Sarah – Ray Lamontagne

live-sessionsSONG OF THE DAY

“Sarah” by Ray Lamontagne (Gossip In The Grain, RCA, 2008). Written by Ray Lamontagne.

INTERESTING FACTS (from wikipedia)

– Gossip in the Grain is singer-songwriter Ray LaMontagne’s third full-length release.

– The album peaked at #3 on the Billboard 200, #1 on the Billboard Top Rock Albums, and #1 on the Billboard Top Independent Albums lists, and hit #1 in album sales on iTunes on its release day.

– As the story goes, LaMontagne had a job at a shoe factory where he worked 65 hours a week. One morning at 4 a.m., LaMontagne heard Stephen Stills’ song “Treetop Flyer” on the radio as it awoke him for an early work shift. After purchasing the album Stills Alone, LaMontagne decided that he wanted to quit his job at the shoe factory and start a career as a singer-songwriter.

– In 2008, LaMontagne moved into a farmhouse in Phillips, Maine that once belonged to author Norman Mailer.

– LaMontagne refers to himself as a “very private person”, and rarely gives interviews. He also usually does not interact much with the audience between songs during his live shows and has been known to perform in the dark to separate himself from the audience. [Oh, wikipedia, how can I believe you? Alack, alack, alack, I will post your probably falsehoods anyways.]

MY TAKE

I heard this song at the end of last night’s episode of House.

This is quickly becoming the Songs I Heard On Television Blog, not that I mind. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I am entirely grateful for the television and commercial production industries for their dedication to introducing new artists and new music into the world through their soundtracks and scores. I mean, come on! Look at what Apple iPod commercials have done for literally dozens of careers!

As a matter of fact, here’s the proof, a list of singles used in iPod commercials (and the consequential information about the trajectory of each artist, from Wikipedia):

