Roland BLUE SH-101 "Takes you where you want to go" ad, Keyboard 1984

Roland BLUE SH-101 synthesizer "Takes you where you want to go" full page colour advertisement from page 7 in the March 1984 issue of Keyboard Magazine.

Okay...lets recap.

The first blog post in this series of SH-101 ads included that guy on the scooter who looked a little uncomfortable. And, I think we also all generally agreed that 80s contemporary dancing was an all-around bad idea.

Then, in the second ad of the series, the hottie blonde skateboarder playing the SH-101 was, if not a bit more practical, at least a little more natural looking.

But in this third and final ad in the series... Skis?  Really...? SKIS!?!?! This dude is cruisin' for a bruisin' traveling at high speeds down a hill while trying to play his SH-101.

I just can't believe that the the marketing geniuses behind the "mobility" concept running throughout this ad campaign couldn't come up with something better than skis?!?! It's a good thing I'm not a genius, or someone may ask me to come up with a substitute. :)

Like the previous silver SH-101 ad, this blue advertisement only appears to have ran once, in the March 1984 issue.

Red in January. Silver in February. Blue in March. And then red again in April. And Roland was lucky enough to land that blue ad back on page 7 after the dismal page 91 showing of the silver ad.

This Q1 1984 campaign wasn't the first showing for the SH-101. If you go through the SH-101 label on the blog, you will see that it was beginning to appear in print as early as November 1982 when it popped up on the back page of the now-classic Roland Rhythm Machines brochure, that was highlighting the TR808, TR606 and TB303. Sure, it has a small foot print on the back page, but it is sitting there right next to other Roland big guns like the Jupiter 8, Juno-60 and Juno-6. I dare say it's holding its own.

The next month in December 1982, the SH-101 was also featured in its own "We Design the Future" brochure, sitting there on a futuristic chair and drinking Jack Daniels (no kidding!). But it's the inside pages of that brochure, with its large photo of the SH-101 and all those juicy specs that steal the show. Gah! I can't stop thinking about it.

I so want to go on eBay right now and just buy the first one I see. The only thing stopping me is the $1000.00 price tag for a good condition synth with mod grip. 

As you might expect, if the SH-101 started popping up in brochures as far back as Q4 1982, it must have made its advertising debut earlier than these Q1 1984 "Takes you where you want to go" ads. Sure enough, it looks like it first made it into a Roland ad in a supporting role for Roland's "Product line of 1987" - a cheeky-titled 1983 ad campaign promoting Roland's family of products as so futuristic that users would be able to sync them up together for years to come (remember, MIDI was just launching and syncing all the pre- and post-MIDI gear was a real mind-bender at the time). The SH-101 gets listed first in the ad, so maybe Roland already had it destined for greatness in some solo ads.

It also received some more face time with readers in Keyboard a month after that Roland "Product Line of 1987" ad started appearing when it appeared in the August 1983 issue of Keyboard report.

This one-page review, written by the always informative Dominic Milano, goes through the synth's features in quite the detail, including sections on the keyboard itself, left-hand controls, panel controls, LFO, VCO, Source mixer, filter, ADSR, VCA, sequencer and arpeggiator, outputs & inputs, and miscellaneous (modulation grip and batteries). After reviewing all that... his conclusion?

"The SH101 is small and surprisingly inexpensive. It would make a great instrument for beginners as well as for experienced players who want something portable to play onstage. It has a great punchy sound and some surprising features , including a choice of keyboard triggering modes, adjustable modulation amounts, and a versatile, transposable sequencer and arpeggiator.  The body is made of gray molded plastic that feels fairly strong and impact-resistant".

And that "surprisingly inexpensive price"? $495.00. OR $595.00 with optional hand-grip. Not too shabby.

The SH-101 definitely got a good ride from 1982-1984.  It probably would have even had a longer shelf life if MIDI hadn't come along and punch all those cv-gate synths in the face.

But, there is always hope for a re-run. Just like Korg brought back the MS-20, I think the SH-101 would be the pefect synth for Roland to resurrect in 2013 - with MIDI of course.

And, just to show they have a sense of humor, Roland should add army-green to the colour pallet. :)

Roland SILVER SH-101 "Takes you where you want to go" ad, Keyboard 1984

Roland SILVER SH-101 synthesizer "Takes you where you want to go" full page colour advertisement from page 91 in the February 1984 issue of Keyboard Magazine.

Ah, yes. And so Roland's "Takes you where you want to go" 1984 campaign for their SH-101 continues to rock the Miami Vice among us with this second ad in the series.

