Commercial jingles/excerpts so good you wish they were actually released

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Anyone seen (on U.S. TV)the TIAA-CREF commercials with different renditions of "Somewhere" from West Side Story(Ian McCulloch, Cat Power, and some others)? I can take or leave all of them except for the one by Etta James(I think), it sounds fucking gorgeous(starts with violin trills and then that voice) but as far as I know she made it for the commercial and hasn't released it anywhere else.
Another one was from last year, an ad for some joint venture between Target/Virgin Mobil that featured dancing British royal guards(beefeaters?) and the song was "My Girlfriend", a bouncy garage punk ditty. I found a big adtunes.com thread of people trying to find the song and who did it, turned out it's some guy famous for doing commercial music, and the song only exists in 30 second form but he promised to release it later.
Anyhow, any others?

― tremendoid (tremendoid), Tuesday, 26 April 2005 05:50 (eighteen years ago) link

is that the one where like there's a college professor in front of a huge class. and then like some hospital scene? "there's a plaaaace.." something something something? i love those. they played all thru the NCAA tournament

― phil-two (phil-two), Tuesday, 26 April 2005 05:51 (eighteen years ago) link

i'd think the etta james one would be available? maybe, i dunno tho.

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 26 April 2005 05:52 (eighteen years ago) link

Not a commercial, but I adore the theme to Craig Ferguson's show, which he sings himself.

― Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Tuesday, 26 April 2005 05:52 (eighteen years ago) link

There's an Aretha version of "Somewhere" on 'The Songs of West Side Story' from the mid-'90s; could that be it?

― Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Tuesday, 26 April 2005 05:54 (eighteen years ago) link

yeah phil that's the one it starts out with the professor
i know it wasn't aretha, the Etta James tip came from a Soul messageboard (http://www.soulfuldetroit.com/forum/) and they sounded pretty sure.

― tremendoid (tremendoid), Tuesday, 26 April 2005 06:02 (eighteen years ago) link

I LOVE HORSES

Um, sorry.

― emil.y (emil.y), Tuesday, 26 April 2005 10:31 (eighteen years ago) link

"sailing by", the shipping forecast music which as far as i'm aware has never been commercially available (not the version they use anyway)

― zappi (joni), Tuesday, 26 April 2005 10:48 (eighteen years ago) link

I loved the "Always Coca Cola" jingle from just over a decade ago. Pure boy-band-style R'n'B.

― Tantrum The Cat (Tantrum The Cat), Tuesday, 26 April 2005 14:20 (eighteen years ago) link

"What sits on yer Wotzits?"

― mark grout (mark grout), Tuesday, 26 April 2005 14:25 (eighteen years ago) link

"Trust Sleepy's ... for the rest of your life"

― The Sensational Sulk (sexyDancer), Tuesday, 26 April 2005 14:31 (eighteen years ago) link

There's a Honda commercial that aired a few times in early-to-mid 2004 that just featured acoustic guitar and piano that was excellent. Wish I had it, whatever it is.

― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Tuesday, 26 April 2005 15:24 (eighteen years ago) link

there was a david sylvian version of that TIAA commercial with "somewhere" also which was wonderful. they should just collect all of those and put them out and raise some money.

― kyle (akmonday), Tuesday, 26 April 2005 15:26 (eighteen years ago) link

two weeks pass...

has anyone heard the chevy silverado commercial that has like this scrapey electric arpeggio thing going on over top of a fairly obvious commercial-esque big beat? it's not a song adapted for commercial use, just a jingle house production, but i really like the sound. possibly (probably?) it's not an original technique but i haven't heard it anywhere else.

― W i l l (common_person), Tuesday, 10 May 2005 22:55 (eighteen years ago) link

destroy: the Old Navy ad where MC Lyte is singing a bastardized version of 'Bust a Move'. Actually an ok commercial it's just depressing not so much that she's doing it but that they don't even deem her important enough to give face time to(or she's too embarrassed to show her face, which would be even more depressing).

