QotW: What’s your favorite song or jingle associated with a car?

Yesterday, September 7, was Commercial Song Day in Japan (it was also Labor Day in the US so we had the day off). On that day in 1951, radio stations in Japan aired the country’s first commercial jingle. It was actually an entire song, “I’m an Amateur Photographer“, about a man who tries to take pictures of his girlfriend but which end up all being out of focus. It was written specifically to promote Konishiroku Photo’s (now Konica Minolta) Sakura brand of film. Notably, it never actually mentions Sakura or Konishiroku by name.

As applied to cars, when I’ve looked at my old Toyotas (4Runner and A70 Supra) I can’t help but hum two songs. One is the “I Love What You Do For Me, Toyota” jingle, and the other is Huey Lewis’s “Power of Love” from Back to the Future, even though Marty’s dream Toyota pickup is first shown several minutes after that song is used in the movie.

What’s your favorite song or jingle associated with a car?

The most entertaining comment by next week will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What other ‘outdated’ things do you enjoy?”

To say we were impressed with the vast range of “outdated” interests harbored by our readers would be a massive understatement. Y’all are cultured!

Music media was naturally a popular category, but we had enthusiasts of all types of audio media. From crank_case‘s and CDs digital downloads and Joe Musashi‘s burned CDs to Jenda‘s cassette tapes and Michael Jue‘s 8-track it ran the gamut. brkr12002 and TheJWT  not only enjoyed tapes and vinyl, respectively, but old school video games as well, putting them with Jacob B and his restomodded GameBoy Advance.

If speaking strictly about automotive ephemera, Jim Klein rightfully prefers paper owner’s manuals, and Taylor C. still reads physical copies of Car and Driver. More broadly, for things that go, we share ra21benj‘s zeal for vintage Tamiya RC cars and Ian G.‘s enthusiasm for classic road bikes.

There really is something for everyone. Vitor David and Alan both have an affinity for Japanese automatic watches. Kyuusha Corner prefers vintage espresso machines and computers. And we deeply respect Aaron Cake‘s devotion to the Blackberry.

However, this week’s winner is Bryan Kitsune, who appears to be a true renaissance man when it comes to obselete objects:

Vintage Synths – I currently have a Roland Alpha Juno and Casio CZ-101, too bad I have bare bones playing/composing skills.

Film Cameras – haven’t been active with this in awhile, but still have a few old Nikon SLRs

Video games – don’t play much anymore, but kept most of the systems around. The 16-bit era is my favorite. A Link to the Past, Final Fantasy III (6), Super Mario World, Sonic, etc.

CRT TV – I got a little old HITACHI tv to hook the older game consoles up to and get a nice warm CRT glow going on. It has woodgrain side panels, so you know it’s legit.

VCR – HD/4K is a bit much sometimes. Nothing like popping in the VHS of “The Princess Bride” that somehow hasn’t been eaten up after 3 decades and hundreds of viewings.

Cassette/Vinyl – I think I prefer cassette here, as I have more nostalgia for that format, but also a pretty small vinyl collection. The benefit being that this tends to lead to listening to full albums in their intended order. Not a random shuffle or easily skipped.

Music in General – 80’s New Wave is my preference

Books/Magazines in print – while I’ll read on a kindle sometimes – usually for things I can’t find at the library, I’d much rather have paper in my hands.

Watches – I’m not a watch collector, but I have 2 watches, both Casio. One has a *calculator*. Who needs a smart watch?

Omedetou, your comment has earned you a set of decals from the JNC Shop!