Most bizarre music/commerical pairings?

The other day I was watching an Iggy Pop video and reflecting on what combination of drugs and mental illness must go into creating his genius when a bizarre thing happened ... several minutes after the video ended a commercial came on ... for a cruise line ... screaming out "Lust for Life." Of course, Iggy (who I actually prefer to Kathie Lee Gifford) did not appear in the commercial, and two lines of the song were repeated over and over again ... but it was bizarre all the same.

I think they should have included more of the lyrics:

Here comes Johnny in again
With liquor and drugs
And a fast machine
He's gonna do another strip tease.

Hey man, where'd ya get that lotion?
I've been hurting since I'm up again
With something called love
Yeah, something called love.
Well, that's like hypnotizing chickens.

Now THAT'S what I call a cruise!!!

Can anyone think of any other strange music/commercial pairings?

All hail the freaky tiki!

[ Edited by: CruzinTiki on 2005-02-18 12:59 ]

An SUV ad used the Buzzcocks' "What Do I Get?," and Claritin used the B52's "Roam," both pretty odd pairings.

I think you pretty much nailed the most bizarre pairing. I've been saying the same thing about that commercial for months. Don't they think that people who might be getting into their sea cruising years might actually know the song and it's origins? Maybe there's a heroin buffet on board.

It's not such a weird pairing, appearance-wise, but did the ad agency actually believe that anyone who was a Zeppelin fan in their youth would be interested in buying a new Cadillac today? Do you ever see anyone under 50 driving a new Cadillac? Whnever I see that commercial I think two things: Zeppelin finally sold out, and an ad agency trying way too hard to be cool and missing the mark entirely.

As much as I admire Pete and have been a die hard Who fan since I was in my teens, I cringe every time I hear yet another Townshend tune being used to hock a CSI-show or Mervyn's or the most recent Saab commercial (featuring the signature riff from 'Pinball Wizard')

"The Who Sell Out" indeed...

On 2005-02-18 12:43, Tiki-bot wrote:
I think you pretty much nailed the most bizarre pairing. I've been saying the same thing about that commercial for months. Don't they think that people who might be getting into their sea cruising years might actually know the song and it's origins? Maybe there's a heroin buffet on board.

It's not such a weird pairing, appearance-wise, but did the ad agency actually believe that anyone who was a Zeppelin fan in their youth would be interested in buying a new Cadillac today? Do you ever see anyone under 50 driving a new Cadillac? Whnever I see that commercial I think two things: Zeppelin finally sold out, and an ad agency trying way too hard to be cool and missing the mark entirely.

Yeah, but Zep fans from their heyday in the early '70s are in their 50s now.

I was thinking tyhe weird Celine DIon/ Anne Geddes book and CD thats out. Talk about the axis of evil!

Sea World usually has a summer campaign that uses INXS' "New Sensation", while showing polar bears diving into their pond, and orcas leaping up at the camera.
I once mentioned to someone that Van Halen's "Jump" was very popular in frisbee dog competitions, and thusly ruined that person's mental image of Van Halen forever.

The Sonics and Range Rover. Oh, well it not the oddest but it is damned offensive.

My favorite response to a band selling out is when the Clash allowed (sold out) Levis to use "Should I Stay or Should I Go", Billy Childish and Thee Headcoats formed THEE STASH. They released a single with the a side being a rewrite titled "Should I Suck or Should I Blow?", with the flip side being a rewrite of I'm So Bored With The USA, titled "We're Selling Jeans For The U.S.A."

Brilliant.

Well, Pampers using Iggy's "Real Wild Child" struck my irony bone.

And then Tommy Hilfiger and CCR "Fortunate Son".
They only use the line that says...
"Some folks are born made to wave the flag,
ooh, they're red, white and blue", I suppose because of the red, white, and blue logo.

However the NEXT lines...

"And when the band plays "Hail To The Chief",
oh, they point the cannon at you, Lord.

