1 of 1- aflem
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Commercials That Turned Into Big Song Hits
I saw a thread on my local radio board about the T-Bones and the song "No Matter What Shape Your Stomach's In" from a 60s Alka Seltzer TV commercial. It made me wonder what other hits that started as spots wound up with a "spot" on the charts.
Here are the ones I came up with:
I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing - The New Seekers
The famous Coke commercial on a hilltop was a monster hit in 1972 and soon got new lyrics and reached the Top 10.
We've Only Just Begun - The Carpenters
Originally heard on a California bank commercial, it became a huge hit for the Carpenters in 1971.
Music To Watch Girls By - Bob Crewe Generation
I think this one started life for Pepsi and became a big instrumental hit not long after.
I'm sure there must be others.
- Lorne
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Re: Commercials That Turned Into Big Song Hits
Good topic, aflem. Two of your examples were so popular, they made the top 40 in two different versions: Andy Williams with a vocal version of Music To Watch Girls By that was a hit shortly after Crewe's version had been, and The Hillside Singers with I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing which competed on the charts with The New Seekers' version.
Here are three more, all of which were hits for the same artists who did them for commercials.
Country Sunshine: This began as a commercial for Coke sung by Dottie West, and then became a #49 pop/#2 country hit on Billboard in 1973 for her.
Times Of Your Life: Unusually for a Paul Anka hit, this song wasn't written by him. However, it was sung by him for use in a Kodak commercial, and he then released it as a single that got to #7 pop/#1 easy listening on Billboard in 1975-76.
The Homecoming: This instrumental started as a commercial for Salada Tea done by Toronto recording artist Hagood Hardy, and he then had a #41 pop/#6 easy listening hit on Billboard with it in 1976. It was an even bigger hit here in Canada.
Last edited by Lorne (March 6, 2023 11:02 pm)
- aflem
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Re: Commercials That Turned Into Big Song Hits
I hadn't thought of any of those! But they're certainly perfect examples. And I just thought of another one, but in reverse. "Come To The Sunshine" was recorded by Harper's Bizarre but didn't get much notice until it was used as the music in a Clairol commercial. It wasn't a huge hit, but if I remember it right, it got more airplay once it got the repetition on TV.
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Thread Starter- GrimsbyFan
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Re: Commercials That Turned Into Big Song Hits
A couple of songs that weren't really big hits but did become part of the marketing campaign for Clairol in the 60s.
She Lets Her Hair Down (Early in the Morning) was a minor hit (#61) for the tokens as well as for Gene Pitney (#89) but worked well in this commercial:
The B-side of Tommy James and the Shondels "Getting Together" was "Real Girl" and was a natural for the Clairol marketers.
- aflem
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Re: Commercials That Turned Into Big Song Hits
We discussed this here a long time ago, but Brenda Lee's "Comin' On Strong" was used extensively in a Mercury car commercial in the 60s.
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Thread Starter- Lorne
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Re: Commercials That Turned Into Big Song Hits
The Youngbloods' Get Together, when released initially in 1967, only reached #62 on Billboard. But after being used in a PSA by the National Conference of Christians and Jews, it was rereleased in 1969 and became a #5 hit.
- Lorne
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Re: Commercials That Turned Into Big Song Hits
If I can stretch the boundaries of what constitutes a commercial to include a political campaign song, then the Kingston Trio's M.T.A. could qualify as an example. According to Wikipedia, "The song was originally recorded as a mayoral campaign song for Progressive Party candidate Walter A. O'Brien. A version of the song with the candidate's name changed became a 1959 hit when recorded and released by The Kingston Trio".
- Little Rich
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Re: Commercials That Turned Into Big Song Hits
Lorne wrote:
The Youngbloods' Get Together, when released initially in 1967, only reached #62 on Billboard. But after being used in a PSA by the National Conference of Christians and Jews, it was rereleased in 1969 and became a #5 hit.
Not to mention Pepsi, KFC Restaurants and Walmart. Great song!
- Jim Elder
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Re: Commercials That Turned Into Big Song Hits
Sonny and Cher’s 1972 song “When You Say Love” was adopted from a Budweiser commercial “when you say Budweiser, you’ve said it all” written by Steve Karmen. The Sonny and Cher song was written Jerry Foster and Bill Rice with no credit given to Steve Karmen. Budweiser was delighted that their commercial had been made into a Top Forty song; not so Steve Karmen. He successfully sued for copyright infringement.
Last edited by Jim Elder (March 8, 2023 7:51 pm)
- Lorne
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Re: Commercials That Turned Into Big Song Hits
David Dundas's song Jeans On began as a jingle for Britain's Brutus Jeans.
- aflem
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Re: Commercials That Turned Into Big Song Hits
Odd you should mention Steve Karmen. The guy who runs my local radio board has a Soundcloud site that features an interview with him, in which he talks about all the campaigns he worked on (it's from the 80s, so it's restricted to that era.) It includes "At Beneficial, You're Good For More (Doo Doo)," "Sooner Or Later You'll Own General," the great tire campaign, the Budweiser spot you referred to and perhaps his most famous - "I Love New York."
A pretty good 10 minutes, with lots of samples of the commercials embedded.
Steve Karmen King Of The Jingle Writers
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Thread Starter- Taz
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Re: Commercials That Turned Into Big Song Hits
Billy Joe & The Checkmates ... Percolator Twist
- Lorne
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Re: Commercials That Turned Into Big Song Hits
Percolator Twist, which I wasn't familiar with, is a very interesting example of something from a commercial being turned into a song. Seeing this brought to mind something else along the same lines: how the line "Are you still using that greasy kid stuff?" from Vitalis ads was turned into the song That Greasy Kid Stuff by Janie Grant.
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Re: Commercials That Turned Into Big Song Hits
Hula Hoop Song - Teresa Brewer or Georgia Gibbs
Last edited by Taz (March 10, 2023 11:58 am)
- aflem
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Re: Commercials That Turned Into Big Song Hits
On a slightly different tack, the world of food had the Jolly Green Giant, and then the Kingsmen used him as the basis for one of its near hit records in 1965 or so. The tune even starts with the group singing the spot's famous tag line.
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Thread Starter- Taz
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Re: Commercials That Turned Into Big Song Hits
On a slightly different tack, the world of food had the Jolly Green Giant, and then the Kingsmen used him as the basis for one of its near hit records in 1965 or so. The tune even starts with the group singing the spot's famous tag line.
They kinda "borrowed" the tune
- Lorne
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Re: Commercials That Turned Into Big Song Hits
The notes used for the ending of The Doors' Touch Me were based on the "Stronger than dirt" slogan in Ajax Laundry Detergent commercials. Morrison can be heard saying those words on the album version, but not on the single.
- Lorne
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Re: Commercials That Turned Into Big Song Hits
This past weekend on former CHUM announcer Roger Ashby's oldies show, he played The Merry Ploughboy by the Carlton Showband. This song was a cover of the Abbey Tavern Singers' We're Off To Dublin In The Green; the two were charted together by CHUM in 1966, and they reached #2. We're Off To Dublin is actually an old IRA marching song, but its relevance to this topic is that the Abbey Tavern Singers' version had first been used in an international ad campaign by Canada's Carling Brewery. This version was also released in the US, where it reached #94 pop/#40 easy listening.