― tremendoid (tremendoid), Thursday, 19 May 2005 20:36 (eighteen years ago) link

I used to have this St. Ides Malt Liquor mixed tape of all the ads (w/ Geto Boys, Cube, Snoop). Shit was hott!!

― Bobby Peru (Bobby Peru), Thursday, 19 May 2005 21:36 (eighteen years ago) link

oh shit yeah 'crooked I' owns this bitch. I got that mixtape too but they don't have the Biggie one which was the best by far. I can recite it off the top of my head, luckily. sadly.

― tremendoid (tremendoid), Thursday, 19 May 2005 21:46 (eighteen years ago) link

The new iPod commercial has this song with this wicked backbeat and synthesized guitar stabs and this robotic baby voice saying something like "Buy it, Use it, Break It, Fix It" .. yeah. That song is awesome.

― The Brainwasher (Twilight), Thursday, 19 May 2005 21:51 (eighteen years ago) link

two months pass...

ok I'm not trying to corner the market on this stuff but this came to mind: The original theme song from 'That 70's Show'(adapted from "In the Street" by Big Star)! Not the shitty Cheap Trick version they've used for most of the run but the one they used in the first season w/ much more energy. I think some freelance dude made it, I did a search a few months ago and found who it was but I forgot by now.

― tremendoid (tremendoid), Tuesday, 16 August 2005 05:09 (eighteen years ago) link

i believe that was a Daft Punk song on that ipod commercial

― tremendoid (tremendoid), Tuesday, 16 August 2005 05:11 (eighteen years ago) link

I liked the Touch'n'Fresh commercial with the jump up jungle music.

― Raw Patrick (Raw Patrick), Tuesday, 16 August 2005 16:41 (eighteen years ago) link

I really liked "The Whistle Song" from those "lean-back" Starburst ads until I heard the full-length version. Some songs are tailor-made for 30 seconds.

― The Ghost of Black Elegance (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 16 August 2005 16:57 (eighteen years ago) link

there was a nike ad a while ago in which the mooney suzuki covered cole porter's 'don't fence me in'--i liked it more than anything else i'd heard them do

― mookieproof (mookieproof), Tuesday, 16 August 2005 17:00 (eighteen years ago) link

i believe that was a Daft Punk song on that ipod commercial

i was kidding.

― The Brainwasher (Twilight), Tuesday, 16 August 2005 17:02 (eighteen years ago) link

There's a Honda commercial that aired a few times in early-to-mid 2004 that just featured acoustic guitar and piano that was excellent. Wish I had it, whatever it is.

Hey Johnny, here's a story about the guy who wrote that. I think you can buy his album too.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4714399

― -vest, Tuesday, 16 August 2005 18:05 (eighteen years ago) link

that's the guy who did the Target song I mentioned in the first post. Go to the 'rumor mill' link on the left, click "selected work" link on J.Ralph's page, and go to 'guards' for the commercial I was talking about

― tremendoid (tremendoid), Wednesday, 17 August 2005 01:29 (eighteen years ago) link

I didn't mind the bizarre, minor-key cover of "Taxman" that H&R Block used a couple years back.

― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Wednesday, 17 August 2005 01:41 (eighteen years ago) link

The light-hearted pop-punk with horns in one of the commercials for Willilamsburgh, Virginia: GO! GO! GO-OH!

― Michael Daddino (epicharmus), Wednesday, 17 August 2005 01:50 (eighteen years ago) link

seven months pass...

!!!!!!!!!!FOUND!!!!!!!!!!!

The Etta James rendition of 'Somewhere' I asked about initially. Been in my soulseek wishlist ever since, and all of a sudden bam. Can't win if you don't play, "send it in!" etc.
Anyway, the verdict...well the part that they played in the commercial(before the bass comes in) still unbelievably gorgeous, unfortunately belying the smooth-jazzy, wedding band arrangement of the rest of the song. . Etta simply, calmly sinks her teeth into the thing and rights the ship somewhat, though I don't care for the sauce she puts on the end. It could have been SO much better had they zigged instead of zagged perhaps with the sparser, more stately backing that the opening suggests but whatever I'm still very happy. It's off of her new album, All the Way.

