As best as I can tell, Tele Pop cards were a single series of pop culture trading cards featuring stars of movies, television and music, issued in Spain by Ediciones Este in 1980. I don’t know in what sort of package the cards were sold individually, but I’m pretty sure complete sets were sold in binders. There were 240 cards in the series, and card #189 was Robin Johnson, star of the hit film Times Square.

The curious thing about this is the train of throught that led to Robin’s inclusion in the set. I don’t know when in 1980 the cards were published, but Times Square came out in the US in October, and as far as I know it opened in Spain in April 1981. Someone at Ediciones Este had to be thinking quite a ways ahead when they were designing the cards to put Robin on one and describe Times Square as a hit, when it must have still been in the editing room at the time. Perhaps part of the process was to contact studios and find films that were currently in production, so the cards would come out more or less at the same time as then-current movies. However it came about, it’s still more evidence that everyone involved were convinced that Times Square was going to be massive, up until the moment it was actually released.

As always, I welcome the input of anyone who knows more than I do about any of this.

Two months before Times Square opened in Spain, the film magazine Fotogramas ran the same kind of promotional article we’ve seen in Mexico, Thailand, and Germany. The article contains nothing new, but four of the six stills from the film never appeared anywhere else as far as I know, including an almost unrecognizable close-up of Robin. It’s a shame they weren’t printed better.

TIMES SQUARE

EL MUSICAL DE LAS “TEEN-AGERS”

«Times Square» es el corazón de Manhattan, la isla donde se asienta parte de la fantástica urbe neoyorkina. También es el nombre del último musical producido por Robert Stigwood, en cuyo currículum profesional hay títulos teatrales como «Hair», «Jesús Christ Superstar», «Pippin», «Oh! Calcuttal», «Evita» y «Sweeney Todd», y cinematográficos como «Jesús Christ Superstar», «Tommy», «Fiebre del sábado noche», «Grease» y «Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band». Toda una garantía a la hora de presentar este último musical «Times Square».

La historia de la película puede reducirse a unas líneas: Nicky Marotta (Robín Johnson) y Pamela Pearl (Trini Alvarado) son dos adolescentes rebeldes, la primera un producto de la calle y la segunda de una familia influyente. Juntas escapan de sus habitaciones en un hospital psiquiátrico, se hacen con una ambulancia y comienzan una serie de aventuras salvajes en el corazón de Nueva York. Estas tienen su eco en la información que a través de toda una noche va dando el disc jockey Johnny Laguardia (Tim Curry), quien a través de las ondas las va animando convirtiéndolas en pequeñas celebridades de la noche a la mañana. Su escapada tiene una conclusión dramática en la fachada de un cine de Times Square, mientras desde la calle cientos de sus seguidores les rinden, identificados, su tributo.

En estos tiempos en que los «soundtracks» de películas se encuentran entre los discos más populares del mercado, el doble álbum de «Times Square» destaca como una antología de canciones interpretadas por algunos de los mejores artistas del «rock» de nuestros días: Suzi Quatro, The Pretenders, Roxy Music, Gary Numan, The Talkin Heads, Joe Jackson, Patti Smith, Lou Reed, The Ramones, Robín Gibb, etcétera.

A destacar también la presencia en el reparto del film de Trini Alvarado y Tim Curry. La primera, uno de los talentos juveniles a tener en cuenta del cine americano, debutó en «Rich Kids», un film producido por Robert Altman que dirigió Robert M. Young, el autor de «Short Eyes» y «Alambrista». Desgraciadamente y pese a lo interesante de su trabajo, nadie se ha acordado aún de distribuir este largo-metraje de Young en nuestro país. Volviendo a Trini, la chica es de origen portorriqueño, aunque de padre español. Profesionalmente se inició junto a sus padres, él guitarrista y ella bailarina, en una troupe flamenca antes de rebelarse como actriz en la obra «Runaways».

Tim Curry es más conocido entre nosotros. De su breve filmografía nos ha llegado al menos «The Rocky Horror Picture Show», donde interpretaba al protagonista, el loco y travestido «doctor».

Robín Johnson, 16 años, la coprotagonista femenina junto a Trini Alvarado, es una cara totalmente nueva que debuta en este film de Alan Moyle. Fue descubierta por un cazatalentos de la productora de Stigwood en las escalinatas de la Brooklyn Technological High School. Hasta entonces nunca había pasado por su cabeza la idea de dedicarse al cine.

TIMES SQUARE

THE MUSICAL OF THE “TEENAGERS”

“Times Square” is the heart of Manhattan, the island where part of the fantastic New York City sits. It is also the name of the latest musical produced by Robert Stigwood, in whose professional curriculum are theatrical titles such as “Hair”, “Jesus Christ Superstar”, “Pippin”, “Oh! Calcutta!”, “Evita” and “Sweeney Todd”, and movies such as “Jesus Christ Superstar”, “Tommy”, “Saturday Night Fever”, “Grease” and “Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band”. A guarantee when presenting this latest musical “Times Square”.

The story of the film can be reduced to a few lines: Nicky Marotta (Robín Johnson) and Pamela Pearl (Trini Alvarado) are two rebellious teenagers, the first a product of the street and the second from an influential family. Together they escape from their rooms in a psychiatric hospital, steal an ambulance and begin a series of wild adventures in the heart of New York. These are echoed in the information that through the entire night is given by the disc jockey Johnny Laguardia (Tim Curry), who through the airwaves is cheering them on, turning them into little celebrities overnight. Their escape has a dramatic conclusion on the marquee of a cinema in Times Square, while from the street hundreds of their followers pay them, now identified, their tribute.

In these times when the “soundtracks” of movies are among the most popular albums on the market, the double album of “Times Square” stands out as an anthology of songs interpreted by some of the best artists of current rock: Suzi Quatro, The Pretenders, Roxy Music, Gary Numan, The Talking Heads, Joe Jackson, Patti Smith, Lou Reed, The Ramones, Robin Gibb, and so on.

The cast also includes Trini Alvarado and Tim Curry. The first, one of the young talents to take into account of American cinema, debuted in “Rich Kids, a film produced by Robert Altman, directed by Robert M. Young, the author of “Short Eyes” and “Alambrista”. Unfortunately and despite the interest of his work, no one has yet agreed to distribute this full-length film of youth in our country. Returning to Trini, the girl is of Puerto Rican origin, although with a Spanish father. Professionally she started with her parents, he a guitarist and she a dancer, in a flamenco troupe before breaking out as an actress in the play “Runaways”.

Tim Curry is better known to us. From his brief filmography we have at least “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”, where he played the protagonist, the crazy transvestite “doctor”.

Robín Johnson, 16, the female co-star with Trini Alvarado, is a totally new face who debuts in this film by Alan Moyle. She was discovered by a scout from the Stigwood production company on the steps of Brooklyn Technological High School. Until then, the idea of working in films had never crossed her mind.