Manic Mondays:
Can A TV Ad Inspire A Music Article?
A Fage yoghurt commercial did.
What do yoghurt and 80s club music have to do with each other?
Keep Reading.
This wasn’t the original title of this article! The Original title was:
Gen Z, Is This Song Banging?
Re-Introducing an 80s Club Hit to new ears.
With this cover image…
I started to write it as a Throwback Thursday article two weeks ago but developed a heavy chest cold (still lingering) leaving this as an unfinished draft. Getting back to it today, a manic Monday, it’s taken a different slant.
This article was inspired by a UK TV advertisement for Fage (pronounced Fa-Yay) Yoghurt that I happened to catch recently.
(Edit: A video I had to remove 07/24 since it was flagged as private).
Advertisers love to use previously popular songs when they target products aimed at Generation X. The song in this yoghurt ad is an excerpt from an aria, “Un bel di vedremo — Andante” from the opera Madame Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini, performed by the Czech Symphony Orchestra according to the Shazam™ app. But wait, this isn’t about opera, there’s more to this story.
It’s possible the advertisers were targeting British opera fans, (maybe the research has shown that opera fans love yoghurt), but I think it’s much more likely they were targeting fans of an awesome hybrid pop song/club hit from the 1980s.
Malcolm McLaren’s “Madame Butterfly” (1984)
If Malcom’s name rings a bell he became famous for a number of things, most notably as the manager of the UK’s first and most famous punk-rock band, The Sex Pistols. 👇🏻 For more info click his Wikipedia link below.
Malcolm McLaren’s “Madame Butterfly”, is an electronic interpretation of the same operatic song, from his album Fans. Today we would know it as a “mashup”. His remake of “Madame Butterfly” would achieve greater popularity in the clubs of the day, but resonated enough with music fans that it reached number 13 on the UK Singles Chart.
If you’ll indulge me for one more moment…
Paraphrasing the lyrics of “Madame Butterfly (un bel dì vedremo)”
by Giacomo Puccini and Malcolm McLaren (James Walter & Stephen Hague), here is my attempt at being a poet, and why I wanted to introduce/reintroduce this song.
Back in ’84, I fell in love with Cho Cho San
Madame Butterfly was her name in those days
And I was her fan
I’m going back to visit her
She got a problem
You may not know little Cho Cho
Puccini first gave her fame
McLaren made others know her name
Take it away Mama-san.
Here’s that song…
Getting back to the original title, and the goal of this article, my desire was to bring an awesome song to a new audience and get your thoughts on it if you happen to be part of Generation Z. Quoting the song again can you say “I have faith in this love track”, or is it Bangin’?
If I’m using the expression correctly!
This also might have been a favourite back in the day of some of the older music scribes amongst us. My question to you would be how likely are you to add this to a current playlist and have a re-listen.
This is NOT a Rate-A-Record article, but out of curiosity what would you rank this song on a scale of 35–98? If you want to leave a comment below.
I loved this song so much that when I was a club DJ in Santa Barbara, CA in the 1980s, (a nightclub with the oh-so original name of “ The Club”, Lol) I used to finish my set and close the club down with this 6:35 minute masterpiece.
If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then I leave you with these borrowed words. These words I have used before but words that still ring true.
I know it’s not much, but it’s the best I can do
My gift is my song and this one’s for you…
Lyrics: Bernie Taupin
Rejected AI-Generated Lead Images:
The Worst,
WTH (What The Heck) is wrong with her eyes, thumb… and mouth.
Better,
While not bad at first glance… WTH is wrong with her right hand, her appetite for yoghurt, how much she can eat in one bite, and the amount of yoghurt clinging to the bottom of the spoon?
Better again but…,
Better, but what’s up with her right sleeve is it melting into her Orange Smoothie, and why does her massive bowl of “yoghurt” look like custard and whipped cream?
The Best but still not perfect.
Almost perfect, except why does she have a tattoo of a yellow tongue on her lip and chin?
(Not to mention that AI generators, when asked to depict eating, love to have a trace of saliva from food to mouth… ugh)!
Anyway… I hope you enjoyed the music.
Waiters, Bartenders & Über drivers get tips, how about Medium writers?
A cup of Kofi would be lovely.
All Banners were created by the author on Canva Pro.
