I Am NOT Near F@#&*ng Retirement Age
As a music and media geek, I pay way too much attention to advertisements as well as programming, so my head snapped up as I started to recognize the music to a television commercial during "Everybody Love Raymond" Tuesday night (Val is a "Raymond" fanatic).
The song sounded very familiar until I shouted out in a Jim Mora "Playoffs?" voice, "that's the Buzzcocks," a favorite 1970s-early 1980s British pop punk band. I turned to Val and said, "that's the actual performance or recording of 'Everybody's Happy Nowadays,' for cripe's sake." If you haven't heard the Buzzcocks, for heaven's sake, start with the band's "Singles Going Steady" CD.
I wasn't familiar with the commercial and wondered if it was for Microsoft, but Val laughed as the voiceover and screen graphics noted that it was for The American Association for Retired People. She said that he saw a news article on the AARP, which was starting an advertising campaign and even sponsoring concerts, aiming them at baby boomers.
While I was a Generation Xer (if you believe this kind of crap) when Generation X came to media prominence, after "they" shifted the age parameters for the generations, I "became" a late baby boomer, and a pissed off baby boomer.
The song sounded very familiar until I shouted out in a Jim Mora "Playoffs?" voice, "that's the Buzzcocks," a favorite 1970s-early 1980s British pop punk band. I turned to Val and said, "that's the actual performance or recording of 'Everybody's Happy Nowadays,' for cripe's sake." If you haven't heard the Buzzcocks, for heaven's sake, start with the band's "Singles Going Steady" CD.
I wasn't familiar with the commercial and wondered if it was for Microsoft, but Val laughed as the voiceover and screen graphics noted that it was for The American Association for Retired People. She said that he saw a news article on the AARP, which was starting an advertising campaign and even sponsoring concerts, aiming them at baby boomers.
While I was a Generation Xer (if you believe this kind of crap) when Generation X came to media prominence, after "they" shifted the age parameters for the generations, I "became" a late baby boomer, and a pissed off baby boomer.
posted by val at 12:42 AM
2 Comments:
Hi, Kevin - on a slightly more obscure note - I recently picked up a 1995 compilation of music from Morocco (being a music geek too, as you well know) and was surprised to hear the ubiquitous riff that's on all the Budweiser commercials now...it comes from a song called "Hi Hi Hi" (not the Paul McCartney & Wings number) which loosely means, "Tell Me Another One." Go figure!
Take care!
Howdy Kev,
Hope things are going well for you so far this new year.
I was thinking about you today when I read about The Fall being used for a Mitsubishi ad.
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/page/news/39675/The_Fall_Ready_Reformation_Contribute_Song
I thought I heard it all when they used Iggy for Cruiselines, the Buzzcocks for AARP, and Freurs' 'Like a Hoover' used for of all things Electroluxe Vaccums (go figger!)
Personally when I hear the Fall all I want to buy is a pint, a chip butty, and the opportunity to shout crabby things at my neighbors...but evidentally some agency guy our age convinced some Japs that it would sell cars.
I'm thinking next they could use 'The Man Who's Head Expanded' for Kaplan Learning Centers, or 'Kicker Conspiracy' for Invisible Fence (lots of quick cuts of people kicking and getting tripped up by stray dogs).
I could be posting this on the BNY alumni group board but I'm afraid it has become exceedingly lame-ass.
Totally wired (for Cingular Wireless),
Cal Zone!
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