Old early 80's PBS logo/theme/bumper/ID

[MrJuxtapoz2010]

Where the fuck can I find that violin theme song they would play in between songs

[iloverandy01]

Him

[PrevueGuideChannel]

@01398ify Yeah it did start in the 70s(1971),but it ran until the mid 80's(1985).

[MrBobTomato]

They showed this in 2006?

[JP5466]

Ahh yes, a lovely major 7th chord... either a G or Ab.

[DJCandyManMike]

This was the first PBS bumper I remember growing up.

[themenaceanish]

Socialism sucks and so does PBS

[newfie2keith]

Before this intro would be the "The people who made Mr Rogers Neighbourhood.." promo followed by this. So many memories.

[PrevueGuideChannel]

@newfie2keith"The people of this,and other,public television stations,and The Sears Roebuck Foundation."I fondly remember that as well.

[darthfurious80]

oh man, I remember the theme music too well. LOL

[3089280288]

Dramatizing and scared of this? Why? What's the matter with you people?

[TheBehattedOne]

5 dislikes?

How?

Why would you watch this if you didn't like it?

[RideMyBMW]

PBS ident feels so Euro socialist...something out of "1984".

[msmithstud]

takes me back to the late 70's and early 80's after watching SESAME STREET, MISTER ROGERS,AND ELECTRIC COMPANY.

[sunnyblonde2118]

@msmithstud, I see you are slightly younger than me and those programs were on back to back in the late afternoon such as Sesame Street at 4, Mr. Rogers at 5 and The Electric Company at 5:30. What state were you in at that time? It seems like the PBS station you had aired these programs weekdays at the same time because I was in NJ and these programs were on the times listed above. Gotta love the 1970's!

[msmithstud]

@msmithstud i'm 34 and have lived in Pensacola all my life unfortunately. I'm in the central time zone. I really do miss the 70's and 80's. 

[sunnyblonde2118]

Zangazoo2007, The music was a little dramatizing like some of the Sesame Street Clips, I mean the music in some of the film and animation clips and I'll tell you another clip that was absolutely scary was for the program "Images & Things" on PBS in the mid-afternoon around 1 or 2 "O'Clock on thirteen WNET before they showed the afternoon programming back to back. It was both the video clip & music that was CREEEEPPY!! SunnyBlonde2118

[sunnyblonde2118]

Zangazoo2007, what state did you live in? I lived in New Jersey like I still do, it's not coincidental that the PBS programming was similar to what we had in NJ and that SS was on both 9 and 4 pm your time, but just like we did you would actually get home from kindergarden early enough for SS at 11:30 and Mr. Rogers was on after that huh? I absolutely loooooved the Electric Company and of course the Spiderman clips were quite comical and all the other humor on the show.

[zangazoo2007]

@sunnyblonde2118 see below.

[sunnyblonde2118]

I was born in June 1971 and yes the music to this scared me, but thougt it was pretty cool that between programs and the person doing the voice would say stay tuned to Sesame Street or next is Mr. Rogers Neighborhood or next is the Electric Company. SunnyBlonde2118

[Tizmaole]

As a youngster, it actually took me a few years to figure out what this strange set of pictures and sounds actually MEANT!

[snootzie78]

This logo scared the shit out of me when I was a kid.

[Mandafars]

The tune is by Paul Alan Levi played on a Moog Modular synth. This is what I was told a few years ago.. Anyone with more info?

[Mandafars]

@Mandafars ok ... I see

youtube.com/watch?v=X575R197l7­k

[burger414]

what's especially good about this version is the great quality, yet nostalgic. And what makes it nostalgic is the quiet "hiss" you hear in the background which takes you back. Sometimes its good to hear those kind of sounds, because it kinda sets the mood of whats being presented. Great post!

[brthdan]

I just found my new ring tone to nostalgia-ville! Thanks!!

[Skaliwag66]

they also used to play this at the end of the early reading rainbow episodes.

[happycat2010]

I remember this..I think it goes back further I could be wrong. I brings back a lot of great memories. :0)

[gjc82071]

@happycat2010 Yep! This along with 70/80's Canadian CBC TV Logo, & British Thames TV are my favorites. Living in Western NY State on the US/Canada border, we get CBC/CTV here. I remember the Thames TV logo because my grandfather loved The Benny Hill Show. I would always see the Thames logo @ the shows start. Personally I prefer the classic/retro TV Logo/Idents to the modern ones. I guess it's probably just a nostalgia thing.

