Snapshots #413: Songs Used In Adverts

Yesterday we had a picture of John Lydon at the top of the page because I thought he was surely the best / worst example of a pop star appearing in an advert. And then I discovered Snoop Dogg in the Money Supermarket ad. And John had some competition.

Here is George's choice of the best "pop" "songs" used in adverts... although George would like to qualify that, "I think the link is best described as “songs related to UK adverts”, as some of the songs were not actually used but were the basis for the advert. For example, “Que Será Será”, because I’m 100% sure Doris Day did not sing about mushrooms and fried onion rings."

Did you ad-entify them all?

15. Bohemian Rhapsodist.

Antonin Dvorak - Symphony no. 9 (Hovis)

14. Unforgettable part in the King's Bible.

A small part of "unforgettable" plus King James...

Etta James - I Just Want To Make Love To You (Diet Coke)

13. Hawaii Jack, boogying pig, football squad.

Jack Lord, some Rocking Ham and 11.

Lord Rockingham’s XI - Hoots Mon (Maynard's Wine Gums)

12. Trowel and mortar specialists.

Call them if you need any pointing done.

The Pointer Sisters - I’m So Excited (Crunchie)

11. Sorry, I can't attend. I have another engagement that night.

Sorry, I have a clash in my diary.

The Clash - Should I Stay Or Should I Go (Levis)

10. Erstwhile Isley Brother.

He started out playing with the Isleys.

Jimi Hendrix Experience - Crosstown Traffic (Wrangler)

9. Wounded stag owner, Reed, circa. 

Jacques and the wounded stag. Lou Reed. Ca.

Jacques Loussier - Air on a G String (Hamlet)

8. Johnsons.

Holly Johnsons.

The Hollies - He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother (Miller Lite)

7. Mediocre amateurs, lost inside.

MedioCRE AMateurs.

Cream - I Feel Free (Renault 21)

6. A div and (his) duds are often mixed up.

David Dundas - Jeans On (Brutus Jeans)

5. You're the tray of nice things I upset yesterday.

That's a line from Gaye by Clifford T. Ward.

Marvin Gaye - I Heard It Through The Grapevine (Levis 501)

4. It's Sneers Week! In a way.

Anagram!

New Seekers -  I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing (Coca-Cola)

3. Sweeter alternative to the gravy train.

Honeybus - I Can't Let Maggie Go (Nimble Bread)

2. Denied starting fires between Harry Truman and Red China.

From the opening lyrics to We Didn't Start The Fire...

Harry Truman, Doris Day, Red China, Johnnie Ray.

Doris Day - Que Será, Será (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)

We hope it's chips, it's chips, we hope it's chips...

1. Confused band, ft. Lelah.

"ft. Lelah" was an anagram for one of George's favourite groups...

The Fall - Touch Sensitive (Vauxhall Corsa)

Thanks again to George for suggesting this week's songs. As someone who worked in advertising for far too many years, I couldn't have done this one myself.

Normal service will be resumed next week.

Snapshots #392: A Colourful Bouquet of Songs About Flowers

Twenty floral songs to brighten up your Easter Sunday... though I'm sure we could have easily found another twenty...

20. His head's in a constant spin.

He wasn't only Dizzy...

Tommy Roe - Sweet Pea

19. Murder in the home of a long-dead Stone.

The Brian Jonestown Massacre - Anemone

18. Polar knitwear comes undone.

"Polar knitwear" was an anagram...

Karine Polwart - Azalea Flower

17. Heaven's Green Patio.

(Knock knock knockin' on....) Heaven's door. Green door. Patio doors.

The Doors - Hyacinth House

16. Chandler's finest.

Raymond Chandler's finest book (although he wrote a great many fine books) was...

The Big Sleep - Bluebell Wood

15. They will check your spelling.

English Teacher - Nearly Daffodils

14. By Willard Manus!

Willard Manus was the author of the book Mott The Hoople, from which these guys stole their name...

Mott The Hoople - Jerkin' Crocus

13. Essex man without forgotten secret agent. 

David Essex, sans (Jason) Bourne...

David Sanborn - Lotus Blossom

12. In a hurricane, pets get blown about.

"Hurricane, pets" was an anagram...

Patrice Rushen - Forget Me Nots

11. Stop the Tories from messaging you on social media. 

Block that party!