The previous month, Roland's Red SH-101 promo (right) appeared on page seven of Keyboard, but this February advertisement got pushed almost to the very back of the magazine on page 91. A shame because it's just as powerful as that first advertisement.

No, there are no bright splashes of red (or any other bright crayola colour for that matter), but the silver colour is still such a contrast to the black background that it would catch the eye just as easily. Plus, let's not lie to ourselves, the mostly male-readership's eyes of Keyboard would be instantly drawn to the low-cut t-shirt of the young 80s blonde hottie riding the skateboard. And I'm not convinced the pattern on her shirt isn't a deliberate attempt to pull the eye downward toward the SH-101 itself either. But I'm a full-on conspirator when it comes to ad design. In a good ad, *everything* is done for a reason.

Unlike the previous ad, where *everything* down to the socks and shoes were also red in colour, the photographer decided that white socks and shoes were acceptable, not to mention the black skateboard. The reason I point this out is that it makes this image almost believable. She is standing the way a person would be standing on a skateboard, and she is playing an SH-101 the way a person would be playing a synthesizer strapped around her neck. The photo becomes more natural, and to me anyways, easier to look at. Now compare that to the red SH-101 advertisement, with it's uncomfortable contemporary-dancer-like positioning, and this silver ad becomes even easier on the eyes.

The theme remains the same as the original - it's all about mobility (compact design, lightweight) and battery-poweredness (so too is a word!).

The ad-copy remains the same between the two ads as well, but its still interesting to look at because it's a good exercise in how design can dictate how lines and paragraphs are broken up. In the red SH-101 advertisement, the column of text slowly gets thinner, and it actually becomes more readable to split the ad-copy into more paragraphs - in particular the break between the third and four paragraphs at "With the Source Mixer...". But in the silver SH-101 ad, the width of the ad gets slowly wider, and those two paragraphs are merged even though there is easily enough room to keep the two separate. Part of it is probably that the final line of the third paragraph would have left the word "ways" hanging by itself. But for me, the decision to merge the two paragraphs would have been made just because it "looks better" from a design point of view.

There are a lot of things that annoy me in the world besides 80s contemporary dancers, and one of my little synth pet peeves is when the silver SH-101 is referred to as "gray". Or "grey" for that matter. Many sites and auctions use the "G" word when describing the colour. I know... a piddly thing to get ruffled over, but that's why they call them "pet peeves". It's not like I loose sleep over it.

Wikipedia's page is guilty of this (as of the date of this blog post):

"The SH-101 was produced in three colors: gray, blue, and red." 

As is Vintage Synth Explorer's SH-101 page:

"They come in three different flavors - gray, blue or red..."

The VSE page also mentions that the synthesizer also came in a "very rare white version". This was news to me, and a quick Google search brought up a few pages of white SH-101s. One on Synthfind.com includes a photo (including white mod grip), but it was customized - not factory-original. Same with one I found on Analogue-Addict's site.

Looking through the comments section, back in back in April 2010 "Skunk3" also mentions a rare green version:

"It should also be noted that there are white SH-101s in existence, as well as SUPER rare green ones, which were released in Japan only. (As well as many versions of sunbleached red and blue 101's that range from pink to light blue)"

 White and green?!?!

That made me recall a very recent forum post on Vintage Synth Explorer around an army green SH-101.

Back on Wednesday, March 6, "cre8tor" posted in the forum that he/she had an army green SH-101, noting that it was not painted or discoloured - "clearly army-green" - and wondering if collectors would pay a premium for it.

Reading through the comments, which include a few photos of the apparently army green SH-101s, some suspected that maybe it was a bad batch of the gray (SILVER!) plastic pigmentation in the factory. Others theorized that the gray (ahem - SILVER  :) plastic naturally turns green over time, possibly due to exposure to UV or sunlight, noting that the inside of the battery compartment, or optional modulation grips, did not turn green.

One of the best pieces of evidence is presented by "Cumulus" - a close-up photo of blue switches on a Minimoog that have partially turned turned green over time. You can clearly see the blue-to-green discolouring depending on what position the switches were in during the discolouration process.

That photo was pretty much the slam dunk for me - definitely discolouration and not factory green.

Myths about synthesizers, like white and green SH-101s - are like any other Internet meme, recycling over and over again. I've seen this happen ever since I came across rec.music.synth back in the early days of the Internet.

Poster Stab Frenzy probably said it best in the forum:

"I love that this topic comes up like clockwork every year or so."

