re: HEAVEN SENT:
Interesting topic. I always thought Heaven Sent was a distinctive fragrance that topped most others, many of which smelled more like insecticide. I actually convinced a girl in college to start wearing it.
Yes, it's still for sale. And, according to Fragrance.net, has been since 1936:
http://www.fragrancenet.com/heaven-sent-perfume/dana/womens-fragrances/wf/en_US/01147?cur_letter=H
I notice there's also a vanilla Heaven Sent. Interesting, since another girl I knew in college wore vanilla cologne. My past is catching up to me.
- Ron (not THAT Ron) Smith
WOULD YOU LIKE TO KNOW WHY THE MELODY TO HEAVEN SCENT IS SO CATCHY?
OK, I THOUGHT SO ... SO HERE GOES.
IT STARTS ON A MINOR CHORD AND THEN GOES TO A SUB DOM. MAJOR (THINK BRIAN HYLAN / "SEALED WITH A KISS"). THEN IT SCOOTS THROUGH A SERIES OF CONSONANT MEDIANT RELATED PROGRESSIONS (SOUNDS LIKE HEAVEN). THEN IT GOES TO THE ROOT IN MAJOR FOLLOWED BY THE RELATIVE MINOR. (THINK "GEE WHIZ" / CARLA THOMAS). ALL THIS I GOT FROM ONE QUICK LISTEN.
THE CHANGES ARE ANGELIC AND HAVE A PLEASING EFFECT ON THE LISTENER. THE WORDS HELP, TOO. IF YOU THINK THIS ALL A COINCIDENCE, YOU'RE WRONG. JINGLES WERE VERY CAREFULLY THOUGHT OUT AND I SPENT LOTS OF TIME TRYING TO CAPTURE THE MAGIC WITHOUT STEALING A MELODY. HOWEVER,YOU CAN USE THE SAME CHORDS ... OR, EVEN BETTER, SEVERAL TRIED AND TRUE PATTERNS. ANY GOOD SONG / JINGLE WRITER KNOWS WHEN SOMETHING WORKS. ON SOME OCCASIONS, AN EXISTING SONG IS FOUND THAT FITS A COMMERCIAL, LIKE CLAIROL DID WITH MY RECORDING OF "SHE LETS HER HAIR DOWN". IN EITHER CASE, THE WRITER DID A GREAT JOB.
(I SHOULD ALSO MENTION THAT THERE WERE QUITE A FEW JINGLES THAT I SANG AND PLAYED ON. MOST PEOPLE DON'T REALIZE THAT IN THE SAME DAY YOU MAY BE CALLED UPON TO SOUND LIKE THE BEACH BOYS IN THE MORNING AND RAY CHARLES IN THE AFTERNOON. I DO HAVE SOME VERY INTERESTING STORIES.)
REGARDS,
DON (YOUNG) ALBANO
And Don will be sharing some of those stories ... and some of his music ... with our readers real soon. Thanks, Don! (kk)
Hi Kent,
Am I not finding the Heaven Sent jingle on your page for downloading? I REALLY want to get an MP3 of the classic version Rob says he sent, but I can't find anything to click on. Can you send it to me, please?
HOWEVER, when trying to figure out where to hear the jingle, I did click on Jeff Lemlich's Limestone site and then clicked on his "Garage Hangover" site where Gary Myers' Portraits group has a great biography on this long lasting history. Possibly more exciting to me was finding the latest entry of the Five Bucks (later Byzantine Empire). If you do not know this USA / Dunwich records recording act, you NEED to read about them, and more importantly, listen to some of their 45s. Just GREAT pop rock stuff! I contacted Bruce Kerr years ago when researching the USA records catalog and he had some good info of which much is in the article as well as local top 40 charts. Finally, I am happy that the Five Bucks got some recognition on the recent Sundazed USA Records CD release. I wish they had the rights to the other 45s, but it is still good to get a song out there from this outstanding band!
WLSClark
Ironically, we just received a note from Gary Myers about this same piece ... more info below for those interested in reading it ...