  • “Take California” – The Propellerheads: Commercial aired October, 2003. You may have also heard Jaguar ads with their remix of “History Repeating”, a collaboration with diva Shirley Bassey. Their career mostly took place and peaked in the mid-1990’s. Though being the first artist featured in an iPod ad was a feather in their cap, it was more a revival in their sound’s fan-base than a beginning.
  • “Hey Mama” – Black Eyed Peas: Commercial aired November, 2003. Featured in the first “silhouette” commercials for iPod, this song appeared on t.v. before the album Elephunk came out on January 12th, 2004. The ad generated a lot of buzz for the release of the album and its singles. The song reached #23 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
  • “Rock Star (Jason Nevins Remix)” – N.E.R.D.: Commercial aired November, 2003. This song was released on their 2001 album, In Search Of… The Jason Nevins Remix of the song has been featured in numerous video games in addition to the iPod ad.
  • “Are You Gonna Be My Girl?” – Jet: Commercial aired January 2004. This song was the first single on their 2003 album Get Born, released in 2003 in Australia and the UK, and in 2004 in the U.S. The song peaked at #20 on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart, while in the UK Singles Chart it first appeared on the charts at #23. The single was re-released in the UK in 2004, after it was featured in iPod ads, and this time reached #16 on the charts. It also gave the band success in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart, peaking at #29.
  • “Channel Surfing” – Feature Cast: Commercial aired June 2004.
  • “Walkie Talkie Man” – Stereogram: Commercial aired June 2004. A single from their 2004 album Schmack!, the song is widely recognized as the song that brought Steriogram the majority of their popularity. Its simple, catchy riff and fast-talking verses contribute to the song’s popularity, and it has attracted even more attention since being used as the background music to an ad for the iPod.
  • “Saturday Night” – Ozomatli: Commercial aired June 2004.
  • “Vertigo” – U2: Commercial aired October 2004. “Vertigo” is the opening track and first single from U2’s 2004 album, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. The single was released for airplay on September 24, 2004; upon release the song received extensive airplay and was an international hit, being featured in a popular iPod Television advertisement. It won “Best Rock Song”, “Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal” and “Best Short Form Music Video” at the 2005 Grammy Awards.
  • “Ride” – The Vines: Commercial aired January 2005. “Ride” was a single from their second album, Winning Days. Although it wasn’t a big chart success, “Ride” is one of the band’s best known songs because it was featured in a number of advertisements, including commercials for iPod, Nissan, American Chopper, and NASCAR Hot Pass.
  • “Jerk It Out” – Caesars: Commercial aired January 2005. The song originally appeared on their album Love for the Streets. The song was originally released in 2003 and only made an appearance on the UK Singles Chart (at a #60 showing). It was re-released in 2005 and appeared on their album of that year, Paper Tigers. The re-release peaked at #8 on the UK Singles Chart and reached #70 on the Billboard Hot 100. It has seen wide use in the media, for example commercials for the iPod shuffle, the Pittsburgh Pirates, Coca Cola, a TV dog show and the new Renault Megane, and is featured in the movies Fun with Dick and Jane, The Best Man, Yours, Mine and Ours, The Benchwarmers, Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo, Spun, Captivity, Blackball, The Pink Panther, Graduation, and Clerks II.
  • “Technologic” – Daft Punk: Commercial aired June 2005. The song is a single from the album Human After All. The song was featured in iPod, Motorola, and Lincoln MKS commercials .
  • “Feel Good, Inc.” – Gorillaz: Commercial aired June 2005. This is a song on their album Demon Days, and peaked at #2 in the UK Singles Chart and #14 in the U.S. It also topped the Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart in the U.S. for eight consecutive weeks. It peaked in the top 10 of fourteen countries, including at #1 in Spain.
  • “Gimme That” – The Resource: Commercial aired September 2005.
  • “Original Of The Species” – U2: Commercial aired October 2005. This is a single from their 2004 album, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. A live video clip of this song from the DVD Vertigo 2005: Live From Chicago is featured in a television commercial promoting the video capable Apple iPod. The song was added to the playlists of thirteen alternative rock radio stations, though it failed to break the top 40.
  • “Lose Yourself” – Eminem: Commercial aired October 2005. The song was released in 2002 as part of the soundtrack to the film 8 Mile. Reaching #1 on a record 24 charts worldwide, “Lose Yourself” is the most successful rap song of all time. It spent a record-breaking 12 weeks atop the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, the longest-running #1 of 2002. It topped the UK and Eurocharts for over a month, ranking in the top 10 in several year-end sales charts. It won an Academy Award for Best Original Song, two Grammy Awards, and two other Grammy nominations, the most awards won by a single rap song in one year. The song is ranked 4th in the 100 Greatest Songs Of The Past 25 Years by VH1. “Lose Yourself” ranked #166 in Rolling Stone magazine’s the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. It also ranked #93 on AFI’s 100 Years…100 Songs. In March 2009, “Lose Yourself” topped the 2 million mark in digital downloads in the United States, becoming the second oldest song to hit that sales level. It also became Eminem’s first song to reach 2 million digital downloads as a lead artist.
  • “Sparks” – Wynton Marsalis: Commercial aired October 2005.