[happycat2010]

@gjc82071 It most definately is a nostalgia thing....I look at the shows I saw when I was a kid and wish that they were still the originals :0) Let our children see what we enjoyed as kids.

Benny Hill XD I remember I was FORBIDDEN to watch that show when it was on television XD

[Joelomite]

I see this and want....to cry. Where has my life gone since this synthesized logo sprang on TV before I watched Sesame Street and Electric Company?? God, if we only knew back then how good we had it. Life was so much simpler and I had NO IDEA how difficult things would get down the road.

To the poster of this video, I say thank you!

[zshaw7549]

LOL! Reminds me of watching sesame street and 321 contact.

[1300rm]

Just that sound alone brings good feelings. Takes me back to a time long gone.

[JUANiTO234509]

THE TONE AFTER 0:06 REALLY CREEPS ME OUT

[Marcus062686]

@JUANiTO234509 Screw your taste then! I love it.

[lawford42]

@JUANiTO234509

You mean the reverb?

[Cloudwacher22]

It used to be on Sesame Street from November 8, 1971 (when the third season premiered) to May 18, 1984 (when the fifteenth season ended).

[thetoolbox112394]

man, why did they have to have all the good logos before I was born? that's not fair!

[SvalbardJanMayen1976]

@thetoolbox112394 Don't worry dude, we didn't appreciate it when we had it...

[thetoolbox112394]

@SvalbardJanMayen1976 i know. you don't realize how much you appreciate something until it's gone. i think someday you might look back and miss some of these old PBS logos.

[andrewclunn]

321 Contact Square One TV Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego Sesame Street (Before this Elmo crap) Bill Nye The Science Guy Reading Rainbow The Electric Company The Magic School Bus Cyberchase Mr. Wizard School House Rock Arthur Doug Word Girl If everyone just watched these shows as a kid, then the world would be a smarter better place.

[andrewclunn]

@Marcus062686

Dude I was on a nostalgia trip. Don't kill my buzz.

[Marcus062686]

@andrewclunn Well at least replace Word Girl with Teletubbies or something.

[fronio89]

@andrewclunn they do not understand or know, its their punishment to be born after 1980...........

[newstarcadefan]

Yes, I do remember seeing this...however, after Captain Kangaroo, this meant that Instructional television untill 3 was coming on.

[Shadowgore999]

It kind of makes me think of someone saying "good night" while turning off the lights and closing the bedroom door for sleep. It's nice and relaxing.

[Idoljunky32]

I love this variation!! Tons of childhood memories!

[Eurodance90schick]

This tune takes me back to my pre-school years when 80's kids shows were a blast!

[thimoneus]

One of the major symbols of my childhood. Seeing it gives me deep nostalgia every time.

[freddyfingerr]

check out my hip hop beat i made to this sound in my profile called "for you"

[SchindlerHaughton]

1971

[supermaletperson]

Deleleleelelelee... Dong dong dong ding!

[Treyskywalker77]

1971

[waveali]

Hearing that sound instantly brings back memories of elementary school. Wow didn't realize how easy as a kids we had back in the days. Not a worry in the world.

[tomomatic]

Couldn't have said it better myself.....you had to stop whatever you were learning to catch it right at 1:45 or 2pm or you'd miss the whole show about kid current events, or about some book. It DOES bring back care free memories. I hope my children feel the same way 30 years from now when they hear.....hmmm....do they even have an ID now? Thanks for the upload greekvid

[vanillacokeclock]

The first song on Casino Versus Japan's self-titled album definitely sampled this.

[NikitaFilatovFan3040]

What was the name of the 1st song?

[vanillacokeclock]

vessels that float out of metals that sink (part 1)

[ZeldaLinkNessRule]

there is a 19 in the bottom left corner

[gabofhearts]

2nd Public Broadcasting Service Television (With Black 19,& WVPT/PBS/Virginia's Public Television) (October 19, 2006 (Thursday)) (High Quality (480p))

[kaine1975]

this was creepy

[J40d]

i agree

[The7legacy]

CLASSIC THEME!!!

Brings back a lot of memories when I was a kid.

[MIIC013]

does anyone remember a realllly old logo opening that had a chicken or rooster in them and stars in the background?

It's been driving me crazy trying to remember the name...

[ashcatash5]

I think I remember it, now that you mention it. don't know where it's from.....dang, now I"m curious

[nicholasm79]

To everyone who gets scared of logos:  please! They aren't scary. They're just logos!

