Anyone who doesn't fast forward through the commercial breaks or watches TV live will be familiar with this lovely song, as it's the music used in a very touching advert for Lloyds Bank, featuring the trademark black horse and its foal
The ad is a beautiful marriage of music and visuals, though I still maintain that horse isn't looking after the foal when it makes it walk across the icy lake first!
They say that Marmite is a bit, well...Marmite; you either love it or hate it. Me? I'm actually ambivalent towards it and so I rather spoil their whole marketing campaign. It's nice enough, but a bit too salty. Nah, I'm a Bovril body. One of the Bovril Brigade.
But, is it a drink or a spread? Well, it's whatever you want it to be really. I like it is a drink well enough, but I prefer getting the sachets rather than mixing it myself. For me though, you can't beat a bit of Bovril on toast or on a hot buttered crumpet. It's a great little addition to a spag bol too.
I was doing a spot of painting earlier today with Absolute Radio 90s as my companion when the slice of fried gold that is Stiltskin's 'Inside' came on. It immediately reminded me of that classic Levis advert, 'Creek'...
Anyone remember it? Can you believe it was from 1994?
A perfectly iconic marriage between Ansel Adams-style Yosemite photography and a jawdropper of a song. They don't make adverts like that any more do they?
Secret was a chocolate bar from Rowntree that came onto the market in the early '90s. It had a delicate bird's nest chocolate coating surrounding a Walnut Whip style creamy mousse.
I remember it being an instant favourite in school whilst, at home, my mum loved it too. For me personally though, ther love affair wore off relatively quickly. It was just a bit too sickly for my tastes. But then, I never liked Walnut Whips either, so...
I did like this advert though, which used the 1971 Chi-Lites hit Have You SeenHer? and featured actress Indra Ové
Unfortunately, my own abandonment of Secret was replicated on a much larger scale just a couple of years later when Rowntree discontinued the chocolate bar, citing poor sales and high production costs. In recent years petitions to get the Secret bar relaunched in the wake of public demand for the revival of Cadbury's Wispa have, so far, come to nothing.
Now, is it just me or is there very little new chocolate bars coming onto the market? As a kid back in the '80s and '90s, it seemed like there was always a new bar like Secret or Spiral or Marble just around the corner, but they've all now gone from the shelves, just waiting in hope for Peter Kay to base an entire act around them in the 'd'you remember...?' vein he's become famous and successful for. Whenever I glance at the confectionery shelves in supermarkets and shops nowadays (which admittedly isn't often) it's the same old names of Galaxy, Kit Kat, Mars and Twix. Hardy perennials I guess, but is there no longer a market for new taste sensations?
Sheffield born actor Peter Armitage has died at the age of 78.
Armitage was perhaps best known for playing builder Bill Webster, father of Kevin, in Coronation Street, a role he first played in 1984, before returning to the show for a second stint in 1995 to 1997, and for a final time in 2006 to 2011. Armitage was diagnosed with bowel cancer shortly after leaving the soap and had been in remission. Armitage was an actor I always liked, because he possessed a credible authenticity in the many working class roles he played. He never struck you as someone who seemed to be acting, you genuinely believed he could be the person he was playing, perhaps because he was no stranger to hard graft in real life; before entering showbusiness he worked in engineering, in the merchant navy and in 1964 dug the London Underground Victoria Line. Prior to securing his role in Coronation Street, Armitage appeared in this memorable advert for the Yellow Pages. He was indeed right about that saddle...
His TV career stretched back to 1970 and his many credits included roles in Ken Loach's Days of Hope, Alan Bleasdale's GBH, Jimmy McGovern's Hearts and Minds and Dockers, and Russell T Davies' The Second Coming, in which he played the father of Christopher Eccleston's modern day Christ. He also starred in the Steve Coogan film The Parole Officer in 2001, played Sergeant Kerby alongside Michael Caine in 1988's Jack the Ripper and appeared as David Jason's older, more confident brother in the 1970s sitcom Lucky Feller. He made guest appearances in programmes such as The Sweeney, The Professionals Softly Softly, Strangers, Bulman, Rockliffe's Babies, Lovejoy, Crown Court, Casualty, Holby City, The Royal, Heartbeat, Fat Friends, Peak Practice, Medics, and The Bill. His last TV appearance was in an episode of Doctors in 2013.
The details are sketchy but I received a text message from a friend earlier today to say that Peter Blake has passed away at the age of 69.
