I got all excited when I heard a new Squeeze remix on the TV, but then I did some research and discovered it’s not an official release.
In the commercial for Under Armour Performance Apparel that premiered Sunday, Olympic Gold Medallist Heather Mitts runs through the streets of Baltimore to an exclusive remix of Squeeze’s bouncy 1982 gem “Goodbye Girl.” Lyrics on the re-recorded track were crafted specifically for the commercial.
Stereogum is ALL FOR new wave bands making some $ by selling tunes to commercials, but please don’t change the lyrics. I don’t wanna hear Squeeze sing about women’s athletic clothes, and I don’t wanna hear Devo sing about Swiffers.
Anyway, here’s the original:
As always, Glenn Tilbrook is touring, so check him out. He’s really great live and plays lots of Squeeze songs. And pick up Play, the most underrated pop album of the ’90s.
And if anyone’s dying to hear “Whip It” this blustery first morning of March, go here. It’s amazing how easily you can find mp3s on the Internets.
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more like, if anyone’s dying to hear ELO’s “don’t bring me down” this blustery first morning go here… nice.
Hmm, Depeche Mode did “Tainted Love”? Sure! Why not? And Weird Al Yankovic is actually They Might Be Giants.
Huzzah for mentioning Squeeze’s album “Play.” Although none of my friends will give me the time of day when it comes to Squeeze, I still drone on & on about how fucking amazing “Play” is. Thanks Scott.
wow – i would have never expected an album from an uncool band in their (almost universally-considered) “off-period” get bigged up here. i love play and it got me through some rough times in the early 90′s. respect.
Changing the lyrics to a popular song to fit into a product commercial goes back to the 70s…if not before. When I was 5 or so, I remember hearing a Sunkist commercial to the tune of Beach Boy’s “Good Vibrations”- only they changed the lyrics to fit in that Sunkist was giving them the “excitations”…I was 5 and I remember being bother by that.
I don’t like it anymore than you do.
I totally loved that Sunkist commercial, even with the changed lyrics — it always made me think of the beach. I know that I was just a kid being brainwashed by commercials, but what are you gonna do, right? Tangentially, there was a commercial for Trapper Keepers where the big strong high school kids pull up to school in a Jeep, and that’s when I decided that I would one day drive a Jeep — and I held on to that for years, and when I bought my first car… I checked out the Jeeps (too plastic-y on the inside though, so I got an Isuzu Amigo the first year they were on the market). Too much information?
that goodbye girl cover sounded really emo. i was not thrilled with this version. why not just use goodbye girl as is? it would have killed.
Same here, Betty! What some would say is the greatest recorded song of all time co-opted for an orange drink.
You gotta love high school reunion sites. You can legally post music for free when it’s about education, ya know?
i <3 squeeze
Me too, Kaitlin – Me too! I still have my ancient copy of “Singles” and will never let it go!
There’s a version of Goodbye Girl that Squeeze did in the early 80′s that sorta Chuck Berry meets boogie-woogie. I don’t where it’s from but it completely destroys the original.
I was raised on Squeeze and the Beatles, with a sprinkling of Queen. I remember when I was like 10, being on the way to a Squeeze show with my parents, and seeing Tilbrook on the street, and most recently running into him at the Knitting Factory at a Morningwood show, of all places.
He is still awesome live, definitely go check him out if you get the chance.
You are so right about “Play.” “The Day I Got Home” is pure pop heaven and bonus points for the album featuring both Michael Penn and 2/3 of Spinal Tap.
I still think the underrated pop album of the 90s is Barenaked Ladies “Maybe You Should Drive,” but given their career trajectory since then, I should probably shut up about that…
That thud you just heard was my indie cred dropping dead. Good times.
“Play” is the greatest. Start to finish, an amazing album. And no one will listen to it no matter how often you try and tell them….
i went to high school with heather mitts. weird.