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Your email address will not be published.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

TS-69-34A/4, ITC version

[caption id="attachment_2900" align="alignleft" width="245"] ROBIN JOHNSON portrays NickyMarotta, an aimless, street-wise youngster whose heart isset on becoming a rock star.[/caption]   Another UK press photo produced by ITC, this one a cropped version of TS-69-34A/4 from the US Press Materials folder, with its caption added on at an annoyingly noticeable…

Playboy, Vol. 28 No. 1, January 1981

"The raggle-taggle queen of the night is Robin..." Bruce Williamson didn't not like Times Square, but he couldn't ignore its flaws... still, his review in the January Playboy was generally positive, appreciating the film's visual evocation of Times Square and, like most other reviewers, Robin's performance. The two bunny-heads meant…

Seventeen Magazine, Vol. 39 No. 10, October 1980

            Again presuming that any magazine dated October probably came out in September before the movie opened, here's an interview with Robin that appeared as two pages of Edwin Miller's "Spotlight: Movies, records, personalities" column.     The full column led off on page 93…