Keyboard Component Jack LaLanne's Physical Conditioning full playthrough

[decle]

Well here we are, the last of the Keyboard Component tapes that Mattel released.  Like Conversational French and Spelling Challenge, Jack LaLanne is written in assembly language using the PICSE audio / visual framework developed by APh.  As a consequence, it can make use of the Master Component's colour graphics and pre-recorded audio from the Keyboard Component tape drive.  Jack probably slots into the silver position when it comes to K/C software 🥈, behind Conversational French 🥇, but ahead of the rather lackluster Spelling Challenge 🥉.

 

The program is broken into 6 parts.  First there's an audio / visual introduction to the program by Jack LaLanne:

 

Initially the new user then does a fitness test which comprises 12 exercises and lasts about 15 minutes.  Based on their performance, they are then allocated to either a "personalized" or "specialized" exercise program, more on this later:

 

Then the tape suggests you enter some body measurements which it check periodically and track over time:

 

At this point the weekly exercise programme starts.  This consists of a daily 20 minute workout and weekly fitness tests.  Each daily routine has a number of aerobic and stretching exercises, interspersed with short bursts of jogging.  The Personalized Exercise Session seems to be the baseline.  It starts off with 1 minute of jogging, followed by four sets of 3 exercises.  Between each block of exercises there is another minute of jogging.  There are several different introductions to each exercise to mix things up a bit on each day, and Jack finishes off with an inspirational pep-talk:

 

The Specialized Exercise Session seems to be the more advanced program which is selected once you achieve a high enough score on a fitness test.  The structure is the same as personalized session, with four blocks of 3 exercises, but they seem to be a bit tougher this time, and each jogging session is 90 seconds, rather than the minute of the personalized program:

 

I'm guessing that the number of repetitions and length of the jogging sessions probably increases as you get into the programme and your fitness improves.  However, given each session takes 20 minutes and I'm a lazy, pizza-eating developer, I've not tested this. 

 

Finally, there is the Jog Log and Exit options.  Because this is a new account the Jog Log isn't terribly inspiring.  In fact it's better to look at the demonstration of it in action found in Jack's introduction here.   Clearly, in order to do all the tracking of your performance etc. it is necessary to write your current state to a record at the start of the tape, hence why it takes a while to exit the program:

 

Now, you might notice that, contrary to what the manual states, what Jack's commentary says and what @David Rolfe and @Shal (Shal Farley) remember, there is no music while the exercises play

 

Trust me, @Lathe26 and I have had a good hunt for it, behind the sofa and everything!  But we just can't find it.  What we know from David Rolfe is that the music was generated by the sound chip in the Master Component, rather than being recorded on the tape itself.  It was implemented using an enhanced music tracker called Jazz which David wrote in CP1610 assembly language (David still has images of the source code which he kindly shared with us).  This tracker supported the three tone channels and single noise channel of the M/C sound chip, as well as adding musical effects such as volume envelopes (rising, falling and tremelo), glissando, trill and vibrato.  According to David and Shal the music for Jack LaLanne's exercises was written by Bob Randles. 

 

To try to find the music we have converted recordings of two separate tapes and checked that they result in the same data files.  These recordings come from an example of both an early tape (black shell with a red paper label), and a later tape (white shell with the title printed on it).  As you can see, the resulting conversions don't have music when played on a K/C.  Then we searched the data on the converted tapes for sequences of instructions we can see in David's Jazz source code, but no dice.  Finally, we can also play Ron's copy of Jack LaLanne on his Keyboard Component.  Here's the bit where Jack thinks there should be music (you can hear the tape drive clicking in the background as it loads the program data for the exercise):

 

Unfortunately, there seems to be no music to be found.  Sadly, I think we have to say that the copies of Jack LaLanne we have access to don't seem to have the music on them .  If you have a copy of Jack LaLanne you'd be willing to record, and you want to try to help us find the music, let us know. 👍

 

Before I sign off this project of documenting K/C software I want to thank everyone involved, @Ron The Cat for enabling my participation through his Keyboard Component, @Knarfian for sharing his tape recordings and tools, @Lathe26 for his tool enhancements and work converting the BASIC tapes, @intvnut for his technical insights and guidance, and @David Rolfe,@Shal and Mark Stroberg for their recollections and clarifications.  It was a real team effort and putting together these videos would not have been possible without their participation.

