Check Out: Media Potluck’s Holiday Feast Volume 1 (2008)
As a genre, Christmas music is very limited. It takes a lot of creativity to create a truly stand-out holiday song. Throughout the years, many brave and artful souls have undertaken the challenge, either to render the cliches warm and heartfelt again, or simply to turn the whole concept on its head.
Audio Archaeology: Fruitopia Ads
In 1994 the Coca-Cola company debut a bold, new bottled juice beverage line, Fruitopia. It wasn’t just a fruit drink — it was a concept, a gateway to a higher plain of flavor, the one path to real, ultimate thirst quenching. Coke banked on the early-nineties’ Summer of Love nostalgia trip to market their Snapple-competing drink to Generation X’s wannabe hippie crowd. The result was a striking, psychedelic television ad campaign that made Fruitopia out to be a, like, totally mind-opening beverage, man.
Audio Archaeology: Musique D’Express (1990)
Throughout the ’80s and early ’90s, Express clothing stores were the number one source for fashion-savvy American women to indulge in sleek, Parisian style. Conceived as a younger, hipper version of its parent company, The Limited, Express channeled the streamline fluidity and comfort of European fashion. Even their clothing displays were chic. One of my earliest memories in a shopping mall is of [...]
Audio Archaeology: Corky and the Juice Pigs (1987-1998)
Comedic music is a fickle mistress. More than a few mainstream bands flirt with comedy, and some comedians have an impressive musical presence, but there are very few artists who deal exclusively in comedic music, leaving the genre for the most part overrun with one-off novelty songs. However, the comedic music world has [...]
Audio Archaeology: Drastic Measures (1983)
I firmly believe that Kansas is the greatest American progressive rock group of their generation. Throughout the 1970s they composed some of the most memorable prog-rock songs of all time and achieved mass appeal. “Carry On Wayward Son”, “Dust in the Wind”, and “Point of Know Return” are legendary tracks. Even beyond [...]
Audio Archaeology: The Voyager Golden Record (1977)
Hey, folks! Welcome to the first installment of Audio Archaeology, a bi-monthly feature of eclectic music. Just so you know, this new column is in conjunction with Media Potluck, which covers (and uncovers) all manner of off the beaten track media: video, audio, print, and more. They scavenge thrift store bins, yard sales, and the [...]










