So there's Joe Jackson's "One More Time" blaring out of my TV, being used to sell one of Taco Bell's artery-cloggers, the Cheesy Gordita Crunch.
I don't know what Jackson's reasons were for selling the song, although a Krusty the Clown scenario ("They drove a truckload of money up to my house! I'm not made of stone!") seems like a safe bet.
Maybe Joe made some bad investments. Maybe he lost a little money down at the track and his, er, financial adviser wants to have a little chat with him, nice 'n' friendly like.
All I know is it's still disconcerting to hear a song that I considered "mine," a song that didn't feel like public property the way a Top 40 tune does, being used as a consumer come-on.
And assuming Jackson isn't in dire financial straits, wouldn't it be worth whatever he got paid not to have his song accompanying video of the latest fast-food abomination?
The ad industry has lusted after Timbuk 3's "The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades" since its 1986 release. Its composer, Pat MacDonald, has turned down more than $1 million over the years for the rights to that and other Timbuk 3 songs.
Even when his home was being foreclosed on, he held his ground.
"I like comfort as much as anyone," he said in a telephone interview this week, "but for me the ultimate discomfort is having my music in the hands of the wrong people."
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