Richard and Linda Thompson - I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight (1974)
The Free Design - 2002 - A Hit Song (1969)
Noel Murray from the AV/Club wrote:
By 1969, the New York sunshine-pop act The Free Design had released two albums and a string of singles, and all the band had to show for that effort was a handful of well-received TV appearances and one minor regional hit (1967’s “Kites Are Fun”). So on album number three, Heaven/Earth, Free Design frontman Chris Dedrick briefly set aside his usual lyrics about pretty days and happy vibes, and wrote a song about his group’s predicament. One of the most talked-about movies of 1968 was 2001: A Space Odyssey, a mind-blowing vision of a nigh-inconceivable future. With “2002: A Hit Song,” Dedrick imagined something that at the time, to him, seemed even more far-fetched.
Sonically, “2002” resembles nearly every other Free Design song. It’s airy and upbeat, with an arrangement that emphasizes the harmonies of Dedrick and his bandmates (who were mostly his siblings). The Free Design was like an east coast adjunct of California pop combos The Association, The 5th Dimension, and The Mamas And The Papas, but with lyrics more in line with the burgeoning “bubblegum” movement, and instrumentation the wouldn’t have sounded out of place on one of The Anita Kerr Singers’ easy-listening albums. They were simultaneously freakier and squarer than any other young band trying to make the charts at the time.
That quirkiness is the best explanation for the oddity that is “2002: A Hit Song.” Beginning with a little studio trickery courtesy of engineer Phil Ramone (later the go-to producer for Billy Joel and Paul Simon), the speeded-up voices of the Dedricks sing hello to DJs and “teenyboppers,” before launching into a pitch for the song itself. The Free Design insists that “2002” is unique, fast-paced, well-promoted, and sung “with reckless abandon,” which means there’s no way it won’t be a “hit hit hit.” The band then tacks on a twist ending, admitting that all their previous songs were equally catchy, but failed anyway.
PSA - Englewood Police Department - Boys Beware (1961) Ralph was sick! Ralph was a homosexual! Jimmy No!!!
PSA - Batman, Robin, Batgirl, and the Federal Equal Pay Law. (1966) As things change...
The Citizens - Go, Goldwater (1964)
Billy May and His Orchestra - Marrakesh Express (1970) From LP #10 in the Reader's Digest 1969/70 album, "Up, Up & Away"
Brady Kids - Candy (Sugar Shoppe) (1972) "Come on, Sugardrop, and give me some." Or "Come on, Sugar. Drop and give me some..." ? Does anyone care? Why am I doing this?
Internal Recording - Nobody Can Do It Like McDonalds Can (1979) In many styles. One sounds like a direct rip-off of Maxine Nightingale's "Right Back Where We Started From".
Movie Trailer - Brother Theodore - "Superstition" (1985)
From Phil Rosenthal's (Everybody Loves Raymond) autobiography:
Bobby Darin - Bullfrog (1969) From the album Born Walden Robert Cassotto.
Burgess Meredith (as The Penguin) - The Escape (1966)
How to Undress in Front of Your Husband (1937)
From IMDB:
Elaine Jacobs was a 16-year-old high school student in New York in 1931 when she went to see the John Barrymore film Svengali (1931). From that moment, she later said, she fell in love with Barrymore and vowed that one day she would marry him, even going so far as to change her name to Elaine Barrie. A few years later she read in the newspaper that Barrymore was in a New York hospital due to an "illness" (he was actually undergoing one of his periodic "cures" for his severe alcoholism). She sent him an adoring fan letter asking for an interview, and Barrymore wrote back and granted her one. After that first interview she returned to see him every day for more "interviews", and when Barrymore was finally discharged from the hospital he moved into the Jacobs' family apartment in New York City. Barrymore's divorce from actress Dolores Costello was still not final, and Elaine was 30 years younger than Barrymore, and when the press discovered the situation, they had a field day. Barrymore took Elaine and her mother out to nightclubs, parties and theaters all over the city, with reporters and photographers in hot pursuit. The coverage of the pair was so extensive that in 1935 the Associated Press named Elaine (along with presidential candidate Alf Landon) as one of the people who made that year most interesting.
Barrie and Barrymore were finally married in 1936, and it turned out to be a stormy one. She appeared in one of his films and made two shorts (one of which, How to Undress in Front of Your Husband (1937), was made by low-rent exploitation legend Dwain Esper) capitalizing on her status as Barrymore's wife. She also co-starred with him on Broadway and in several radio dramas. However, Barrymore's heavy drinking and serial infidelity resulted in several trial separations, and they finally divorced in 1940.
Clint Eastwood - I Talk To The Trees (1969)
Coca-Cola of Germany - Wir Bleiben Am Ball (?)
Filmstrip Soundtrack - Breakfast on Mars (?)
Donny Osmond - Ronny Be Good (1981)
? - Donna (?) From the musical Hair. I guess?
Hartz - How To Teach Your Parakeet To Talk (1960)
Ed Ames - Hello Lyndon (1964)
Anti-KKK, Anti-Goldwater - Alabama Political Ad (1964)
Nixon Now (1972)
The 1972 "Nixon Now" advertisement is memorable for its uncharacteristic nature. Not many would associate Nixon, a firm Cold Warrior who excelled at fierce anti-liberal attack ads, with a spot that scrolls from stills of young people frolicking in the sun to clips of a smiling Nixon shaking hands with constituents. All the while, a festive song hails Nixon for "reaching out to find a way to make tomorrow a brighter day, making dreams reality. More than ever - Nixon now for you and me."
Oscar Brand - Why Not The Best? (1976) or (1999)
Herman Silvers & Cornell Tanassy - Hello Ronnie, Goodbye Jimmy (1980)
Wayne Newton - Hard To Handle (1994)
Lou Rawls - The Girl From Ipanema (1966) Awesome.
L Ron Hubbard - Thank You For Listening (1986)
Rolling Stones - Fingerprint File (1974)
Connie Francis - Nixon's The One (1968)
Barry's The Man For Us (1964)
Sammy Davis Jr. - She is Today (1970)
Johnny Cash - Houston Hash (1969)
Sunny Side Rice (1969) For more, please visit Zero to 180.
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