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Is Townshed a Who Sellout?


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I'm becoming more and more angry about the amount of songs by the Who that are used on TV. The CSI's use "Baba O' Reily", "Who Are You" and "Won't Get Fooled Again" and there are countless commercials. Ford used "Bargain", Hummer used "Happy Jack", Nissan used "Magic Bus", Saab used "I'm Free" some headlight company used "I Can See For Miles", for some god unknown reason "Eminence Front" is in GTA: San Andreas, and "Love Reign O'er Me" was used for 7-Up. I doubt Daltry, Entwistle, and Moon wouldn't want these classic songs to be used. The Who are not Kiss, they are not sellouts, except for Townshed. Any one else agree?

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My feelings about the Stones. We who appreciate the music want it to be just that. These guys (the supergroups)make money. It's a business like any other. Unfortunate from our point of view, but, I think, understandable.

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I seem to remember a PT interview not to far back in which he said he had no problem selling his songs so that he could make a buck. I dont mind (like my opinion would make a difference) because I like the songs and it may get others who may not have heard of The Who to say "I like that song, who is that?" It increases the fan base.

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I think so, yes. I can, to some extent, understand bands who never made a penny and now sell heir rights to amke some money now, but Pete Townshend certainly doesn't have to worry about this. It's not even music-related products, and I can't see many connections between the music and the product either. I think music, and especially this kind of music (as opposed to Jessica Simpson, for example), is far too valuable to be used in commercials like this. It's not taking the music serious enough.

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I don't think Kiss are sellouts }:( Just a good band who made some good music. Like The Who. We all gotta make a living, whether it be as a preschool teacher or marketing KISS style coffins :D

And I agree with Marc about that whole new fanbase thing. Bringing music to a new generation.

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I don't think it's that it's "not taking the music serious enough", I think it's perhaps that you're taking the music too seriously. Sure, they're classic songs, sure, they're great to listen to.. But are they truly some sort of cultural landmark, that to have the guy who wrote them make a profit from them 30ish years later is a "sellout"?

Was it not a sellout then, for the Who to sell them as a 45 when they were new songs? As soon as they packaged it for mass retail sale they became a sellout.

I cringe sometimes too when I hear classic songs turned into "jingles", but let's be honest here.. What are you taking offense at, really? Is it because your favorite artist has done something terrible that we've all labeled as "selling out" or is it because your own feelings toward that song are being interfered with? I think the situation is more personal, and it's you who are upset, not the artist who's committed some terrible crime.

:)

my .02

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Grant Wood's painting, American Gothic, is perhaps the best known American painting. It is also one of the most commercially used images from fine arts. Which one of the previous sentences is true because of the other being true? Probably both are equally accurate. Same with the Mona Lisa. Her face sells many items from bras to fictional books, but that does not diminish her appeal, nor her power to generate thoughtful feelings when seriously considered by those seeking her truth.

It is extremely rare - if not a little bit selfish - for creative art to be produced and the order given by its creator for it to be kept secret. I once wrote:

Art and market

Have always had

An uneasy relationship.

However, art

Without market

An undisciplined child is.

What we are experiencing is merely the maturation process of music that at one time fueled our personal rebellions.

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Yes, of course it's me who's upset, and I never said that he's committing a terrible crime, but this is my opinion, and I just stated it.

Yes, my own personal feelings towards the song are being interfered with, and is taking music serious really that bad? I'm not a fan of KISS but dislike their songs being used in commercials because I'm one of those people who think that songs used in commercials should be songs written especially for that purpose, and not others.

I don't really see a connection between releasing a song on a 45 and using it in a commercial either, that's two very different things to me, because they're being used for a very different purpose.

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Television is just another medium, like records. The fact that CSI will be in syndication for 300 years only makes these songs live on long after their creator is dead, and if he can make a buck in the process...It's no different than getting paid to make an album.

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I don't think it's that it's "not taking the music serious enough", I think it's perhaps that you're taking the music too seriously. Sure, they're classic songs, sure, they're great to listen to.. But are they truly some sort of cultural landmark, that to have the guy who wrote them make a profit from them 30ish years later is a "sellout"?

Was it not a sellout then, for the Who to sell them as a 45 when they were new songs? As soon as they packaged it for mass retail sale they became a sellout.

I cringe sometimes too when I hear classic songs turned into "jingles", but let's be honest here.. What are you taking offense at, really? Is it because your favorite artist has done something terrible that we've all labeled as "selling out" or is it because your own feelings toward that song are being interfered with? I think the situation is more personal, and it's you who are upset, not the artist who's committed some terrible crime.

:)

my .02

Spectacular, Malakin. I think you need to raise your price to at least .04. :grin:

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(I hope you didn't take offense at my earlier post, I didn't mean it to be rude or anything)

Anyway, the reason companies use such songs in their ads, is they are familiar. People love these songs. You take a song that someone has fond memories of and attach it to a product, and it's going to make that person, on some subliminal level, associate those fond memories with the product.

And Peaches, I'll take your advice under consideration. :D

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I see your point, but I think there is a certain point where yo draw the line. Is it really necessary to have your songs in 10 commercials. I don't think I know any other band that has done that, ever. It's just that these songs are classics, and to "tarnish" them just to make a quick buck is wrong. Sure, 1 or 2 TV shows or commercials is fine, but 10?

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I see your point, but I think there is a certain point where yo draw the line. Is it really necessary to have your songs in 10 commercials. I don't think I know any other band that has done that, ever. It's just that these songs are classics, and to "tarnish" them just to make a quick buck is wrong. Sure, 1 or 2 TV shows or commercials is fine, but 10?

Following Malakin and Das's line : they're simply songs -'ditties ' if you will , and Townsend can do as he wishes with them . If they mean something 'more' to you and you are offended , then perhaps you need to look at what you admire in a different light . Perhaps try to take it as a compliment that some advertising hack shares your entusiasm and admires whatever song as much as you do . Would you prefer ads set to tunes from the worst songs ever list ?

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  • 3 weeks later...

Some of the posts in this thread are politically incorrect. After a mininum limit of 30 years has passed, a song loses it's credited rights regarding copyright & therefore is available to Corporations for commercialized use, with or without the artist's consent. It's all a bunch of corrupted redundancy, who knows if the R.I.A.A. even cares?

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I remember a dispute in 1985 over this sort of thing, involving Bruce Springsteen & his song "Born in the U.S.A." I don't remember what company, I think Ford or Chevy, wanted to use it for a commercial, & since it was a current chart topper at the time, he declined.

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