A few years ago, a friend of mine made an amazing mix CD called White Noise, which melded together all of that era’s lite-rock hits into a 77-minute drugstore trip. (Think Girl Talk, only the music’s playing while you’re walking down the deodorant aisle and everyone’s milling around dazedly instead of dancing sweatily.) Well, Portland singer-songwriter (and ex-Christian rocker) David Martin has decided to bring the lite-rock experience offered by your local chain drugstore into thousands of Valentine’s Day celebrations across Aemrica; a 30-second snippet of his song “Something In Your Eyes” has been embedded within 65,000 heart-shaped boxes of Whitmans chocolates available at Walgreens, the latest chapter in Martin’s effort to become “the voice of romance.” (His words, not mine. You may not be surprised to find out that he also plays wedding-planner conventions.)
Those chocolate recipients enticed by the 30-second clip of the song will be able to download a full-length version of it for free, because Martin’s getting an undisclosed chocolate kickback from Whitmans parent company Russell Stover; so far Martin’s album (released by Astonish) has sold about 1,000 copies, with “Something” getting a bit of airplay on a Boston lite-rock station desperate for “positive love songs.” The full song, which you may wind up hearing later today if you’re “lucky” (or tomorrow if you’re “desperate enough to buy chocolate on clearance”), below.
He May Not Win Grammy, but He’s Big in Walgreens [WSJ]
David Martin [MySpace]
Is it just me, or does he totally look like … Gilbert O’Sullivan?
It’s a wonderful idea, but unfortunately Whitman’s has the credibility equivalent of Milli Vanilli in the chocolate world.
I’m from Portland and have never heard of Martin. But then again, I prefer my chocolates not to sing to me when I open the box.
Does being an “ex-Christian rocker” mean he’s now a godless atheist or that he just no longer has to the ability to rock?