Bloc Party - Tulips

10. Shorter than an operetta, longer than Jim.

Etta is shorter than an operetta. James is longer than Jim.

Etta James - Wallflower

9. Bogart takes to sea with once-yearly books about boy detectives.

Humphrey Bogart, in the ocean, with a Hardy Boys annual. Obviously!

Tough one this. Give yourself extra marks if you remembered these guys. (They're very Stiff.)

Humphrey Ocean & The Hardy Annuals - Whoops A Daisy

8. Catch the Longdancing Tourist and add some sweet sax.

The Longdancers and The Tourists were two bands that Dave Stewart was in before he formed the Eurythmics. Candy Dulfer played some sweet sax.

Dave A Stewart featuring Candy Dulfer - Lily Was Here

7. Play it again, Sam... and again... and again...

Humphrey Bogart (again) didn't actually say "play it again, Sam". He said, "You Played it for her, you can play it for me". Anyway, when he said that, he was talking to Dooley Wilson...

The Dooleys - A Rose Has To Die

I got the Dooleys in here. I can probably retire now.

6. New York punks ooze everywhere.

The New York Dolls, full of Goo and more Goo.

Goo Goo Dolls - Iris

5. Happened later, for Nick Drake.

For Nick, it was Brighter Later...

Brighter - Poppy Day

4. Found in a closed window on a Eurostar railway carriage. 

Found in a closED WINdow on a EuroSTAR Railway carriage

Edwin Starr - Ruby Begonia

3. Oy, Bezos! Arrange for Hazlewood to play at my party, will you?

Jeff! Book Lee, will you?

Jeff Buckley - Lilac Wine

Lilac Wine has been recorded by everyone from Nina Simone to Elkie Brooks... but that's my favourite version.

2. Upper class ankle socks.

Bobby sox for the gentry.

Bobbie Gentry - Sweet Peony 

...or you could have had...

Bobbie Gentry - Marigolds & Tangerines

1. We pull Earl all over the place.

"We pull Earl" was an anagram.

Paul Weller - Sunflower

And for completeness-sake, I would also have allowed...

The Jam - Carnation

Enjoy the rest of your Easter. Snapshots will be back next Saturday.

Namesakes #75: The Wallflowers

What is a Wallflower? Well, it's either the kind of pretty little plant pictured above, or it's "a person who has no one to dance with or who feels shy, awkward, or excluded at a party." Welcome to my teenage years! (To be fair, I over-compensated by becoming the class joker... I even went along to one school fancy dress disco dressed as Jack Nicholson's Joker... in full face paint, which played hell with my acne. Fortunately, no photos survive.)

When it comes to Wallflowers, Etta James put it best...

Etta James - The Wallflower (Dance With Me Henry)

Anyway, here are a bunch of Wallflowers...

THE WALLFLOWERS #1

We'll start with some German Wallflowers, woah-woahing along to Little Jürgen, back in 1965...

THE WALLFLOWERS #2

Peter Brickley's band The Telephone Boxes supported The Smiths on their first tour in 1983. When they broke up, Brickley formed The Wallflowers, self-releasing "one of the great lost C86 tunes", Blushing Girl, Nervous Smile. A couple more singles followed, but the band took too much time over the album and everything fell apart. Brickley went on to become a movie extra, notable for spending "four months, six days a week, as a Celt in the film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves" yet never actually making it onto the screen. 

THE WALLFLOWERS #3

Around the same time that Mr. Brickley was looking for blushing girls with nervous smiles in Slough, over on the other side of the pond, another group of Wallflowers were being discovered... by Snickers, of all people. That must have been some Marathon effort!

I can't find music info on the Snickers New Music Challenge, or about these particular Wallflowers... other than what they reveal on the clip below.

THE WALLFLOWERS #4

It must be tough being Bob Dylan's son. I mean, not so much if you want to be a butcher, a baker or a candlestick maker (is that still a job?)... but if you want to be a singer? Boy, that's one big shadow to haul your way out from underneath.

I reckon Jakob Dylan has done pretty well at carving his own musical identity, distinct from dad - he's certainly done a better job than Sean or Julian Lennon or any of Hank Williams' descendants. Forming a band, rather than initially going solo using the Dylan name as branding, was the key to his success. These Wallflowers got together in 1989, and although the line-up's ever-changing (the only constant being Jakob himself), they're still going strong, having produced one of my favourite albums of 2021 (and their first in 9 years), Exit Wounds.