 

If you missed one of the previous threads on other tapes, here are links to the other software (from best to worst, IMHO):

• Conversational French
• Spelling Challenge
• Geography Challenge
• Crosswords 1, 2 & 3
• Family Budgeting
• Keyboard Component Demonstration Tape
• Super Football Prototype
• BI 2.0 Prototype Demonstration Tape
• Keyboard Component BASIC manual type-in programs

 

Finally, a big thank you if you're one of the many AtariAge members who took the time to provide feedback and comment on this work, it's much appreciated.

Edited November 24, 2022 by decle
Fixed link to demonstration cassette thread

[+Lathe26]

Thanks!  A lot of hard work has been put into these tapes by everyone on the team, but @decle has been the one to do the most to research and share with the general public.

[mr_me]

It's too bad about the music.  Maybe Mattel had the music removed without the guys at APh knowing, if the composer wasn't employed at APh maybe it had something to do with that.  You might have to get lucky with a prototype cassette to find it.

 

[Utopia]

Yes, a big thank you for this research. It's great that Intellivision history from the archives keeps popping up after all these years. 👍

[+nurmix]

Absolutely amazing work!  Kudos to you and the others involved!

 

[+DZ-Jay]

On 11/19/2022 at 9:40 AM, decle said:

Here's the bit where Jack thinks there should be music (you can hear the tape drive clicking in the background as it loads the program data for the exercise):

 

Unfortunately, there seems to be no music to be found.  Sadly, I think we have to say that the copies of Jack LaLanne we have access to don't seem to have the music on them .  If you have a copy of Jack LaLanne you'd be willing to record, and you want to try to help us find the music, let us know. 👍

 

I have a theory about this.  It occurred to me that when Jack talks about music, we hear a metronome clicking away marking the time or the repetitions or the pace of the exercise.

 

Could it be that this is what Jack is referring to when he says “music”?  Perhaps Mattel thought that saying “clicks” or “sound effect” may have been too technical for the mass market at the time.

 

During the test phase, when it gets to the jogging part, I noticed that the metronome goes at a faster pace than the seconds in the timer, and Jack did say “try to keep the pace of the music,” so the metronome is the pace of the exercise and not just a timer ticking.

 

In light of this, I think it is reasonable to think that “music” in this context refers to the metronome.

 

Just an idea …

 

   dZ.

Edited November 23, 2022 by DZ-Jay

[+nurmix]

On 11/23/2022 at 2:00 PM, DZ-Jay said:

In light of this, I think it is reasonable to think that “music” in this context refers to the metronome.

Exhibit A: https://youtu.be/xAYGJmYKrI4?t=59

 

[Bill246]

Cool!  This is like P90X 0.5, in the same way Utopia is Civilization 0.5

[Walter Ives]

On 11/19/2022 at 6:40 AM, decle said:

ahead of the rather lackluster Spelling Challenge

The Spelling Challenge you have was a demo, not a finished product.

 

On 11/19/2022 at 6:40 AM, decle said:

Trust me, @Lathe26 and I have had a good hunt for it, behind the sofa and everything!  But we just can't find it.

There is no digital music on the versions of the Exercise cassette you have—you can tell because the sound chip is generating clicks where music should be and it can't do both.

Despite the fact that Rochlis started selling the Keyboard Component in 1977 as part of the original concept, the ONLY work done on it prior to mid-January 1979 was that the model shop made mock-ups for show purposes. It wasn't until all of the pieces needed to create and play back a prototype Exercise tape came together in late 1981 that APh recognized that the exercises came across as rather lifeless and proposed adding music to give them some energy. But Mattel was committed to ship product as soon as possible, ready-or-not. While there was opportunity to make last minute adjustments to the script to reference the music, APh said that although it had a composer with whom it had a pre-existing relationship, it needed a few months to compose the twenty or so pieces required and implement a synchronized playback facility. Not a problem—the first tapes would simply go out without music. Tapes with music were introduced as a running change.

