June 25, 2008

Randomly heard on Tug's iPod today.

Remeber this one? Jesus, listened to it three times back to back. Didn't even remember it was on my iPod. Thanks Shuffle Feature!

And being alone is the best way to be.
When I'm by myself it's the best way to be.
When I'm all alone it's the best way to be.
When I'm by myself nobody else can say goodbye.

Posted by Tug McTighe on June 25, 2008 at 01:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Categories: Music

May 13, 2008

Macs and creativity on multiple levels

Tip o' the hat to Wegerer.

Posted by John on May 13, 2008 at 08:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (1)
Categories: Music , Pop Culture , Web/Tech

December 17, 2007

We drank a toast to innocence. We drank a toast to now. And tried to look beyond the emptiness. But neither one knew how.

Dan Fogelberg died this weekend of prostate cancer. He was just 56 and was diagnosed only three years ago. Yikes. Yes I realize it was the 70s. Yes it rings a little cheesy. Yes he was saddled with the label of being one of these so-called "sensitive singer-songwriters." But I'm telling you today, still to this very moment of my quite cynical life, I cannot hear "Leader of the Band" without shedding a tear.

Another old lang syne indeed.

Posted by Tug McTighe on December 17, 2007 at 10:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBack (0)
Categories: Music

October 25, 2007

Sony is so one note.

A teaser video for Sony's new generation Walkman products. The actual spot debuts tomorrow in the UK but should be online first.

The spot, created by Fallon, is billed as "the first ever ‘monophonic’ advert..."  Seems 128 musicians will play only one note at a time to reconstruct an original music piece created by Hollywood music director Peter Raeburn.

I'm a sucker for these stunt demonstration spots.

Posted by John on October 25, 2007 at 08:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Categories: Advertising , Branding , Music

September 25, 2007

Dear Apple Media Planners...

Dear Apple Media Planners:

I am clearly in your target audience for the new iPod Nano. I love Apple products. I own two iPods. I'll pop for an iPhone eventually. I work exclusively on Macs. I am a brand zealot. And, demographically I must still fit because, despite the fact I really haven't watched that much TV as of late, I have been exposed to the new Nano TV commercial 98,412 times. And this is the problem. I quite enjoyed the spot the first 78,767 times. But, as of today, I think if I have to listen to that snippet of the hip, mellow vibe that is 1,2,3,4 by Feist again I will throw a brick through my new Vizio. Jesus, peeps. Is it too much to ask that you actually look at your plan and think, "Hmmm, this is a really big buy, lets make sure to let the creatives know that we should make at least a couple of spots." I believe the weight you've put behind this single execution is, in a word, inhumane. The spot has gone from ingratiating to grating and it's all your fault. All I'm asking for is a little bit of variety. A couple of executions. Maybe even three. Really. Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

JJ

Posted by John on September 25, 2007 at 08:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (14) | TrackBack (0)
Categories: Branding , Current Affairs , Entertainment , Music , Opinion , Planning , Pop Culture

June 21, 2007

Random Lyrics

It's been a while since I did this, so here we go.

"The percentage you're paying is too high-priced
While you're living beyond all your means
And the man in the suit has just bought a new car
From the profit he's made on your dreams."

(BTW, I'm listening to a 12+ minute version of this song as I speak.)

Posted by Tug McTighe on June 21, 2007 at 09:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
Categories: Music

April 25, 2007

Spinal Tap is back.

If you happen to do some work on a green brand (or a brand that wants to go green), now may be the time to strike a deal with the lads from Spinal Tap. Since we've been so nice to them, maybe the fine folk at W+K London will see fit to fly us over the pond for the show at Wembley?

Posted by John on April 25, 2007 at 12:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Categories: Classics , Current Affairs , Entertainment , Film , Movies , Music , Pop Culture

March 13, 2007

Oh, you mean you were serious about that copyright thing?

But we thought the law was just so analog.