It ain't me, it ain't me"...

Those don't seem to laud their products or the people who purchase them so much.

I'm seriously waiting for the Ad Wizards to use the first verse of "Turning Japanese" for Kodak or something...

"I got your picture of me and you
You wrote "I love you" I wrote "me too"
I sit here staring and there's nothing else to do
Oh it's in color
Your hair is brown
Your eyes are hazel
And soft as clouds
I have to kiss you when there's no one else around"

And oh, how I shall laugh.

Good topic. Few things irk me more than the lyrics being used totally out of the song's context (like PJ's Credence example). My least fave is Chevy's "Like a Rock" which is from a Seger song wherein the singer is actually lamenting how long it's been he was "Like a Rock".

Just plain creepy goes to "Stacy's Mom Has Got it Goin' On" ad for some minivan. A little too age-inappropriate for the kids.

JTD

Being a huge Clash fan, I thought there had to be something up with the Clash selling out. I don't remember all the details, but the Clash were pretty renowned for bitching about the recording contracts they had and tried for many years to get out of them. Apparently they made next to made no money from all their albums and fought for years to regain the rights to their songs. Upshot is, yeah, they sold out, but it wasn't like they got rich from their work in the first place (like Zeppelin). At this point, they can only sell them to help recoup all the millions they should have made from them in the first place. There's always more to the story, it seems.

On 2005-02-18 15:17, tikifish wrote:
I was thinking tyhe weird Celine DIon/ Anne Geddes book and CD thats out. Talk about the axis of evil!

Preach on sistah!

Babys and Canadians, creepy!... oh, wait...

In reference to the Clash comment...
I'm not sure when the commercial came out but I would venture to guess that it was after Joe Strummer died. If I remember correctly, Mick Jones has become a bit of a wanker and would have no problem selling out.
Mind you, this is just my speculation...
Aloha,
:tiki:

I heard John Doe of X on Jonesy's show on 103.1 tell a story how Jaguar wanted one of their songs for a car commercial but went with "London Calling" by the Clash instead. he joked he said he'd only do it for 6 figures. He and Steve Jones were debating whether it was OK to approve songs for commercials or not. They both being band members who've never actually made big bucks from their music didn't have a big problem with it but John Doe said he would've felt like he'd sold his soul. Exene said that Windex wanted to use "Blue Spark" for a TV commercial and she declined it as it was just too ridiculous. However X did do a Budweiser radio spot back in the day for free beer and a few bucks. Billy Zoom has it on his web site: http://www.xtheband.com/xbud.mp3

I've heard Rev Horton Heat's "Big Red Rocket of Love" on a Ford ad and I don't think he was reffering to cars in that particular song.

The weirdest one for me personally was Bob Dylan lurking about the Victoria's Secret models. Yikes!

On 2005-02-22 02:04, stuff-o-rama wrote:
The weirdest one for me personally was Bob Dylan lurking about the Victoria's Secret models. Yikes!

Supposedly Mr. Zimmerman was asked by an interviewer (many years ago, back in his New York days) if he'd ever do an advertizing campaign, and Bob replied "Only for Ladies underwear." I guess Victoria's Secret called him on it...

my suggestions for future sell-outs:

Love/Hate to re-record their 90's metal anthem "Black Out in the Red Room" to "Sack Out in a Red Roof;"

Depeche Mode to re-record "Personal Jesus" as "Personal Pan Pizza;"

Nine Inch Nails to re-record "Closer" to say "I want to pet you like an animal" for IAMS

I was alarmed as hell and deeply depressed by two commercial/pop song pairings recently:

When HP used "Pictures of You" by The Cure to sell cameras and printers. At least the title makes some sense, but c'mon Mad Bob, are you really that hurting?

But far more devastating was "How Soon Is Now?" by The Smiths being used to sell Nissans. Ugh. Yes, I did go home and cried and wanted to die. How could they?

