Our remembrance of the late legendary ad man Hal Riney based on an interview with his long-time collaborator, noted editor Jacques Dury (4/11 SHOOT spot.com.mentary), hearkened back to the past. While that perspective was valuable in shedding light on Riney’s indelible imprint on our industry and how his work has stood the test of time, another aspect we didn’t touch upon was how Riney’s work carried future implications by virtue of being way head of its time.
Consider the contemporary buzz about the cooperative coming together of ad music and the record (CD) industry–and spot music becoming mainstream entertainment unto itself as reflected in SHOOT’s Music & Sound Series coverage last month (4/25), which included DDB San Francisco and Clorox releasing in response to public demand The Blue Sky Project CD containing select tracks from that client’s spots.
In that same topical vein, arguably the current holy grail would be to have music from a commercial become–or at least spawn–a hit song atop the Billboard music charts. Yet for Riney, this musical nirvana would hardly be a novel notion.
While he was at BBDO San Francisco in the early 1970s, Riney hired an up-and-coming songwriters Paul Williams and Roger Nichols to compose a theme for Crocker Bank. The song, “”We’ve Only Just Begun,” went on to become a number one hit by The Carpenters.
Furthermore, as the Association of Music Producers (AMP) looks to gain Grammy Award recognition for spot music (SHOOT, 4/18), it’s relevant to note that “We’ve Only Just Begun” was in 1998 inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame as a recording of lasting quality or historical significance.
Industry vet Susie Goldberg–a production assistant at the time of the Crocker spot working with Riney and his colleague, the now late director Dick Snider of the venerable N. Lee Lacy/Associates–recently helped SHOOT connect with Williams who shared his remembrance of “We’ve Only Just Begun.”
“I didn’t know him [Riney] well but remember him as being a very likeable and amiable man,” related Williams. “We had a brief meeting or two around the time of ‘Begun’ and I’m forever grateful for his part in the birth of the song…but, there aren’t really any great tales to tell. It seems to me he was a natural ‘storyteller’ and lovingly connected with his audience, the market he was addressing.
“Hal asked only that we write a little song to accompany his footage of a wedding, the reception and the young couple driving off into the sunset,” continued Williams. “He promised no audible copy and only the printed tag ‘You’ve got a long way to go .. we’d like to help you get there. The Crocker Bank.’ He didn’t want a jingle. What he envisioned we’d recognize today as a music video. Soft sell romanticism.
“When Roger Nichols and I wrote ‘We’ve Only Just Begun’ for the spot, we simply finished it as a song in case anyone wanted to add it as an album cut. Happily Richard Carpenter saw the commercial and asked about the song. An angel sang it and the rest as they say…is simply advertising and musical history.”
Gene Hackman Died Of Heart Disease; Hantavirus Claimed His Wife’s Life About One Week Prior
Actor Gene Hackman died of heart disease a full week after his wife died from hantavirus in their New Mexico hillside home, likely unaware that she was dead because he was in the advanced stages of Alzheimer's disease, authorities revealed Friday. Both deaths were ruled to be from natural causes, chief medical examiner Dr. Heather Jarrell said alongside state fire and health officials at a news conference. "Mr. Hackman showed evidence of advanced Alzheimer's disease," Jarrell said. "He was in a very poor state of health. He had significant heart disease, and I think ultimately that's what resulted in his death." Authorities didn't suspect foul play after the bodies of Hackman, 95, and Betsy Arakawa, 65, were discovered Feb 26. Immediate tests for carbon monoxide poisoning were negative. Investigators found that the last known communication and activity from Arakawa was Feb. 11 when she visited a pharmacy, pet store and grocery before returning to their gated neighborhood that afternoon, Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said Friday. Hackman's pacemaker last showed signs of activity a week later and that he had an abnormal heart rhythm Feb. 18, the day he likely died, Jarrell said. Although there was no reliable way to determine the date and time when both died, all signs point to their deaths coming a week apart, Jarrell said. "It's quite possible he was not aware she was deceased," Jarrell said. Dr. Michael Baden, a former New York City medical examiner, said he believes Hackman was severely impaired due to Alzheimer's disease and unable to deal with his wife's death in the last week of his life. "You are talking about very severe Alzheimer's disease that normal people would be in a nursing home or have a nurse, but she was taking care... Read More