Back when I was reading that biography on Elvis Costello, the author mentioned that Elvis' dad had recorded a commercial in 1970 that continues to be one of the most beloved commercial jingles in England. I'd heard this story before but I thought it was finally time to use the awesome power of the interweb to track down said jingle.
It was harder than you'd imagine. Many sites made mention of the song but failed to offer an audio clip of it. I finally found a place that promised to email me the clip if I sent them an email. They didn't want to post the song directly because of concerns about copyright, etc.
So a couple weeks ago I sent out the email request for R White's "Secret Lemonade Drinker" jingle. I had just about given up on the whole thing when it magically arrived in my inbox today. I listened to it right away and it has left me pretty befuddled. It's nothing like I'd always imagined it sounded like.
Imagine if you will, Elvis Costello doing his best impression of Elvis Presley. That's exactly what Ross MacManus (Elvis' dad) sounds like in this commercial. It's an odd little tune that I wouldn't imagine anyone humming along to. I guess Britain is an odd little country, though.
The story goes that the jingle also marked Elvis first time working in a recording studio. He's supposed to be somewhere in the backing vocals on the tune but I can't say I hear him. If you're really desperate to hear this tune, too, email me and I'll pass it along.
6 comments:
Bunce's!That's all I got to say! Whjy aren't we all at Bunbces? Or the place of electric fish? Namely the Silver Dollar?!
Hey, I read the Silver Dollar is closed now. They put in a new bar there. It's a fancy place with bottle service and a dress code. They probably couldn't afford to stay open after we left Grass Valley.
I also heard that the new owners of the Mine Shaft are turning it into an upscale wine bar...
Okay, I made that up. I just wanted to see if I could hear a collective cry of "Nooooo!" all the way out here in Wisconsin.
Did his dad like the original Elvis a lot or something?
I sort of want to hear it, but I'd probably only listen to it once and then forget about it. Souns like asking them to send it to me would be too much of a bother.
it's not so much the song that is funny it's the actual advert, it's a guy walking down the stairs at night in his pj's sneeking a quick drink or lemonade, and britain is the greatest nation on the planet, our humour is funniest i've ever come across so far. nickolas, 30/06/09 ENGLAND.
You probably haven't considered the fact that this ad was created in the early 70s and that it is a jovial satire - your comments seem somewhat uneducated - I guess Britain is an odd little country but then the US is an even odder big country which, do not forget, was colonised by the Europeans, many of whom are from Britain so you yourself are quite likely to have roots in Britain.
The ad can be found at this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=A9_cCdKRNhk
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