Boss Play Bus HA-5 portable amp and PA system "A rough audience" full page colour advertisement from page 7 in the February 1984 issue of Keyboard Magazine.
Two boss ads in a row... and you can see why.
The Dr. Rhythm ad featured only one frame, but we get five gorgeous frames of story line with the studly Mr. Play Bus and his... er... Playbus. I'm comfortable enough in my heterosexuality to say that's one good-looking man.
Everything about this ad leads back to the pop-culture of the moment. The kid's clothing looks right out of a Duran Duran poster with their bright shirts and sports jackets. And the reference to Dallas, a show popular amongst the not-so-hip adults, rocks. And kicking them out of the garage for being too loud cracks me up. Even the Betty and Veronica look-a-likes sitting in the sand adoring the boys screams pop culture.
The details within each frame are also a pure joy to discover. The one guy stepping in kitty litter. The cat freaking out because of the noise. The one kid with "The Kools" t-shirt. And.... a TR-808! Go Roland/Boss!
I'm guessing this was Boss's answer to Yamaha's portable "Producer Series" of gear that included the portable MA10 headphone amplifier and MM10 Mic Line Stereo Portable Mixer. And its interesting that Boss also chose to use artwork in their ads.
The Boss Area Web site is a good resource for many Boss products, the HA-5 included. Some good specs for the HA-5 as well as the RH-11M can be found there.
Like I said at the beginning - not much of an interest in portable amps... and not much else to say.
This awesome ad speaks for itself anyways. :)
1 comment:
I have one which I bought new. It has the best distortion sound I've ever heard to date. I sued it in a band that had to play everything direct including electronic drums so the neighbors and my wife wouldn't complain.
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