For whatever interest (if any) it might be, here is an article I wrote that was just put online by the garagehangover site:
http://www.garagehangover.com/?q=Portraits
Gary E. Myers / MusicGem
re: MORE "COMMERCIAL" APPEAL:
I don't know if you've covered this one yet, but while we're talking commercials that turned into pop songs (or even commercials that didn't but should have; e.g., Heaven Sent) it's worth mentioning "Come to the Sunshine," which Harpers Bizarre released in 1967 and (according to Whitburn's Top 40 Hits), peaked at #37.
I don't know if Harpers recorded the commercial itself, but it was certainly done in their style. The product being pushed was called Sun-In, and is still being sold; it's a weak bleach that puts lighter streaks in your hair. The commercial's lyrics differed significantly from the song adaptation, but sheesh, they still stick in my mind:
Come to the sunshine!
Throw some light in your hair and swear it's the sunshine;
(Goofy British voice: "The sun did it!")
It's the sunshine;
You know they won't know it isn't the sun.
I swear, in the summer of '67 that commercial came on every twenty minutes on WCFL. The song itself was decent, but I liked almost everything that charted for Harpers Bizarre.
And it makes me wonder: What other commercials became pop songs back in the day?
Jeff Duntemann
Colorado Springs, Colorado
"Come To The Sunshine" was Harpers Bizarre's follow-up single to their Top 20 smash cover version of Simon and Garfunkel's "The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)". It didn't chart here in Chicago ... instead we awarded "hit status" to their NEXT single, a GREAT reworking of the old Cole Porter tune "Anything Goes". It's funny but I don't remember "Come To The Sunshine" from the "Sun In" commercial ... but I am familiar with the song ... so it must have been played here to some extent, even though it never made our local charts. Thanks for sharing, Jeff! (kk)
Hi KK:
I enjoyed the discussion and playbacks of the "Heaven Sent" radio ads. I more or less ignored them at the time because they were repeated so much. Now I appreciate how creative they were then. These days I don't seem to hear any ads as much fun.
The subject brought to mind a couple done in 1967 / 68 by SFs Jefferson Airplane for Levi's Jeans. I think they sound hilariously trippy considering how straight laced AM radio was in those days. From the 2400 Fulton Street compilation I'm attaching them here
Enjoy!
John B. Krug
Yes, you can turn me on! I'm on the radio!
Surf City Sounds Plus: http://www.Live365.com/stations/johns805?play
Happy Holidays to All!
The Heaven Sent jingle reminded me of a Local (Boston) jingle for getting Gas Heat, maybe it was Oil Heat. It was called the Montreal Express, about the cold wind coming down from CANADA, and how to fight it off by using the companies fuel. I haven't heard it for quite a long time, perhaps one of your readers has a version to share.
Isn't wonderful all the ways we can enjoy our music these days! I hope all your Christmas wishes come to pass.
Charles
Right backatcha, Charles! Being a Chicago Boy, I'm not familiar with this ad campaign ... but I'll betcha some of our East Coast Readers are! Let's see what comes back! (kk)
Jade East was a 60s icon. Who could ever forget it. Just ask any girl or guy from the 60's. As a female I loved to smell this stuff on my guy. Was there a jingle for this one?
Carrie
I don't remember a specific jingle for this one ... but we certainly seem to have found some "commercial appeal" with this latest topic! (lol) kk
Hi Kent
I seem to remember another fragrance being advertised back in the late 60's on either WLS or 'CFL. It was called ''Windsong'' by Prince Matchebelli [sic]. The jingle mentioned ''and her Wingsong stays on my mind'' or something on that order. Its been a long time ago! LOL!
Also there was an ad for H.I.S. jeans and slacks. It went something like ''the guy in the know,the guy on the go, goes H.I.S.,H.I.S.,H.I.S ... !!!"
This all stirs up lots of good memories. Keep up the great work!
Kay
That Windsong melody is another classic ... I had forgotten all about it but it came back IMMEDIATELY at the mention of this perfume! Unreal the subliminal effect these ads had on us growing up! Thanks, Kay! (kk)
And check THIS one out ... another instant commercial classic!!! (Betcha can sing every word!!!)
Click here: YouTube - Prince Matchabelli TV Commercial - 1970s
And speaking of H.I.S. jeans, be sure to give a listen to those Levi's commercials above courtesy of John Krug and The Jefferson Airplane ... makes you want to run right out to the store and pick up a pair!!! (lol) kk
In thinking about radio jingles that became pop songs, I unexpectedly recalled a jingle for Ken-L-Ration dog food from the early-mid 1960s. It was played to death on TV, and I'd think anybody who could hear at all in that era would remember it:
My dog's bigger than your dog!
