Ev'rybody's losing.

The Sonics ... THE SONICS. Heard my beloved Sonics singing "Have Love, Will Travel" in support of a Range Rover ad on television last night. This is an old story (see also Zep, Stones, Iggy, Modest Mouse, Nick Drake, etc., etc., and, inescabably, U2), but it hurt, more than most. Part of it is probably rock snobbery -- the admen found my guys and put 'em on tv -- but some of it is due to context. The Nick Drake/Volkswagon ad seemed an equal pairing, showcasing the song as much as the car; both parties got something out of the deal, which probably explains why a Nick Drake moment followed. In the U2/iPod ad, as has been noted elsewhere, it's hard to know what's being shilled the hardest. With the Range Rover ad, the song is just a token bit of "found rock," some background noise to soundtrack the rough riding on the screen. I suppose I could be happy for the possibility of more people sharing my Sonics love, and I don't fault any group for trying to make some extra cash off their creativity, but this ad is so much more about the car it turns something that has given me immense pleasure, something that has filled otherwise moribund rooms with a massive and joyous WHOMP, into wallpaper.

And for the love of Ford, why not go with the full-on car song, "Boss Hoss?"