Re: "57 Channels"
- From: "William Innes" <billyinnes@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 19 Mar 2006 02:21:34 GMT
" A to Z" <DONTadietzUSE@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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Got you...as well as the point of the original point.
"William Innes" <billyinnes@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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become
"Donnieb78" <donnieb78@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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And 57 Channels premiered at the Christic Benefit, November 1990.
I'm not proud that I know that, but I do.
Well, if it's any comfort, I'm not bursting at the seams with pride about
knowing that this phrase was used in SEINFELD's 2nd/1991 Season (I just
happened to catch this episode on television the other night...otherwise
I
would have forgotten about it completely).
Right you are...I forgot about that.
Still, since neither SEINFELD (this early in the decade of the nineties)
or Springsteen's song was big enough to warrant eking its way into the
psyche of America, that its use must have come from elsewhere.
Granted, SEINFELD would definitely shape a lot of our language ("yada
yada
yada") in the years to come, but I don't think it did so this early in
its
run.
Even though it wouldn't at all surprise me if someone associated with the
SEINFELD show had caught one of Springsteen's Christic shows,
I wouldn't give Kramer's use of the phrase to be enough for this to
an oft-used catch phrase (since this was just a quickly said, one-offalbums
line...and I don't think the show had quite taken America by storm by its
second season).
Still, I also find it unlikely that a song from any of Springsteen's
from the 1990s would be able to have that sort of ripple effect of a
nation's culture.
why? In 1990-92, he was still BRUCE, still not that far from BIUSA and all
that hoopla.
advertising
I'm thinking that it was an often used number by cable companies
their wares...
I can tell you this: the first mention I can find on Lexisnexis of anyone
using the phrase "## channels and nothing on" was Marvin Kitman, in 1989,
who mentioned that "And then there is cable. In only 20 years it has gone
from 12 channels with nothing on to 84 channels - and there is still
nothing
on.". The second reference was to Bruce's song, and at least half the
refernces to "## channels and nothing on" since then have specifically
mentioned Bruce. None have mentioned Kitman.
The first dozen or so mentions of "57 channels" were ads for the fact that
Cabelvision's new controller offered 57 channels - but obviously
Cablevision
never mentioned "and nothing on. Bruce did - and it has entered the
lexicon
since. Given the lack of instances prior to Bruce's release of the song,
and
the much greater number siunce then, it does seem like he is really the
one
who put it out there...
The key being "nothing on.."
Yeah, I wouldn't dispute that part of it is Springsteen's doing.
For me it was more the number "57"...I didn't think it was a random number
that Springsteen pulled out of thin air.
.
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- From: Donnieb78
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- From: William Innes
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- From: Donnieb78
- Re: "57 Channels"
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