  • “Cubicle” – Rinôçérôse: Commercial aired April 2006.
  • “Love Train” – Wolfmother: Commercial aired April 2006. The song is a single from the 2006 international version of their debut studio album Wolfmother. It became a minor commercial success in the U.K., reaching #62 on the Singles chart.
  • “Someday Baby” – Bob Dylan: Commercial aired August 2006. This is a Grammy Award-winning song from Dylan’s 2006 Grammy Award-winning album Modern Times. The song peaked at #98 in Billboard’s Pop 100 chart, and was featured in a prominent iPod + iTunes commercial that appeared around the time Modern Times was released. This song was #37 on Rolling Stone‘s list of the 100 Best Songs of 2008.
  • “The Audience Is Listening Theme Song” – Cut Chemist: Commercial aired September 2009. Cut Chemist (born Lucas MacFadden) is a former member of the funk Latin band Ozomatli, and of hip hop group Jurassic 5. He has collaborated with fellow turntablist DJ Shadow on a number of projects. [Notice the connection to another band (Ozomatli) used for iPod commercials….there are many connections between the songs on this list]
  • “Who’s Gonna Sing?” – Prototypes: Commercial aired September 2006. This song appeared on their albums Mutants Mediatiques and Prototypes. The song’s lyrics include both French and English words.
  • “Flathead” – The Fratellis: Commercial aired January 2007. This song is from their debut album, Costello Music, released on March 4th, 2007; there was an EP released with the same name in the United States after it had been used in a commercial for Apple iPod. On March 11 2007, the song entered the UK Singles Chart at #67 on the strength of downloads alone, despite not being released as a single in the UK, after the song was used on an iPod/iTunes TV ad. It peaked at #33 on Modern Rock Tracks, #73 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #64 on the Billboard Pop 100.
  • “Mi Swing Es Tropical” – Quantic & Nickodemus: Commercial aired May 2007.
  • “Dance Tonight” – Paul McCartney: Commercial aired June 2007. This song is the opening track to his 2007 album Memory Almost Full. It was released as a download single in the U.K. on 18 June 2007: McCartney’s 65th birthday. The song was nominated for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance at the 2008 Grammy Awards. In the U.S., it was released as a single, and reached #33 on the iTunes Store charts. The song also debuted in Billboard’s Hot 100 at #69.
  • “Perfect Timing (This Morning)” – Orba Squara: Commercial aired June 2007.
  • “1234” – Feist: Commercial aired September 2007. This is a song from Feist’s third studio album, The Reminder. It is Feist’s most successful single to date. The original song was written by Sally Seltmann, an Australian singer-songwriter who records under the name New Buffalo, and Feist added and rewrote parts of the lyrics. “1234” was nominated for Grammy Awards in the categories of Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and Best Short Form Music Video. Likewise, the success of the song largely contributed to Feist’s other nominations that year for Best New Artist and Best Pop Vocal Album. This song was #19 on Rolling Stone‘s list of the 100 Best Songs of 2007. “1234” also won the Juno award for Single of the Year on 6 April 2008 in Calgary. Pitchfork Media deemed the video the fifth best video of the decade. It became famous subsequent to its use in an iPod nano ad. It also appeared in an Australian commercial for eBay.
  • Since its digital release, “1234” peaked at #2 at the US Hot Digital Songs. The single has also reached #8 in the US Hot 100, #10 at the US Pop 100, and #34 at the US Modern Rock Tracks chart.[7] The single’s unexpected success led to its release worldwide. In the UK it proved to become a huge hit, making it in the top 10 peaking at #8.[8] It had a very successful release in Canada making it at number 2.[9] The song has also entered the top 10 in other European countries. The single’s success has made Feist famous globally and it has boosted the remaining sales. It also managed to debut at number 67 on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart, as digital tracks were added from the 5th of November 2007 to the singles chart in Australia. It later entered the top 50 of the chart in late December, and has thus far peaked at #36.
  • It also ranked as the #4 single of 2007 on CBC Radio 3’s year-end R3-30 chart and placed at number 34 in the Triple J Hottest 100
  • Time magazine named “1234” one of The 10 Best Songs of 2007, ranking it at #2 after “Rehab” by Amy Winehouse. Writer Josh Tyrangiel called the song a “masterpiece”, praising Feist for singing it “with a mixture of wisdom and exuberance that’s all her own.”[10][11]
  • In the 28 April 2008 episode of The Colbert Report where she was a guest, Feist said that she had planned to offer “1234” as the official campaign theme for Stephen Colbert’s Presidential bid, before he dropped out.
  • “Music Is My Hot Hot Sex” – CSS: Commercial aired October 2007. It is a single from their first album Cansei de Ser Sexy. The song was featured in a Zune advertisement in 2006 and again in an iPod advertisement in 2007. An 18-year-old British student, Nick Haley, used the song in a homemade 30-second commercial for the iPod touch that he created and then posted on the video sharing site YouTube on September 11, 2007. Creative executives from Apple’s advertising agency, TBWA\Chiat\Day, saw Haley’s creation, contacted him and enlisted him to remake it as a broadcast version. The spot began airing in the U.S. on October 28, 2007.
  • “Work That” – Mary J. Blige: Commercial aired November 2007. This is a single from her eighth album Growing Pains. It was featured in an iTunes commercial and was released on iTunes the day after Thanksgiving in 2007. When it was released for digital download, the single was still not officially released, but did eventually reach #65 on the Billboard Hot 100.
