Wow, at the John Densmore quote. I absolutely agree with it and all, but whats particularly amazing about it is that it's from a member of The Doors but it is actually intelligible.

I've intentionally stayed out of this because I didn't think I could add anything. I never watch music videos and if I watch a commercial, it's usually with my own music playing and not there's, so I guess I really do live in a vacuum, to contradict myself from another thread. But I'm visiting family, and I was watching the Dodgers/Angels with the TV up, and yes, almost every commercial is a little music video with apparently well-known music on it. The thing is that I don't recognize half the songs. Now, is that good or bad? (I vote good.) Also, I did bring my boombox, so I guess when I watch sports later, I'll have to play Wilco, Beulah or the Sights.

Does anybody see a tie-in between my personal situation and what you're talking about?

Relating back to the John Densmore quote, he says that advertising cheapens the experience of music. Well, I guess if an advertisment is using a song that is already cheap and shallow (like Jet's "Are you gonna be my girl?" in the iPod commercial) then nothing is being lost.

quote:

---

What Who song are they going to use on the new CSI: New York show?

---

"Baba O'Reilly." Although why they haven't used "The Seeker" -- I mean, listen to the lyrics, people! -- is beyond me.

I have to give the big thumbs DOWN to U2 for doing the IPod TV campaign. I hate IPOD ads with a passion, and seeing U2 sell out like that adds another nail to their coffins. No integrity?? Didn't think so.

If I have to hear Aerosmith's "Dream On" in another damned Buick ad, I think I'm gonna buick all over my condo... What a disgrace.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Metacritic Games Editor:
If I have to hear Aerosmith's "Dream On" in another damned Buick ad, I think I'm gonna buick all over my condo... What a disgrace.

---

Agreed....I was sick to death of that song by, oh let's say, mid-1974.

Anyhow, does anybody know if that's the Cardigans doing a version of "White Christmas" in the Marshall Fields Department store ads?

.

So, I'm hooked on this song that's currently being used in a Honda Element commerical called "Orange Sky" by a guy named Alexi Murdoch. Anyone know him or the song? From what I've found online, he's only got a 4 song ep out and "Orange Sky" was featured on an episode of The O.C.

SPEAKING of the O.C....there's an O.C. soundtrack out that's REALLY good! I heard it in Atlanta but haven't picked it up yet...tracks by the Super Furry Animals, Killers, Nada Surf, and others. A really good flow. My friend called it the comp of the year...

I didn't think of the possible opposite consequence of using more and more pop music in commericals suggested by a writer for The Boston Globe.

The irresistible, singable, stick-in-your-mindable jingle is dead
With more and more pop songs selling products, the world of advertising is being turned upside down.

Does anybody remember the movie Demolition Man and the radio station devoted to commercial jingles?

Now Playing: "Goodbye to Romance" Linus of Hollywood Let Yourself Be Happy (Oglio) <-- thanks, f_s & pE!

Two recent commercials have grabbed my aural attention:

1. The commercial for (I think) IPod that uses a great song by The (Twelve) Caesars called "Jerk it Out."

2. A HORRIBLE version of "99 Red Balloons" that's used in a JCPenney commericial that SEEMS to be about romance. Did the people who greenlighted this ad not realize that the song is about nuclear holocaust???

quote:

---

Originally posted by philosopherEric:
2. A HORRIBLE version of "99 Red Balloons" that's used in a JCPenney commericial that SEEMS to be about romance. Did the people who greenlighted this ad not realize that the song is about nuclear holocaust???

---

An art director probably brought it up at some point during storyboarding. Perception wins over reality, and the reality is 99% of Americans think "99 Red Balloons" is just a fun 80s song.

There's a nice article in the new issue of Harp (March/April...Beck cover) about this topic called "Original Score, Buy..." Some interesting tidbits, including the Nick Drake sales figures...4000 copies in 1998, 6000 in 1999 (when the VW commercial appeared) to 74,000 copies in 2000. That's some impact.

