Apr 09
Acceptable in the 80s by Calvin Harris
Just like The Nightcrawlers' "Push The Feeling On", Calvin Harris' "Acceptable in the 80s" is a hit slowly but steadily gaining momentum.
With a first release on vinyl in December 2006, this remarkable piece of Electroclash has developed from being an underground hit to a mainstream phenomenon.
How this came across is actually no secret. While the song is of decent quality and may stand for its own, the "last bit of success" was added by extensive promotional airplay, as backdrop on on-air promotion, commercials and TV series jingles.
The title was used on...
- Channel 4's The Paul O'Grady Show
- E4 as on-air promotion background music
- five on programming related to the tenth birthday
- the London Marathon
- BBC1's show boating
- Soccer AM
- Match of the Day 2.
- the Editors played a cover version of the song on Radio 1's Live Lounge
- in a Norwegian commercial for Miami Vice on Viasat4
- and currently it is used on commercial-break inserts accompanying Germany's Next Topmodel, Cycle 3.
It was acceptable in the 80s
It was acceptable at the time
It was acceptable in the 80s
It was acceptable at the timeI've got love for you
If you were born in the 80s, the 80s
I've got hugs for you
If you were born in the 80s, the 80s
So this release and it's rise to prominence is one example for the importance of music marketing. The average listener might think that a certain song will top the charts all on its own if only the hook is good enough or composition of quality. But the truth is that hits are very often made. TV trailers and programme bumpers, radio testimonials or a snippet of a song here and there, all of this is used to present a track to an audience over and over again, and all this exposure is bought for top dollar. Any independent artist surely knows how much of marketing is involved in getting your work heard and your music to the people.