 

THE WALLFLOWERS #5

Canadian Wallflowers who started out in the late 80s as the Edsels, changing their name, presumably, to avoid confusion with the 60s doo-wop group of the same name. After one album as The Wallflowers, they heard what Jakob Dylan was up to and changed their name again to The Barstool Prophets. 

Here's one of the songs they initially released as Wallflowers, and then again as Barstool Prophets...

 

THE WALLFLOWERS #6

The late 80s were clearly a big time for being a Wallflower. Here we see the Australian variety, found in Sydney in 1989...

There were quite a few other Wallflowers listed on discogs - including the Austrian Wallflowers who released a song called Sandwichman in 1969 - but sadly I couldn't find any more audio evidence. Quite a few bands just called Wallflower too... it's obviously a name that's cherished by introverted musicians. 

Which Wallflowers would you ask to dance? And which ones call for the weedkiller?

Saturday Snapshots #182: A Top Ten Wedding Songs

If anyone knows any reason these answers should not be revealed, let them speak now or forever hold their peace.

10. ET thanks Taylor.

ET, plus "ta"... and James Taylor.

Etta James - Stop The Wedding

9. Dedication! Or... half of it, at least.

Roy Castle was famous for his Dedication. 

Half of that would be...

Roy C - Shotgun Wedding

8. Irish priest on public transport.

Will you be going on the bus, Ted?

Busted - Crashed The Wedding

7. King's wife in hardback emergency room.

A Book in the ER?

With Priscilla (but not Presley).

Booker T & Priscilla - The Wedding Song

6. Musicians who will help you get around London.

An Oyster card will help you travel in the capital.

The Oysterband - Blood Wedding

5. Like a shadow and a divorcee.

Hank Marvin was a Shadow. Tammy Wynette was a divorcee.

Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell - Sad Wedding

4. Romans grasp my realism hour.

Romans grasp was one anagram... my realism hour was another.

Gram Parsons & Emmylou Harris - $1000 Wedding

3. Decayed mongrel on the loose!

"Decayed mongrel" was an anagram.

Godley and Creme - Wedding Bells

That's the first time I've ever seen the video to that. I will have nightmares.

2. No longer southerners.

Dixie, no more.

The (Dixie) Chicks - White Trash Wedding

1. I'm feeling bodily ill.

Not much of an anagram. Not much of a picture. But the tune is a solid gold classic...

And that's how you do a video, Godley & Creme. You ride a motorbike through a stained glass window! It's the video with everything AND a kitchen sink. An exploding kitchen sink, naturally.

Do you take these Snapshots, to have and to hold, for richer or poorer, till death do you part?

If so, join me back here again next Saturday.

Saturday Snapshots #118 - The Answers

Groovy answers, baby... yeah!



10. In an Osmond's eye, how you call a princess.

Donnie's iris?

Princess Leia.

Donnie Iris - Ah! Leah!

9. Both my boots are excellent - I will not change my mind!

He is adamant.

Adam Ant - Goody Two Shoes

8. Finally! Estimated arrival time for 7 seated bell ringers.

ETA of James (who had an album called Seven, and songs called Sit Down & Ring The Bells).

Etta James - At Last

7. Noisy hedgehogs get a ticket to tenderness.

The Sonics - Have Love Will Travel

6. Oh, show me the way to a trio of whiskey bars... I've cancelled my holiday to Vasco da Gama.

"Oh, show me the way to the next whiskey bar" is the opening line of Alabama Song.

Trio is 3.

Vasco da Gama is in Goa.

Alabama 3 - Ain't Goin' To Goa

5. Murdered? Escape repeatedly.

Slayed.

Slade - Run Runaway

4. Angriest Chad mixed up with romantic idiot.

"Angriest Chad" is an anagram.

The Cardigans - Lovefool

3. Succulent, in the sky with... adoration questionnaires.

Succulent = juicy.

Lucy was in the sky with diamonds.

Juicy Lucy - Who Do You Love?

2. Chained ghost selects donut filling.

Jacob Marley's chains.

How do you like your donuts, Bob?

With jam in.

The old ones are the best.

Bob Marley - Jammin'

1. No man pauses before a storm. Who's gonna clean up later?

Tom Waits for no man.

Pauses = waits.

Storm = gale.

Tell me... how long have you been combing your hair with a wrench?



More Shagadelic Snapshots next Saturday.