I was saddened recently when I heard the Violent Femmes classic 'Blister in the Sun' on a Fosters advertisement. I had to do a double take and the Violent Femmes, an Alternative rock, underground band (that sold more than most underground bands) who were massively influential (their songs have appeared in tv shows, movies, video games and have been covered widely) greatly went down in my estimation as complete sell outs.
The Violent Femmes are not a struggling or emerging band and so having one of their songs used in a commercial reminded me of a Bill Hicks quote:
"Here's the deal, folks, you do a commercial, you're off the artistic roll call forever, end of story ... If you do a commercial, there's a price on your head, everything you say is suspect...You know, if you're young and struggling, OK, I'll look the other way. Still, you do a commercial and you're off the artistic roll call forever and that goes for everyone ... except Willie Nelson. With a $30 million dollar tax debt, Willie's pockets were a little deeper than the rest of ours."
I have included a video of the advert below for anyone reading this not in the UK who may not have the foggiest what I'm on about. For the rest of you - don't watch this shite (it's rammed down your throat anyway).
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