Here's a great recent column about this very topic from Mark Morford of SF Gate.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/gate/archive/2004/12/10/notes121004.DTL

(Please note Mark is a heavy duty leftist, so there is some slight political content to this column.)

[ Edited by: martiki on 2005-02-22 12:46 ]

What is so disturbing about hearing music you like in a commercial for a mainstream product? Is it the use of lyrics out of context, giving them a different meaning? Or would it even be irritating for something instrumental, because of the whole corporate-marketing-is-bad thing?

Note, sometimes it's hard to convey the right tone in text - I'm trying to ask in earnest just for discussion cause I'm interested what anyone might say.

Personally, I thought it was pretty fun to hear the 5.6.7.8.s in the Vonage commercial recently. Just figured - good for them, they're making some dough off their song. And cool that the advertiser knows about them. Not sure how it helped the company themselves, because I still have no idea what they do, but anyway it made me happy, not disgusted.

-Randy

For me at least, I have fond memories associated with some of these songs, and in a way, the commercial taints it. Selfish, I know. When I hear Pictures Of You, I want to remember seeing The Cure play it in 1989 at a great concert. I don't want to think about printers. My rational brain can tell the difference between the two events, of course, but now there's a memory of a concert, and the memory of a commercial. I didn't want that in there. I'm sure a lot of Stones fans don't want to think about Windows 95 when they hear Start Me Up.

I agree with Martiki: It's the memory of the song's original context ( a great concert, someone you dated, etc.). Some new songs that all the kiddies love I heven't even heard and don't care if they are used to hawk wares.

I forgot all about that X Budweiser commercial. It was actually kinda cool though, cuz it was X doing the "This Bud's for You" theme and not one of their own songs. Very odd when you consider that X was never really all that big. We ran into John Doe at a pub before a show once and he definitely wasn't drinking Bud, but some other, darker beer.

Let's just all pray they never use JC's "Ring of Fire" for a hemmoroid commercial, which they have already tried to do multiple times.

Oh, and I meant to add: That Dylan/VS commercial was the all-time weirdest/creepiest pairing. I guess it's about that joke quote he made years ago, but how many VS shoppers would remember that? It seems advertisers are becoming so myopic that they have lost sight of the absurdidty of their own ideas.

Tiki-bot

[ Edited by: Tiki-bot on 2005-02-22 14:21 ]

[ Edited by: Tiki-bot on 2005-02-22 14:24 ]

OUCH!!! I think that I've heard that, but I blocked it! At least it was a cover song that they mutilated...

On 2005-02-22 02:04, stuff-o-rama wrote:
I heard John Doe of X on Jonesy's show on 103.1 tell a story how Jaguar wanted one of their songs for a car commercial but went with "London Calling" by the Clash instead. he joked he said he'd only do it for 6 figures. He and Steve Jones were debating whether it was OK to approve songs for commercials or not. They both being band members who've never actually made big bucks from their music didn't have a big problem with it but John Doe said he would've felt like he'd sold his soul. Exene said that Windex wanted to use "Blue Spark" for a TV commercial and she declined it as it was just too ridiculous. However X did do a Budweiser radio spot back in the day for free beer and a few bucks. Billy Zoom has it on his web site: http://www.xtheband.com/xbud.mp3

Steve Jones and John Doe were discussing why advertisers feel the need to use such songs instead of composing their own, they both agreed it was for the companies to gain "cool points" to give them street cred. John Doe said he didn't think that Led Zeppelin fans would run out and buy a Cadillac but younger generations will automatically think of Cadillacs every time they hear "Rock n'Roll" which is smart branding. It makes the band cool and the product cool. He said if a band wants to make a buck or two and remind people of their songs and sell a few more records, what difference does it make? I understand that reasoning. The bands end up selling more records than the advertisers actual products.

