Way Back 2022

November 9, 2022 - TV, Baseball and Movies Give Us Etta, Alpert, Jimi, Jerry Lee, Isley Bros, Marvin and Tammi

Etta James' hit 1968 version of Otis Redding's "Security" comes blasting out of home screen speakers in a current commercial designed to suppress web trepidation while building Gmail's user base. Meanwhile, anyone who's hungry but simultaneously committed to avoiding exercise can hum Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass's rendition of Riz Ortolani's "Mae" (from the '65 film The Yellow Rolls-Royce) while they're waiting for delivery from a DoorDash driver.

The Major League Baseball season has finally ended. Noticeable songs of the vintage variety heard during televised postseason games include "All Along the Watchtower" by Jimi Hendrix on the night the Philadelphia Phillies dashed any hopes San Diego had of advancing...and "Great Balls of Fire" by Jerry Lee Lewis (on the day of his passing, October 28) during the Houston Astros' first World Series step towards giving the Phils the same kind of punishment they'd inflicted on the Padres.

Movie fans are being treated to "This Old Heart of Mine" by The Isley Brothers in the Julia Roberts-George Clooney rom-com Ticket to Paradise. This isn't the first time Julia has gotten her groove on to a Motown classic (see 1998's Stepmom for more than one tear-jerking scene featuring "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell).


October 14, 2022 - Nilsson and Dee Dee on TV, Cole, Kitt, Chordettes, Simone, Stones and Watts Band Get Movie Spins

Creative (you could say unusual) use of vintage songs has become the norm. "Best Friend," Harry Nilsson's theme for the 1969 TV sitcom The Courtship of Eddie's Father, is plugged by Shaquille O'Neal on a current insurance commercial for the General and Dee Dee Sharp's "Mashed Potato Time" airs on an Airbnb spot. In the once-again-frequented world of the cineplex, '50s gems "Love is Here to Stay" by Nat "King" Cole and "Santa Baby" by Eartha Kitt are heard in the comedy Bros, while The Chordettes' 1958 hit "Lollipop" enters the dark side for the first time in Smile. Children's film Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile (he sings like Shawn Mendes?!) includes a pair of unlikely selections: "Sinnerman" by Nina Simone and "Express Yourself" by Charles Wright and the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band. Meanwhile, promos for Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's latest action entry, Black Adam, are set to the sound of The Rolling Stones' downer '66 smash "Paint It Black."




Great Balls of Fire This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak For You) Santa Baby Lollipop Paint It Black

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