A few weeks ago I was ranting about the use of old rock songs to sell various products on TV. Well here I am at it again…
Recent K-Marts ads use a wonderful little jangly electric guitar riff which has sounded SO familiar, yet I couldn’t place it. Well this morning I finally figured out where I knew the sound from, it’s the opening riff from a song called “These Days” that a teen-aged Jackson Browne penned for by Nico for her seminal recording Chelsea Girl. Who would ever have thought that music that grew from the Velvet Underground would be used to sell K-Mart products?
For those who don’t know the album, “Chelsea Girl”, recorded in 1966, it features the moody and off-kilter (yet stunning) vocals of the German born singer/model Nico. It was produced by Lou Reed, and uses lush string quartet arrangements to surround a set of delicate songs. Also on the album is one of my favorite songs of all time, also written by Jackson Browne, “The Fairest of the Seasons.
What to hear Nico for yourself? Click here to listen to “These Days” (in Real Audio).