To be honest, I wasn’t blown away by the work in the new CA. And I blame Huey Lewis and Bryan Adams.
You see, I’m a huge fan of music—and I started buying records when I was 7 years old. To me, nothing will ever replace the music I heard in the few years when I was 13, 14 or 15—smack in the middle of the 80’s, which many older people considered to be a musical wasteland at the time. But damnit, I wanted my MTV, and I still wish they had World Premiere Videos. It’s not that I don’t like new music. The White Stripes, Franz Ferdinand, Madeleine Peyroux—all are good, but none of their CD’s get under my skin the way “Life’s Rich Pageant” did. Or “The Joshua Tree.” Hell, I’ll even cop to being a fan of “Reckless.”
Likewise, no recent ad has gotten under my skin the way Nike’s “If You Let Me Play” or the beautifully black & white Norwegian Cruise Lines ads with the non-linear, poetic copy did. For me, those were the seminal ads that showed me what was possible in advertising. I vividly recall seeing those ads, reading them, re-reading them, and aspiring to write something that would rise to that level.
It’s the focus of my new column on TalentZoo.com
i agree. american music has never again scaled the heights attained by the likes of Journey and Styx. they truly had enormous ambitions for their music. and ambition is somewhat lacking these days.
Journey and Styx? I love a stellar Mullet like the next person, but I hope you aren’t serious, Hans, about the “heights attained” musically here.
I will belt it out and not change the station when both of these bands come on the radio, but the reason is pure nostalgia (with bits of satire sprinkled in), not musicianship.
great article, as always, Mr. G.