 

On 11/19/2022 at 6:40 AM, decle said:

Before I sign off this project of documenting K/C software...

You might not want to rush to dismantle your setup until you've allowed some time for the later version of Exercise to surface. Word is that you would never believe the music was made by the same sound chip that played the CTW theme or the Ride of the Valkyries.

 

On 11/19/2022 at 6:40 AM, decle said:

here are links to the other software (from best to worst, IMHO)

I think you need to re-evaluate your opinion of the Keyboard Component Demonstration Tape. As a tour-de-force, I'd place it above Spelling.

 

On 11/19/2022 at 12:32 PM, mr_me said:

Maybe Mattel had the music removed without the guys at APh knowing

Nope. APh had the only setup for creating master tapes.

 

On 11/23/2022 at 2:00 PM, DZ-Jay said:

I have a theory about this.  It occurred to me that when Jack talks about music, we hear a metronome clicking away marking the time or the repetitions or the pace of the exercise. Could it be that this is what Jack is referring to when he says “music”?  Perhaps Mattel thought that saying “clicks” or “sound effect” may have been too technical for the mass market at the time. During the test phase, when it gets to the jogging part, I noticed that the metronome goes at a faster pace than the seconds in the timer, and Jack did say “try to keep the pace of the music,” so the metronome is the pace of the exercise and not just a timer ticking. In light of this, I think it is reasonable to think that “music” in this context refers to the metronome. Just an idea.

Nope. First, Jack had no idea what he was referring to when he said, "music." For this project he was just talent in a studio reading from a script, with little notion of the overall production he was part of creating. Second, he didn't hear any music or any metronome clicks during the recording session—whatever sounds there would be were added later. Third, although you may consider the 1980s the stone ages, this was long past the age of Edisonian cylinders. You're talking about a generation that grew up with Elvis, the Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, Woodstock, American Bandstand and Hi-Fidelity Stereo Sound--they could tell the difference between clicks and music.

 

 

Well, that's the end of my comments. I'm going to return to my life. Enjoy! I hope I haven't broken too many forum rules. I'll probably check back sometime after the New Year.

 

[+DZ-Jay]

1 hour ago, Walter Ives said:

Nope. First, Jack had no idea what he was referring to when he said, "music." For this project he was just talent in a studio reading from a script, with little notion of the overall production he was part of creating. Second, he didn't hear any music or any metronome clicks during the recording session—whatever sounds there would be were added later.

 

Third, although you may consider the 1980s the stone ages,

 

Not at all, and I take exception to that characterization -- especially in light of my other comments praising the vision of bringing extant technology to the consumer market space.

 

Like everyone else, I was merely speculating a justification for why the tape did not have music (and it clearly did not), while the voice-over stated it did (which it clearly did).  Obviously, none of us had the history and backstory, so some assumed that product recollections were wrong or that there must exist another version with the music in it.  I offered yet another, if albeit far-fetched, alternative. *shrug*

 

All that being said, I really appreciate your setting the record straight and filling in the missing history with your informed insight.  The real reason you explained is even more exciting, since it suggests that the mythical music tracks described by others in the past, which like you point out how sophisticated it was, is out there ... somewhere ... and there is hope we may yet get to find it. :)

 

1 hour ago, Walter Ives said:

Well, that's the end of my comments. I'm going to return to my life. Enjoy! I hope I haven't broken too many forum rules. I'll probably check back sometime after the New Year.

 

Thank you, Mr. Ives, for your so generously offering your time and incredibly broad insight into the history of all these topics.  I do not think you broke any forum rules, other than perhaps surprising us all with so many posts, dense with information, all at once.  :)

 

I personally appreciate immensely that you took the time to join our discussion and share your memories at all, and found all your comments exceedingly interesting and insightful.

