Crazy Eddie

[Big Daddy Audio]

Crazy Eddie was the nom de stuff of Eddie Antar, who was a whiz at repackaging used and returned merchandise.  This is what ultimately did him in (see, the attorney general of NY takes a dim view of this when you try to sell used stuff as new).  The guy is the commercial was not Eddie Antar, but Jerry Carroll, who was a fixture for these cheesy commercials.

Check him out on You Tube:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/Yi5HfjEFrF4&amp;ap=%2526fmt%3D18&amp;rel=0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/Yi5HfjEFrF4&amp;ap=%2526fmt%3D18&amp;rel=0</a>

(BTW - how do get these links so that they are links, and you don't have to cut and paste to go there?)

Anyway - all that stuff that you see in the commercials?  I want that.

Or at least I did.

See you next time
Bye for now.

[Big Daddy Audio]

I guess it does it automatically.  I answered my own question.

see you next time
bye for now.

[superiorgirl]

Those commercials provided yet another reason why I am glad to live in Upper Michigan!!

[Zed Simon]

For all the insanity of Crazy Eddie commercials, there's only one thing that could top it...and that is Shadoe Stevens as Fred Rated for the Federated chain out west. Genius:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/BV-bs5aEMRk&amp;ap=%2526fmt%3D18&amp;rel=0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/BV-bs5aEMRk&amp;ap=%2526fmt%3D18&amp;rel=0</a>

[superiorgirl]

This must be a coastal phenomenon.

I have to admit I liked the Federated ones more.

[SecondhandSophisticate]

Ahhh, Zed. I figured invoking Crazy Eddie would get you here. How are you doing?

Big Daddy, you brought a tear to my eye. with that link. I did not know Crazy Eddie was such a part of my cultural landscape in my younger day. I remember during  the "summer of Sam" and beyond being bombarded with those commercials.  I must have tuned them out after 1980.

I do have a funny story to share about Crazy Eddie commercials. My little Sicilian grandmother (one of my little Sicilian grandmothers, I should say) who came from the "old country" used to imitate Crazy Eddie commercials. This was pre-cable days, and we could get only five stations with the antenna--all of them from NYC, or course. She'd say, in her thick Sicilian accent:  "Crazy Eddie! His prices are insane!" and she make her eyes pop and thrust her arms out with her hands open. We are talking about a woman in her 80s here.  She did indeed agree that Crazy Eddie was crazy, but she didn't know why he was crazy. She didn't know from stereos. She figured it was a crazy person doing a commercial about being crazy. Which was crazy to her.  She always shook her head and roll her eyes afterward.  But just the surrealism of it all... an immigrant from Italy born in the last century with no real understanding of what or why is digging the situation and understanding the message through the delivery of it. Shades of Fellini!    It does smack of Goethe's quote: "Few people have the imagination for reality."

She went to heaven in 1980, which, I just noticed is when I stopped paying attention to Crazy Eddie commercials. Now I understand (sigh)

Off to check out the Shadoe Stevens commercials.

Ciao!

[Thrift Shop Romantic]

I remember Crazy Eddie vividly, but knew Shadoe Stevens from the Hollywood Squares. I wonder whatever happened to him? I think he had a few b-movies in the late 80s early 90s...

[SecondhandSophisticate]

I remember Crazy Eddie vividly, but knew Shadoe Stevens from the Hollywood Squares. I wonder whatever happened to him? I think he had a few b-movies in the late 80s early 90s...

TSR--I knew I had heard that name somewhere before.  I thought he was a traffic reporter

[SecondhandSophisticate]

For all the insanity of Crazy Eddie commercials, there's only one thing that could top it...and that is Shadoe Stevens as Fred Rated for the Federated chain out west. Genius:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/BV-bs5aEMRk&amp;ap=%2526fmt%3D18&amp;rel=0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/BV-bs5aEMRk&amp;ap=%2526fmt%3D18&amp;rel=0</a>

Zed, those are BRILLIANT!!! I laughed till I cried. Of course, I think Federated may have had a little bigger (though probably not by much, lol) budget than the Edster. Can you imagine watching those at 2 AM? I wonder in what time period they showed? 

[Big Daddy Audio]

It seems to me to be a different style - It's like the difference between the NY Yankees and the LA Dodgers.  Yankee fans are rabid baseball-a-holics and Dodger fans go to the game to be seen.

