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Topic: Sixties Rock Songs Used In TV Commercials |
Peter Dollard
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Posted 3 Apr 2005 7:22 pm |
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I know this has been going on for a long time since the aging of the baby boomers. One can point to the use of "Let Me Stand Next to Your Fire" in recent Pontiac commercials as well as "Born To Be Wild," a more recent favorite.
Anyways I was listening to this Hertz commercial which had a notably silent background except for this hypnotic bass riff played over and over. I had seen the commercial at least five times and I knew it sounded painfully familiar. About twenty minutes ago it hit me. It was the bass riff which opens Lou Reed's "Walk On the Wildside". Oh was I happy to figure it out and Hertz is one sneaky company. Can anyone else here start a list with me of these songs that live again thanks to the corporate greed and common sense of our tv advertisers? Pete |
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Pat Burns
From:
Branchville, N.J. USA
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Posted 3 Apr 2005 7:39 pm
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..not all '60's, but
"Takin' Care of Business" - BTO, selling office goods
..a long time ago, Carly Simon's "Anticipation" sold ketchup...
...and of course Marvin Gaye's "Heard It Through The Grapevine" sold raisins...
...Bob Seeger's "Like A Rock" sells pickup trucks..
..a line from Eric Clapton's "You Look Wonderful Tonight" is currently selling telecommunications services...
...the Beatles "Come Together" was selling telecommunciations a couple years ago...
...I think I heard the Beatles "It's Getting Better All The Time" selling something, but that might have just been a flashback...
..Fleetwood Mac's "Don't Stop Thinkin' About Tomorrow" sold the Clinton presidency...I'm sure Bush commandeered a tune to sell himself, too, but I wouldn't have been listening...[This message was edited by Pat Burns on 03 April 2005 at 08:52 PM.] |
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Bob Hoffnar
From:
Austin, Tx
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Posted 3 Apr 2005 8:17 pm
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Iggy's" Lust for life" to sell Carnival Cruise line was a real heartbreaker for me.
Pat, There is a great tune that came out of Bush's first term:
Congress is in session !
Bob
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Jerry Overstreet
From:
Louisville Ky
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Posted 3 Apr 2005 8:24 pm
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| Zeppelin's "Rock and Roll" ...selling Cadillacs. |
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chas smith R.I.P.
From:
Encino, CA, USA
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Posted 3 Apr 2005 8:52 pm
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| I have a friend who researches "source music" for films, and recently for a Ron Howard production. He was taken aback when Sony Publishing wanted $70k for usage of an obscure jazz tune from the '30s when the woman at Universal told him, and she wouldn't say which band or which song, that they had just paid $800k for a well known pop song. |
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Jon Light
From:
Saugerties, NY
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Posted 3 Apr 2005 10:07 pm
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| If Hertz embraces a song about a transvestite junkie, they are quite the progressive company! (do they really listen to these songs??) |
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CrowBear Schmitt
From:
Ariege, - PairO'knees, - France
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Posted 3 Apr 2005 11:12 pm
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Jimi's "All along the watchtower" selling Renaults
Buffalo Springfield's "For what it's worth" sellin' another brand of cars
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John Pelz
From:
Kettering, Ohio, USA
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Posted 4 Apr 2005 2:41 am
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The Who's "Baba O'Riley" = Hewlett Packard
The Who's "Happy Jack" = Humvee?
The Band's "The Weight" = some cell phone company |
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Steve Hitsman
From:
Waterloo, IL
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Posted 4 Apr 2005 3:54 am
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"Volunteers" E-Trade
Coltrane's "My Favorite Things" K-Mart (I think) |
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David Mason
From:
Cambridge, MD, USA
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Posted 4 Apr 2005 4:44 am
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Rolling Stones, "Start Me Up": Microsoft
Hendrix, "Star-Spangled Banner": Budweiser
Janis Joplin, "Mercedes Benz": guess who |
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Bill Llewellyn
From:
San Jose, CA
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Posted 4 Apr 2005 7:49 am
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Many Boomers now have discretionary cash, so advertisers are trying to hook into their nastalgia. I've also noticed a lot of comebacks among the bands of the Boomer era. Chicago, Three Dog Night, Rush, Moody Blues (who never really went away), lots of soul and R&B groups, etc.
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Bill, steelin' since '99 | Steel page | MSA U12 | My music | Steelers' birthdays | Over 50?
