The Song of the Salesman

Many years ago I was made redundant and to teach myself ASP.NET I created a website called “Song of the Salesman” , This meant I had something to show potential employers when looking for contracts. At hit’s height it brought me in about £400 a a month but Shazam and streaming effectively killed it off as an entity.

There is still a Facebook page here but new worthwhile adverts are very thin on the ground these days so I don’t post much in there , just every now and then, but the original site was updated weekly.

The idea came to me when I think I heard a record on a Guinness advert and am sure it was “Burke’s Law” by Prince Buster, but I cannot find that advert anywhere.

This is just going to be a playlist of some of my favourite adverts and the music used in them. I will only choose one Guinness and one Levis and One Ford advert and once my six hundred words have been written I hope I can bring you a little aural and video pleasure with this.

First up is possibly also the ultimate best advert ever , and we will use it for the lead in.

Guinness - Horses and Surfers 1998

This is sound tracked by Leftfield’s “Phat Planet” and twenty years on the concept and visuals still stun me. I also love a pint of Guinness Porter even though I do not drink any more.

Levis - Procession - 1993

This uses a Tom Waits song “Heart Attack and Vine” sung by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins. Now I know Tom Waits was not too happy about his music being used in commercial soundtracks so I am not sure if this adverts stayed the distance , but the advert is cool and the music far cooler.

Ford - Cougar - Dennis Hopper / Easy Rider - 1990s

Quite clever with contemporary Hopper in his Ford Cougar and Easy Rider Hopper on his Harley Davidson racing down the road to the strains of “Born To Be Wild” by Steppenwolf”. People complained that Hopper sold out but he was responsible for so many amazing performances , why not hit paydirt once in a while wit something like this.

Virgin Atlantic

Not sure when this one dropped , and not a fan of Virgin at all, but this advert is just brilliantly hilarious , sound tracked by The Bee Gees “How Deep Is Your Love”

Cadbury’s Gorilla

Again forgot when this came out , but with Phil Collins minimalist “In The Air Tonight” on soundtrack the marriage of Phil’s monster drum sound and the gorilla makes for a just perfect advert.

McEwans - Lager - Alive and Kicking

This was an almost Escher type creation , and an amazing advert for a not so amazing drink. The music is “You’ve Got The Power” by Win

Dunlop - Tested For The Unexpected -1993

The video was directed by Tony Kaye for Dunlop. The song by The Velvet Underground is “Venus in Furs” from their debut album, which if it isn’t in your collection , why isn’t it?

Diet Coke - Office Girl Lust

We have to have this one don’t we , sound tracked by “I Just Wanna Make Love To You” by Etta James . Well I drink Diet Coke and that has never happened to me, and at my age now definitely never will, but one never knows does one.

YouTube is now full of adverts and generally the best are still the Guinness adverts but every now and then a good one does turn up elsewhere. I have tried to make sure all these have available music that you can source from whatever is your favourite place.