[defmaster88]

I still have nightmares about the sound and the logo!!!!

[24Sidhe]

This was changed because the "thinking head" faced LEFT!! I remember when they called it educational TV! I learned more in afternoon & evenings of WQED than my whole public school ed. Alas who funds ( or lobbies) gets the logo!

[zxzxznapalmdeath]

yes I remember that in the early - mid 70s too. I havent heard that sound for over 30 years

[purplerose1988]

I saw this on Reading Rainbow.

[Trance1972]

I remember this quite vividly, with that very disctinctive tone. And while it may say this was in the 80s, I remember seeing in back in the mid 70s.

[coolbluelights]

yeah it came out in 1971 and aired thru 1984

[Marcus062686]

You say this logo stopped airing in 1984 when I remember seeing it as late as 1988.

[coolbluelights]

I don't, and I remember watching for it because I wanted to see it again lol

[Marcus062686]

Well, maybe you weren't watching Sesame Street and Mister Rogers' Neighborhood like I was watching all those years ago. In fact, I don't think I remember the 1984 split head one at all. I definitely saw this aired during my lifetime and I was born in 1986.

[qttroassi]

they may have just shown a new broadcast of an old recording of a show and not changed it's opening logo ...

[coolbluelights]

that's possible, but I really don't remember seeing this logo any time after 1985, and I watched a lot of PBS

[qttroassi]

I was born in 1975 I could only remember seeing as far back as 1980. What really pisses me off is that it's almost immpossible to find some old and relly cool shows and programming like "wordsmith", "it figures", "Slim Goodbody John Burstein", and so on ???

[coolbluelights]

maybe it depends on what region you're in... I'm from New york

[Marcus062686]

I can at least vividly remember the 1971 PBS ident recorded from a 1988 broadcast of new eps from Sesame Street and Mister Rogers. The shows were recorded along with "Grandpa's Magical Toys", which was made in 1988. I'm from Highland Mills, NY. I guess it depends on who the distributor was.

[coolbluelights]

Ok, hmm is it possible you were watching video tapes? I was born in 1980 so I remember when they switched the logos to the split heads thing. and I think they changed it again in the early 90s. I used to watch sesame street, mr rogers and a bunch of other shows on PBS

[EONSFTFAN]

I will always favor this over later PBS variations. Definitely my favorite. Thanks for sharing

[grands1am]

Oh man...hook this stuff straight up to my veins.

Also, if you like this kind of thing I highly recommend the band Boards of Canada, but you probably already do...

[almejri]

This still creeps me out a little bit today.

[mekman4]

this scared me too!

[UnanimousDelivers]

HAY JOO GUISE!! ^_^

(the circle is complete!)

[snootzie78]

This PBS logo scared the shit out of me when I was a kid.

[russofamerica]

This silly little 13 seconds of atonal synth and creepy graphics used to scare the bejeezus out of me when I was a little kid. Pointy man with the dilated eye was gonna nab me for sure!

[yoursignalisbuster]

Mike O'Meara started his show with this today.

[nicoleayanna]

i miss these little "things" from the 80's....it was just a unique time back then

[PaulB2Kool]

LOL i wish i wuz born in the 80's 2 c all these shows

[nicoleayanna]

i was born in '79...at least u have good taste though

[DJCandyManMike]

I completely agree. I was born in '78, so this was a part of my childhood. And much the same as those who have believed what they haven't seen are blessed, so are you for seeing the value in yesteryear's television.

[happy7117]

Could someone please tell me what a ringtone is??....I hear it so often but am not sure what it is.

[lovegeist]

is this a serious question? a ring tone is the sound your phone makes when someone calls it........

[happy7117]

It sure is a serious question. And you can't call me stupid for asking either because I have a 4.0 in college level classes.

[lovegeist]

Dont get huffy! I wasnt calling you stupid now did I?! I answered your friggin question! I was just wondering if someone was just being a smart ass or not, but now that you mention it, 4.0 or not, you obviously have no street smarts. Just sayin'

[happy7117]

There have been smart-arse commenters in the past who have called me "dumb" for asking questions like that- so I wanted to just be carefull.

Thanks for clarification.

[PaulB2Kool]

u never knew wat a ringtone iz LAUGHING MY ASS OFF

[unclesporkums]

I have this on "The Andy Kaufman Show".

[lsmith1981]

Dang...That would be a Nice Ring Tone..It brings back memories....

