Oh and Hec - you are a big SF Giants fan, right? As is my new (awesome) BF. For his b-day, I bought us tickets to two Giants games this summer at Wrigley. FUN.
Very fun! Except the Giants are sucking big donkey dick at the moment.
Non-Musical Shopping Tip: Emmett and I picked up Matt Groening's Life in Hell collection
Will and Abe's Guide To the Universe
on our way to
Blades of Glory
(it was funny - plus Will Arnett) and Will and Abe consistently bring the entertainment.
And yes, Tina is still King of Monster Island.
More Nick Drake.
ETA: Nice bit where they talk to Joe Boyd about the use of "Pink Moon" in the VW ad.
About 10 years ago, I was approached by VW's ad agency (Arnold, in case Tina is wondering) to make a mix tape for them. They were about to introduce the new Bug and were looking for musical ideas. Turned out the copy writer was a fan of my radio show! They liked what I put together, but didn't end up using any of the songs I'd suggested (I didn't mind -- I got paid
very
well for my effort).
A few years later, the Pink Moon ad came out. I thought it was a great ad, but otherwise didn't think too much about it... until I noticed that I'd put Pink Moon on that mix tape I'd made for them! I asked the copy writer about it. He insisted that he already knew the song, but I like to think that I had a small part in making it happen.
Joe Boyd is a great guy. He's one of the few primary sources for my book, and his memoir White Bicycles is a fun read.
A few years later, the Pink Moon ad came out. I thought it was a great ad, but otherwise didn't think too much about it... until I noticed that I'd put Pink Moon on that mix tape I'd made for them!
Jon, you just
totally
blew my mind.
Seriously. As an ad geek you just HAVE NO IDEA how much I (and many others) have thought about the genesis of that ad.
My favorite VW ad of that series though is the Son Volt one - it uses the tiny instrumental "Chanty" from
Wide Swing Tremelo
as a girl drives from Denver to Phoenix in a Rabbit on one tank of gas taking off several layers of clothes and putting her hair up until she goes from parka and hair down to tank top and a small bun. I have watched that ad a zillion times.
Those are the ads that made me want to be a part of this industry. I could go into the whole grave dissapointment part of that story (long, hard week, and year, really) - but that is just whining. I love it.
YOU could have been part of what made me go into advertising. That's just really... kind of cool.
I should add that I am many glasses of sangria into my Friday night. But still.
My favorite VW ad of that series though is the Son Volt one
Mine was the Spiritualized one, but there was a ton and a half of meta on my love for that (first and foremost for seeing Spiritualized without knowing diddly-squat about them because Mistle Thrush was opening for them and Spiritualized blew me AWAY!!!; secondly because MT basically did the most free-form show I ever saw them do including massive amounts of Theremin; mostly because Spiritualized played 90% of LADIES & GENTLEMEN... which is a FUCKING awsome disc).
Because it's all about MEMEME, did you know that Valerie from Mistle Thrush played in the Lothars for one gig?
BTW, Jon, Bob Bob is like a huge fan of your existence. I saw what may be the first of the White Castle ads in what I'm assuming is the series you are in -- a limo driver talking about taking people to White Castle-- and I told Bob Bob about how you got the ad job. He was like, "he plays the THEREMIN! And is an ACTUARY! I love those things!" I just told him about the VW ad thing and he was like "I love advertising!"
I'm... flattered?
There definitely was a "limo driver" ad in the new series. The latest I've heard is that my ad would run over the summer. Supposedly, they're still tweaking it.
Oh, I hadn't even realized that the limo ad must be part of that series.
(I like the Trio "Da Da Da" vw ad.)