 

       -dZ.

[mr_me]

14 hours ago, Walter Ives said:

The Spelling Challenge you have was a demo, not a finished product.

I remember one of the guys here in the forum saying that Spelling Challenge was never released.  That any boxed copies are one of a few prototypes. 

 

I know more than a few people have a copy of Conversational French or Jack Lalanne, how many have Spelling Challenge?

[+Lathe26]

As of a couple years ago, there was an AA thread that was stated that there 2 known Spelling Challenge boxes known with manuals.  However, later in the thread someone states that only prototype manuals exist.  Here's the thread https://forums.atariage.com/topic/306527-keyboard-component/?do=findComment&comment=4533259

 

Spelling Challenge is listed as a released product on the BSR site (linked here) and there are images of the box.  It's possible that the BSR site might be mistaken and the boxes might early non-production boxes, but the scales are currently tipped towards Spelling Challenge being released.  Perhaps more explanation regarding it not being released might tip the scales the other way.

 

The waters are a little muddy on this topic.

 

Front of box (from BSR site):

Cropped images from the back of box (from BSR site):

 

 

 

[BSRSteve]

On 12/3/2022 at 9:11 PM, Lathe26 said:

As of a couple years ago, there was an AA thread that was stated that there 2 known Spelling Challenge boxes known with manuals.  However, later in the thread someone states that only prototype manuals exist.  Here's the thread https://forums.atariage.com/topic/306527-keyboard-component/?do=findComment&comment=4533259

 

Spelling Challenge is listed as a released product on the BSR site (linked here) and there are images of the box.  It's possible that the BSR site might be mistaken and the boxes might early non-production boxes, but the scales are currently tipped towards Spelling Challenge being released.  Perhaps more explanation regarding it not being released might tip the scales the other way.

 

The waters are a little muddy on this topic.

Listing Spelling Challenge as a released product may have been just because we had a copy that was not obviously marked as a prototype.

[David Rolfe]

The music, the mystery of the missing music, this is weird. Yes, the music was real and amazing, we saw it integrated into the exercises, it worked great. And that Jack repeatedly refers to "music" confirms the anticipation that the tape would ship with it. That is, it wasn't a last-minute addition. However, if decle's tape was supposed to play music, then I can't explain the presence of the metronome sound. Generally there could only be a single process controlling the sound chip; the software would not be playing music and at the time time calling up a "tick" sound effect, because they'd clash. That the software generates the "tick" indicates that it was NOT attempting to play music, and this is reinforced by the fact that decle cannot find the "jazz" code present. So the theory that a master image was created with the metronome sound rather than music makes sense. I have no memory of such a master image being made, but then I wasn't in charge of this project, I just built some of the tools that went into it. Hal Finney would be the one to ask, he built the final images, but unfortunately Hal is no longer with us. Hmm, of course there were others at APh; as you see, Shal also remembers the music. So we're not making it up, I swear it! I don't know what to say. The music was amazing in the context of the Intellivision environment, miles above any of the simple little ditties we'd previously banged out. Bob Randles wrote a piece for each exercise. A lot of work went into this. Couldn't have done this in ROM carts because we didn't have space for that kind of luxury. Would be great if we could find it, but where...???

[BSRSteve]

On 12/3/2022 at 9:11 PM, Lathe26 said:

As of a couple years ago, there was an AA thread that was stated that there 2 known Spelling Challenge boxes known with manuals.  However, later in the thread someone states that only prototype manuals exist.  Here's the thread https://forums.atariage.com/topic/306527-keyboard-component/?do=findComment&comment=4533259

 

Spelling Challenge is listed as a released product on the BSR site (linked here) and there are images of the box.  It's possible that the BSR site might be mistaken and the boxes might early non-production boxes, but the scales are currently tipped towards Spelling Challenge being released.  Perhaps more explanation regarding it not being released might tip the scales the other way.

 

The waters are a little muddy on this topic.

