Seems like an oxymoron maybe, and maybe this has been done before but figured this could be interesting. Saw a Keen Eddie re-run and it gave me the idea. Sometimes I get a kick out of some tunes I have that pop up in shows or commercials... especially living in the US since most tunes aren't on the radio here. But I heard a song called "Guimar" by Aim a little while ago and thought damn! It's a cool little track with a latin rythm and some nice guitar rifts with a funky sax in the background. Here are a few others by song title, artist and where I heard it. "Hayling" - FC Kahuna - Keen Eddie Episode (one of the many moments where he and Sienna Miller flirt or soemthing) "Bossa Per Due" - Nicola Conte - Acura commercial circa 2001. "Boss on the Boat" - Tosca - Pantene Pro-V commercial circa 2001. "Beautiful Otherness" - Bent - Keen Eddie Episode (when Detective Pepin's sitting alone in a cafe eating a ham sandwich reflecting on being single) "Jet Sounds" - Nicola Conte - Joe Boxer commercial in 2003 with the guy dancing around and grinning like an idiot. "Get a Move On" - Mr. Scruff versions- any Lincoln (auto) commercial. "Boombox" - Mosquitos - CVS commercials in New England and a Malcolm in the Middle episode when Dewey is abusing a cotton candy machine in the garage. There are probably loads of others. I actually don't sit in front of a TV everyday looking for tunes. Except for today, maybe tomorrow and the day after that.
adtunes.com is a good resource for music used on TV. As mentioned above, "Hayling" was nice. Mitsubishi and VW usually bring good stuff, and I liked Cornershop's "Good S***" used in a Target commercial. And The OC was a goldmine for great, semi-indie music.
I'm not sure what the full song is, but Calexico does part of that as an intro to the song "Corona" on their Convict Pool album.
I remember Wingspan Bank (an internet bank in the 90's that I think went under) used a Sea & Cake tune off of the The Biz and some other company has used the backwards taped cellos on Eels' Electro-Shock Blues. Both stood out to me because they seemed so out of place. I also remember reading an interview with Ira Kaplan of Yo La Tengo where he talked about letting his songs being used for commercials. He basically said that they were willing to create original music for companies but they wouldn't sell the rights to their previously released songs. They feel that it isn't fair to their fans that have paid for that music and may have created an emotional attachment to that tune to have that emotion cheapened by hearing it in a ad. He went on to say that they created an original peice for Coca-Cola and reworked Roto-Rooter's jingle. Coke apparently paid them enough money that it covered all of their personal expenses for an entire year. I agree with this philosophy. They aren't ruining their fans' experience but they are still being pragmatic enough to keep themselves financially secure. Good for them. Murf
there was this awesome song in a Dockers pants commercial around 98-99. look me a long time to find out what the song was called and who it was by. the song was Les Baxter- "Tropicando". it's a sweet ass tune