[euphorichuman]

Thanks for that dose of nostalgia!!! It hit me right in the right cortex!

[ControlledExplosions]

next up, This old house with Bob Vila...

[lovegeist]

ah, memories.

I also thought of Bob Ross when I saw this.

[collegeman1988]

This is one bumper that I don't understand why people find it scary. It's no Viacom V of doom or the Paramount Closet Killer or any of those other kinds that used to scare me as a kid.

[flapjack2007]

It's not as bad as the V of doom, but it's has freaky syntho music that bothered me as a kid. But the Viacom V is one of the worst if you experienced it as a kid.

[happy7117]

Such a gloomy, dismal, unsettling piece.

It's like telling a child "time for bed"

Or "naptime"

Or a bad grade on a test

We can interprit this jingle in many ways...

Or a winter storm warning...

Or alert tones from a fire station.....

This little jingle can mean so many things to so many people.

[vaultboy123]

It tells me that Mister Rogers is over and Sesame Street is about to begin. The good Sesame Street, pre-Elmo.

Good memories.

[mooky9669]

same here

[pooka5472]

@vaultboy123 Yeah, the pre-Elmo era is great, if you can stand the "Snuffy is imaginary" gag.

[zangazoo2007]

@vaultboy123 I loved this logo, the synth they used are soooo cool. And yep SS was over, and it was time to visit Mr.Rogers.

[sunnyblonde2118]

@zangazoo2007 what PBS station did you get. The reason I ask is because I remember the order of the shows in the late afternoon being Sesame Street at 4:00, Mr. Rogers at 5:00, The Electric Company or 321 Contact at 5:30 and Degrassi Jr. High or Zoom at 6:00. SunnyBlonde2118

[zangazoo2007]

@sunnyblonde2118 MN

[TheTallMan35]

@vaultboy123 Don't forget Electric Company and Zoom. I had the biggest crush on that asian girl Janet who could do that trick with her arms.

[TheTallMan35]

@vaultboy123 Correction: That was Bernadette :>P

[althebunny]

@vaultboy123 agreed ^_^

[Eurodance90schick]

I used to see these logs when i used to watch TVO for kids in the 80's i watched Sesame Street before going to pre-school or before my worker came to see me to take me to go somewhere

[BigTMan1]

Oh, the memories this little ID brought back.

[albizzle]

i only got to enjoy it when i was home from school.

[Capcoor]

Early eighties hell!They were doing that one in the seventies!

[Trance1972]

You are correct.

[jerrysch]

I used to go crazy when this bumper would come up! I'd spasitcally move my hands around the screen then stick my fingers in the holes that appeared at the end! Loved it!!!!

[charlesalber]

I love that logo! Takes me of my childhood! Goooood times!

[judacia]

the synth music used to frighten me

[kungfujiapple]

(imitating Oscar the Grouch from 1978's "Christmas Eve on Sesame Street) Ding dong, you're wrong, wwefrog94! The Rescuers (1977) is from Walt Disney Productions!

[Shadowgore999]

My fascination is logos, and this one is awesome. I like about all logos, including BBC and this one. it has a slightly eerie feeling, but that's what is cool about this logo and it's kind of calming for some reason.

[happy7117]

How much are moog synthesizers??

I almost wish I could play this jingle on a piano!!

[happy7117]

I have a dumb question but here goes:

What is a ringtone??

I hear it all around Youtube.

[Jnelson09Returns]

It's what you hear when a cellphone rings. Most (if not all) modern cellphones allow their users to upload or download different sounds.

[happy7117]

I have an idea. Why can't we hear these ringtones when are regular home phone rings..

Instead of hearing an ordinary boring phone ring in our house, we could hear the logo of the PBS ident instead??

In other words, ring tones should be used for any type of phone including cell phones.

Examples of fun ring tones for me:

This one

Any video game console start-up jingle..

Anything is better to let one know their phone is ringing then a boring plain ordinary ring!!

[happy7117]

Or another great ringtone could be the 5 note motif from Close Encounters!!

The PBS logo might scare children away from answering the phone!

[Jnelson09Returns]

Some home phones have selectable ringers. But they're not as advanced as cells.

[BornTV]

i used to be so scared of that p turning into a head and guess what , I love typography now...hahah

[chabba77]

The creepiest part of the music is how the last note hangs on for an extra second. Whenever I would lay awake in bed late at night as a kid, and hear the refrigerator running, it sounded a lot like the end of this logo. Quite unnerving.

