Ear Worms in the Northland
By adam on Dec 28, 2011 in Music
I woke up this morning with a jingle in my head from a certain collision center on Haines Road. Infectiously annoying, toe-tappingly fun to sing along in the car or shower type of song… So can anyone with musical inclinations or a better understanding of the animal nature of the brain tell me why the Arrowhead Autobody song is so ear wormy?
“Don’t just call anybody!”
I don’t think anyone knows for sure, but here is a decent recap of several theories on earworms:
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2901/why-do-songs-get-stuck-in-your-head
Speaking of ear worms, I’ve heard that the old WITC jingle was really good (in a bad way). Anybody have a copy of it? I’m relatively new to the Northland, so whenver I mention where I work, they usually launch into the theme song. “W I T C! Take a look… at the winning choice!”
This isn’t a jingle, per se, but I have always found “Riiiiide thhhheeee BUS!” to be wormy.
I thought it was amusing that post-Arrowhead Autobody, every other radio commercial was some catchy jingle hoping to make it big.
Mr. Udarnik sings the “London Road Rental” jingle all the time. The one that sounds like the owner’s niece recorded it with her friends in a basement.
Oh great, I had only just gotten it out of my head. ;P
Actually, having had them work on my vehicle recently (I hit a deer and a month later hit another deer with the same vehicle, a week after getting it back) I’ve come to have a certain fondness for the jingle. I was really impressed with the work they did, they even cleaned up my car nicely, going so far as to remove the straw and spilled chicken feed I had all over the floor. They took the tar-like turkey shit off the roof, too, but that was probably for their own benefit.
Mr. emmadogs loves to torture me with earworms from the ’70s. Some popular favorites are: “And they’ll be callin’ Wiiiiiiiiild--fire”;
or “Shannon is gone, i heard she’s drifting off to sea…”
OR (my favorite) “Rollercoaster…of love…SAY WHAT?”
and of course, anything by the BeeGees
Professionals write these songs. If their tunes aren’t catchy, they end up sleeping under I35 with the hobos, freezing, drunk on mouthwash.
I believe Sarah Heimer and Dana “Motel” Cunningham called Arrowhead Autobody one time and actually got the lyrics faxed to them.
I heard an interview with Barry Manilow where he described his process for writing the “American Family Insurance” jingle…a classic.
“…Come on in to Marine General, we got what you need, our people take great care of you, our aim is to please…Quality and selection from people you can trust, come on in to Marine General and get outdoors with us!” I nominate this song for local jingle of the decade.
Is this on Mr Emmadogs’ list? Brandy …
Um, given the hour, I’m going to redact my almost-comment and re-think it in the morning.
It was wild.
Think Where the Buffalo Roam, or Fear and Loathing.
Or maybe not.
Cheers!
Current Earworm:
Walking on the Moon -- The Police.
Don’t bring me down, BRUCE!
Another one came to mind today. About 10 years ago the Lake Superior Zoo had an awesome one. The chorus: “The call of the wild is callin’ you.” The verses were about getting an e-mail from a cheetah or this or that.