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I'd Like to Buy the World a Coke

Songs that become hits, after being in commercials.

I read a story in the New York Times the other day, about the song for the Coke commercial from 1972. I remember as a kid being moved by that tune. You'd hear it around the holidays, with the kids singing "I'd like to teach the world to sing/in perfect harmony."

The story said the song reached #7 on the charts, after it was reworked to remove the brand references.

And, in the mid-60s, the T-Bones had a hit with a remake of "No Matter What Shape (Your Stomach's In)" from an Alka-Seltzer commercial. Although now, people are probably more familiar with the catchier jingle of "plop plop/fizz fizz/oh what a relief it is." I blogged a few weeks ago about the jingle writer that wrote that who recently passed away.

Well, it's happened again. No, not another catchy Alka Seltzer spot. But, a hit song from a commercial.

The band Lifehouse's singer, Jason Wade, did a song called "From Where You Are," which was used in an Allstate commercial.

It got so much exposure on the commercial, that it was made available on iTunes, where it sold well enough to hit #40 on the Billboard charts.

That may seem weird to some, but this is the computer age and downloads, and weird things happen. Hell, that horrible Chocolate Rain song got two million hits.

And I still can't get it out of my head.

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I read a story in the New York Times the other day, about the song for the Coke commercial from 1972. I remember as a kid being moved by that tune. You'd hear it around the holidays, with the kids singing "I'd like to teach the world to sing/in perfect harmony."

The story said the song reached #7 on the charts, after it was reworked to remove the brand references.

And, in the mid-60s, the T-Bones had a hit with a remake of "No Matter What Shape (Your Stomach's In)" from an Alka-Seltzer commercial. Although now, people are probably more familiar with the catchier jingle of "plop plop/fizz fizz/oh what a relief it is." I blogged a few weeks ago about the jingle writer that wrote that who recently passed away.

Well, it's happened again. No, not another catchy Alka Seltzer spot. But, a hit song from a commercial.

The band Lifehouse's singer, Jason Wade, did a song called "From Where You Are," which was used in an Allstate commercial.

It got so much exposure on the commercial, that it was made available on iTunes, where it sold well enough to hit #40 on the Billboard charts.

That may seem weird to some, but this is the computer age and downloads, and weird things happen. Hell, that horrible Chocolate Rain song got two million hits.

And I still can't get it out of my head.

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