Posted by John on March 13, 2007 at 03:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
Categories: Brave New Marketing , Current Affairs , Entertainment , Film , Marketing Trends , Movies , Music , News of the Ad World , Pop Culture , Web/Tech

December 12, 2006

Forrester says iTunes sales suck.

iPods are selling like water. iTunes library gets bigger and better each day. But this report from The Register says iTunes sales are "collapsing."  Interesting reading to say the least.

Posted by John on December 12, 2006 at 05:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (9) | TrackBack (0)
Categories: Brave New Marketing , Current Affairs , Entertainment , Marketing Trends , Movies , Music , Pop Culture , Sports , Television , Web/Tech

December 06, 2006

Caffeinated CDs

Once upon a time, before anyone ever heard of the MP3, there was a record store called Hear Music. If Tower Records was a music worshipper's cathedral, then Hear Music was a funky little chapel. Offbeat and crammed with curiosities. The first Hear store I ever visited was in Santa Monica. Just inside the door was a listening station of "the 12 CDs John Prine keeps in the glovebox of his pickup truck." There were obscure treasures like that all over the store. I didn't see the sunlight again for about two hours.

Yesterday, I went back for the first time in about 15 years. Hear Music is still there, on the 3rd Street Promenade. But now it's tucked in behind a Starbucks - because now the kings of caffeine own Hear Music. Now you can sip your venti decaf skinny latte while you sample CDs. There are little cup holders built right into the CD racks. You can sip and listen as long as your eardrums and your bladder hold out. And you know what? I'd normally be off on a rant about corporate giants and loss of independent operators, but Starbucks seems to be doing a pretty good job of letting Hear Music do its own thing in its own way. Tower Records is gone forever, and CD sales in general aren't looking so healthy. So if Starbucks can figure a way to keep the CD store alive, then I'll drink to that.

Posted by Joe on December 06, 2006 at 11:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)
Categories: Music

November 29, 2006

Bad news for one of the world's power brands.

If you don't (or haven't) had small children in your life, you may not have even heard of The Wiggles. However, they are a powerhouse global brand that straddles all media and an incredible array of merchandise. They are Australia's top-earning entertainers, banking more in '05 than Nicole Kidman and AC/DC combined.  Now there are reports that the yellow Wiggle, Greg, may have to quit the band because an illness. Children all over the world are crying. Have some fruit salad and get well, soon Greg.

Posted by John on November 29, 2006 at 10:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
Categories: Advertising , Current Affairs , Entertainment , Music , Pop Culture , Television

October 20, 2006

More lyrics.

Happy Friday! (Sorry it's not a happy song.)

They only hit until you cry
And after that you don't ask why
You just don't argue anymore

Posted by Tug McTighe on October 20, 2006 at 09:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)
Categories: Music

October 01, 2006

Do they park Silverados in front of pink houses?

This video proves two things:

1. John Cougar Mellencamp can't dance.

2. Mellencamp and the Chevy logo were working together long before the "Our Country" anthem that broke this past weekend.

Baseball, hotdogs, Mellencamp and Chevrolet.

Posted by John on October 01, 2006 at 10:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
Categories: Advertising , Music , Pop Culture

September 18, 2006

The 2006 ACL Awards

The 2006 Austin City Limits Music Festival just wrapped. I've marked my ballot, tallied my vote, and can now announce the official 2006 ACL Award winners:

Best Sonny & Cher Cover: The Raconteurs
Jack White's vocal-cord-shredding version of "Bang, Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)" - punctuated with ominous jackhammer guitar - was one of the creepily wonderful highlights of the Saturday lineup.

Best Type A-Positive: Ben Kweller
His nosebleed was a show-stopper. Literally. He sprang a gusher all over his guitar, and finally had to call it quits, several minutes before his show was over.

Best Performance by an Emaciated Male: Ray Lamontagne
Ray, we know you're depressed. We get that from the lyrics. But eat a Whattaburger once in awhile, willya? And while you're at the drive-thru, pick up a couple of milkshakes for Aimee Mann.

Best Performance by an Emaciated Female: Aimee Mann

Best Friday Night Finale by an Old Irish Guy: Van Morrison
Wow. The man's still got that blue-eyed Dublin soul. Van was spectacular. And thankfully, he didn't do the lame "Your Cheatin' Heart" cover from his ill-advised new country CD.

