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The Marketing Game (who or what does it remind you of?)

By Old Grumpy Guy on April 18, 2009 at 11:00 PM in OldGrumpyGuy

I wrote the song in this video for a musical called “SUCCESS!” (which I recently revised and which is currently looking for a Broadway home). It occurred to me that the observations in this song could be applied to a lot of the people and situations discussed here since the start of the elections.

Part of the lyrics are as follows:

Take an ordinary guy with a couple of dimples
You slap on some make-up to cover the pimples
A little bit of gloss and the kid could go far
And before you know it you’ve created a star
Cause it’s not what you sell
It’s the way that you sell it
It’s not the story
It’s the way that you tell it
If you’ve got no talent
That’s no cause for shame
‘Cause we can fix it all
In the marketing game….

All you need to succeed is the right kind of sell
With the right type of hype you can do very well
Don’t be glum if there’re some
Who just think you’re a bum
With me you’re gonna do just swell

With my marketing skills there is no chance of failure
Your name will be known from Maine to Australia
With my expertise you just simply can’t lose
I can help you be anything that you choose…

Now who does that remind you of? (Actually a number of people spring to mind).

The show is basically a pastiche/parody of classic movie musicals, including West Side Story, My Fair Lady, A Chrorus Line, The Producers, Singing In The Rain, Damn Yankee, Hello Dolly and others. If you want to hear some of the other songs and see them in the context of some of the movies they affectionately parody, you can find them on this Youtube playlist.

  • Eastan

    Hey Grumpy. You are quite talented, I say.

    The lyrics remind me of uh, ah, uh..uh..

  • Cathy in Ks.

    Loved the song. You have a winner! It actually reminds me of many celebrities both past and present. The first thought that came to my mind was of course our current celebrity president. I also thought about the musical sensation for pre-teeny boppers many years ago – “New Kids on the Block”. My daughter who is now an adult loved them. She went to a concert to see them when she was 10 or 11 years old and proudly displayed a poster of them on her bedroom wall. But one day her illusions were shattered when she found out that they never sang – only lip-synced (sp.?). Down came the poster and never again did she beg for their recordings or want to see them in concert.

    Is that what is happening to our president? He seems to be losing ground daily. He was and still is the media’s darling but the shine seems to be wearing off fast with the American people and the leaders of other nations. People are beginning to realize there is not much there beneath the photogenic, teleprompter surface.

  • oowawa

    Well OGG, all of your productions have impressed me, but my estimation of your talent has just increased considerably! I hope that I can summon a small fraction of your energy and creativity when I reach your advanced years.

    And who does the song remind me of? Uh . . . uh . . . wait a minute, it’s coming to me . . . “With the right kind of hype you can still be a king . . .” I hope you find the “right kind of hype” in promoting this production, because I can see it’s going to be very funny! I hope you appear more frequently on NQ. It gets lonely around here with all these youngsters . . .

  • oowawa

    Oh yes, and I forgot to say thanks for sharing this video. Matthew Broderick singing–what a surprise! The wit and the tone of the production reminds me a little of The Producers, which was in a sense also about “the marketing game.” The material certainly lends itself to something as hysterically outrageous as “Springtime for Hitler and Germany.” Funny lyrics!

  • Tricia Spiegel

    Wonderful! Thanks!!!

  • j.b.
  • politicalidentitycrisis

    That is from a year ago.

    I hadn’t heard about that. Interesting…

  • candymarl

    Marvelous OGG! Bravo!

  • http://www.sonicninjakitty.wordpress.com Sonic Ninja Kitty

    OGG, break a leg getting SUCCESS! on Broadway! The melody lines of your songs are beautiful (and catchy, too), the lyrics funny, and the singers you had for the recordings are fantastic! It’s only a matter of time, so don’t let up.

    You are a wonderful enigma–what else have you got up your sleeve? ;)

  • Old Grumpy Guy

    Nothing much else up my sleeve. It’s all on my website – http://www.bernardjtaylor.com

  • oowawa

    Aha! Now you’re a revealed celebrity . . . I don’t know, it was kind of fun imagining “Now who was that masked man” as you disappeared into cyberspace . . .

  • Old Grumpy Guy

    You can still do it…in your imagination

  • Old Grumpy Guy

    Thanks for your appreciation oowawa. I guess most of the “youngsters” here on NQ weren’t so impressed.

  • http://firefox AnnieCollier

    OGG, Most impressive. You are a constant wonder…

  • Linda Anselmi

    Thanks for the smiles OGG!!

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