Team Huddle!

Oh look... it's another glam song in a corporate ad! This time, Motley Crue's "Kickstart My Heart" sets the mood for Ally Bank's new spot called "Team Huddle." I think the ad is okay. It's not revolutionary, but it works.

Comments

[Him]

Yup, this is perfect. A song meant to celebrate natural highs . . . is spotlighting how a bank is "all in" for their customers, in spite of the fact that they have no physical locations. Hmm. Yup. Perfect.

And don't get me started on its previous history as part of GMAC during the financial crisis. Clearly, customers have an ally in Ally bank!

[Ace Steele]

IF ONLY Andy Scott from the Sweet had enough money for a good lawyer.
He should sue the sh*t out of Nikki Sixx for the brazen theft of the Sweet's "Hellraiser", which Sixx just wrote new lyrics to, & proclaimed it as "Kick Start My Heart"..

More like "Kick Start My Plagiarism Lawsuit".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1Os-Imm18k

[Him]

I certainly hear it at the start (and then again afterward), Ace. But would this be one of those Randy California things? This sounds a lot more obvious though.

Have others brought it up before? And would Mars be a willing participant to that sort of theft? He seems like one of the good guys. Just curious about your (further) take on this.

[Shawn]

@Ace- Thanks for the education - I had no idea - On another note and just a crazy question that you probably know - Can you share who stole what from who during the sunset strip era? Poison etc...

[Gary]

Well I'll be damned Ace. I'd never heard that song before,and that opening stanza is literally about 2 quick rests/ staccato strums away from what Sixx put out. It's brazenly blatant. I know Nikki was a huge Sweet fan and always lists them as a huge influence,so it'd be real hard for him to deny this...

[Bkallday]

Omfg, this Ace dude is too much, with all his bs! I know that he had one of his hoes taken once, by one of the members of the Crue. He hates em cuz he ain't em!

[fletch]

BK: gotta agree with you on this one. Ace definitely has some ax to grind sometimes. I'd rather focus on people who (like Kathleen Kane) are unhinged, nasty and downright mean. I digress.

But, back to the topic. People also peddle that David Lee Roth "stole" from Jim "Dandy" Mangrum. good grief.

Also, (just to push (your buttons) I mean the barrier further, BK), one can hear continuous influences in Steel Panther's songs: Extreme, Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, Poison. Stealing or paying homage?

[GNR]

Bank is a verb, not a noun. Banks have shareholders that get rich off of you. Credit Unions have "members" to which you are an owner and you can bank at.

Every credit union "elects" their board by the membership of which you have a vote on how they babysit your money.

Co-operatives... what a novel concept !

[fletch]

GNR: Shuck me, suck me...eat me raw! it's simply an oyster.

[Metalboy!]

What's the expression?... "Imitation is the best form of flattery."?

And nowhere is it truer than in Rock & Roll. Brian Wilson (an acknowledged total genius) had one of his first successes pretty much just wholesale rewriting lyrics and slapping them onto Chuck Berry's "Sweet Little Sixteen" and calling it "Surfin' U.S.A."...

Or, if ya wanna talk riffs, how about Johnny Thunder's trademark hook from the New York Dolls classic, "Personality Crisis", which Steve Jones repurposed for "Pretty Vacant" on the Sex Pistols triumphantly game changing album, "Never Mind The Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols!", which C.C. Deville repurposed for... well, you get the picture!

Funnier still (or not, depending on how you look at it) is the repurposing of "Kickstart My Heart" in the advertising business. GMAC, KIA (remember the awesomely overblown Super Bowl spot featuring "Kickstart" AND a Crüe cameo a few years back?) and now, for Ally Bank (hey, wait a minute, did they just name a bank after our fearless leader, one Ms. Allyson B. Crawford?!).

Personally, I actually find the mildly stupid spot pretty funny, especially the opener with the girl walking through the safety glass of the conference room to get in on the "hand thing". Here, unlike the KIA spot, however, the concept doesn't necessarily hinge on the song but it does seem to work as a motivational soundtrack for the casual Metal Millenial featured in the spot while also focusing on the intended target audience.

p.s. Ace, Did you ever meet Steve Jones of The Pistols, as he totally hung out on The Strip back in the day, post Sex Pistols?

[Him]

I _bank_ at _Bank_ of America . . . kidding, GNR. I get your point. I am a member of a local CU for some of the reasons you list (and others). They hold my mortgage note (and my car note), and I knew they wouldn't sell it off to some outside speculator the moment I signed off on it.

So I am with you; you can bank on that! After years of dealing with the Borg that was/is Wells Fargo, I was willing to put up with a few inconveniences instead of constantly getting upsold features I didn't want for fees I couldn't quite fathom.

[Ace Steele]

HA... I have no "axe to grind" with Motley.. But I will can 'em out for blatant theft, or other shitbaggery.. (which Vince has seemingly cornered the market on...)
It is what it is... And whether I'm educating you, or amusing you, or in bkallday's case, pissing you off by exposing your heroes as plagiaristic thieves, then so be it. Sometimes, the truth hurts.