Roland RED SH-101 "Takes you where you want to go." ad, Keyboard 1984

Roland RED SH-101 synthesizer "Takes you where you want to go." full page colour advertisement from page 7 in the January 1984 issue of  Keyboard Magazine.

I guess I still have a little bit of my battery-operated synth fetish bubbling deep in my gut. The anti-dramatic ending to Yamaha's Producer Series blog posts, with the once-featured CS01 synthesizer pushed to the side lines, left me wanting more.

In other words, I have a fever and the only prescription is more battery-operated synthesizers. And while flipping through old issues of Keyboard this advertisement for Roland's SH-101 synthesizer caught my eye.

I mean, really, how could it not catch a reader's eye. This ad scream's "80s" from top to bottom. The large bright splashes of solid colour. The angular design elements. Even the angled ad-copy with lines like "get up and move", "no strings attached" and "more than just a pretty face" - all very 80s.

But its those contemporary elements that today makes this ad look so dated. Kind of like looking back at your 80s haircut. You may still think you looked cool and bad-ass back then, but you sure don't want your coworkers to find your school yearbook.

In particular, I'm talking about the dude on the scooter. His clothes, even how he is sitting... er... dancing...?
Very 80s contemporary-dancer-like. He looks a little uncomfortable actually. Like he's about to fly off because they are taking a sharp corner.

But whatever emotions might be evoked now doesn't really matter. The ad is well past its expiry date - it served its purpose. Like most magazine advertisements, inherently had a short shelf life.

Looking at the ad now just like I did back then, I can't help but only think about how much I still want an SH-101. I've always wanted one. Forever. And regretably never picked one up when they were going cheap way back when.

For some reason they weren't that common around these parts - or at least people weren't selling them once they got them. But I recall a time when I could walk into a pawn shop or music store and it wouldn't be too uncommon to see a used 202, 303, 606, 808 or 909 sitting on the shelf. And sometimes, even as a student, I would have enough cash to actually buy one when I saw it.  Probably the best investments I've ever made - if I could ever actually convince myself to ever sell 'em.   :) 

This is actually the first in a series of SH-101 ads. Like the SH-101 itself, the ads came in a variety of colours and imagery. And interestingly, only the red version seems to have appeared more than once. Twice to be exact. In the January and April 1984 issues of Keyboard.

Up next - silver! 

End note: Hmmmm - look at that scooter again - I wonder if "TB303" is available as a vanity license plate in my province. 

Roland family of products, Keyboard 1983

Roland family of products advertisement including SH-101, JX-3P/PG-200, System-100M, MC-4/MTR-100, Jupiter-8, Juno-6/60, Jupiter-6 and MC-202 from page 14 and 15 of Keyboard Magazine July 1983.

Finally!

The Roland 'We Design The Future' tag-line had been showing up in Roland's brochures for months now, but up to this point, their advertisements were still mostly designed around it's 'Understanding Technology Series' ads like those created for the TB-303/TR-606 or Jupiter-8. Black backgrounds, strong colours, and lots of text. Their recent Juno-6 and Juno-60 ads started to mutate away from that design, but I'd still be inclined to classify them as such.

"What?" you say? Where is the tag-line? You can see it at the bottom of the ad in the purple-coloured bar. Yes, it's small. Really small. Almost an afterthought. And unfortunately, I think this is the last advertisement to use the tag-line.

Roland decided to pull in a few other common design elements found in those brochures by using a textured background and an accent piece (in this case a tile pattern background and spheres), but I have to say I miss the brochure's slick photo with mood-lighting. A really nice family photo done in that style would have looked sweeeeeet! Instead, it looks like Roland decided to comp together an image using a few effects that I would guess got onto the wish-list for Photoshop 1.0.

This advertisement was a first for Roland in one other important way too. They mention MIDI!

And so we get to the whole point of this ad. As mentioned in a recent brochure blog post for the TB-303, TR-808, TR-606 and CR-8000/5000, Roland had been pumping out A LOT of DIN-sync technology for a while now. They had a lot invested in it. And then along comes MIDI, and Roland has to convince current owners of Roland gear that the gear they just bought is not going to be obsolete in a year. And more importantly, they have to convince future owners that they are looking out for their future as well.

The ad title text handles this perfectly.

"Roland presents its product line for 1987. The nice thing is, it's available today!"

Interestingly, they make no mention of MIDI in that title or in the opening paragraph. Its not until the reader gets to the JX-3P text that MIDI is mentioned - and a definition is included next to it - "a new system of interface developed for computer-controlled instruments".