I think the Prozac should use "Psychotherapy" by the Ramones. Or Robert Mitchum's "Thunder Road" for Gas-X :D

On 2005-02-22 12:45, martiki wrote:
But far more devastating was "How Soon Is Now?" by The Smiths being used to sell Nissans. Ugh. Yes, I did go home and cried and wanted to die. How could they?
[ Edited by: martiki on 2005-02-22 12:46 ]

That was a pretty harsh moment, I must admit. Kinda like still thinking you're 16 when you suddenly hear the music, then look up to see the car commercial and think, "Hey, cool, corporate America is finally acknowledging the youth of America!" Then you suddenly realize you don't exactly fit the definition of "youth" anymore.

On 2005-02-22 13:10, aquarj wrote:
What is so disturbing about hearing music you like in a commercial for a mainstream product? Is it the use of lyrics out of context, giving them a different meaning? Or would it even be irritating for something instrumental, because of the whole corporate-marketing-is-bad thing?

Using the lyrics of a popular song improperly out of context I think defeats the whole purpose. If the people listening can sing the rest of the verse and it doesn't quite convey a complimentary message, your product becomes comic relief. For instance if someone were to use "Turning Japanese" to sell film. the message I would get is "This film is for wankers".
I've gotten over the idea of idols of my youth "selling out", although hearing Stiff Little Fingers "Gotta Get Away" for a Playstation game jarred me (until I found out that Jake Burns was scoring video games). I am reminded of Lazlo Hollyfeld..."I've come to realize that I have certain materialistic needs". Integrity don't always pay the monkey.

But here's a question...why use "Sweet Home Alabama" for Kentucky Fried Chicken?

"Here's the deal, folks. You do a commercial - you're off the artistic roll call, forever. End of story. Okay? You're another whore at the captialist gang bang and if you do a commercial, there's a price on your head. Everything you say is suspect and every word that comes out of your mouth is now like a turd falling into my drink."
Bill Hicks

Trader Woody

BILL HICKS!

Woody, I love you.

Too bad Bill Hicks didn't live long enough to sell out. It would've happened eventually.

On 2005-02-23 11:09, Tiki-bot wrote:
Too bad Bill Hicks didn't live long enough to sell out. It would've happened eventually.

No doubt he'd be selling 'orange drink'. (Winks at PJ).

Well, I think you're dead wrong. No way to prove it of course, but just listen to the stuff he was putting out in his final couple of years. If anything, his humour & politics became more razor sharp and cutting. If you ever listened to him for more than a few seconds you'd realise that he was someone who would never sell out.

Live by your own self-serving principles Tiki-Bot, but don't try to foist them upon someone who can no longer answer back.

Trader Woody

[ Edited by: Trader Woody on 2005-02-23 12:53 ]

It's a shame that Hicks is nearly forgotten here. The UK has done a great job of keeping the flame alive.

There's also no way to tell how someone like him would handle their career for the rest of their (presumably longer) life, had he lived longer. Some comedian/social commentators have never sold out, but they, too, all died young (Lenny Bruce, Andy Kaufman). The odds are against it, however. MTV or Comedy Central or whoever would've given them their own show, and they would do it as a "statement about using the system against the system" or some such justification, but everyone who knew and admired their work would (perhaps secretly) know they had actually sold out. No disrespect intended (and I like Hicks' work), but it's easy to look good when you're a martyr.

When I use popular songs in my commercials, I like to use 'un-cool' songs. Like Dan Hill's 'Sometimes When We Touch' or 'The Name Game' or the Chariots of Fire soundtrack. But then the client felt they werent cool enough and started asking for 'hip songs, you know, like iPod uses'. In my opinion it made them seem un-cool, cause they were trying so hard to be cool.

Also, I dont know what is cool, I only know lame songs! So it made my job much harder.

Bill Hicks had a very short lived sitcom, I forget the name. He tried to convince himself to play by the rules, thinking that he might be able to slowly shift the theme and content of the show. He hated it.

