MacDonald Manufacturing Concern

Cole Porter on Toilet Bowl Cleaners.

This New York Times article on newly-discovered Tennessee Williams plays contains an interesting nugget about licensed music in advertising. [registration required]

With works meant for performance, the damage can be even greater. Because of an oversight by the Cole Porter estate, one of his loveliest works has become permanently associated with the toilet-bowl cleaner that turned it into "I've Got You Under My Rim."

Morrissey? Morrissey.

Saw Morrissey at Radio City last night. This is a man who understands branding. He changed shirts no less than five times--just as he has done for the past 15 years. He welcomed the stage-rushing fans who knocked him to the floor. And he even apologized to those who came to hear the Smiths songs for spending so much time on material from his new album. This is a very carefully cultivated image.

That said, he did walk off the stage midway through "There is a Light That Never Goes Out" due to some overzealous member of the security staff tackling a fan. Too bad that just happened to be my favorite Smiths song. Oh well. At least I heard half of it.