My dog's faster than yours!
My dog's bigger 'cause he eats Ken L Ration,
My dog's better than yours!
I vaguely remember a song with the same melody as the commercial that was played (a little) in the Chicago markets called "Doggie Named Leroy," of which I recall only a couple of lines:
He can beat any dog any old time.
Me and my doggie named Leroy
We just play around.
La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la la-la (woof! woof!) , etc.
I looked around online for anything on it, and the only mentions were in connection with WLS, so it may have been a local garage band. Interestingly, the Wikipedia writeup on Ken-L-Ration states that the jingle was adapted from a Tom Paxton song called "My Dog's Bigger Than Your Dog." So we may in fact have a song adapted into a commercial and then adapted back into a pop song!
Jeff Duntemann
Colorado Springs, Colorado
I definitely remember that one!!! I found an old LP from 1989 that features 55 different commercials ... they seem to be somewhat categorized by product: Soft Drinks, Breakfast Cereals, Beer, Cigarettes, Cars, Shaving, Skin and Hair products ... and then things like Alka Seltzer, Rice-A-Roni, Hawaiian Punch, Ajax Laundry Detergent and several others ... and your Ken-L Ration commercial appears on there, too! Nowadays, we mute all the commercials when they come on ... or folks Tivo through them!!! Back then, in the pre-technology days, we'd all just sing along! (kk)
Click here: YouTube - TV Land Retromercial for Ken-L Ration!
Hi Kent,
I really enjoy your Forgotten Hits website. I don't even know why I started receiving it, but I'm glad I did.
I have three commercials that I'd be glad to send you if you are interested.
One is by The Moonglows, The Ten Commandments Of Hair Care (Protein 21 Shampoo). It's a series of four Radio Commercials.
The second is a Stan Freberg Commercial for "Terminex", Titled Terminex Termites.
The Third is a commercial for BP Gasoline - There Coming To Tow Me Away, Ho Ho, Hee Hee Haw Haw.
Anyway, if you want them, should I zip them and send you a link, or send them to you by E Mail.
Arnold Kirkbride
Send 'em in, Arnold! Obviously, this has turned into another hot topic around here lately! Glad to hear you're enjoying Forgotten Hits! (kk)
I'll send the commercials one at a time as MP3's. The first one is The Ten Commandments of Hair Care (Protein 21 Shampoo). I'm pretty sure it was from 1970. It's in four parts, four separate radio spots. The group, for those who never heard of them (The Younger Crowd), were The Moonglows, a popular R & B Group in the 1950's. Their most popular songs were "See Saw" & "We Go Together".
Actually the tune is the same as one of their later songs - The Ten Commandments Of Love.
Arnold
Funny stuff! Hard to believe this is from the '70's!!! I would have figured this to be much older to cash in on this sound. (And let's not forget the track that The Moonglows are BEST known for: "Sincerely" from the dawn of The Rock Era.) kk
This commercial is actually not the original radio commercial, but a sample of the commercial from one of Stan Freberg's Albums. It's still the funniest radio commercial I've ever heard.
I can't find the 3rd commercial, so this is all for now.
Arnold
Thanks, Arnold ... I'm hoping the other one turns up soon ... we've devoted quite a bit of space in these pages to Napoleon XIV and "They're Coming To Take Me Away, Ha-Haa!" (kk)
I just found it ... Here it is!
Arnold
Hey Kent,
Loved hearing "Heaven Sent" just as much as everyone else did. Here in Omaha, we listened to WLS when the signal came in at night and their jingles (both commercial and for the station itself) are legendary.
So ... how about featuring "The Greatest Jingles of All Time"? What do you think? We can all submit favorite jingles -- hopefully with plenty of audio clips from the past. That's something that radio has lost -- many of its great commercial and station jingles.
Gary Emenitove (a jingle lover!)
I think we may have already started this without even realizing it!!! lol Like I always say, I never know where our next hot topic is going to come from ... I sure didn't expect it to be THIS one ... but hey, it sure looks like everybody's havin' fun!!! (kk)
