Hey friends! Tonight, the Dial is taking you on a brief side trip into the world of “silly”. We do this on a yearly basis on April Fools’ Day, in order to tap into a bit of the unique vibe of the holiday. The song we’re spotlighting tonight? Soft rock superstar Barry Manilow’s "A Very Strange Medley".
“There's barkin’ at the kitchen, yellin' in the hall, ringin' at the door bell, poundin' on the wall… kids outta sight, and kids in the way, no time to cook on this hectic day.”
Also known as the “V.S.M.”, what makes Manilow’s song strange is its subject matter – the lyrics are a string of TV commercial jingles that Barry wrote and performed before his pop music career took off. In order, we hear spots for Kentucky Fried Chicken, State Farm Insurance, Stridex, Band-Aid, Tough Green Bowlene, Dr. Pepper, and Pepsi, and it concludes with a rousing rendition of the classic “You Deserve a Break Today” campaign for McDonald's. (Which is so much better than the lame “I’m Lovin’ It” ads they’ve been using for far too long now, I’m just sayin’.)
Never released as a single, or to radio stations, “V.S.M.” nevertheless ended up in many music collections due to its inclusion on the quadruple platinum 1977 Barry Manilow Live LP, which features renditions of Barry’s biggest hits up until that time, including “Looks Like We Made It”, “Daybreak”, “This One’s For You”, and a medley that combines “Could It Be Magic” with “Mandy”.
“Give your face somethin' to smile about, give your face somethin' to smile about...
with Stridex. Doot-doot-doot, doo- doo-doo-doo-doo-doo… with Stridex.”
This is a fun time capsule for those of us who were TV watchers in the ‘70s, although I have to admit that I had no idea what “Tough Green Bowlene” was even back then, and indeed I wasn’t sure what the guest vocalist was singing (Barry gives her a shout out as “Monica”) when she sang the name of the product. Barry’s LP had no lyric sheet, and there was no easy way to look this stuff up back then, so I wondered about it for years until an internet search decades later identified the jingle as belonging to a toilet bowl cleaner that I never saw the ads for back in the day.
"Its not a cola... there's colas by the score, so drink Dr.Pepper, the joy of every boy and girl. It's the most original soft drink ever in the whole wide world."
Manilow’s LIVE album is full of banter between the songs, and in the introduction to the V.S.M., he relates how his “trashy” friends love the medley, and his “artsy fartsy” friends are totally embarrassed that he would record such a song. Because my parents raised me that “fart” was a bad word, (I was told to say “I broke wind” instead…) I always felt a little naughty listening to Barry’s spoken intro, and I developed the opinion that Manilow was just a little bit bad-ass because of it.
I also get a kick out of hearing the audience roar with delight upon recognizing each of the ad campaigns, and the moment early on when Barry starts to chuckle during the opening KFC jingle.
"You deserve a break today, so get up and get away, to McDonald's...
So get up and get away, to McDonald's... McDonald's... McDONALD'S!!!!"
So I invite you to check out this amusing ride through TV commercial breaks of the 70s, delivered with spirited enthusiasm by Barry and company. And if you find a supply of Tough Green Bowlene somewhere, keep me in the loop as I’d like to know if it really beats the bathroom bowl blues!
“There's barkin’ at the kitchen, yellin' in the hall, ringin' at the door bell, poundin' on the wall… kids outta sight, and kids in the way, no time to cook on this hectic day.”
Also known as the “V.S.M.”, what makes Manilow’s song strange is its subject matter – the lyrics are a string of TV commercial jingles that Barry wrote and performed before his pop music career took off. In order, we hear spots for Kentucky Fried Chicken, State Farm Insurance, Stridex, Band-Aid, Tough Green Bowlene, Dr. Pepper, and Pepsi, and it concludes with a rousing rendition of the classic “You Deserve a Break Today” campaign for McDonald's. (Which is so much better than the lame “I’m Lovin’ It” ads they’ve been using for far too long now, I’m just sayin’.)
Never released as a single, or to radio stations, “V.S.M.” nevertheless ended up in many music collections due to its inclusion on the quadruple platinum 1977 Barry Manilow Live LP, which features renditions of Barry’s biggest hits up until that time, including “Looks Like We Made It”, “Daybreak”, “This One’s For You”, and a medley that combines “Could It Be Magic” with “Mandy”.
“Give your face somethin' to smile about, give your face somethin' to smile about...
with Stridex. Doot-doot-doot, doo- doo-doo-doo-doo-doo… with Stridex.”
This is a fun time capsule for those of us who were TV watchers in the ‘70s, although I have to admit that I had no idea what “Tough Green Bowlene” was even back then, and indeed I wasn’t sure what the guest vocalist was singing (Barry gives her a shout out as “Monica”) when she sang the name of the product. Barry’s LP had no lyric sheet, and there was no easy way to look this stuff up back then, so I wondered about it for years until an internet search decades later identified the jingle as belonging to a toilet bowl cleaner that I never saw the ads for back in the day.
"Its not a cola... there's colas by the score, so drink Dr.Pepper, the joy of every boy and girl. It's the most original soft drink ever in the whole wide world."
Manilow’s LIVE album is full of banter between the songs, and in the introduction to the V.S.M., he relates how his “trashy” friends love the medley, and his “artsy fartsy” friends are totally embarrassed that he would record such a song. Because my parents raised me that “fart” was a bad word, (I was told to say “I broke wind” instead…) I always felt a little naughty listening to Barry’s spoken intro, and I developed the opinion that Manilow was just a little bit bad-ass because of it.
I also get a kick out of hearing the audience roar with delight upon recognizing each of the ad campaigns, and the moment early on when Barry starts to chuckle during the opening KFC jingle.
"You deserve a break today, so get up and get away, to McDonald's...
So get up and get away, to McDonald's... McDonald's... McDONALD'S!!!!"
So I invite you to check out this amusing ride through TV commercial breaks of the 70s, delivered with spirited enthusiasm by Barry and company. And if you find a supply of Tough Green Bowlene somewhere, keep me in the loop as I’d like to know if it really beats the bathroom bowl blues!
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