Not knowing him personally, but knowing some of his close friends. And also knowing the content of his 39 page letter to David Letterman when the cut his skit because it might offend certain advertisers on the show, I feel fairly safe in saying I seriously doubt Hicks would have sold out.

I doubt we'd ever see him selling orange drink.

"By the way, if anyone here is in advertising or marketing, kill yourself. Thank you, thank you. Just a little thought. I'm just trying to plant seeds. Maybe one day they'll take root. I don't know. You try. You do what you can. Kill yourselves. Seriously though, if you are, do. No really, there's no rationalisation for what you do, and you are Satan's little helpers, OK? Kill yourselves, seriously. You're the ruiner of all things good. Seriously, no, this is not a joke. "There's gonna be a joke coming..." There's no fucking joke coming, you are Satan's spawn, filling the world with bile and garbage, you are fucked and you are fucking us, kill yourselves, it's the only way to save your fucking soul. Kill yourself, kill yourself, kill yourself now. Now, back to the show.

"You know what Bill's doing now, he's going for the righteous indignation dollar, that's a big dollar, a lot of people are feeling that indignation, we've done research, huge market. He's doing a good thing." Godammit, I'm not doing that, you scumbags, quit putting a godamn dollar sign on every fucking thing on this planet!" ---BILL HICKS

Oh, I do know that there exist videos of Hicks in his last days. I've tried to get his ex to let me view them. She won't let them out of her immediate vicinity because she's afraid that someone may exploit them. Which she says would be against Bill's wishes. I have utmost respect for the man and his frame of mind regarding advertising before he died.

As to why is it "wrong" to hear pop songs in a commercial. I think that part of the problem is things like that etrade commercial with the band singing about revolution while they flash images of why that particular trading company is so great. The people trying to get you to buy that service are the very people the band in the background were singing about revolting against.

CONTEXT!!!

Hey, Moby got his money and a lot of exposure by letting people use his stuff. Great, more power to him. Especially when he donates some of the money he makes from it to groups derectly opposed to the big car companies practices. It can be done in such a way that is entertaining on a few levels.

But also keep inmind that a number of artists no longer control their catalog. Someone bought the rights long ago, and are more than willing to cash in on their investment.

But I still reserve the right to be disgusted when I hear Have Love Will Travel selling Range Rovers. Your mileage may vary, and I'm just fine with that.

Now can we get more corpaorate product placement in these threads?

:wink:

'Oh come on, Bill, they're the New Kids, don't pick on them, they're so good and they're so clean cut and they're such a good image for the children.' Fuck that. When did mediocrity and banality become a good image for your children? I want my children to listen to people who fucking rocked. I don't care if they died in puddles of their own vomit. I want someone who plays from his fucking heart.

[ Edited by: tikigardener on 2005-02-24 00:01 ]

I have to admit I was actually rather thrilled at hearing The Sonics on mainstream TV! I like the idea of their getting some money; they have made me so happy so many times, that if THEY made the choice to sell their song, I say go for it. They got bills to pay and kids to send to college.

Now if they were forced to do it (evil contractual BS like what happened to CCR) then I am very sad indeed.

But I will never get over the thrilling jolt of hearing The Cramps "Mama Oo Pow Pow" selling something or another (Nike?), nor The Damned doing a Miller ad (maybe the intro to their cover of Love's "Alone Again Or"?)!!! BLEW MY FREAKIN' MIND. And made my day.

And it doesn't look like either The Cramps nor the Damned have become corporate schills, bowing to The Man, man. :wink:

Mind you, it's not that I was thrilled that they were hawking Range Rovers or Nike or Miller Beer. (I hate all beer.) It was rather that America was being forced to hear some of the coolest music out there. And maybe they'll look it up. And maybe they'll go buy it. And maybe the bands will tour again soon. And maybe garage bands will start covering Cramps songs again instead of Rancid.

