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TAG: 70s music
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songspeak
U Can’t Putt This!
We’ve posted here before about the use of songspeak in commercials. However, I don’t know that we’ve ever praised the virtues of the local commercial. The Office even dedicated an episode to the art of the local commercial.
This post is a wonderful example of the local commercial combined with songspeak in advertising. Fenway Golf is a mini-golf/pitch & putt/driving range/par 3 golf course/batting cage all-around activity center located in East Longmeadow, MA. It’s a fun place to spend a Saturday with the family, but more importantly, it has one of the most phenomenal local commercials we’ve ever seen.
It features their own special version of U Can’t Touch This by MC Hammer (which itself samples Superfreak by Rick James). There must be something about that catchy bassline, given that numerous commercials have utilized both songs, or alternate versions thereof (Mohegan Sun, for instance, or the many examples here). Well, in Fenway Golf’s version, their adorable golf ball mascot bounces to and fro throughout the grounds, singing his own catchy version of the MC Hammer classic.Words really don’t do it justice, so you’ll just have to see for yourself:
Tags: 00s tv, 00s tv commercials, 70s music, 90s music, east longmeadow, fenway golf, local commercials, mc hammer, rick james, songspeak in advertising, stop hammertime, superfreak, the office, u can't touch this
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songspeak
Journey to the Center of the Pennsylvania
Kristen and I are heading back to her home-town of Palmyra, Pennsylvania this weekend, and Heather sent me an email earlier.
Just wanted to wish you well on your trip to PA this weekend.
HWhat’s kind of weird was this coincidence.
It’s funny that you sent this because Open Arms is currently playing in my earphones.
Matt
So of course, Heather sends me a reply. Attached was a little file called Journey-CompleteBand.jpg.
Attached is a great photo of Journey that I found.
H
Can you guess which one is me?
We’re big fans of Photoshoppery here at Songspeak. I think it might be Heather’s fault.
Oh, by the way, the title is a reference to Journey to the Center of the Earth. Funny thing about that is– If you weren’t near Iceland and needed to attempt any kind of travel to the center of the earth, Palmyra might be a good place to do this. It’s known for its sinkholes. They even have a restaurant called The Sinkhole Saloon.
Another fun fact about Palmyra is that parts of the John Travolta movie, Lucky Numbers was shot there.John Travolta may not have been to the center of the earth, but he was in Battlefield Earth.
Love is a Battlefield. At least that’s what Pat Benatar said.
Okay, I think I’m done.
Tags: 70s music, 80s music, battlefield earth, john travolta, journey, journey to the center of the earth, love is a battlefield, pa, palmyra, pat benatar, pennsylvania, photoshop, photoshoppery
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songspeak
Three times a Friend-Z
We had a GNO last night. First we embarassed ourselves bowling. Then we ate copious amounts of delicious boneless wings at the Toasted Owl. But we still weren’t quite satisfied.
Then someone had the bright idea to get ice cream. So what do a bunch of 30-something guys do when they crave ice cream? They go to Friendly’s, of
course! There was much debate as to what we would get. We joked about sharing a Giant Crowd Pleaser, a sundae containing a massive 12 scoops of ice cream. A couple guys thought maybe the understated charm of a Friend-Z might be more appropriate. But when the “create your own sundae” portion of the menu was discovered, all bets were off.We all ended up creating our own 5 scoop sundae. For those keeping track, that’s 25 scoops of ice cream between the 5 of us. A whopping 13 more scoops than the Giant Crowd Pleaser. As we all wallowed in self pity, stuffed and full of regret for what we had done, Matt lamented his decision of not getting a Friend-Z. He burst out, “This is like 3 times a Friend-Z!” So I serenaded him, “Once….twice….three times a Friend-Z”.
And that was the last songspeak of the evening.
Tags: 70s music, bowling, commodores, create your own sundae, friend-z, friendly's, giant crowd pleaser, gno, lionel richie, sundae, three times a lady, toasted owl
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songspeak
Ooo-ooh, that smell!
On Sunday, my wife Kristen and I purchased a Kenmore air purifier from Sears and brought it home. The air quality was especially bad this past weekend, and we wanted something to aid in our breathing. But as soon as we plugged it in, it smelled like cat fart. Kristen said it best, “It kind of smelled like a cross between faint skunk smell and garbage. And garlic.”Needless to say, we returned it. On our way, in the car, we started singing That Smell by Lynyrd Skynyrd. I was singing… “ooo-ooh, that nose!” however. Anyway, I can’t praise Sears enough. We were able to get a refund without any issues and they were very helpful. In short, I can’t stand their product but their customer service is amazing.
This reminds me of an old songspeak that happened with Jamie from a few years ago. I used to go to his place to watch Lost. One time I asked if I could bring takeout chinese food over while I watched… and warned that it might “smell that smell”. He replied back with, “The smell of takeout surrounds you!”
