Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Hold On Tight to Your Dream
Every once in awhile an advertiser will hit on just the right combination of music and video to make a great commercial. (I would say "TV" commercial but that is simply not the case anymore!)
And some of the best of the most recent in this group are using the music from 20-40 years ago. The Jeep Liberty commercial featuring computer-generated wild-life singing Andy Kim's (remember him?) 1974 #1 hit, "Rock Me Gently," is one example.
There's an NBA commercial that utilizes 1970's "Let's Work Together" by the iconic LA blues-rock band Canned Heat. It works. (Interestingly, "Let's Work Together" was written by Wilbert Harrison who himself made a hit by covering someone else's song. He went to #1 in 1959 with Leiber and Stoller's blues classic "Kansas City.")
One of the coolest of all is the Honda Accord commercial that prominently features the ELO 1981 hit, "Hold On Tight to Your Dream."
In this particular case, I think the piece is made more effective by the timing. This is an election year. There's a lot of "Dream Talk" out there. At any rate, the Jeff Lynne (Traveling Wilburys)- penned uplifting song is great, as was the band, Electric Light Orchestra. Very cool old sound.
Music from the 60s, 70s and 80s will get more and more use as an advertising vehicle, as companies see the positive impact these musical memories make on the public.
The music from the 60s, 70s and 80s was largely about GROWING, about making the world a better place. We wanted to teach the world to sing, "in perfect harmony."
Dream talk is on the rise. Music that emboldens our dreams is what we want to hear. That's what I'm playing. What are you playing?
DA Jack Hayford is the editor of the popular music reference website, Events-in-Music.com which features a special section on #1 Songs. Mr. Hayford is also the Program Director and co-founder of DurangoSong.com the online home of the ten-plus-year old Durango Songwriters Expo, a premier annual educational and inspirational event for aspiring songwriters.