Crazy Eddie was straight-up and in your face.  Federated - about the only thing they seem to sell was Sharp Electronics.

While the Federated commercials seem to have more production value/story line, Crazy Eddie was just that - INSANE!

It must be an east-coast thing.  Kind of like trying to compare Wallace and Ladmo in Phoenix with Uncle Floyd in NY/NJ.

See you next time
Bye for now.

[ChrisMiss]

Shadoe Stevens used to do American Top 40.  He did The Hollywood Squares as mentioned.  He played on Dave's World.  Currently he's host to a radio show Top of the World, Rock the World and announcer for The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.  He's also written a series of books for children The Big Galoot.

[oceangurl]

Seso I love to hear you reminisce about your "Italian grandmother" I can just picture her, I too had Italian grandparents, Napeldon (from Naples) who came to the states when they were young, they spoke in broken english. I can remember sitting on the white porch in Portchester, New York (their home and they were proud of it) and my grandmother would comb my long straight brown hair into two perfect ponytails with her smail frail hands, all the time saying "Bella, Bella" when ever she would look into my big dark brown eyes she would take my small face into her hands and say "Bella, Bella" meaning you are so beautiful. When we would sit to eat at her house she would prepare a meager small feast and say "Munja, Munja" and if you think that is ethnic my other grandparents (moms mom and dad) were immigrants from Lisbon , Portugal and also only spoke in broken english , they came to the U.S. when they were young also, I never knew my Portuguese grandfather, he wasnt around much, but I remember my portugee Grandmother saying my name, my name is Cynthia and she would say Chincia, my sister's name was Michelle and she would say Chelley. Ah the innocense and naivitity of my ethnic grandparents, such were the times, I like to hear you reminisce about your Italian family because it sounds JUST like MINE, and that always evokes good memories in me, thanx Seso, I bet if you and I talked we could keep each other entertained for HOURS...Ciao, Bella!  

[SecondhandSophisticate]

Seso I love to hear you reminisce about your "Italian grandmother" I can just picture her, I too had Italian grandparents, Napeldon (from Naples) who came to the states when they were young, they spoke in broken english. I can remember sitting on the white porch in Portchester, New York (their home and they were proud of it) and my grandmother would comb my long straight brown hair into two perfect ponytails with her smail frail hands, all the time saying "Bella, Bella" when ever she would look into my big dark brown eyes she would take my small face into her hands and say "Bella, Bella" meaning you are so beautiful. When we would sit to eat at her house she would prepare a meager small feast and say "Munja, Munja" and if you think that is ethnic my other grandparents (moms mom and dad) were immigrants from Lisbon , Portugal and also only spoke in broken english , they came to the U.S. when they were young also, I never knew my Portuguese grandfather, he wasnt around much, but I remember my portugee Grandmother saying my name, my name is Cynthia and she would say Chincia, my sister's name was Michelle and she would say Chelley. Ah the innocense and naivitity of my ethnic grandparents, such were the times, I like to hear you reminisce about your Italian family because it sounds JUST like MINE, and that always evokes good memories in me, thanx Seso, I bet if you and I talked we could keep each other entertained for HOURS...Ciao, Bella!  

I just instant messaged you...check your email. Thank you for such a touching post! Yes, we could chat for hours, lol. I always felt that when I moved here, I moved to another country. I miss my "roots"!   

[Jay2TheRescue]

It seems to me to be a different style - It's like the difference between the NY Yankees and the LA Dodgers.  Yankee fans are rabid baseball-a-holics and Dodger fans go to the game to be seen.

Crazy Eddie was straight-up and in your face.  Federated - about the only thing they seem to sell was Sharp Electronics.
While the Federated commercials seem to have more production value/story line, Crazy Eddie was just that - INSANE!

It must be an east-coast thing.  Kind of like trying to compare Wallace and Ladmo in Phoenix with Uncle Floyd in NY/NJ.

See you next time
Bye for now.

Kemp Mill Records breaks its own record!  (Commercial was simply a record player playing a record and then you see a hammer just start smashing the turntable.  (Sorry BDA, that may have been too traumatic.))

and...

Nobody beats the Wiz!

-Jay

[Thrift Shop Romantic]

Chris-- thanks for the follow-up info on Shadoe Stevens-- and I totally forgot he was on Dave's World. Glad he still has work.