  • “What I’m Looking For” – Brendan Benson: Commercial aired February 2008. This song was used in multiple national advertising campaigns. This album charted at #70 in the UK Albums Chart.
  • “Shut Up And Let Me Go” – The Ting Tings: Commercial aired April 2008. From their debut studio album, We Started Nothing, the song was soon added to the coveted A-list of BBC Radio 1’s playlist, and has received a substantial amount of airplay during the day on the station. The single peaked at #6 in both the UK Singles Chart and the UK Download Chart. After featuring in a successful Apple iPod advertisement in April 2008, “Shut Up and Let Me Go” was hastily released in the US on 15 April, and was The Ting Tings’ first single to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart. This song was #27 on Rolling Stone‘s list of the 100 Best Songs of 2008. The song was certified Gold in America with sales of 500,000+ on October 14, 2008.
  • “Viva La Vida” – Coldplay: Commercial aired May 2008. It was written by all members of the band for their fourth album, Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends (2008). The song was released on 7 May 2008 as the album’s second single, debuting to critical and commercial success. It reached the top spot of the UK Singles Chart and Billboard Hot 100, becoming the band’s first number-one single and a Transatlantic number-one. The song won the Grammy Award for Song of the Year at the 51st Grammy Awards in 2009. The song became the sixth song in digital history to reach the 4 million mark in paid downloads. “Viva la Vida” was initially released only with iTunes Store pre-orders of Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends on 7 May 2008. It was released as a download-only single on 25 May 2008, and a physical CD single in Europe on 29 July 2008 to coincide with the release of the single’s music videos. “Viva la Vida” was well-downloaded in the internet, becoming iTunes’ best-selling song of 2008., and is the band’s highest-charting single. It is the first song by a British group to reach number-one on the Billboard Hot 100 since “Wannabe” by the Spice Girls in 1996, and it is the first song by a British rock band to top the chart since UB40’s 1993 song “Can’t Help Falling in Love”. Although the song was initially successful in digital sales, after being released, it went on to become the band’s highest-charting single in American radio, becoming their first top ten hit on the Hot 100 Airplay where it peaked at number eight. It had also become the band’s first number-one single on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. “Viva la Vida” also became the first song to top both the Hot 100 and Modern Rock chart since Nickelback’s “How You Remind Me” in 2001 and 2002. The single has been certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. The song also become one of six songs to reach the 4 million mark in paid digital downloads.
  • “$165 Million + Interest” into “The Round Up” – David Holmes: Commercial aired July 2008.
  • “Bruises” – Chairlift: Commercial aired September 2008. This is a single off their second album Does You Inspire You.
  • “Around The Bend” – The Asteroids Galaxy Tour: Commercial aired October 2008. The band is perhaps best known for the single “Around the Bend”, which was used in an iPod Touch commercial starting in September 2008, and released as a single in October. Their music was heard by Apple chairman, Steve Jobs resulting in the track “Around The Bend” being used in an iPod touch commercial. The band has also recorded an iTunes exclusive Live session EP in New York featuring “Around The Bend” and “The Sun Ain’t Shining No More”.
  • “You, Me & The Bourgeoisie” – The Submarines: Commercial aired December 2008. An instrumental cut of “You, Me and the Bourgeoisie” is used in the worldwide commercials for the new iPhone 3G.
  • “No You Girls” – Franz Ferdinand: Commercial aired February 2009. It is the second single from their third album Tonight: Franz Ferdinand. The song received worldwide attention after being chosen for use in an iPod advertisement. It reached #22 in the UK Singles Chart two weeks before its official release, dropped to #24 the next week and then returned to #22 upon its official release. Although it therefore didn’t fulfill its expectations before its physical release, it became (after “Do You Want To”) the band’s second longest lasting single in the UK Top 100, remaining there for ten weeks. Recently the song’s intro was used in an episode of the TV show, Fringe, titled “Unleashed”.
  • “If I Had Eyes” – Jack Johnson: Commercial aired June 2009. It is the first single from the album Sleep Through the Static. It was released exclusively on Brushfirerecords.com November 29. The official iTunes single was released on December 11, 2007 and peaked on the U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks #7.
  • “Mr. Pitiful” – Matt Costa: Commercial aired June 2009. On October 7yj, Matt released the first single, “Mr. Pitiful,” from his new record Unfamiliar Faces. He has toured extensively with Jack Johnson.
  • “She’s Got Me Dancing” – Tommy Sparks: Commercial aired September 2009. The song was released on May 4th, 2009 and entered the UK Singles Chart at #28 on May 10th, 2009. The song has been used occasionally in the media, including the advertising of Playstation 3 game EyePet and a commercial for the iPod Touch.
  • “Bourgeoise Shangri-La” – Miss Li: Commercial aired September 2009. Her third album Dancing the Whole Way Home, debuted and peaked at #8 on the Swedish Albums Chart on April 10, 2009. It is Li’s most successful studio album to date, and her only album to enter the top ten.
  • “Submarine Symphonika” – The Submarines: Commercial aired September 2009.

VIDEO OF THE DAY

Click here for a fabulous playlist of fabulous songs by the fabulous Ray Lamontagne.

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