I mean, Esquivel's "Mini Skirt" is out there selling, um, something! Viva Esquivel!!! (That I can't tell you what the product is tells you that the ad sucks, because they obviously left no indellible mark on me, save the cool song! But I hope more people ask "Who does this song?" and they dig it up, becoming exotica fans!)

[ Edited by: Formikahini on 2005-02-23 15:13 ]

On 2005-02-23 14:36, TikiGardener wrote:

"You know what Bill's doing now, he's going for the righteous indignation dollar, that's a big dollar, a lot of people are feeling that indignation, we've done research, huge market. He's doing a good thing." Godammit, I'm not doing that, you scumbags, quit putting a godamn dollar sign on every fucking thing on this planet!" ---BILL HICKS

I think he makes an excellent point here, but using the tools of consumerism (recordings, concerts, tv appearances) to advance his anti-consumerist agenda is disingenuous at best. His schtick is an ironic feedback loop that leaves people guessing "is he kidding or what?", which I think was kind of his point. I respect and sometimes enjoy what he has said, but it always felt a little like someone driving their car to an anti-oil war protest.

My little cent and a half is that I was one of those who heard the Land Rover commercial and had to know what group that was. Even though I'm plenty old enough I had never heard of The Sonics. Where in the hell was I??????? I did the googly thing and read up on them. Then it was off on an e-bay expedition. Found me a Ultimate Sonics CD. Now I did not just fall off of the tulip truck when it comes to music. Were they that well hidden or was I just lost outside of the great northwest? Well I really don't give a crap, I found them and am enjoying them to excess.

My take on the music commercials is that if it can mass introduce some little known or forgotten music or groups, let'em go at it. It's not sacred for gods sake. It's for enjoyment. I'll never own a Mitsubishi but I do like most of the music in their ads.

This comment does not have a soundtrack.

Trustar

Just one opinion, but to me, paying lipservice to "art for art's sake" is more phony than openly doing commercial art. But obviously there's a distinction between commercial art, and doing art that later gets used in a commercial. Anyway, I'm probably skewed on the whole thing since I've always been maybe a little more attracted to commercial and even advertising art than to the lofty highbrow "true art" stuff.

But it's interesting to hear people's thoughts on this. Maybe your passion dictates what you tune out - one person may tune out the product and enjoy the song, while another may feel the pleasure of the song tuned out (involuntarily even) by the irritation with the product / message.

I liked that Sonics ad too. Zero recall about what car it was for, but it did pop them up again on the old mental "listening queue" next time I was grabbing stuff for the record player.

-Randy

If Gerry Roslie gets some record sales out if it, great. That again points back to what Moby was doing.

I personally (again your miles may vary) find it more satisfying to hear people getting exposed to them on Indy 103. But stations like 103 are rarified. There was that brief and shining moment of college radio back in the day. But even that has few shining beacons anymore. WFMU is one of the standouts. I don't know if Dave The Spazz still has his show, but it was one of the best shows to catch unsigned unknown acts that blew the doors off of anything you'll hear on mainstream media.

So long as Hicks didn't have Range Rovers on stage with him, I think he was just doing what he did best, making people laugh, and maybe think.

If it put food on the table, great. It was his job after all.

On 2005-02-23 15:05, Formikahini wrote:

Mind you, it's not that I was thrilled that they were hawking Range Rovers or Nike or Miller Beer. (I hate all beer.) It was rather that America was being forced to hear some of the coolest music out there. And maybe they'll look it up. And maybe they'll go buy it. And maybe the bands will tour again soon. And maybe garage bands will start covering Cramps songs again instead of Rancid.

I mean, Esquivel's "Mini Skirt" is out there selling, um, something! Viva Esquivel!!! (That I can't tell you what the product is tells you that the ad sucks, because they obviously left no indellible mark on me, save the cool song! But I hope more people ask "Who does this song?" and they dig it up, becoming exotica fans!)

[ Edited by: Formikahini on 2005-02-23 15:13 ]

Point well made. Thanks!

