0 Comments

“… a pouty thrush named Robin lights up Times Square.”

Detail from start of an article on new celebrities of 1980.  Text:  ARRIVALS A “mogulette” cements her place in Hollywood. A good skate plays Heiden seek. A new Angel sprouts wings and replaces one who couldn’t Hack it. And a pouty thrush named Robin lights up Times Square. They’re just a few of the names who made it in ’80!

Detail from third page of an article about new celebrities of 1980.  Text:  Robin Johnson  Her pouting lips have earned comparisons with Mick Jagger’s. But only a year ago, Times Square bad girl Robin Johnson was just another teen hanging out on the steps of Brooklyn Tech high school with a dangling cigarette. That’s where a talent scout for the Robert Stigwood Organisation spotted her; he encouraged her to audition—and whammo!

RSO’s and AFD’s publicity departments were sure that Times Square would be a hit, and more importantly, that Robin would be the breakout star, and the Hollywood press agreed long enough for US magazine to run her picture as one of the new talents of 1980.

The photo is a crop of Robin from TS-72-8A/14 from the US Press Materials folder, which also appeared in the AFD Campaign Pressbook, on the UK soundtrack sampler, and as the cover of the Japanese soundtrack sampler.

Robin Johnson
Her pouting lips have earned comparisons with Mick Jagger’s. But only a year ago, Times Square bad girl Robin Johnson was just another teen hanging out on the steps of Brooklyn Tech high school with a dangling cigarette. That’s where a talent scout for the Robert Stigwood Organisation spotted her; he encouraged her to audition—and whammo!

The date of this year-end wrap-up issue was December 23. The irony that Times Square had likely already closed across the nation by the time Robin was heralded as an “Arrival,” is far overshadowed by a story on page 62, about the spectacular “Comeback” of John Lennon.

 

 

US, vol. IV no. 18, December 23, 1980
8 1/8 in (W) x 10 3/4 in (H)
(“Arrivals,” pp. 48-50
“Robin Johnson,” p. 50) (work)

 

©1980 Peters Publishing Co.

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Posts

Times Square UK Press Kit (post 1 of 4)

[caption id="attachment_2433" align="alignleft" width="205"] TIMES SQUARE UK Press Kit folder, front[/caption]    [caption id="attachment_2435" align="alignright" width="300"] TIMES SQUARE UK Press Kit folder, inside[/caption]   The UK Press Kit is an even nicer package than its US counterpart, with its own logo featuring Nicky atop the theater marquee. Inside the big…

Soundtrack Promotional Poster P-201

  The top of this poster uses the elements of the album cover art. The text strips have been moved, and the title has been enlarged, tilted to the right rather than the left, and has had most of its color removed, all to take advantage of the larger space…

Headshot, ITC version

Associated Film Distribution, which released Times Square in the US, was a partnership between Thorn-EMI (which released Times Square in the UK and most of the rest of the world), and ITC, which was primarily a producer of television in the UK. By the time Times Square came out, AFD…