A year from now, and ALL synthesizer ads will feature the word MIDI heavily in either the title or ad-copy. I pulled out the July 1984 issue of Keyboard just in case someone called me out on that statement, and sure enough, MIDI has pretty much taken over. Heck, Roland's own ad title in the July 1984 issue was "Enter the world of MIDI".

But jump back to July 1983, when MIDI is just getting it's feet wet, and Roland is smart to stay firmly on the fence for now. By promoting both their own protocols as well as MIDI, they let readers know that no matter when they buy from Roland, the gear will be compatible one way or another.

And it wasn't just Roland that was playing the waiting game. Many companies either hadn't included MIDI in their gear yet, or if they had, they didn't say too much about it in their ads. The July 1983 ad for Garfield Electronic's Doctor Click (the godfather of sync) didn't include MIDI yet. Neither did Octave-plateau Electronic Inc.'s Voyetra-8 ad.

There was one exception... :o)

The ad for Sequential Circuit Inc.'s Prophet-600, the first commercially available MIDI synthesizer. Their ad has a large call-out box extolling the virtues of MIDI. And no wonder - SCI was heavily involved in MIDI's development. Nice!

I'll post that ad in the near future.

End note: This has always bugged me. Why did Roland pick 1987 as the 'future'? There is a design rule-of-thumb that says never to use even numbers. So maybe the thinking was that '84, '86, '88 would be out of the question. '85 is probably too close. And '89 is too close to '90.

Hmmmm... still bugging me.

Roland SH-101 brochure, 1982

Roland SH-101 brochure from 1982.

I know that the first thing I think about when it comes to making music with an SH-101 is hard liquor.

Wait. What?

Most of the Roland 'We Design the Future' brochures that I've come across from around this time period feature a front image that includes a stylish photo of the instrument(s) along with some mood lighting and an accent piece - something like plexi-glass cylinders, gray tiling, or even glass marbles such as can be seen on the cover of the Roland Rhythm Machines brochure (303, 606, 808...) I just blogged about.

But the photographer Roland hired for this photo shoot decided that nothing screams monophonic mini-keytar synth like wood flooring with what looks to be a bottle of J.D. in the background.

I'm not complaining - I'm a big fan of Jack. It's just an interesting choice.

According to the print info on the back page, the brochure came out only a month after the Roland Rhythm Machines brochure (see link above) . And like that brochure, this one also pulls in other Roland gear so the reader can get an idea of all the compatibility options available in Roland's gear-world - in this case some nice clean diagrams (with photos!) of the pre-midi sync options available with the TB-303 and TR-606, as well as cv/gate control options with the CSQ-600/100 and MC-4.

As for the synthesizer itself, it's tough to say whether or not Roland really knew what they were trying to achieve with the SH-101. On the one hand they wanted to shrink the hell of out it. But on the other hand, unlike the 303 and 606 that took shrinkage to a whole new level, Roland also wanted the SH-101 to be a performance machine - one that you could pull over your shoulder, slap on the optional MSG-1 controller, and give your guitarist a run for his money at the front of the stage.

And, in the end, it looks like Roland really pulled off that balancing act well. Julian Colbeck sums in up best in his Keyfax series of books:

"...the SH-101 clearly demonstrates Roland's change of attitude to what it thinks we need in this type of instrument. It's goodbye to all the 50 million routing permutations and modulation applications that were offered on the early SH models and hello simplicity, hello end-product controllers. By end-product controllers, I mean all those things you can do with a basic sound once set up. Not only does the SH-101 have a vastly expanded performance panel, but there's a multi-mode arpeggiator and even a small sequencer."

You just have to look at the excellent reference information included in this brochure to get an idea of what Julian is talking about. Those inside two pages are packed with great info, along with a really really large front panel shot of the SH-101 itself.

Roland was definitely changing things up from it's earlier synthesizers. We're talking a full monophonic synth (plus sub osc), arpeggiator, sequencer, two-and-a-half octave keyboard, great performance control, and a modulation grip/keytar option.

Now, pack all that into nine-pounds of multi-coloured goodness and give it a list price of just under $500 - that's quite the deal.

Compare it to the competition of the time to get a good idea of just what a great job Roland did.

The Moog Liberation (Wikipedia), has a full-size 3.5 octave after-touch keyboard with an internal monophonic synthesizer (and poly organ). But had a list price of $1395 at the time, and has been described by more than a few as bulky and heavy.

Sequential Circuit's Remote Prophet (Vintage Synth Explorer) brought the price point down to just under $900, had a four octave keyboard and was relatively light weight, but only worked with the Prophet.

