broken heart, revisited

A The The song just played in a Dockers commercial. When will it stop? Never, I know.

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5 thoughts on “broken heart, revisited

  1. I was particularly surprised to hear The The’s “This is the Day” in that commercial and none too happy since Matt Johnson is one of my all-time favorites.
    On the forum at The The’s site, someone posted a reply from MJ’s manager about the commercial. I’m posting it here since I think it’s worthwhile but it can only be viewed if you’re registered in their forum.

    Dear Sam,

    Thanks for your note. Matt has only limited control over the use of some older songs of his, and has tended to resist using any The The songs in advertising in the past, though, as you will know, some songs have been used. He is adamant about not having any songs used for certain industries and has to rely on the goodwill of the songs publishers not to allow this.
    He does have total control over many of his titles, however, as he regrets signing away certain rights as a 18 year old in the early 80s.

    From my point of view, as his manager, (and I must stress this is my own feeling) I think it a good idea for fans to consider the two evils: having a single released on, say, Sony – that is played on Radio Stations controlled by Ted Turner or multi-media conglomerates from which Matt would earn near a nil royalty, having had to pay for a video to be made that feeds the MTV machine from which he also earns nothing,

    or

    allowing a known business to use the song in an advert for a limited time having asked them to donate funds towards choice causes, leaving Matt free to decide how his earnings can also be invested.

    This is the dilemma facing many artists today.

    I also look after The Estate Of Nick Drake and am asked to make these decisions, daily. My feeling is that Nick would have wanted as many people to hear his music as possible. Mainstream radio have never played Nick Drake, so I look to chosen alternatives to get people to hear his songs.

    If just one person hears a song as positive and as uplifting as ‘This Is The Day’ and then goes on to hear songs like ‘Love Is Stronger Than Death’ then their world may be a better place.

    As I say, a choice of evils, or simply: make music only for yourself.

    Kind regards,

    Cally

  2. Thanks for naming that song for me, G. I knew I used to know it and own it (on cassette, no less) and love it in the 80s, but I couldn’t for the life of me place it and it was driving me nuts!
    What bugs me most about this commercial is that, by using music from my youth, it means the ad people think I should be wearing Dockers! Ack! Never!

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