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Songs that inadvertently advertise


Mike

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Was listening to Cabo Wabo (Van Halen - 1988) and it occurred to me that while this was a song about a tourist attraction, vacation haven of Sammy Hagar, it was not (to my knowledge and research) devised to advertise the location, it did in fact have a significant impact on tourism for the location following the songs release. It got me to thinking what other songs have an unitentional impact on a place or thing?

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We've got a whole Web site that ties in nicely with this topic, actually.

Songplaces.com is all about the places, etc.

Many, many songs have been written about places that cause the tourism to take a steep incline. A few that come right to mind are "Creeque Alley" By the Mamas and the Papas, "Baker Street" By Gerry Rafferty, Alice's Restaurant Massacree" by Arlo Guthrie, and "Hotel California" by the Eagles.

Thanks for providing a great thread to showcase the new site, Mike. :) (even though it was inadvertently) ;)

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I've just suggested Palisades Park by Freddie Cannon over in the Q&A Forum [smaller]Places for Songplaces !![/smaller] thread.

[smaller]from wikipedia:[/smaller]

"The park's reputation and attendance continued to grow throughout the 1950s and 1960s, largely due to saturation advertising and the continued success of the park's music pavilion. In 1962 ... Freddy Cannon recorded a song about the park, Palisades Park, which got nationwide airplay and boosted the park's fame even further."

Now, reading between the lines, I started to wonder just how "inadvertently" this might have occured.

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"Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jacks"

Some example from -

Magdalena - The Mothers (1972)- off the Zappa album Just Another Band From L.A.

"I saw you standing under the Shell pest strip late last night, in the light..."

"I wantcha to walk back to me, Baby... I wantcha to turn around by the Sparkletts machine... "

"Baby, I want you to walk back in your five inch spike heels that you got at Frederick's..."

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"Have another Chivas Regal..."

(Stevie Wonder, "Used To Be"

...she should have used Odorono"

(The Who, "Odorono")

"...lying on a naked bed with an Alka Seltzer head..."

(Rolling Stones, "Downtown Suzie")

Edited by Guest
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We've got a whole Web site that ties in nicely with this topic, actually.

Songplaces.com is all about the places, etc.

Many, many songs have been written about places that cause the tourism to take a steep incline. A few that come right to mind are "Creeque Alley" By the Mamas and the Papas, "Baker Street" By Gerry Rafferty, Alice's Restaurant Massacree" by Arlo Guthrie, and "Hotel California" by the Eagles.

Thanks for providing a great thread to showcase the new site, Mike. :) (even though it was inadvertently) ;)

Thanks for pointing out that link Shawna!

I was listing to Synchronicity II and the line... of course, We have to shout above the din of our Rice Crispies.

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Some example from -

Magdalena - The Mothers (1972)- off the Zappa album Just Another Band From L.A.

"I saw you standing under the Shell pest strip late last night, in the light..."

"I wantcha to walk back to me, Baby... I wantcha to turn around by the Sparkletts machine... "

"Baby, I want you to walk back in your five inch spike heels that you got at Frederick's..."

And I can't forget:

"I'd like to ... spread mayonnaise and Kaopectate all over your body and take you down to Hollywood Boulevard."

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I remember watching those commercials growing up in Los Angeles.

Owner Eddie of Zachary All Clothing

"Beginning in the early 1960s, Eddie became something of a Southern California celebrity for commercials in which he famously emphasized that clothes at his store came in sizes "Cadet, Extra Short, Regular, Long, Extra Long and Portlies."

That's not to mention Zachary All's famous '$99 tuxedo'. "

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