Best Beard: Iron & Wine
That fertile mind must also provide perfect growing conditions for facial hair. Sam's beard was thick and bushy enough to conceal a couple of house cats, a small domestic farm animal, and the remains of Jimmy Hoffa. But the sound that came out of that beard was mesmerizing.

Most Monotonous: Son Volt
C'mon, Jay. You've proved to Tweedy and to everyone else that you're totally loyal to the whole alt country thing. But would it kill you to try something new?

Most in Need of a Tube of UltraBrite: Lou Ann Barton
Since she was in Triple Threat with Stevie Ray Vaughan, it appears that Lou Ann's front teeth have seen the butt end of unfiltered Camels on a regular basis, but the business end of an Oral B only occasionally. I didn't care. Last time I saw Lou Ann was ten years ago in the old Antone's club, during SXSW, when she insolently flicked a cigarette butt onto the crowded dance floor. She was great then, she was great now. And she did a couple of new songs, increasing the buzz among the faithful that a new CD might be in the works.

Most Outlandish Outfit: Sister Sylvia St. James and the Gospel Stars
It was 96 degrees with 90 percent humidity in Austin. Many festivalians felt overdressed in a bikini top. But Sister Sylvia showed up to testify in a giant white parade float of a dress, long white gloves, and a swan-feather hat that was approximately the size of an inflatable backyard pool. The wardrobe wasn't necessary. The woman could wail, and she had the crowed on its feet, hands waving at heaven.

Best Lucinda Williams Impression by a Canadian: Kathleen Edwards
I'd heard of her, but never heard her. I liked her. And if you like Lucinda, you probably will, too.

Most Celebrity-Studded Set: Ben Harper
Lance Armstrong introduced him. Matthew McConnahay was in the front row. G. Love showed up to do a song with him. So did a couple of the Marley kids, for a reggae number. Ben opened the show sitting down, playing a smokin' bottleneck slide in what he said was a tribute to Stevie Ray. If you want to get picky, the song was "Voodoo Chile", so it was really a tribute to Stevie Ray doing a tribute to Hendrix. But nobody wanted to get picky about anything in Ben's set, as he proceeded to rip a sonic hole in the ozone layer, the sound barrier, and the bat cave under the Congress Bridge. What a great, great show.

Most Effective at Getting Bad Dancers Up on Their Feet: Buckwheat Zydeco
Is it possible to listen to Buckwheat's band without getting up and dancing, even if you totally suck? I think not.

Most Spectacular Mass Evacuation: Tom Petty
Tom and the Heartbreakers were the last act on the last day. For the only time during the three days, music was coming from only one stage - instead of from four or five simultaneously. So all 65,000 of us were crowded up to the single stage, where Tom had just finished "Last Dance for Mary Jane", and had launched into the first single from his new CD. That's when the entire audience noticed that the sky behind us was the color of an enormous eggplant, and was getting ready to tear open and dump three days of evaporated sweat and accumulated humidity back on us. So did all 65,000 of us try to get out the gates at the same time, leaving Tom behind? Oh, my, my. Oh, hell yes.

Posted by Joe on September 18, 2006 at 12:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Categories: Music

August 30, 2006

Gwen Stefani, right after this message...

Watch an ad. Download a free tune. That's the Spiralfrog model. Different from Napster in the sense that there's no subscription and that you can actually download the song or video. Different from iTunes in that it's free and, at this time, isn't compatible with macs or ye olde ipods.

Universal has announced it will make its entire catalog available through the service.

According to the AP, Spiral Frog users will need to return to the site at least once a month to keep registration current.

Posted by John on August 30, 2006 at 11:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Categories: Brave New Marketing , Marketing Trends , Music , Web/Tech

February 22, 2006

DVRs were made for Ryan Seacrest

I am strong enough to admit that I watch American Idol. It's my special time to tear down someone else's creative product for a change.*

But, you know how all your anti-ad friends are always walking around with their chests puffed out crowing "I use my DVR to skip your stupid commerical! I used my DVR to skip your stupid commerical!"

