dave@utcsrgv.UUCP (Dave Sherman) (03/27/84)
I've been compiling a list of popular songs which have been remade
into radio or TV commercials. I'm interested in further additions to this
list; I know there are many I've forgotten or never heard. Some of these
are local to Canada (e.g., the Molson's and Labatt's beer).
Contributions are welcome. Please MAIL them to me - I'll post a
revised list when all contributions are in.
=====================================================================
ORIGINAL COMMERCIAL
Enjoy Yourself Enjoy yourself, take 5 for 50 ale
(1930's?) Labatt's 50 Ale
Help me Rhonda Help me Honda
(Beach Boys) Honda automobiles
When You're Smiling When you're smiling, say Labatt's Blue
(England, 1920s?) (Labatt's beer)
Ma-tilda Hey, Tilden!
(Australia) Tilden Rent-a-Car
Volare, Cantare Volare
Plymouth Volare (automobile)
Hello, Dolly Hello, Admiral
(musical) (resurrection of Admiral appliances in Canada)
Put on a Happy Face Let's have a Carlsberg Bock
(1920's?) (Carlsberg beer)
Heart Molson Light has got Heart
(Molson's light beer)
What a Wonderful World What a Wonderful World at Westney Heights
(Art Garfunkel) (Toronto-area subdivision homes)
I Am the Very Model of General Motors offers you
a Modern Major-General Continuous Protection Plan
(Gilbert & Sullivan) (GM 3-year extended warranty)
Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah Granada colour TV
(Allan Sherman) (sales & rental)
(itself a parody)
We're the Great Pretenders We're the Great Weekenders
(The Platters?) Tilden rent-a-car
Sittin' on the dock of the bay Sittin' with the Bock of today
(?) Molson's Bock (beer)
======================================================================
OK, any more out there?
There are two other types of commercials which don't fit into the above
mold. One is the commercials which have been so successful they've
been made into popular songs. The Coke song ("I'd like to buy the
world a Coke") is the best known. The other is commercials that
use existing popular songs without changing the words. Trans-Canada
Telephone System ran TV ads showing family-type scenes and playing
the song "Anytime you're feeling lonely". I'm not really interested
in these types of ads, unless there's something particularly unusual.
Dave Sherman
Toronto
--
{allegra,cornell,decvax,ihnp4,linus,utzoo}!utcsrgv!daveakl@wbux5.UUCP (03/27/84)
(munch! munch! ... burp!) Way back in junior high school, I remember singing a song entitled "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing." The melody of this song is the basis for the famous Coke commercial "I'd like to buy the world a Coke." One of the newest such commercials is, of course, Michael Jackson's Pepsi commercial, which borrows strongly from his hit, "Billy Jean." -- * From the musical keyboard of: ** * * Anita K. Laux wbux5!akl * * Bell Communications Research **** West Long Branch, NJ 07764 * * * * ****
wookie@alice.UUCP (Keith Bauer White Tiger Racing) (04/03/84)
NO NO NO!!!!!! I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing was out BEFORE
the Coke comercial!
Now how about "We've Only Just Begun" by the Carpenters??? That was
originally a bank comercial in California!!
Then there was the song "Percolator" in the early sixties which
came about from the Maxwell Housee coffee ads. I'll have to look
around for the artist (I have the record somewhere)
How about "No matter What Shape" by the T-Bones. This was the famous
song used in the Alka Seltzer comercials but I don't know which came
first. I think the ad version was first but I don't remember.
"The Disadvantages of You" by the Brass Ring was used for the
Benson & Hedges 100's comercials. This song was out before the
ad and became known as a result of the ad.
I hope someone is keeping a list of all these things. It would be
nice to see them all in one shot!!
Keith Bauer
White Tiger Racingken@ihuxq.UUCP (ken perlow) (04/03/84)
--
Before the Miller Brewing Co. forever wrecked it, there was a nice
C & W song called "If you've got the time, I've got the place."
I forgot the words, but who can forget the tune?
--
*** ***
JE MAINTIENDRAI ***** *****
****** ****** 03 Apr 84 [14 Germinal An CXCII]
ken perlow ***** *****
(312)979-7261 ** ** ** **
..ihnp4!ihuxq!ken *** ***eli@uw-june (Eli Messinger) (04/03/84)
Anticipation--Carly Simon/Heinz Ketchup
wetcw@pyuxa.UUCP (T C Wheeler) (04/03/84)
[] The coke commercial came first, was re-done as a pop song, then back to a commercial. The Maxwell house song has been around for many years as a commercial. This is the third time it has been used in commer- cials. The Alka Seltzer song was a commercial first. Thirty years of watching the boob-tube allows for a lot of trivia to pile up.
ron@brl-vgr.ARPA (Ron Natalie <ron>) (04/03/84)
By the way...it was the Hillside (Hilltop?) Singers not the new seekers that did "I'd like to teach the world to sing" (give em a coke?). -Ron
lewis@psuvax.UUCP (James W. Lewis) (04/05/84)
<eat me>
I seem to remember a Hein ketchup commercial a while back that used
'Anticipation' by Carly Simon....