http://s29.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=2W9JD3302AKZ20QGELKHNV3DFS

― tremendoid (tremendoid), Sunday, 26 March 2006 03:41 (eighteen years ago) link

There's a Honda commercial that aired a few times in early-to-mid 2004 that just featured acoustic guitar and piano that was excellent. Wish I had it, whatever it is.
Hey Johnny, here's a story about the guy who wrote that. I think you can buy his album too.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4714399

-- -vest (ves...), August 16th, 2005 3:05 PM. (link)

Hey thanks! I missed this back in August! Wasn't expecting it to have vocals at all, but the whole thing's actually pretty nice.

― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Sunday, 26 March 2006 05:16 (eighteen years ago) link

There was an ad for the Super 8 chain of motels that featured a cheerful guy showering while (wretchedly) singing the praises of his motel room over a kind of "Body And Soul" piano figure. He parrots every utterance of the unseen (voiceover) spokesman in a kind of clichéd swingin' Vegas fashion, complete with inane ad-libs. ("Whatta room-room room room room yeah!" Absolutely (intentionally) gawdawful and hilarious.

― Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Sunday, 26 March 2006 08:42 (eighteen years ago) link

two years pass...

i like this song. it sounds like Fountains of Wayne.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FspHU8hOxhY

― res, Monday, 1 September 2008 03:08 (fifteen years ago) link

oh, and that hoveround jingle is BANGIN

― res, Monday, 1 September 2008 03:22 (fifteen years ago) link

eight years pass...

This isn't actually good, but it seems to grow even stronger in my head the more it recedes into the past:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUBxEGlETVc

― _Rudipherous_, Sunday, 21 May 2017 16:48 (six years ago) link

More complete version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQFlkK9nYYs

― _Rudipherous_, Sunday, 21 May 2017 16:50 (six years ago) link

The song from this 90s Canadian anti-smoking ad still gets in my head sometimes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUzaLDQ8dJA

― Tomorrow Begat Tomorrow (Sund4r), Sunday, 21 May 2017 17:05 (six years ago) link

This will be a favourite of Scottish ilxors of a certain vintage...

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DcJy5m36n4o

― the article don, Sunday, 21 May 2017 17:15 (six years ago) link

https://youtu.be/otEvWI2pn-E?t=26

― Panoptic Sweep, Sunday, 21 May 2017 18:07 (six years ago) link

^ from The Stuff.

― Panoptic Sweep, Sunday, 21 May 2017 18:07 (six years ago) link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVGmdwHTP1I

Oh, wait...

― Maximum big surprise! (Nag! Nag! Nag!), Monday, 22 May 2017 09:23 (six years ago) link

can't beat the "Your Space" jingle

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBDAytqFrUk

― frogbs, Monday, 22 May 2017 14:50 (six years ago) link

Don't know if the ad made it to the US but it was broadcasted constantly in Europe and Latinamerica in the late 90's:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6u8nXMTqUs

So, in my circle of friends I've always been the 'music trivia machine' they go to when they want to know the name of any given song. This one was heavily requested and I couldn't give them a real answer because the song was just created for the ad. I've also seen the question asked thousands of times on yahoo answers and such.
Kinda sounds like EMF I suppose.

Here's the supposed creators and name of the song (it's really just the same snippet without the ad... it gets more annoying without the video... are they saying 'cheesemac'?) :

Thierry Fauchard and Alain Plumauzille - L'Ascenceur
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9ScB6tgR_I

― dance cum rituals (Moka), Monday, 22 May 2017 17:07 (six years ago) link

I think this jingle from Adam Buxton's podcast might be my most listened to music of 2017 so far

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwJIproljF8

― Camaraderie at Arms Length, Tuesday, 23 May 2017 12:03 (six years ago) link

The song from this 90s Canadian anti-smoking ad still gets in my head sometimes:
― Tomorrow Begat Tomorrow (Sund4r), Sunday, May 21, 2017 1:05 PM (two days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I love this song and wish there was a full version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-lLIE55hUw

― how's life, Tuesday, 23 May 2017 12:56 (six years ago) link

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