Tags: 70s music, air purifier, cat fart, chinese food, lost, lynyrd skynyrd, sears, skunk, that smell, west lake gourmet
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songspeak
All Summer Long with the Werewolves of London in Sweet Home Alabama
I’m ashamed to admit it, but yes, I do enjoy the new single by Kid Rock, All Summer Long. The first few times it came on mix 93.1, I thought it was Werewolves of London by Warren Zevon. Perhaps this is because it contains a sample from that song that runs throughout. Not only that, but the chorus is all about singing Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Sweet Home Alabama. AND, I swear that’s Bob Seger singing background vocals. Although maybe it’s just someone meant to sound like him. I couldn’t find a definitive answer on that when I googled the hell out of it. And I think my favorite line is about “trying different things and smoking funny things“. Oh, the good old days.
So, a song ABOUT another song (Sweet Home Alabama), with Bob Seger (possibly) singing background over a Werewolves of London sample? It doesn’t get much more songspeak than that, my friends.
Tags: 00s music, 70s music, all summer long, bob seger, kid rock, lynyrd skynyrd, smoking funny things, sweet home alabama, trying different things, warren zevon, werewolves of london
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songspeak
Kiss my sassafras
Don’t ask me how or why, but Matt and I got into an indepth discussion via IM today about sassafras, and Aerosmith’s usage of the word. The one that everyone knows is from Love in an Elevator (and does anyone else find it odd that Steven Tyler wants you to kiss his deciduous tree?), but I’m positive I’ve heard him use the words “sexy ass” in an uncut or live version. Maybe trees are more radio friendly than sexy asses, who knows.
I was insistent that this wasn’t Mr. Tyler’s only usage of the seemingly non-sensical word, and Matt challenged me to find another example. Please find the following lyrics from one of their older songs, Last Child :
“Take me back to a south Tallahassee
Down cross the bridge to my sweet sassafrassy”Also a note of interest, Green Day has a song entitled Sassafras Roots, however the word “sassafras” is never uttered throughout the entire song.
And speaking of sassafras, I had forgotten how ridiculous the video for Love in an Elevator is (I think my favorite part is the dancing chicks that turn into mannequins):
Tags: 70s music, 80s music, 90s music, aerosmith, green day, johnny gill, last child, love in an elevator, radio friendly, sassafras, sassafras roots, stephen tyler
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songspeak
M-m-m-m-m-m-m-my Mohegan!
As if the previous one wasn’t bad enough, Mohegan Sun has bastardized yet another decent song in one of their commercials. This time it’s My Sharona by The Knack. I think the worst part is that when the chicks start singing about shopping until they drop, the one on the far left looks like a horse.
Tags: 00s tv commercials, 70s music, mohegan sun, my sharona, the knack
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songspeak
You’re my lady of the morning
Kristen and I recently borrowed the Freaks and Geeks dvds from Jamie and Jo. It is just plain oss. This Judd Apatow produced show starred people like Jason Segel, Seth Rogen, James Franco, Busy Phillips, Linda Cardinelli, and of course Martin Starr as Bill. NBC really screwed the pooch on this one in the 1999-2000 season by constantly changing the schedule, pre-empting it with other programming, etc. Eventually, due to low ratings, the show was cancelled. By then though, it had quite a cult following. All 15 episodes are now on dvd for all to enjoy… or borrow from Jamie and Jo.
The music in this entire series, which takes place in the late 70s / early 80s is absolute gold. There’s never been such a brilliant homage to the Styx classic, Lady as when Nick (Jason Segel) expresses his true feelings towards Lindsey (Linda Cardellini). The magical words of Dennis DeYoung and the music of Styx say it all. About 1:40 into the video, you’ll see/hear what I mean.
Tags: 00s tv, 70s music, 80s music, 90s tv, busy phillips, freaks and geeks, james franco, jason segel, judd apatow, lady, linda cardinelli, martin starr, nbc, seth rogen, styx
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songspeak
Give a little bit of your chips to me
I’m a poker player, so I watch a lot of poker on TV. Especially old World Series of Poker reruns and The World Poker Tour on the Travel Channel. There’s more songspeak than one would expect in poker, and I always love it when it happens.
At the 2004 World Series of Poker main event, Marcel Luske belted out his own version of Give a Little Bit by Supertramp. You can view it here (the video is lengthy, but the songspeak in question appears at about the 5:05 mark):
Tags: 00s tv, 70s music, give a little bit, give a little bit of your chips to me, main event, marcel luske, poker, supertramp, travel channel, world poker tour, world series of poker
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songspeak
Paradise by the GoPhone Light
Yet another recent example of songspeak in advertising. I can’t help it, but I love this GoPhone commercial featuring Meat Loaf and Tiffany. My wife’s (and now my) favorite part is when the kid starts rockin’ hard right after Meat Loaf sings, “You ask about that cell phone every night and day”. Truly phenomenal.
Tags: 00s tv commercials, 70s music, cell phone commercial, gophone, meat loaf, meatloaf, paradise by the dashboard light, paradise by the gophone light, tiffany
