Long live the classics

The BBC recently featured a special event of Northern Soul at the Proms, an online clip of which showed an enthusiastic audience of young and old joyously getting down to a final rendition of the soul classic ‘Tainted Love’ by Gloria Jones (there are those who think that the very soft and poppy Soft Cell version of this was the original but it was a Northern Soul dance floor classic long before that).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzIEcilAxjY

First recorded in 1964, this wasn’t even a chart-busting track as far as the general public are concerned, but here was a congregation of wonderfully uplifted people of all ages bouncing to it as if it had come out yesterday. They knew the words. They embraced it as you would an old friend.

?To lovers of soul music, it’s a classic. To ageing New Romantics who yearn for the 80’s, it’s a pop classic. Fact is, it’s a great song that will never go away.

?And that’s the thing with great songs, they never age. Some might sound a bit dated, but you still love to hear them. Partly because songs we grew up with take us back to times and places and faces like well-worn photos do. They remind us of our past.

?What’s more, we’ll always dance to them. People get up and have a bop at weddings, birthdays and other live DJ events at the drop of a brilliant chart topper from yester-year (Come on you know you have.)

Anywhere and everywhere. Motown classics. Beatles or Stones. Queen. Dexys Midnight Runners. Any given disco classics ('I will survive' anyone?) I could make a top 100 list, but let’s not get too carried away before I start getting into ZZ Top or Huey Lewis and The News.

?Classics will always endure. And I reckon that’s the same with some ads. Of course, people who grew up in the advertising industry will always banter on about certain celebrated favourites which pop up all the time in social media or get featured on websites and articles.

?But even the general public, depending on generation and where you grew up, can respond to old ads, especially TV commercials (the best of which always were pure entertainment), just as they would have when they were actually on air. And remember them.

?I can testify to this, especially given that I’m a bit long in the tooth. I have certain TV ads from my career that are still around. From my early days working in London (still on You Tube) and my time in Hong Kong. People go “I remember that…one of my favourites”. To ?this day. From over 30 years ago.

?I see old print ads popping up here and there on Linked In and people commenting and liking and admiring. Yet we live in an age where print is dead right? Nobody looks at ads right? If the domination of social media has proven anything, it’s that what’s great will always be great and will always be admired. Old or new.

?I often use music as an analogy for advertising, especially where viral marketing is involved. People are people and respond to what they like. With traditional media spending, that’s because the messages are forced upon them through the presence of sheer spend.

But when something is great, it will get liked and shared and talked about and become a ‘hit’ in the same way that great songs are. Great ads can be as irresistible in the same way great songs are. They can stand the test of time.

?I mean, just have a look at this.

https://youtu.be/FBPPfZCdqYo

Thousands of music tracks are released every year, many of which never get noticed and fade away into obscurity. That’s the same with the majority of advertising we get to see around us every day. Only the truly great ones will be remembered.

?Back to Northern Soul, which was a 1970s UK phenomenon, only in the North of England. The irony here was, much of the music featured started life as minor hits or non hits and B sides by lesser known artists (as Gloria Jones was). It was because UK DJs started seeking them out and playing them in clubs, and making them popular, that these records had a second life. That the movement grew and the records became collectors items the way people collect stamps. With many selling for way above their original price. (I still have a copy of Al Green’s first ever single on its original US label in case anyone is interested).

?It was the soul music loving public who determined the success of these tracks. Not record company marketing campaigns, or radio promotional efforts. The people decided what they liked or didn’t like. That's the same with viral ads.

Yeah we yawn when we hear people saying "Nobody makes music like this nowadays." As we do when people say.."Ah, whatever happened to great ads."

?Maybe it’s time for great advertising to make a comeback, as we tire of persistent programmatic assaults every time we click ‘search’ for anything we happen to be looking for.

?Until then, long live the classic ads in our social media feeds.

As well as some of the rare great work which is still getting created today which I'm sure we'll still be admiring for years to come.

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