Fred Jacobs pointed out last week in the Jacobs Media Blog blog that Classic Rock is still very much as relevant today as it was over 30 years ago as three core artists from the Classic Rock genre made headlines
Last week, three of these “power of now” moments occurred – some bigger than others – but all serving to keep Classic Rock’s “Mt. Rushmore” artists front and center. Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, and the Stones all played starring and co-starring roles.
- The “Stairway to Heaven” legal battle
OK, it’s not the O.J. trial, and it’s not being televised around the world. But this L.A.-based courtroom struggle over whether Jimmy Page and Robert Plant ripped off Randy California and Spirit continues to make headlines. After all, the song in question is the biggest and best-known rock classic of all time, “Stairway to Heaven.” Page, Plant, and John Paul Jones have all testified about where they were and what they were doing in the late ‘60s – as if they could possibly remember. It’s a crazy case with even the Mary Poppins song “Chim Chim Cheree” has made a cameo appearance in court.
Not only is the trial being covered by the news media throughout the world, Stephen Colbert has also weighed in. Bottom line? People are talking about Classic Rock’s most iconic song, originally recorded 45 years ago. Or was it 48 years ago by Spirit? The jury will decide.
- AC/DC sabotages soccer tournament
And last week, Classic Rock ended up apparently affecting the outcome of a European sporting event. In explaining his team’s narrow victory over Albania last week in Marseille, France’s coach, Didier Deschamps, laid the blame on a band sometimes called “the thunder from down under,” AC/DC.
Didier Deschamps
France’s coach Didier Deschamps
Obviously thunderstruck by the field conditions at the Stade Velodrome and how it apparently limited his team’s goal production, Deschamps offered this lame excuse:
“If you have an AC/DC concert a month before the European Championships – they’re changing the pitch, re-laying the turf.”
Of course his Albanian counterpart, Giovanni De Biasi, had a different view of the graff and its impact on the outcome:
“When you’ve got some good boots, you can avoid slips.”
This would have never happened following a Taylor Swift show.
The AC/DC turf controversy rages on.
- PetSmart and “Sympathy for the Devil”
We’ve documented the advertising world’s propensity to license Classic Rock mainstays for their marketing efforts over the years. But perhaps the oddest combination of a song and a brand occurred recently by PetSmart.
To promote their tie-in with the soon-to-be-released animated film, The Secret Life of Pets, PetSmart is using the Stones’ “Sympathy For The Devil” as the soundtrack to their latest TV spot.
Jacobs Media Blog
June 21st, 2016
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