 

And in fact, as I said later in that thread above, my copy does not have a manual.

 

[UnRedeemed]

Has the music still not been found?  

[decle]

9 hours ago, UnRedeemed said:

Has the music still not been found?  

The work we did back in 2022 (wow!, time flies) was based on recordings of two different Jack LaLanne tapes.  Unfortunately, we're pretty confident that neither of these tapes contained the music.  However, that is only two recordings, and clearly the music might exist on other tapes.

 

The team has a standing offer to examine and archive any K/C tapes people make available to us.  There is no need to send us your tapes, and we will share the contents of any tape archived with the owner.  We only need recordings in WAV format of both sides of the tape made using a standard stereo, and we're happy to help people make suitable recordings.  Unfortunately, no-one has taken us up on the offer as of today.  If anyone has a tape that they'd like us to look at, just PM me.

 

So whilst Bob Randles' music isn't on all tapes, we don't know if it's an example of 8K Lock N Chase that probably never made it to the wild at all, or Competition Astrosmash, which can be found on a proportion of the carts sold in Brazil.

[UnRedeemed]

Thanks for providing that update.  I have actually started using the LaLanne recordings you posted to youtube in some of my exercise sessions, and thought it would be cool if someone has come across a tape that includes the music.  

[+DZ-Jay]

4 minutes ago, UnRedeemed said:

Thanks for providing that update.  I have actually started using the LaLanne recordings you posted to youtube in some of my exercise sessions, and thought it would be cool if someone has come across a tape that includes the music.  

 

That is very cool.  I know that I went through all the French sessions posted by @decle, and I found them comparable to what you get with a modern system like Babbel or Dualingo.  In fact, I find them better because of the ultra-retro-coolness. :)

 

    -dZ.

[BSRSteve]

9 hours ago, decle said:

we don't know if it's an example of 8K Lock N Chase that probably never made it to the wild at all

That is what I thought, but unless I remember incorrectly, the book Space Battle: The Mattel Intellivision and the First Console War makes a claim that the 8K version is the more common one, which greatly surprised me.

[+DZ-Jay]

3 hours ago, BSRSteve said:

That is what I thought, but unless I remember incorrectly, the book Space Battle: The Mattel Intellivision and the First Console War makes a claim that the 8K version is the more common one, which greatly surprised me.

 

It could be a matter of confusing the "K"s between KiloBytes and KiloDecles.

 

    -dZ.

[Walter Ives]

On 4/5/2024 at 2:33 AM, decle said:

Unfortunately, we're pretty confident that neither of these tapes contained the music.

You can upgrade that assessment to being 100% certain.

 

WJI

[Tempest]

On 4/5/2024 at 5:33 AM, decle said:

 or Competition Astrosmash, which can be found on a proportion of the carts sold in Brazil.

Wait... What?  How did that happen?  Got pictures of an example?

[decle]

2 hours ago, Tempest said:

Wait... What?  How did that happen?  Got pictures of an example?

 

Yup, the competition variant can definitely be found on some carts from Brazil:

 

According to @intellivotion, it's the later releases that can have the ROM variant:

On 10/29/2022 at 4:58 PM, intellivotion said:

I should be more precise... the Astrosmash Shootoff variant can be found in the later Brazilian editions of the game. They all have the same red label.

There are at least 3 Brazilian editions (some say 4 and I might agree): in my experience the second and the third ones have usually the Shootoff variant. 

           Digimed                          Digiplay "Rua Acará"          Digiplay "Av. Açai"

 

I have a copy of the third, "Av. Acai" version, based on the address on the back of the box and it's definitely the timer version.  According to Google Translate, the text in the instruction manual and on the box does not mention the timer.  I've dumped the ROM and it appears to be identical to the competition version found on intellivision.us.

 

As to how the mix-up occurred and the competition version escaped into the wild, I'm afraid I don't know.

[+Lathe26]

I have a loose cart with overlays of the Competition Astrosmash.  However, the only major difference (other than the ROM contents) is that the Astrosmash label's font is slightly different.