Rumours: Bill Clinton has Ruined it for Me! Any other songs ruined by association?

After all the recent discussions about Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours", I pulled out a mint LP copy I picked up recently and was enjoying it immensely--until I got to "Don't Stop." All I could think about was Bill and Hilary (and Al/Tipper!) boogeying at the Democratic Convention. Talk about negative connotations! I'll never listen to it the same way again.

Any other songs/albums you used to love, but now can't listen to because of bad associations?

John K.

 

Oh there's a cure for that. Bill may be a music fan, but he's actually not a bad guy. As long as politicians stop using music for their campaigns, maybe the world will be a better place.

I love the Eric Clapton album. When I hear "Easy Now" it makes me think about my Ex Fiance'. Yuk. She was beautiful, but turned into a flake head after 7 years. It still makes me mad. Waste of human effort.

Thank GAWD she didn't listen to Aretha Franklin as much. She's on the top of my listening list this week, and she's putting a wonderful feeling in. Once the girl got the blues, things CHANGED after the gospel years something drastic.

Thank you, Jerry Wexler. I owe you a long line of free drinks.

 

"Bargain" was almost ruined for me when I first heard it in TV commercial. I love that song, so I did the only logical thing. I stopped watching TV.

Gardo

 

I don't think any piece of music has ever been ruined for me, but the following took awhile to get back into for these reasons:

Do You Believe In Magic? - McDonald's commercial (used for commercials when I was kid; didn't realize it was an actual song)

Born in the USA - Reagan and many others (again, first heard it when I was a kid, but never really learned any other lyrics other than title; some years later, when I listened to it again for the first time in a long time, I was a little stunned how badly misintepreted it was by Reagan and many others)

When A Man Loves A Woman - Michael Bolton's cover

You've Lost That Loving Feeling - Top Gun (used to think of it as a joke; now I can really appreciate the Wall of Sound production and that amazing climax)

I Heard It Through the Grapevine - The California Raisins

 

"It's So Easy" thanks to an infernal Toyota commercial -- "It's so easy to own Tercel . . . ". It took me years to get that association out of my head. Thankfully, my brain no longer involuntarily replaces the words "fall in love" with "own Tercel", and I am once again able to enjoy a favorite Buddy Holly tune.

Jay

 

Michael Bolton almost ruined "Reach Out, I'll Be There", as I had always had the Four Tops version imprinted in my brain. Luckily, radio and in-store muzak stopped playing his version.

I know Bolton is an easy target, and thankfully, he is not the commercial "force" he once was.

 

I also agree! I cannot enjoy "Don't Stop" because instead of recalling entering high school, all I can remember is Clinton. Listening to "Soul Man" also ruined things for me because I remember Bob Dole.

 

Movies

I hate linking rock music to movie sequences. Sometimes the pimpwork deserves each other, as in whatever teen movie is playing at your local googaplex, or the latest godawful film Aerosmith's recording a Diane Warren song for. But now and then you get great songs forever spoiled by association to a really ****ty movie, like the umpteen cinematic abuses of The Righteous Brothers.

For me, "Stuck In the Middle With You" is forever ruined by its use in the gruesome ear-amputation scene in RESERVOIR DOGS. I wonder if Gerry Rafferty even knew what it was going to be synced with. At least they didn't use something off CITY TO CITY.

On the other hand, I was pleasantly surprised by the effective use of rock music in GOODFELLAS. The music by The Rolling Stones -- "Memo to Turner" ? -- playing in the background of the elongated drug deal that concludes the film actually ratchets up the tension level, and the piano coda to Eric Clapton's "Layla" that plays underneath the bloody denouement to the airport heist works better than I would have imagined.

 

Nothing can ruin a song for me,Oh yea, Maybe Rush Limbaw.

 

Jeez, I got chills when they played "Don't Stop" at the Democratic Convention. Different strokes for different folks huh?

I'll tell ya what gauls me, some car company featuring CCR's "Fortunate Son" in their "patriotic" ad campaign. It's an anti-war song for god's sake.

Dr. Roberts

 

More appropriate for the Bush administration, no?

 

The Foundations' "Build Me Up Buttercup" was once a favorite of mine, and I especially liked the fact that it was one of those half-forgotten oldies that not everyone was familiar with and which you never heard in the movies or commercials. This may sound vaguely elitist, but I always kind of got a kick out of singing along with it and thinking of it as "my" song. But thanks to There's Something About Mary, that's been ruined for me.

Now, I can only hope that some Hollywood type doesn't get a hold of "More Today Than Yesterday" by the Spiral Starecase.

 

TSAM is a great flick! Just wonderful.

 

Yeah, because of the recent Fleetwood Mac - "Rumors" thread, I gave the DVD-A another spin. I felt the same way when "Don't Stop" started playing. It's very hard to ignore that it was used as Willy's campaign song. I had to skip past it and shake my head. I think over time this will wear off (knock on wood).

For the longest time I couldn't listen to "Mack The Knife" because of that stupid McDonalds jingle. However, I have since recovered and can continue to enoy that song. So there is still hope for "Don't Stop".

 

"Like a Rock" by Bob Seger. It's not even a song anymore, just a commercial single.

I have to agree with "Stuck in the Middle with You" after seeing Reservoir Dogs. And I'll never hear Roy Orbison's "In Dreams" the same way, after its use in Blue Velvet.

 

Same here! When I hear that song it reminds me as well of that idiot Clinton dancing at the convention.

 

I wouldn't be overly optimistic of ever enjoying "Don't Stop" again. Once infested with a dose of Clintonitis, although it's not terminal, it's certainly chronic.

Hell, just read the op-ed pages. Going on 10 years now and these people are as sick as ever.

Dr. Roberts

 

I propose we keep the political partisianship in the off-topic forum, ok?

 

Re: Re: Rumours: Bill Clinton has Ruined it for Me! Any other songs ruined by association?

You too, please. There just may be some forum members and industry people here who like Clinton and who take offense to Bill bashing. Keep this in the off topic forum. Thanks!

 

Grant's right, the Clinton bashing is gonna stop now.

Closing thread.