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Name this Voice

Frayed Knot Apr 06 2012 07:58 AM

This TV commercial, which ran in the DC area during the '70s, apparently became something of a cult classic among those of a certain age due to its saturation running during Saturday morning cartoon time, its catchy ear-worm jingle, and the winking kids at the end (the owner's now 40-something children). [youtube:1xteelxc]n7PEMGuA6tw[/youtube:1xteelxc] Can you name the then up-and-coming - and currently still very much alive and active - musician who both wrote and sung the jingle in exchange for a lifetime membership to the school?

John Cougar Lunchbucket Apr 06 2012 08:01 AM Re: Name this Voice

Paul Anka?

Frayed Knot Apr 06 2012 08:02 AM Re: Name this Voice

Nope!

Farmer Ted Apr 06 2012 08:05 AM Re: Name this Voice

It sounds like Jon Anderson of Yes but I believe his former Boss is on tour now...

HahnSolo Apr 06 2012 08:09 AM Re: Name this Voice

James Taylor?

Frayed Knot Apr 06 2012 08:13 AM Re: Name this Voice

No to Anderson & Taylor. I thought this was going to be easy but maybe it's one of those, 'once you know it's obvious'.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Apr 06 2012 08:24 AM Re: Name this Voice

Paul Simon?

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Apr 06 2012 08:27 AM Re: Name this Voice

The "still very much active" part is preemptively torpedoing a few guesses of mine. Studio-tweaked Rundgren?

Edgy MD Apr 06 2012 09:20 AM Re: Name this Voice

Yeah, I was gonna guess John Denver. Jorma Kaukonen?

Farmer Ted Apr 06 2012 09:29 AM Re: Name this Voice

Not Jon Anderson but was I close earlier in that this person's former Boss is on tour now??

metsmarathon Apr 06 2012 09:32 AM Re: Name this Voice

billy joel

Mets – Willets Point Apr 06 2012 10:04 AM Re: Name this Voice

Bob Mould.

sharpie Apr 06 2012 10:18 AM Re: Name this Voice

Michael Stipe.

Frayed Knot Apr 06 2012 11:09 AM Re: Name this Voice

No to all of the above. Farmer Ted is hinting around it although his 'clue' is partially correct but also partially misleading. We're talking about an up-and-comer during the 1970s - so now is about 60 years old. Known for both vocals and guitar. Has done solo work under his own name but better known as a sideman in a larger band. A native of Maryland which is what got him connected to the DC area school.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Apr 06 2012 11:15 AM Re: Name this Voice

I looked it up. Wouldn't have guessed since I thought he was from Chicago.

Frayed Knot Apr 06 2012 11:18 AM Re: Name this Voice

Born in Chicago, but didn't grow up there. The Maryland thing isn't much of a clue, more just an explanation of the connection.

TransMonk Apr 06 2012 11:48 AM Re: Name this Voice

I can't play the clip at work, but based on all of the clues, I would guess Nils Lofgren (only because it seems to me that Little Steven's voice is distinctive enough that it would have been guessed by now).

Frayed Knot Apr 06 2012 12:28 PM Re: Name this Voice

And we have a winner!!

Edgy MD Apr 06 2012 04:19 PM Re: Name this Voice

Lofgren and his two brothers were all guitar wunderkinds in the area in the seventies. I just re-played the commercial and something clicked in my wife's mind --- she went to high school in Winchester, VA --- and she sang along with the whole thing. She said the commercial was so saturated that at one point 20% of her brain was devoted to it, and that until I just played it, it had died down to about nine brain cells, and now the ear-worm has re-asserted itself. Maybe forever. She's not happy with me. And FK, she's not happy with you.

Frayed Knot Apr 06 2012 06:09 PM Re: Name this Voice

Glad I could be of service. I usually tell friends that whenever they have a problem with the wife to just blame it all on me.

The Second Spitter Apr 07 2012 02:51 AM Re: Name this Voice

Stretch Armstrong?