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Brian C Peters
From:
Eagan Minnesota
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Posted 4 Apr 2005 7:49 am
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| Chevrolet is using one of my all time favorite Yardbird's tunes, "Over, Under, Sideways, Down". [This message was edited by Brian C Peters on 04 April 2005 at 08:50 AM.] |
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Dave Van Allen
From:
Doylestown, PA , US , Earth
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Posted 4 Apr 2005 8:04 am
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oops...
[This message was edited by Dave Van Allen on 04 April 2005 at 09:06 AM.] |
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Peter Dollard
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Posted 4 Apr 2005 9:34 am
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Outstanding gentleman, keep'em coming!
Pete |
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Shaan Shirazi
From:
Austin, TX, USA
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Posted 4 Apr 2005 10:13 am
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KFC is using the riff of Sweet Home Alabama nowadays. I really don't get that one. There was an article in the NY Times about using classic rock songs in advertisements but being completely out of context. For instance CCR's Fortunate Son in a highly patriotic themed jeans ad I think. Did they not think anyone would notice?
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The Pickin' Paniolo
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Pat Burns
From:
Branchville, N.J. USA
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Posted 4 Apr 2005 12:29 pm
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| ...I believe they didn't notice themselves, Shaan...a whole lotta people still think "Born In The USA" is a patriotic song... |
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Marty Pollard
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Posted 4 Apr 2005 5:08 pm
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| Just heard Sweet Melissa for ATT/Cingular. |
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Pat Burns
From:
Branchville, N.J. USA
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Posted 5 Apr 2005 12:50 pm
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| ..Marty Pollard!!! Where have you been, thought you fell off the Earth... |
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Ken Lang
From:
Simi Valley, Ca
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Posted 5 Apr 2005 6:27 pm
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| Hi Marty. Welcome back from exile. |
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Mike Winter
From:
Portland, OR
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Posted 5 Apr 2005 7:42 pm
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Kohl's is using The Lovin' Spoonful's "Do You Believe In Magic."
Pat and Bob -- I always thought Dubya should've used Shel Silverstein's "I'm Goin' Down To Texas." 
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Marty Pollard
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Posted 5 Apr 2005 7:48 pm
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Thanks Pat, Ken. |
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Gerald Menke
From:
Stormville NY, USA
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Posted 6 Apr 2005 7:51 am
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Who are you guys kidding? Those companies pay handsomely to use those songs in commercials, if the artists didn't want to exploit their own work this way, you wouldn't hear/see it happening. I am sure there are bands/artists who signed away their publishing rights and therefore their labels pocket the money, but alot of those artists you hear, like the Who and Led Zeppelin are VERY savvy, and are pleased to have discovered yet another "revenue stream". I agree it's gross, but hey, it's yet another reason to avoid commercial broadcasts, be they cable, radio or network TV. Always something better to do than sit in front of the tube anyway. Learn another Paul Franklin solo!
There's a whole cottage industry that's sprung up that connects indie-type bands with advertisers, because they are so much cheaper than going with an established star, some people say the advertisers are better than the labels, in that they pay up front, make very few aesthetic demands, and keep paying residuals. There was a series of Levi's jeans ads a few years ago, that featured the music of Chicago indie bands like Directions in Music, I almost fell out of my chair the first time I saw that one.
Anyway, I would be careful about attacking the advertisers without knowing the deal the artist had worked out with them. [This message was edited by Gerald Menke on 06 April 2005 at 09:05 AM.] |
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Ray Minich
From:
Bradford, Pa. Frozen Tundra
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Posted 6 Apr 2005 8:01 am
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Several years ago Micro$oft used the "Stones" "Start Me Up" to introduce their new operating system (I think it was used for Windows XP).
It all started with Carly Simon's "Anticipation" being used as the background for a Heinz Catsup commercial. That was quite some time ago.[This message was edited by Ray Minich on 06 April 2005 at 09:03 AM.] |
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CrowBear Schmitt
From:
Ariege, - PairO'knees, - France
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Posted 6 Apr 2005 1:08 pm
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| there's an Insurance company usin' the Ray Charles version of " Imagine" by Lennon |
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Marc Friedland
From:
Fort Collins, CO
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Posted 6 Apr 2005 4:40 pm
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| I'm not positive, because I only caught the very end of it, but I believe I recently heard The Turtles "Happy Together" being used for "Mervyns" Dept. store. -- Marc |
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