[ Edited by: filslash 2008-09-13 12:06 ]

*On 2005-02-23 22:58, filslash wrote:*I thought it was very wierd to hear Lene Lovich and "New Toy," this last holiday season... I can't remember the company who had the ad, though. What I do remember is when the song came out in the 80's it was considered too radical for airplay by any commercial radio station. Oh, and hearing "Da Da Da" by German minimalists Trio on those VW commercials a few years ago was trippy...
Oh, Excellent examples, Filslash! I'd forgotten about both, but both gave me happy fits when I heard them! To think that Trio was played on national (U.S.) television!! HA!

The Stones "Start Me Up"/Bill Gates thing reminded me of the fact that that song was Microsoft's second choice. What they WANTED was REM's "It's the End of the World As We Know It," but the band gave a resounding "NO." (Of course, the band could afford to say no. Non-beggars can be choosers.)

On 2005-02-23 22:58, filslash wrote:
I thought it was very wierd to hear Lene Lovich and "New Toy," this last holiday season... I can't remember the company who had the ad, though.

It was Target.

Yeah that Volkswagen spot led to my husband and me referring to any furniture sitting out on the curb as a "da da da sofa", etc.

okay, this is defelecting the thread a bit, but have you all noticed that the majority of car ads recently imply that the car is MAGIC? like you drive yer freakin car around town and it magically makes people pretty or cures cancer. wtf.

On 2005-02-24 09:28, Johnny Dollar wrote:
like you drive yer freakin car around town and it magically makes people pretty or cures cancer. wtf.

Some people say advertising doesn't work, but that's a load of rich creamery butter!

On 2005-02-24 10:40, Tiki-bot wrote:

On 2005-02-24 09:28, Johnny Dollar wrote:
like you drive yer freakin car around town and it magically makes people pretty or cures cancer. wtf.

Some people say advertising doesn't work, but that's a load of rich creamery butter!

Okay, I've bought everything the billboards told me....

Go back to bed, America, your government has figured out how it all transpired. Go back to bed America, your goverment is in control. Here, here's American Gladiators. Watch this, shut up, go back to bed America, here is American Gladiators, here is 56 channels of it! Watch these pituitary retards bang their fucking skulls together and congratulate you on the living in the land of freedom. Here you go America - you are free to do what well tell you! You are free to do what we tell you!

Bill Hicks

[ Edited by: TikiGardener on 2005-02-24 17:34 ]

[ Edited by: TikiGardener on 2005-02-24 17:35 ]

On 2005-02-23 15:05, Formikahini wrote:
But I will never get over the thrilling jolt of hearing The Cramps "Mama Oo Pow Pow" selling something or another (Nike?), nor The Damned doing a Miller ad (maybe the intro to their cover of Love's "Alone Again Or"?)!!! BLEW MY FREAKIN' MIND. And made my day.

And it doesn't look like either The Cramps nor the Damned have become corporate schills, bowing to The Man, man.[ Edited by: Formikahini on 2005-02-23 15:13 ]

Does anyone remember about 5 years ago Lux Interior was the spokesman for some software or computer company? I stopped dead in my tracks at a Best Buy when I saw a large, life-sized display cutout of Lux on the endcap display.

I just saw a surreal commerical with "Hootie" dressed as a country singer singing a country song for some Bacon Ranch Burger at Burger King.

Also, Marl Mothersbaugh of Devo has scored most of the Nickelodeon cartoons, and the other day I saw a show on TLC called "In-A-Fix" and Bob Mould did the title theme song.

And to all the Bill Hicks fans, they just re-issued a DVD that was only availble in the UK for years. It has the HBO special, a UK special and a Montreal Comedy Festival. If you watch it and change G Sr to GW, it could've been recorded yesterday. He was damn near prophetic! And Denis Leary owes the man's estate money for using his material...

Bill Hicks DVD

[ Edited by: stuff-o-rama on 2005-02-25 01:15 ]