Yeah, well, I just used my DVR to skip all that useless fluff the producers/torture artists of American Idol make Seacrest do to stretch the show to an incredibly tedious two hours. Sheeshus H. Seriously, there is only 30 minutes of actual content. The rest is absolute waste of time. Oh, wait they do it to sell more spots. That everyone skips. Like I said, waste of time.

On a personal side note, if you're in your upper 30s and looking for motivation to get to the gym, you need only watch "Ace" perform with your wife in the room.

Oh, and Taylor Hicks? Not the American Idol. But I'm damn sure buyin' his album.

*tongue-in-cheek

Posted by John on February 22, 2006 at 10:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)
Categories: Entertainment , Music , Pop Culture , Television

February 09, 2006

What's in Pandora's Box? Music!

One of the Creatives in our office turned me on to Pandora - a music discovery service. And now I'm completely hooked. You might remember that last year I posted about being frustrated with Napster's inability to successfully recommend music that I might like. The Music Genome Project has solved that problem with Pandora. Type in an artist or song title, and Pandora finds songs that are similar based on melody, harmony, rhythm, instrumentation, orchestration, arrangement and lyrics.

I made a few of my own "radio stations" based on artists or songs that I like. Seems I enjoy music with a "subtle use of vocal harmony, mild rhythmic syncopation, a vocal-centric aesthetic and a major key tonality." I loved the majority of the songs it played for me - most from artists I'd never heard of before.

Do you think it's possible for something as personal and seemingly unscientific as your taste in music to be broken down into hundreds of musical "genes" then reassembled into a radio station of songs that sound good to you? I do.

Posted by Jennifer Whetzel on February 09, 2006 at 05:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
Categories: Music , Web/Tech

January 23, 2006

Apple Goes Does Postal

Apple's gone and done it again, right?  First the creative forces inside Apple deem it okay to allegedly copy an older Lugz commercial and pass it off as their own.  We've already talked about it here and I shrugged it off as a possible Collective Unconscious story - as it could be a possibility.  Then I went a bit further and tried to grasp at straws and talk about how this could have been some deeply planned marketing ploy.

Now Apple has gone and released a new Intel commercial... that is an almost 100%, shot-for-shot, duplicate of the 'Such Great Heights' video for The Postal Service.  Is lightning going to strike twice?

At first, when viewers found out that the commercial was potentially a rip-off, people were a bit upset.  But those feelings quickly subsided when it was told that the same filmmakers made both the video and commercial, so then it was kinda okay.  Now Ben Gibbard, of The Postal Service, has released a statement on The Postal Service's official web site:

It has recently come to our attention that Apple Computers' new television commercial for the Intel chip features a shot-for-shot recreation of our video for 'Such Great Heights' made by the same filmmakers responsible for the original. We did not approve this commercialization and are extremely disappointed with both parties that this was executed without our consultation or consent. - Ben Gibbard, The Postal Service

Oddly enough, days after fingers started flying in Apple's direction, The Postal Service video (the one immersed in the controversy) magically appeared on the iTMS and was promoted on the front page of the site in one of the big three rotating banners at the top of the page.  And now, when viewing the most popular music videos, guess who's number one... that's right, The Postal Service (coincidentally, Eminem is number two with a video from his Greatest Hits cd).

I don't think that Apple is copying people. I think Apple, and the other parties, are planning these "altercations" out and allowing the media, bloggers and whoever else to create the buzz for them.  In both cases, the commercials weren't pulled off the air like they probably should be if there's concern for a lawsuit or further damage to a brand's reputation.

Posted by SethyG on January 23, 2006 at 09:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (10) | TrackBack (0)
Categories: Advertising , Current Affairs , Entertainment , Music , Television

January 18, 2006

Love Monkey

My new favorite show, Love Monkey, premiered last night. If you TIVO'd and haven't watched yet, stop reading now.

The show is about an A&R guy for a record label. The A&R guy discovers this fabulous young new artist. In real life, the artist is Teddy Geiger (I'd never heard of him, but apparently I missed VH-1's In Search of the New Partridge Family.)

