my favorite scene, featuring Elton John performing "Pinball Wizard"...


And here's a few versions of the song "Pinball Wizard"...


[DOWNLOAD] Pinball Wizard
01- Pinball Wizard -- The Who
02- Pinball Wizard -- Elton John
03- Pinball Wizard -- Rod Stewart
04- Pinball Wizard/See Me Feel Me -- The New Seekers
05- Pinball Wizard -- The Wild Honey Singers
06- Pinball Wizard -- Sandy Nelson
07- Pinball Wizard -- Harry Roche Constellation
08- Pinball Wizard -- Bobby Shad and the Bad Men
09- Pinball Wizard -- Nick Baratta

And here's some other pinball related songs...


[DOWNLOAD] Pinball Related Songs
01- Pinball Machine -- Lonnie Irving
02- Pinball Machine -- Merle Kilgore
03- Pinball -- Brian Protheroe
04- Pinball Number Count -- The Pointer Sisters

You'll notice I added the Sesame Street classic "Pinball Number Count" by the Pointer Sisters to last group of songs. Though the song isn't actually about pinball, the cool animation is. Check it out...


Here's another cartoon that pinball found it's way into. It's from the Super Globetrotters (1979)...


Pinball had a nice run in the 70's but like I said above...once the 80's rolled in, it was basically the end. Tilt...Game Over.

The pinball art above holds some clues to a couple of 70's fads I'll post in the next couple of days.