TVSquad

Randy Waage at RetroCRUSH decided to throw together a list of ten pop songs that have been ruined by commercials. The interesting thing about the list is that he doesn't only cite ads that replays a song for its own use, but ones that use a new version of the song, complete with changed lyrics. Included in the list are HP's ruination of The Cure's "Pictures of You," Kraft's transformation of EMF's "Unbelievable" to "Crumbelievable" (so wonderfully parodied by Stephen Colbert), and Maxwell House's bastardization of "Our House" by Madness.

But it was another co-opting of a Madness song that was my favorite item on the list: Remember that mid-80s Brit-popish ad for the Colgate Pump? It did seem to be a very odd and interesting ad at the time, as if they just took a commercial made in the UK and decided to air it here in the States. Well, it was a take-off of a 1980 song by Madness called "Baggy Trousers," which I never knew before. Videos of both the ad and the Madness song are after the jump. Do you have any favorite songs that were ruined by cheesy ads? Let me know in the comments.

Former CBS and Fox football announcer (and New York Giants placekicker... just ask my dad how good he was) Pat Summerall has written a new autobiography, and he talked to Richard Sandomir of the New York Times about some of what happened to him just after his liver transplant surgery four years ago. It turns out that fatigue and medication made Summerall (right, with former broadcast partner John Madden) think that parts of his body were falling off. And, at one point, he shaved off part of his head with an electric razor in order to look like Bruce Willis. "Why I had to look like Bruce Willis, I don't know," he tells Sandomir. "I'm not a particular fan of his." He was also told by his family that he'd sing "God Bless America" and "Amazing Grace" at the top of his lungs, but he didn't remember doing that.

But Summerall, who is doing radio work for the Dallas Cowboys, feels great now, and wants to call games again. He felt he was "mailing it in" the last four years he was at Fox, a notion that I and most football fans tend to agree with. Good to see he's doing better. I'd love to hear a healthy Summerall in the booth.