John Cougar Lunchbucket Apr 07 2012 05:43 AM Re: Name this Voice

I streamed some of his stuff only recently. "Cry Tough" is probably his best album, the melodies aren't particularly outstanding but the guitar is pretty hot. His voice is a bit too girly. He had a song called "Across the Tracks" which during the 3 weeks it was in radio rotation and before it vanished forever I remember being deeply in love with. The miracle of streaming helped me reconnect, and it was not quite as great as I recall. But check out the karate moves in the video! [youtube:pm6zb4qv]T_P6miDhkHc[/youtube:pm6zb4qv]

Frayed Knot Apr 07 2012 06:17 AM Re: Name this Voice

My first memory of Nils was hearing his version of Randy Newman's 'Baltimore' (released in 1979) At the time I had no idea it was a cover, it was just something some DJ played back when they still could do some actual freelancing and this one in particular (forget who at this point) said he was playing it because he had just returned from a visit to the city. Don't think I've heard it except that one time. For more local flavor, Nils also wrote and recorded 'Bullets Fever', a song for Washington's 1978 NBA championship. Other Nils facts: - was a HS gymnast which helps to explain the moves both in the video and later as parts of his stage act. - played both guitar and piano on Neil Young's 'After the Gold Rush' album when just 17 years old - appeared in the infamous 'Sgt Pepper' movie

Edgy MD Apr 07 2012 06:28 AM Re: Name this Voice

Wow, who knew that old school b-boy break danciing moves owed so much to Jhoon Rhee's Taekwondo school?! There was this notion in the early years that you only got one chance perhaps to break into the music video market, so you better get your branded stage act across, whether or not it was appropriate to the track in question. I think the album "Across the Tracks" was featured on was actually called Flip!

Edgy MD Apr 07 2012 10:43 PM Re: Name this Voice

I did some experimenting today and asked a few people who grew up in the area if they had heard of this commercial, and they all gave me this stupid look, like I asked them, "Hey, have you ever heard of Cap'n Crunch? Have you ever heard of Diana Ross? Hey, have you ever heard of bicycles?" It was apparently that dumb a question. They all knew every word of the ad by heart. And they knew that nobody messed with little Korean kids. But none of them knew the artist. But tonight my friend Mark, on being told that Lofgren was the singer/songwriter, reminded me of Lofgren's other contribution to local culture and started singing the lyrics to "Bullets Fever."

Mets – Willets Point Apr 08 2012 01:11 AM Re: Name this Voice

I suppose it would be like asking someone from the New York area of a certain age if they'd ever heard of beautiful Mt. Airy Lodge. [youtube:2bs4qb1y]9oU4HevJ1xo[/youtube:2bs4qb1y]

Frayed Knot Apr 08 2012 06:48 AM Re: Name this Voice

Or maybe more like Palisades Amusement Park since that ad was more targeted more towards young'uns (some here are going to be too young). [youtube:27gcbe0n]-mnXyMqSxIg[/youtube:27gcbe0n] I can still sing that damn ditty despite never once going to the place.

Ashie62 Apr 08 2012 06:51 AM Re: Name this Voice

Yup.."Come on over!" been there many times.

Mets – Willets Point Apr 08 2012 01:38 PM Re: Name this Voice

I must be too young, because I don't remember the Palisades' jingle.

Frayed Knot Apr 08 2012 02:04 PM Re: Name this Voice

According to Wikipedia (so you know it's true) Palisades Amusement Park, which opened in 1898, closed in 1971. But, prior to that, that jingle ran in saturation mode on both radio and TV during the summertime.

metsguyinmichigan Apr 08 2012 04:18 PM Re: Name this Voice

Remember the jingle for "Jungle Habitat" in West Milford, NJ? I couldn't find a You Tube of the ad or jingle, but the stories about the after-life of the park are pretty interesting!

Mets – Willets Point Apr 08 2012 05:06 PM Re: Name this Voice

What I remember is non-stop ads for Action Park, which I was never allowed to go to (probably because of it's history of death and dismemberment): [youtube:q07edboh]VKWJpFEJw9M[/youtube:q07edboh]

metsmarathon Apr 09 2012 10:25 AM Re: Name this Voice

see, i was never allowed to go to space farms, on account of the perceived cruelty of keeping those many wild animals in tiny cages. those perceptions weren't entirely unwarranted. and i went to action park a handful of times. last time i went, after my junior year of high school, i think, i left a little bit of myself on the alpine slide. scraped up my elbow pretty bad, and a little of my shoulder and knee.