There's also the tale of Aaron Espinoza (of Earlimart) and Jim Fairchild (of Grandaddy), who formed an advertising-based side band called Central Valet and who have scored music for Doc Martens. But then there's the cautionary tale of Ween, who were solicited by an ad agency to write music for Pizza Hut but whose compositions were roundly rejected by the pizza chain.

Another thumbs WAY DOWN to the Clash estate for selling "Should I Stay or Should I Go?" to GM for use in the recent Pontiac G6 commercial. How disgusting. A song I associated with parties in junior high now is associated with a boring-as-hell looking American car that is in no way made "cooler" by featuring that song in its commercial. Shame on you, Clash estate! As if the London Calling and Combat Rock don't bring in enough money to keep you clothed and fed.

Can someone tell me who sings the song in the new adidas "dream" commercial??

In general I am all for indie rock or out-of-the-mainstream stuff being used in TV shows and commercials. Maybe then people who only listen to top 40 radio and watch MTV will realize that there is better stuff out there than Ashlee Simpson and Usher. Even established artists like the Clash or U2 or Dylan using songs in commercials doesn't really bother me, I just wish there were more of these commercials out there, it might make TV ads more interesting to watch.

quote:

Originally posted by Imprezu21:
Can someone tell me who sings the song in the new adidas "dream" commercial??

Scuttlebut says it's "Hello Tomorrow" by Squeak E. Clean featuring Karen O. of the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs.

Cool track, but I cannot tell you a thing about it other than its identity.

Anybody?

Now Playing: Pregame for the Red Sox v. Yankees on ESPN2...PLAY BALL!!!

from the limited stuff i could find.It sounds like 'squeak e. clean' is a somewhat prolific producer also known as Sam Spiegel.He has done some production for the Yeah Yeah yeahs...so the karen o collabo shouldnt be too far off.

He has a 12" out on the wonderfully spectacular label Dim Mak with 2mex and Baldhead Slick aka Guru from Gangstarr.It sounds like he will have a full length coming out soon.Sounds like something too look for.I like that track alot.

Seeing songs in commercials only bothers me when the use of the song seems really inappropriate to the actual meaning of the song.

Like, hearing a Dylan song in a perfume commercial really bugs me because....it's a song with some depth and melancholy being used for something superficial and shallow.

Then again, when you still listen to the song in the absence of the inappropriate association, it tends not to bother you or ruin the song for you. And I'd rather be forced to listen to a great song used in an inappropriate context then some obnoxious self-indulgent gimmick like 'zoom zoom zoom' or 'can you hear me now'. So....I think all ads should butcher great songs! Then they'd be less annoying.

Since the Coldplay at Starbuck Conflagration of Aught Five has taken us a bit far afield of the subject of music reviews, I thought I'd use the oddly timely news that Starbucks Nabs Exclusive Dylan Live Album to bump up this old thread.

I guess I've not been keeping up sufficiently on current events since Starbucks is also a key player in Herbie Hancock Surrounded By Stars On New Album.

It's not a first for Dylan after his deal with Victoria's Secret last year. The inevitable accusations against Hancock of "selling out" won't be the first either, since Wynton Marsalis famously accused him of doing that with 1983's Future Shock in a joint interview in Musician magazine. None of which detracts a whit from their respective musical legacies any more than Ella Fitzgerald's famous "Is it live, or is it Memorex" commercial detracted from hers.

Now Playing: "Something in You" The Orange Peels" Circling the Sun

If you're a musician and you don't want to have to deliver pizzas during the day to pay your rent, you've gotta sell out a little. These guys are just trying to make a buck, and that's fine. And they're just licensing work they've already recorded anyway, it's not as if Modest Mouse is covering the "Armour Hot Dog" jingle.

The way I see it, if I have to sit through commercials, I'd much rather hear The Walkmen, The Cure, and Nick Drake over "Plop,Plop,Fizz,Fizz". Plus it occaisionally exposes me to new music. I never heard of Alexi Murdoch before that Honda commercial.

I also don't think the songs are ruined. It's not as if hearing "Lust for Life" makes me wanna take a cruise now.

Anyway, those are my feelings.