Shawn asked "Can you share who stole what from who during the sunset strip era?".. YES!
Pretty Boy Floyd - they stole every song on their only major label LP from a band called "Doll" , led by a good friend & former bandmate, Kery Doll. *Except for "Set the Night On Fire" which MCA bought from a song farm for $15,000. Why sign a band with zero original songs? Hmmm ask their A&R guy, Bret Hartman... and then ask him about his cocaine debt to his dealer, Pretty Bad Farce's "singer" Stevie "Sux" Summers' brother. Plot thickens when you know all the players, hmmm? PBF guitarist Kristy Majors got caught repeating the song theft thing about 2 years ago, when he stole & recorded an entire CD worth of songs from the band "Suckerpunch" & their only Epic Records release...He just changed a few word & put the publishing credits in his name... Other than that, the L.A. Scene didn't have any blatant song thieves....

Oh & BK and fletch? Your accusation rings hollow.. None of the Crue "stole any of my hoes"... as you say. Sixx Did marry a girl I had dated, Brandi... I look at it more like him swallowing my pre-chewed meat... Have at it. And MetalBoy, Yes, I've ran into Steve Jones many times... He & I both have a shared love for the New York Dolls, & 70's should've been superstars, "Starz". He's currently a DJ on L.A. Radio's KLOS-FM. And his show is the only place either of those bands gets airplay.

[Him]

Ace, when you swing the facts in our faces it is a treat!

But I go back to my original query: how would Mars react to this sort of theft and is it, in context, akin to the Zep trial of this year? I assume you must know the answers to both questions. Spill the beans!

[Bkallday]

Umm exactly what facts did your boy throw in my face? Just curious? The fact that I was right all along, I'm assuming you mean. Oh...now I got it! The only "fact" he dropped was about PBF, and frankly, I don't gaff about them one way or the other. All I know is they put out one killer of a cd with LBWET. It's like trying to act like some chic isn't hot, just cuz her huge boobs may be fake. Can I touch em? Well, they're real then!

[Metalboy!]

Thanks, Ace for the scoop on Steve Jones. I will check out his show on KLOS-FM.

BK! Though I agree with you, man, about "Leather Boyz With Electric Toyz" being a h*lluva album, facts are facts.

Ace holding it against Summers and Majors, et al, is understandable as he knows Kerry Doll and watched DOLL perform the songs in question many times on The Strip.

But there's no question Howard Benson produced a Glam Metal gem no matter how dubious an achievement it actually is. I just wish Kerry Doll would have sued. I'm surprised he never did. Perhaps Ace can tell us why Doll never filed.

Also, BK... Please reread all of Ace's comments regarding Crüe on this post. He's simply stating the facts.

BTW, Chuck Berry successfully sued The Beach Boys for failing to credit him on "Surfin' U.S.A. and eventually had to list him as a co-songwriter on the album and single covers and labels plus settle for an undisclosed amount and share of the royalties.

[Bkallday]

So one song from their catalog is somewhat similar to one song in another bands catalog? Oh ok, I'm wrong then. Everything the Crue has ever released has been stolen, according to one industry insider who refuses to have his name involved.

Hell, even their iconic logo and band name, was stolen from Ace's old buddy, Sticks Boucher. His other buddy, former strip session guitarist Strings Magee, swears that he wrote the intro to home sweet home, shout, and wild side. See what had happened was, they were all at a White Castle hanging out one day, and ace and strings had went to the bathroom. While they were gone, Mick who was working behind the counter as a "fry boy", immediately jumped over the counter and took off with one of their lil notebooks. To this day, when Ace, Strings, & Sticks ever run into Mick(aka borrowing money & paying for vip packages to get to meet em)...oh it's on!!!

[Metalboy!]

Very funny, BK! You certainly are demonstrating your vivid imagination, just like you do when you refuse to acknowledge the f*ck ups and follies of your beloved Motlëy Crüe.

Are they a great band? Yes. Are they a band made up of reckless killers, ruthless wife beaters, unscrupulous thieves and ruthless businessmen. YES!

Just admit it, BK! What's your d*mned problem? Why do you let your love of a band interfere with your acknowledgement of the facts regarding their mistakes and character flaws?

Maybe your just plain tone deaf from attending too many Crüe shows!

[Him]

There's just no stopping Non-Sequitur Bkallday!!!

But I will give him credit. This post had some texture, some shading, and some characters going places and doing things. This is his _Faster Than The Speed of Love_.

As an aside, "Fry Boy" is one of the DLR/Talas songs ever! I kid. But Bkallday could take a page from that song: "gotta' keep things moving till my personality starts improving." When you rage as hard as he does, that can't be good for the ol' ticker.

[Shawn]

Thanks Ace!