Jim Lewis
{allegra, burdvax, ihnp4}!psuvax!lewis (UUCP)
lewis@psuvax1, jwl@psuvm (Bitnet)dave@utcsrgv.UUCP (Dave Sherman) (04/05/84)
~| From: wookie@alice.UUCP (Keith Bauer White Tiger Racing)
~| I hope someone is keeping a list of all these things. It would be
~| nice to see them all in one shot!!
I am keeping a list and will post a summary to the net. I've received
a lot via mail which have not been posted.
Dave Sherman
Toronto
--
{allegra,cornell,decvax,ihnp4,linus,utzoo}!utcsrgv!davebrent@itm.UUCP (Brent) (04/05/84)
XX
Good Vibrations - Beach Boys - Sunkist Orange
Get Closer - Linda (Lord, that woman can sing) Ronstadt - Close-Up toothpaste
--
Brent Laminack (akgua!itm!brent)johnnyr@ihuxa.UUCP (John R. Rosenberg) (04/06/84)
Here's one I heard on the radio last night...
Silver Bird, take my lady away...
|
Yamaha, today is the day.
Silver Bird was a 1975 song by someone whose name I don't remember.
\
John Rosenberg AT&T Tech.
ihnp4!ihuxa!johnnyrcoltoff@burdvax.UUCP (Joel Coltoff) (04/06/84)
This line contains no preservatives. Well maybe a little P40 phosphor.
Let us not forget the fact that the music for Murphy's Oil Soap
is none other than that s**t stomping song 'Turkey in the straw'
--
Joel Coltoff {presby,bpa,psuvax}!burdvax!coltoff
(215)648-7258ee163aca@sdccs7.UUCP (04/06/84)
[] Just One Look: Linda Ronstadt Mazda. It's So Easy to Fall in Love: Various Artists SOEASY, SOS oven-cleaning pads. My My, Miss Ronstadt is picking-up quite a few. Paul van de Graaf U. C. San Diego
gds@mit-eddie.UUCP (Greg Skinner) (04/08/84)
<eat it, eat it, open up this file and beat it>
Anticipation, Carly Simon, Heinz Ketchup
Times of Your Life, Paul Anka, Kodak i think
--
Be ye moby,
for I am moby.
Greg-bo, Prince of Eternia
{decvax!genrad, eagle!mit-vax, ihnp4}!mit-eddie!gdsgds@mit-eddie.UUCP (Greg Skinner) (04/08/84)
Wasn't there an airline commercial based on "Yellowbird"?
You can fly away,
to the sky today,
you're much lucky than me (those are the real words)
I think the airline was Delta. I'm not sure though. The airline had
planes painted yellow. I was very young (5-6) when the commercial was
out.
--
Be ye moby,
for I am moby.
Greg-bo, Prince of Eternia
{decvax!genrad, eagle!mit-vax, ihnp4}!mit-eddie!gdslab@qubix.UUCP (Q-Bick) (04/10/84)
I remember one United Airlines commercial that had a group of new
stewardesses (they were called that then, and there wasn't a male to be
seen anywhere) singing a slight modification of "Leavin' on a Jet Plane"
(Written by John Denver, popularized by Peter, Paul, & Mary)
--
The Ice Floe of Larry Bickford
{decvax,ihnp4,ucbvax}!{decwrl,sun}!qubix!lab
decwrl!qubix!lab@Berkeley.ARPAron@brl-vgr.UUCP (04/10/84)
Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site houxe.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site brl-vgr.ARPA Message-ID: <43@brl-vgr.ARPA> Date: Tue, 10-Apr-84 14:56:55 EST eddie.UUCP> <977@qubix.UUCP> Organization: Ballistics Research Lab Lines: 2 OK...and Up, Up, and Away. (TWA/My Beutiful Balloon).
steve1@pyuxu.UUCP (S Stein) (04/11/84)
I'm sure someone used "Chewy Chewy" by the 1910 Fruitgum Company for something, but I can't remember the product.
grw@fortune.UUCP (Glenn Wichman) (04/11/84)
[He's a real Wombat-man, living in his Wombat-land....]
Hey, how about the old KENT commercials? (Remember when cigarette
ads were on TV?). To the tune of "Happiness is..."?