[happy7117]

The last note seems to say "this jingle is not done scaring you yet till another second".

[bassistguy]

Same here.. lol. That part still creeps me out.

[imSOridiculous]

I used to fast-forward through the beginnings of my Sesame Street tapes when I was little because of it.

But I like the pretty colours.

[friscojones]

Where can I get an MP3 or ringtone of this? It's AWESOME.

[happy7117]

The logo uses M+M colors!!

Green, Orange, and Blue lettering

and a black color for the background.

[happy7117]

Peanut Butter Sandwich

Public Bull Sh**

[happy7117]

Pee on B.S.

Pee with B.S.

[happy7117]

Who composed\wrote this depressing jingle??

Very short, but "less is more" I guess in this case!

[happy7117]

Hmmmm.

Isn't a logo/ID supposed to be cheery to make people want to watch a show or station??

This logo is dreary and gloomy that might draw people away from wanting to watch.

[ControlledExplosions]

I think the last time I saw this was around 1986 when I was 5 or 6

[happy7117]

I think the reason why this logo is sort of scary is the all black screen. Thin white letters. Big colored thick letters.

And the jingle sounds sad and depressing, or like it's saying to the viwers "have a dreary day".

[cubsrule2040]

Greekvid, this ident is from 1971

[Jibjub80]

Wow! This brings back memories of my early childhood. People have said that this logo scared them, but I don't really see why. I always thought it was kind of cool. The one ad which always freaked me out was the public service announcement where they fried an egg and said, "This is your brain on drugs." That was eerie to me. Never did drugs, but not because of the ad.

[daminmancejin]

my chilhood logo i love it

[Trance1972]

I remember seeing that logo and that distinctive tone back when I was a kid

[tornadoman566]

what program is this

[Sepharite]

Cooool. a diminished chord!

[joerules829]

can you tell me how to get to sesame street?

[KS5040]

This logo reminds me of the Cold War era.

[Dozirulf]

It WAS the cold war era! :P

[shanejensen]

That's probably why it reminded him of the cold war era. :P

[cyndie26]

Where did you get that 19 in the lower-left hand corner?

[Deleanredtiger]

Good question

[Trance1972]

It was prolly the local PBS channel

[bobfritz1466]

That last chord is pretty cool. What is it--a major 7th or 9th?

[RockmanKenny]

This PBS intro was actually made in 1971, not the early 80's

[RockmanKenny]

And this has been around in 1971-1983

[Deleanredtiger]

For some odd reason I thought it was made in the 50s lol.

[RockmanKenny]

Sure looks like it, doesn't it? :P

[Zerkzeez]

I love this station ID and the synth! What was that music played on? A moog?

[beatboxer25]

reminds me of an 80's blizzard don't ask me why. I just picture watching this logo/bumper after a pbs show in the 80's (probably mr. rogers neighborhood) when i was a little kid while a blizzard rages outside my window. :O)

[pbswucm]

I remember this logo when we switched live television... Still get shivers down my spine when I see it. What is really bad is having the audio wake you up, then hearing yourself doing the voice over on the community calendar!

[jhwink]

Sounds like a video game

[sapphire76]

This still scares the hell out of me!

[Milhousefan01]

Omg me 2!!!!

[shanejensen]

I don't understand why so many people say this scared them. What is so scary about a stupid little logo and jingle? LOL. It didn't scare me at all when I was little, I was always sort of fascinated by it.

[MusicLova7]

...I think it was the little "P" with the eye that was creepy. It looked like an alien.

[ueberRegenbogen]

And the dummies turned the face around in the later logos, so the P is backward.

[ksol1460]

The faces unnerved my wife as a child because they looked "mindless". Other people possibly get the willies because of the shrill descending scale -- like if you were half asleep and got waked up by that. And some people are just freaked out by synth.

[shanejensen]

That's strange. I still don't get why some people find it creepy, though. When I watch this I get a flood of feel good memories. So, in other words this station ID makes me feel good. :)

[k0kan3]

BRAVO!

[ksol1460]

shanejensen - that's how I feel, I love this ID and most of the other logos and IDs that have been posted as "scary", to me they are old childhood friends. I am autistic and these are one of my special interests. I'd like to find out the background to how each was created. But CBS Eye.. I know Wm. Golden was just saying "we're watching the world", but I used to hide under the bed. When I read Lord of the Rings a few years later, you can IMAGINE what I was thinking!