Wow!  I know this is a little off-topic for a typical SongMine post, but I had to let you all know about the jingle spot from Stretch Media (see it below) which was so catchy that it caught the attention of the LA Times and made the front page of the Business Section today. 

Debrah Lemattre shot the spot with her fabulous Canon Mark II camera (the hottest camera on the block these days) and then edited it in our comfy high tech cutting edge editing bay on Catherine Rd.  I composed the jingle, played all the instruments, and sang it. The Backboners own Ginger Smith was the art director. Local folk celebrity Duane Thorin was one of the 40 extras. Local sound engineer wizard Keith Wechsler did the final mix and made it sound sweet.  And it caught the ear and eye of Claro's Italian Markets, who immediately hired us to do a similar spot for them!  And now this shout out from the LA Times, thanks to the excellent work of Helaine Ross PR  Ain't life grand (and strange?)

Here's the spot.  I'll post the Claro's opus when it's done.  Enjoy!

Believe it or not, a whole bunch of people urged me to do this.  I resisted for quite a while, but I have spent a lifetime immersed in song.  And I do believe songs are important to our cultural health.  So...here goes! Hope you'll join us on the magical music patio in Altadena.  Info for sign-up below....

 "NEW YEAR'S EVE"
© Bill Burnett and Peggy Sarlin

Please click here for LYRICS

New Year's Eve has got to be the weirdest of holidays. Unlike most others, which commemorate  someone's birth, or celebrate of the end of a war, or the beginning of a season, or some kind of big religious or philosophical event or concept, New Year's Eve is all about the passage of time. Which is a pretty dreary subject, when you get right down to it.  That's why I think there are no real New Year's songs.  "What Are You Doing New Year's" and "Auld Lang Syne" are about it, right?  So Peggy Sarlin and I took a stab at capturing the ambiguous nature of the holiday in this song and I thought it was appropriate to trot it out for this combination new year and new decade.  Please, let me know what you think of it...

Hello and happy happy EVERYTHING SongMiners.  I am grateful the long dreary decade some are calling "The Aughts" (meaning the Zeros) is coming to a close and 2010 is just around the corner, ripe with promise.

My New Years Resolution is to get the SongMine back up and running after a long hiatus.  Maybe I'll make it a bi-weekly event for the new year.

To end the aughts on a happy note, please enjoy this holiday greeting from ChalkZone. (Directed by the amazing Bob Nesler.)

And then be sure to scroll down and see my perennial holiday hit "Christmas! Christmas! Christmas!"  See ya next year.  Meanwhile, for heaven's sake, go have some fun at the SongMine!

Pleae click here or LYRICS

We had a swell time last Friday at Coffee Gallery Backstage and I sang MY perennial holiday favorite "Christmas Christmas Christmas"--captured by Donna Barnes-Roberts for her wonderful new blog What You Missed at the Coffee Gallery Last Night which you should definitely check out on a regular basis:

© Bill Burnett

Please click here for LYRICS

And here's Duane Thorin's holiday offering with me chiming in on the Jing Jing A Lings

© Duane Thorin