-Glennalle@ihuxb.UUCP (Allen England) (04/12/84)
+ > I'm sure someone used "Chewy Chewy" by the 1910 Fruitgum Company > for something, but I can't remember the product. Peter-Paul Mounds wasn't it? --> Allen <-- ihnp4!ihuxb!alle
rivers@seismo.UUCP (Wilmer Rivers) (04/13/84)
"Love and Marriage" => "Ban [deodorant] and Sportswear" "Lemon Tree (Very Pretty)" => "Lemon Pledge" "Fascinating Rhythm" => "Fascinating Epson" Biz detergent used to have an ad based on "Come on down to My Boat Baby" (remember Every Mother's Son ?) but I forget the words. In another vein, the classic "Marlboro Country" theme music seemed to be based on Elmer Bernstein's score for "The Magnificent Seven".
bbanerje@sjuvax.UUCP (B. Banerjee) (04/13/84)
>> I'm sure someone used "Chewy Chewy" by the 1910 Fruitgum Company >> for something, but I can't remember the product. I've never heard Chewy Chewy by the 1910 Fruitgum Co. but Nature Valley Granola bars have a similar jingle. -- Binayak Banerjee {allegra | astrovax | bpa | burdvax}!sjuvax!bbanerje
lynnef@teklabs.UUCP (Lynne Fitzsimmons ) (04/13/84)
<***>
"We Are Family" -- Sister Sledge
is used in the Pepsi Free commercials "We Are Pepsi Free"
--
Lynne Fitzsimmons
UUCP: {allegra, decvax, ihnp4, orstcs, ucbvax, zehntel, ogcvax, reed,
uw-beaver, hplabs}!tektronix!teklabs!lynnef
CSnet: lynnef@tek ARPAnet: lynnef.tek@rand-relaydwr@ccieng6.UUCP ( Donald Wallace Rouse II) (04/14/84)
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Carly Simon's song, "Anticipation", was indeed used to advertise Heinz Catsup. The song was also used on Saturday Night Live for a parody of that commercial and sparkling water (i.e. Perier (sp?) and others) commercials, which were just starting at that time. If I recall correctly, the parody was advertising "sparkling" Lake Erie water, which came out of the bottle about as fast as Heinz. D2
ee163aca@sdccs7.UUCP (04/15/84)
[] The theme from The Dating Game -> Herb Alpert & T.J. Brass Mazda's Great Little Car (GLC) commercial. P. van de Graaf U.C. San Diego sdcsvax!sdccs7!ee163aca
mat@hou5d.UUCP (04/16/84)
Well, BMW (and some others) have used the fugue from Bach's Toccata&Fugue
in d for commercials. Popular music? Well, the opening of the toccata
is used to open almost every grade-B haunted-house movie I have had the
misfortune to see. What an injustce! The T&F in d is one of the most
exuberant and inspiring pieces of music I know. Now if you want haunted
music, there is Mahler's first symphony. Or how about Ive's Three Places
in New England ... Blather.
Mark Terribile
hou5d!mat
--
from Mole End
Mark Terribile
(scrape..dig) hou5d!mat
,.. .,, ,,, ..,***_*.rccall@dartvax.UUCP (R. Christian Call) (04/27/84)
One of the most recent ones is the "Pepsi Generation" song based on Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean." Michael Jackson even appears in the ad.
david@varian.UUCP (04/27/84)
How could all you UNIX users forget Western Electric's contribution to
this genre? To the tune of "The City of New Orleans" (written by Steve
Goodman about a train that used to run from Chicago to New Orleans; the
best known recording is probably by Arlo Guthrie):
Hello America, how are you
Western Electric helps you say hello
etc.
Also, does anyone remember the Teaberry shuffle? I think it was a commercial
for a sugarless gum, and showed people walking down the street and occasionally
breaking into a little dance. I remember the tune was a pop hit on the radio
about the same time (I can still remember the tune, but it's rather difficult
to hum it over the net.. (-:).
David Brown Varian
{zehntel,amd70,fortune}!varian!davidmp@mit-eddie.UUCP (Mark Plotnick) (04/28/84)
I missed the beginning of this discussion, so these may be duplicates... Good & Plenty commercials (you remember, the ones with Charlie) were a takeoff on "Casey Jones" (that's probably not the full title). Newer Alka-Seltzer commercials play a pastoral piece that I first heard on an old Blood, Sweat and Tears album; I don't recall the title at all. In their most obnoxious commercial yet, TWA wrecks the lyrics to a song from "Cabaret". Mark
brent@itm.UUCP (Brent) (04/30/84)
X
The latest variation on this: Commercials based on music videos:
Nike's new ad based on Randy Newman's "I Love LA" song/video
--
Brent Laminack (akgua!itm!brent)engels@ihuxo.UUCP (SME) (08/28/84)
... Anticipation Carly Simon for Hunt's? catsup
waynez@houxh.UUCP (W.ZAKARAS) (08/29/84)
Times of your life: Memories I think Kodak used both. WayneZ...
gds@mit-eddie.UUCP (Greg Skinner) (09/30/84)
Elton John's SASSON commercial is based on "Sad Songs (Say So Much)".
--
Hug me till you drug me, honey!
Greg Skinner (gregbo)
{decvax!genrad, eagle!mit-vax, allegra!banyan, whuxle, ihnp4}!mit-eddie!gds