I heard Paul Simon’s “Kodachrome” this morning. It led me to think about how silly it was that the Kinks had to change “Coca-Cola” to “cherry cola” in “Lola,” and yet here’s a song all about a brand-name product, with that brand name as the song’s title, no less.
Then I got to wondering what other songs have a brand name in the title. Not just in the lyrics – there must be thousands – but in the song title. The only one I could think of was “Wells Fargo Wagon” from the musical Oklahoma! Surely there are many more than that. Right?
As an aside, does the British law that forced the Kinks to change that line still apply? If so, does that mean “Kodachrome” has never been played on British airwaves? Seems unlikely to me.
It’s not a law, it’s one of the regulations of the BBC - they’re not allowed to do any advertising of any kind. So they wouldn’t have been able to play the song, and they own four of the biggest radio stations plus had by far the biggest music TV show, Top of the Pops. I’m not sure if the rule’s applied consistently though - I’m sure some songs get away with it, maybe if it’s more subtle. Like my example, Smells Like Teen Spirit, definitely got away with it, perhaps because Teen Spirit, the deodorant the song title came from, wasn’t on sale in the UK at the time.
Brand New Cadillac (the Clash)
Roland The Headless Thompson Gunner (Warren Zevon) Night Train (Guns n Roses)
From a Buick 6 (Bob Dylan)
Give Me Novacaine (Green Day) – dodgy. The brand is spelled Novocain, but it’s the spelling for the same product in a dozen songs Heinz Baked Beans & Medac & Odorono (The Who) Marvel (Radkey) Victrola (Veruca Salt)
Warrior in Woolworth (X-Ray Spex)
They Might Be Giants have a song that was originally titled “NyQuil Driver” but had to be changed so that it wouldn’t have a registered trademark in the title.
