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Your email address will not be published.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

New York Magazine, Vol. 13 No. 43, November 3, 1980

"Trini Alvarado and Robin Johnson, the teenage stars of Times Square, show us their offscreen style." [gallery columns="2" size="medium" ids="2324,2325"] This article is another of the few things I collected at the time of the movie, since there was (and still is) no official merchandise, and none of the surplus…

The Last Word

The May 1980 issue of Photoplay mentioned Times Square's production in Ken Johns' Last Word column. [gallery columns="2" size="medium" ids="857,859"] The image of Nicky singing "Damn Dog" in the Cleo Club was later published in at least one more magazine after the film's release, but I haven't yet seen it…

Advertisement for a same-day sneak preview of TIMES SQUARE from the New York Daily News, Friday, October 3, 1980.

Times Square Sneak Preview!

[caption id="attachment_5667" align="alignleft" width="525"]  [/caption]       Did you know that before Times Square opened on October 17, 1980, before its big premiere on October 14, there were multiple sneak previews on October 3? Neither did I, until this turned up.       I wonder if the film…