to suspect that the Boo Radleys released Wake up in a cynical attempt to fund their retirement?

[chipmunksex]

They were young, but they were savvy; they knew that their particular brand of indy/pop would not be 'down with the kids' forever.

So one morning in the early nineties a plan was hatched to rake in the cash for many years to come, by penning a tune so unbelieveably catchy and cheesy it would be in demand for coffee adverts and children's television trailers for decades!

Chris Evans ruined this song for me.

Now CBeebies plunges me into a nightmare reality where the last fifteen years were all a dream and I have to wake up and get ready for school, every morning.

I really really hate that song and turn the radio over to iPod or something else when it comes on.

Like fingers down a chalk board to me!

I've got a great idea for a song...
"It's 2013, and that's the time that it's always been.."

"I've got Thursday on my mind"

And I reckon you could make a mint by looking at the top baby names lists from the last ten years and getting some songs out, because some of them are bound to get famous and they'll need music for news pieces about them:
"Oh Jack, Jack when will I get you back?"
"Chloe Chloe, I want to know we, can be together forever"
"Olivia, Olivia I just wanna be wivvya"
"What's it all about - Alfie?"

Oh christ yes.

But for total teeth itchery when it comes to cynical 'placement' songs, I give you 'sisters are doing it for themselves' by you know whom.

To be played whenever a female mp gets elected. Or over montages of women smiling and holding up banners.

'standing on their own two feet' - what the actual frickety fuck, Annie? Here, meet one of my own feet.....*

I have wonderful memories of that song, it was the 2nd single I ever bought. I played it to death and reminded me of that brilliant spring/summer of 1995 when great singles seemed to be coming out every week. The world seemed so rich with possibility and the future seemed so exciting.

The rather humdrum nature of my adult life means it is slightly tinged with melancholy.

Lazarus was their masterpiece, but o don't have the same emotional connection to it.

I've just remembered another example. "Friday I'm in Love" by The Cure. To be played at every Friday wedding for the rest of eternity. Even The Cure were at it!

I loved Lazarus.

This song was released while we were studying To Kill A Mockingbird at school. So we all knew what they were on about :o

The man who wrote that song, Martin Carr, is by no means loaded. He's on twitter a lot & I get the definite impression that they're just scraping by. He was umming and ahhing about letting his music being used for something & having started seeing Wake Up Boo on cbeebies I think that's what he was on about.

Their follow up album "C'mon Kids" is amazing.

The other day they were playing The Levellers in the shopping centre.

That was weird.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I think that moby album holds the record for the songs most used for adverts. I think every song got used for an ad or a trailer or something! I used to like the album and didn't even need to buy it as the songs were just everywhere. He must be minted.

Speakeasy by Shed 7 and connected by stereo mcs seem to soundtrack every mobile phoneshop add. That was pretty lucky as both songs predated the mobile phone boom.

I don't begrudge shed 7 their success as I used to see their singer out and about in York and I once saw him help a woman get a pushchair onto a train, so he's alright with me.

Speakeasy by Shed 7 and connected by stereo mcs seem to soundtrack every mobile phoneshop add. That was pretty lucky as both songs predated the mobile phone boom.

I don't begrudge shed 7 theis stroke of luck as I used to see their singer out and about in York and I once saw him help a woman get a pushchair onto a train, so he's alright with me.

Oh god, Connected used to haunt my dreams when I worked for one of the big mobile companies and had to be on hold to carphone warehouse every day....

No, no you are all wrong . You need to be writing a song about the future - Natasha Bedingfield is at no 18 on the 'Under 30 Rich List', and all because she wrote that -bloody annoying-- 'Unwritten' song. It is used at graduation ceremonies worldwide and she gets millions in royalties from it, and will continue to do so for years.

Your future's what you make it
Don't let anyone break it
Grab it now, just take it
It's up to you, yeah, yeah, yeah

Shall I retire now? What d'you think??

Should have read fucking annoying of course...