Blake was born in Selkirk, Scotland in 1948 and had a career in TV, film, theatre and music dating back to the mid '60s. An impressive career on the stage included roles in Hair, Jesus Christ Superstar, The Rocky Horror Show and several pantomimes, including three years as Captain Hook in Peter Pan in the mid 00s. His most famous role however is undoubtedly that of the medallion man fantasist Kirk St. Moritz in John Sullivan's classic '80s sitcom Dear John. It was a role that perhaps owed a debt to the Fonz type character he played in a string of adverts for Pepsi which ultimately led to a number 40 chart hit in 1977 for him with the track Lipsmackin' Rock n Rollin'
On film he starred in the sex comedy Intimate Games in 1976, and Panic, an effective short chiller from 1978. Other TV roles included the DJ Andy Evol in Agony, Richard Briers' smarmy work colleague Rex Tynan in Ever Decreasing Circles, Michael Vincent in Penmarric and Pretty Billy Binns in Trevor Preston's Out. He would go on to provide the score for Preston's follow up series Fox, and had guest roles in a string of popular British TV productions including Shoestring, Minder, Z Cars, A Very Peculiar Practice, Just Good Friends, Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV, The New Statesman, Taggart and Jonathan Creek. In 2010, Blake starred in several episodes of EastEnders as Ken Tate and his last on screen credit came in the 2012 film Run For Your Wife. As I say details are sketchy just now but his wikipedia has been updated to note that he passed away sometimes this month.
Anyone who pays attention to the ads on TV will now what I'm talking about there. It's the lyrics you hear from a snatch of music currently gracing the adverts for Wynsors World of Shoes. It's such an upbeat and catchy ear worm that I had to seek the full song out.
Turns out its just a session song, used on 'Pop Radio' for the game Farming Simulator as well as the advert in question. Entitled Bring Your Sunshine, it's written by Chris Bussey and Gareth Johnson
Once again an advert for home furniture and bedroom furnishings (of all things!) has delivered us some really nice music
Dreams has been running an advert for much of Christmas and the new year with this delicious cover of Paolo Nutini's Last Request from Amber Leigh Irish. Here it is in all its glory
One segment of a classic medley from Abbey Road has been given a new lease of life by Elbow for this year's John Lewis advert. Here are both versions to compare and contrast
Steppin' Out seems to be all around again at the moment. Not just because it currently features regularly on the BBC4 repeats of 1983 Top of The Pops - where the likes of John Peel and David 'Kid' Jensen inform us how acclaimed and award winning the video is - but also because it's currently being used on adverts for P+O Ferries too.
That award winning, acclaimed video was directed by Steve Barron and filmed in one night at the St Regis Hotel, New York City in the summer of 1982. It shows a hotel maid adopting a Cinderella style role and dreaming of the high life whilst the real high-living guests of the room she's tending to are out on the town.
The song was inspired by Jackson's time in New York and the excitement and anticipation of a night out driving around the city. It scored well in the States - proving to be his biggest hit there - as well as his native UK. And quite right too; it's a beautiful track. End Transmission
Beautiful, eerie and atmospheric song that always puts me in mind of the advert that used it and starred Gary Oldman
I guess you could look at how memorable that is for me and consider it a successful ad campaign...you could, if I remembered what it was they were advertising, beyond a rather vague 'phones?'!
When stuff sucks, make it right! Just like Jackson the Muppet in the new advert for Three
This ad has me in fits. Like seriously, is he ok? style laughter. It's embarrassing really but I've always been a bit of a sucker for Jim Henson's creations and the randomness of Jackson's antics in this ad, coupled with the blast from the 90s past that is East 17's It's Alright, makes this a gem
Three have form with ads that focus on the cute and funny with a rocking soundtrack. Here's a couple of their previous ones
Yet another unrealistic body image is being forced down our throats by ad men to make people feel inferior
Now don't get me wrong; I admire and enjoy the female frame as much as anyone (as you can probably see with some of this blog's content) but I draw the line at it being used to suggest one is superior to another, because that is just plain body fascism. In using this poster campaign, Protein World is directly targeting individuals with the aim to make them feel inferior when compared to the unrealistic body image of the bronzed model chosen to front the ads, and all in order to sell their product from 'the weight loss collection' This is just another way of making impressionable people, specifically young teenage girls, feel awkward, inferior and ugly. And I do not agree with that at all. Like Caitlin Moran says, not enough is being done to tell these kids that no one really looks like that. We need to start a conversation that reminds the young in our society to look around and ask themselves, do they really know anyone who looks like that, to keep them happy and confident in how they look themselves. Stopping this kind of advertisement is a start. So please sign this petition here What the fuck is 'beach body ready' anyway??