During one scene, a record label executive tells the staff that the music industry is in trouble, and he wants them to "think out of the box - pretend the box has a flesh-wasting disease, that's how far out of the box I want you to think."

This morning on my Napster home page, the song Teddy sang on the show was featured. Of course, I immediately downloaded it.

I think this show could really be an "out of the box" sort of thing for the music industry if done well.
It would have been better if there had been an ad at the end of the show directing me to Napster to find the song featured on the show. I just happened to stumble upon it. The show's page on the CBS website has a link so you can listen to songs from the show, but the songs haven't been loaded yet. I think they missed the boat there!

Could this show be a new outlet for up-and-coming bands?

Posted by Jennifer Whetzel on January 18, 2006 at 10:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (1)
Categories: Brave New Marketing , Music , Television

December 11, 2005

I had better things to do today, but...

In this on-demand world, why would a relatively sane (and extremely busy) person waste an entire afternoon watching Dirty Dancing and Goonies on regular television or sit in the car after parking just to hear the end of "Do they know it's Christmas?"

I own all three. I have Dirty Dancing on DVD, Goonies (yes, I'm a dork) on VHS somewhere, and "Do they know it's Christmas" on CD. But, I cannot remember a time when I thought to myself, "Gee, I want to watch Dirty Dancing, let me go find that DVD." I've seen it at least 800 times, and with the exception of seeing it in the movie theater, the other 799 were on regular television - the kind with commercials.

I guess to me it feels a little serendipitous when I run across my favorites on TV or the radio. And I watch or listen and think that somewhere out there, someone else is enjoying it at the same time.

I have a whole list of movies and songs that just stop me in my tracks. What are yours?

Posted by Jennifer Whetzel on December 11, 2005 at 03:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (11) | TrackBack (0)
Categories: Music , Opinion , Television

December 05, 2005

Dear Napster, I'm stumped!

I'm a pretty faithful Napster subscriber. I never jumped on the iPod bandwagon. I already have a gazillion songs ripped, downloaded, whatever, on my computer. I have three fully-loaded mp3 players. I really have no desire to buy more music. But, I love music. I love on-demand music. I love new music. I love renting music. I listen to it until I get tired of it, then delete it. All for $15 a month. A good deal, I think.

But today, I navigated to the "Napster(TM) Recommends For You" page, and I am truly stumped. Here's a sample of what's on my list:
Choice Country Cuts by Patsy Cline
I Am Me by Ashlee Simpson
Thriller by Michael Jackson
Laides & Gentlemen...The Best of George Michael
Fly by Dixie Chicks
Country Musif Hall of Fame Series: Loretta Lynn
The R. in R&B Collection: Volume 1 by R. Kelly

Out of 50 recommendations, there were only four that made sense: Shinedown, Gorillaz and two from Depeche Mode. No offense to any other music lovers out there, but there is no country in my downloaded collection, no R&B, and no 80's music, (I already have it all downloaded at home)
except for the first digital release of the best album ever, Pretty Hate Machine by Nine Inch Nails.

Napster needs to take a lesson from Amazon, who knows exactly what I like. Even e-bay sends me pretty decent recommendations. I have at least 1000 songs downloaded from Napster. You'd think with that much data, they could make better recommendations!

Posted by Jennifer Whetzel on December 05, 2005 at 01:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBack (0)
Categories: Music

August 04, 2005

Innovators -- A Series

Hey, I happened to get a new iPod this week. 60GB - color the works. Thanks go out again to the folks at Liquid 9 since their overdeveloped sense of fairness allowed me to win the door prize for their stupendous party, even though I had already left to go home.

Anyhoo,  I had music on my old iPod that I didn't even know was there and only by transferring a bunch of it to the new Pod let me remember that Buddy Holly's greatest hits were on there.

Buddy Holly was a true innovator. He is truly the King of Rock n' Roll. Take a look at this:

Buddy Holly & The Crickets recorded That'll  Be The Day in the Clovis, New Mexico studios of producer Norman Petty.  The record hit the top of the charts in September of 1957.

