Electric Blue (UK)

Background : Electric Blue was a soft core porn show that aired mainly on the Playboy Channel in the early 1980s. The show was produced in the UK. Many prominent porn stars performed on this show, including Ginger Lynn, Christy Canyon, Sasha Gabor, Traci Lords, Blake Palmer, Janey Robbins, Rick Savage, Jay Serling, Laurie Smith, Heather Wayne, and Jessica Wylde. Hustler Magazine Centerfold Model and 'scream queen' actress Gail Harris made appearances in many episodes. This grouping of soft core porn first started in London under the direction of Paul Raymond, famous for his 'top shelf' men's magazines including Men Only and Club International. Paul Raymond also owned the Paul Raymond Review Bar, a striptease club in Soho London. The UK saw these shows on video tape, prior to them being picked by Playboy. A film tie-in, titled Electric Blue - The Movie, was released theatrically in the UK in 1982 and on VHS in 1983, and featured Marilyn Chambers presenting archive nude footage of celebrities including Marilyn Monroe, Joanna Lumley, Jayne Mansfield and Jacqueline Bisset.

1st Logo (1985-1990?)
''' Note : This logo contains very questionable sexual content. Therefore, videos of this logo on this site are prohibited. You can, however, listen to this audio file of the logo.'''

Nickname : "Flashing and Zooming Lights"

Logo : On a black background, we see a pink line write out the word "electric" in a cursive font, colored pink as it zooms out, with a residue trail behind it. More residue trails follow from the word "BLUE", colored blue and in a font identical to the logo for the 1984 revival of "Name That Tune". A TV-tube outline colored white follows, then, when the logo settles in place (and "electric" flickers), the whole logo zooms back and forth rapidly, cutting to very sexually suggestive images (which can't be uploaded onto YouTube due to their policies). There is a much tamer version of this intro that has aired on cable TV.

FX/SFX/Cheesy Factor : The logo forming, plus the zooming back and forth of the logo. Surprisingly smooth Scanimate/Video Feedback animation, but it's very dated.

Music/Sounds : A disco-like synth tune with female singers singing "Now... the time... has come... to see... the show... the-show-the-show-the-show-the-show." Then, when the sexually suggestive images appear, the singers sing "the girls, the cars, the dreams, electronic centerfolds. The dream cannot be spoiled, it simply must sustain the truth. The truth is sex, and cars, and dreams, Electric Blue's the warning of new girls performing, hear the warning...hear the warning...Now...the time...has come...for you to see...the light. The things that are to come, to come, to come, will see you through the light. The dream cannot be spoiled, it simply must sustain the truth. The truth is sex, and cars, and dreams, Electric Blue's the warning of new girls performing, hear our team, Electric Blue's the dawning of lifestyles performing, you have to understand, Electric Blue's the warning of new girls performing, hear the warning."

If you try not to think of the action in the logo, the song is very catchy.

Availability : Extremely rare. Can tapes of adult films from the UK and Australia (under the Video Classics brand, later the Virgin Video/Virgin Vision brand, which always has been Virgin in the UK), as seen at the beginning.

Scare Factor : Medium to high for just the Electric Blue logo itself. The music is very dark, combined with the eyestrain-inducing animation and extremely quick zooming. The content afterwards will probably raise the scare factor, but it depends on the person viewing it. Overall, this logo is a favorite of many for the music (not the content that the company produces). But, like these scary adult logos, it's the perfect way to scare your children from watching porn!

2nd Logo (1980's)
Nickname : "The Neon Sign"

Logo : Against a black background, a blurry picture of the Electric Blue logo zooms in, colored pale blue. It zooms too close to the camera, but zooms back a bit, then comes into focus. "THE END", in an outlined white typewriter font, can be seen below the logo. After a few seconds, the logo zooms forward and becomes a blurry picture again, and "THE END" disappears.

FX/SFX : The zooming of the logo, the picture coming into focus.

Cheesy Factor : "THE END" is poorly chyroned in.

Music/Sounds : A catchy Moog synth disco tune.

Availability : Obviously, at the end of Electric Blue tapes in the UK and Australia.

Scare Factor : Minimal. It's much tamer than the previous one.

3rd Logo (1990's)
Logo : We start off with a black BG with the white text

WHAT

WON'T

BE SHOWING

ON TELEVISION

THIS YEAR?

("WON'T" is slightly larger). It then cuts to a rippling blue silk sheet, and the Electric Blue logo (from logo 1) fades in over it (it also has the Australian equivalent to an NC-17 rating in the US; R 18+, in the bottom right corner of the logo). Then, it cuts to a black BG in which a yellow triangle comes in from the left and the text "Turn on TO VIDEO Anytime" zooms out on top of it ("Turn on" and "Anytime" are written in a red script font, and "TO VIDEO" is written in a plain white font on a blue parallelogram with a white outline).

FX/SFX : The silk sheet.

Music/Sounds : First, as the text appears, a man (believed to be Shawn "Cossie" Cosgrove, the announcer on the Aussie version of The Price is Right) says "What won't be showing on television this year?", then a woman says "For quality adult titles, look for Electric Blue at your video store.", and the same man says "Turn on to Electric Blue at your local video store." near the end. Sultry saxophone jazz music plays throughout.

Availability : Seen on pornographic tapes in the UK and Australia. For quality adult titles, look for Electric Blue at your video store. (hence in the Music/Sounds section)

Scare Factor : None. Like the 2nd logo, it's much tamer than the 1st logo.