Where in the world am I today?: St. Thomas – Antigua – Toronto – Vancouver (a very long day of travel!)
My friend North Darling (formerly of ‘The Three Canadians‘) sent me a link to and Obituary in the New York Times… It was for Donald Goeke, creator of SpaghettiOs.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/14/
business/14goerke.htm
The obituary sums it up nicely with this short paragraph…
Introduced in 1965, SpaghettiOs has been a fixture in the American pantry ever since. Its memorable advertising jingle — “Uh-oh, SpaghettiOs!” — sung by the pop singer Jimmie Rodgers, is indelibly lodged in the public consciousness.
I certainly grew up hearing that jingle and this product, though I can’t ever remember eating any, is certainly lodged into the annals of my pop culture references…
Getting this obituary elicited a strange sort of sadness… Like a part of my pop culture lexicon had died… It’s weird having never eaten the product to feel this way, but there was an unmistakable connection to the TV jingle and memories of my childhood. The product, for what ever reason had been indelibly imprinted on my psyche, and hearing that it’s creator had died, well… It gave a whole new meaning to the catchy jingle ‘Uh Oh…Spaghettios!’
Spaghettios don’t really have much to do with performing, though I suppose you could create a really fun (albeit messy) routine with them if you wanted to (somehow I’m reminded of the Blue Man Group’s use of Captain Crunch). But this idea of the iconic status of certain products, people or things is something that’s worth considering as one builds a brand and reputation as an entertainer.
I feel pretty lucky to have stumbled across the world of performance and the checkerboard motif that has been a part of my on-stage persona for coming up on a quarter of a century. There’s something magical to finding something you love, pursuing it and finding a way to make a living at it. Tap into a visual aesthetic and an image that helps people identify you in the sea of other performers and stick with it long enough and who know… You might just become a part of someone else’s pop culture lexicon…