Did you see that? Did you catch the date? 1957. For those of you with mad math skills or a build-in computer calculator, that was 48 freaking years ago. Lilke I said, I listened to it today and I can promise you that it is as fresh and spectacular today as it was then. Honestly.

Buddy died in 1959, in a terrible plane crash just outside of Mason City, Iowa, only two years after he had begun releasing his music. He was, at the time, one of the biggest stars in the fledgling world of rock music and his death was truly tragic.

Without Buddy there would be no Beatles. And without the Beatles, there wouldn't be much else. And that is saying something, man.

So, in the immortal words of Mr. Holly himself, "Rave on."

Posted by Tug McTighe on August 04, 2005 at 03:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
Categories: Music

June 16, 2005

Filling the well

I believe that to be any good at advertising at all you must leave it behind once in awhile. Fill your creative well back up a little. Find stuff that inspires you. See or hear things that make different cells in your brain light up. That's what I plan to do today and most of this weekend at Wakarusa. Four days. 60 bands. And it all happens just outside the "Berkeley of the Heartland" Lawrence, Kansas. (No matter where you are in the world, you should try to spend a little time in Lawrence one day).

Hey, it's Friday. Maybe you ought to see if you can skip out a little early today. Tell the boss you gotta go fill the well.

Have a great weekend. The whole AC crew appreciates the fact that you took the time to stop by.

Posted by John on June 16, 2005 at 11:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)
Categories: Entertainment , Music , Pop Culture , The Creative Life

June 16, 2005

New Foo

Okay, the new Foo Fighters double album totally rocks. The acoustic side is so tasty that I just want to lick it. I wish we had any reason at all to stick them in a spot. Do you know how much fun that set would be? Buy this. Now.

And if anybody knows them, ask if they'll be on the show. These are some creative minds I'd love to learn more about.

Posted by John on June 16, 2005 at 08:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Categories: Music

April 26, 2005

The Man (Or in this case, The Men)

Apparently, JJ and Seth are the ONLY people allowed to access the "What We're Listening" to sidebar of this web site.

That's about to change.

OK, it's not about to change because I don't know how to get over there.

But here are the 5 most played songs on my iPod for the April 2005.

5. "The Glutton of Sympathy" by Jellyfish (From the album "Spilt Milk." Released 1993)
If you don't know who Jellyfish is, you're not alone. After two amazing, 70s-influenced, Queen meets the Beatles meets ELO records they went kaput for lack of record sales. If you like any of the above bands, please search out Jellyfish. Both "Spilt Milk" and 1992's "Bellybutton" are out of print but you can find 'em on eBay.

4. "Bad Time" by the Jayhawks (From the album "Tomorrow the Green Grass." Released 1995)
A country rock outfit from Minnesota named after a mythical bird from Kansas doing a Grand Funk Railroad cover? Count me in.

3. "In the Kitchen" by Umphrey's McGee (From the album "Anchor Drops." Released 2005)
Relix Magazine dubbed Umphrey's as the jam band to fill the void left by the retirement of Phish. Now, I like these guys (hey, they're from Chicago) and I have seen them once and will see them twice this summer, but Widespread Panic has more than aptly filled in for Phish. Nonetheless, these guys are good on record and really good live.

2. "Landed" by Ben Folds. (From the album "Songs for Silverman." Released April 26, 2005)
I LOVE Ben Folds. Since I first heard "Underground" I have been a fanatic. He is the best melody writer working today. I defy you to challenge me. This song makes me cry. (All his songs do.)

1. "Glory Road" by Warren Haynes (From the album "Live at Bonnaroo." Released 2004)
My love for improvisational music led me to a life of jam band music. And a life of jam band music inevitably leads you to Warren Haynes. One of the hardest working musicians in the scene, Warren is also one of the most talented. This song about a wild west bounty hunter and his latest kill is truly stirring. As stirring is Warren's intro about the guy who wrote it.

Go see live music.

Posted by Tug McTighe on April 26, 2005 at 12:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)
Categories: Music