The Yamaha CS-01 put Roland to shame in the shrinkage department (Vintage Synth Explorer). $295 got you a monophonic synthesizer with breathe-control and a very small, thin, and light weight package. But it's 32 mini-keys probably made it too small for professional multi-octave solo-riffs.

I think if you take the best of each of these machines, you pretty end up with an SH-101.

And I like it.

Roland Rhythm Machines TR-808, TR-606, TB-303, CR-8000, and CR-5000 brochure, 1982

Roland Rhythm Machines brochure featuring the TR-808, TR-606, TB-303, CR-8000 and CR-5000, as well as a few special guests including the Jupiter-8, Jun0-60, Juno-6 and SH-101.

Whoa!

This is one of my favorite brochures of all time! I've wanted to share it for a while - but was waiting for a larger scanner. And this piece of art deserved the wait.

But, while this brochure is definitely awesome in all its awesome geariness (I just made up that word), it is also kinda awkward. It's like watching a re-run of Meerkat Manor, knowing that the cute little happy, cuddly, family is about to be taken down by a big predator.

And by that, I mean MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface).

All the information provided in this brochure pre-dates the launch of MIDI technology by less than a year. According to Wikipedia's MIDI page, by the time this brochure came out, talks between the manufacturers were well underway, and the protocol must have been pretty much hammered down. Additionally, Wikipedia's MIDI 1.0 specs page tells us that when the specs launched in August 1983, they included MIDI clock as part of the protocol.

And MIDI clock = the future of sync

But it's like Roland didn't want to let the clueless 303, 606 and 808 know that they were about to be drop-kicked into closets for the next half-decade or so, so the brochure cheerfully and colourfully pushes Roland's own soon-to-be-outdated DIN-sync technology for syncing not only the 606 with the 303, but also with Roland's older cv/gate sequencers such as the MC-4 Microcomposer (launched around 1978) and CSQ-600 Digital Sequencer (launched around 1980).

And it's in Roland's best interest to keep up this promotion - they already had a lot of DIN-sync technology out in the wild, and had to keep pushing it right to the bitter end.

Of course, the change-over to MIDI didn't happen *that* quickly. And, as we all know, in the end the 303, 606, 808, and a multitude of other pre-MIDI gear got the last laugh. Most are now prized by musicians, DJs, and producers around the world, commanding ever-increasing prices, and spawning imitations by many other companies, including Roland.

So, it ain't all bad for this little family.

This brochure was just one of many in Roland's "We Design the Future" set of brochures that ran during the first half of the 80's. Luckily for us, Roland dated all their brochures during this time period and so we know *exactly* when these came off the printing press to see the light of day. You just need to check out the back page - bottom right corner - to know that this one was printed in Japan in November 1982.

The brochure, in a word, is simply gorgeous (okay, two words), and includes everything I've always wished for in a brochure:

• Full-colour
• Great photography highlighting the front panels
• Line drawings of the back panels showing all the in's and out's of each machine
• Technical/reference information for each piece of featured equipment
• Funky ad-copy

As mentioned above, the TB-303 kinda took on a life of it's own later in life (see it's Wikipedia page if you live under a rock), but it's great to be able to look back and see just how Roland was trying to originally position the 303 in the marketplace:

"Roland introduces the world's first computerized bass machine, the great new Bass Line TB-303. This remarkable little unit covers three full octaves. Instead of strings, you use keys to program bass patterns. Up to 64 patterns can be created for use anytime. And, like a bass synthesizer, you have full control over resonance, envelope modulation and other important factors influencing sound quality. When used with Roland's TR-606, you can play bass and drum patterns at the same time. Completely portable, the TB-303 runs on either battery or AC line voltage and comes completely equipped with its own carrying case. A headphones jack is also provided as standard."

"Instead of strings"!!! I love that!

It really gives you a good idea of where the industry, and Japan especially, was trying to go at the time. Smaller. More portable.

Interestingly, Roland's advertisements in Keyboard magazine didn't really match up with their "We Design the Future" brochures from around this time period. Roland was just winding down their "Understanding Technology" campaign that had been running in Keyboard for quite a while - like this two-page Jupiter-8 advertisement. They were also running this "Special Product Report" advertisement. And during the first six months of 1983, Roland switched over to an ad featuring their Juno-60.

Anyways, I'll touch a bit more on Roland's transition to MIDI in future blog posts. I doubt anyone is still reading anyways - not with such a yummy brochure to drool over...