Virgin Pulse at Target dancing British guards

[Katrina]

I was searching for that song for so long!!! Unfortunately, this is the answer I found. (This is copied and pasted from another site) :

Posted by Angeline on October 09, 19103 at 01:28:53:

In Reply to: Target Virgin Pulse Commercial posted by Nubus on October 07, 19103 at 08:12:15:

THIS IS THE SCOOP ON THE SONG. I EMAILED TARGET'S MAIN HEADQUARTERS AND THIS IS THE RESPONSE I GOT.

We appreciate your positive comments about
our current ad featuring the dancing guards. The music in this ad is an
original piece, exclusive to Target, performed by studio musicians and is
not available at any retailer. I am sorry for any disappointment this may
cause.

We always welcome your feedback, so if we can assist you in the future,
please contact our Target Guest Relations team at 1-800-440-0680. We also
invite you to share your comments whenever you visit a Target store or on
the Internet at www.target.com.

We value you as our guest and thank you for shopping at Target.

Sincerely,

Kristine D
Target Guest Relations
www.target.com

I am sooooo disappointed.

 

[michelle]

Thanks for the contribution Katrina! I know we are all disappointed that the song isn't available for purchase. However what you just quoted, from another source, has already been expressed numerous times previously in this thread. You can read all the various emails our readers have received from Target and the ad's producers in the previous posts.

We're all sad to find it the song isn't a "real" one, seems there's a movement brewing to get Target to release a full-length of the song.

 

[chrisgiraffe]

I guess I'm a bit late on this one also (Target Ad, British Guards). I called last week and they didn't have any info but this week they told me the same as listed below. "It is an original studio production for Target unavailable in retail stores." I wasn't sure that was the case so I thought I'd check back here to see if someone else had found out something new. I've looked at other sites and someone suggested it was 'Kings of Leon' then another person checked and discredited that source (KOL is out of Tennessee and everyone agrees the sound is definately British). I did find a reference to the ad agency which supposedly produced the commercial; Kirshenbaum Bond + Partners. They have a web site which lists Target as a client but hasn't been updated. I wrote them today to see if they did produce the commercial and if they might know the name of the band. I'd really like to find out also. I think it's cool there are other people aside from me who just think the song is kick ass- It is. I was surprised to see someone suggest Iggy Pop. I would guess the Sex Pistols/Clash if anything but I know for certain it's neither. Anyway, we'll find out. I'm certainly not a political activist but I do like the idea of people writing Target asking for them to release the song in some manner.

Long live catchy Brit-Punk!

-Chris

 

[vladko89]

I received a different reply from the folks at the ad agency (KB+P).

The music on this spot is from JRalph. You can go to www.jralph.com for more info. Thanks for your interest.

That's a little different than what LMW2112 got from the press person (who said it was several different musicians from different bands). My reply was not from the press person...I had emailed the info@ address.

I checked out JRalph and I didn't come up with the specific tune. It is possible that it is his work, but some of you all would probably be better judges of music style than I. If it is his, he might post it on his sight. He apparently had done music for a VW commercial that is posted there.

 

[LMW2112]

To chrisgiraffe:
you posted the following:

I wrote them today to see if they did produce the commercial and if they might know the name of the band. I'd really like to find out also.

If you read this whole thread of posts, you will see that many people have e-mailed the ad agency KB+P, and Target, and Virgin Pulse and have had various responses. KB+P is in fact the ad agency that produced the commercial. Go up this page and read my post dated 10/8/03, and you'll see the text of 2 e-mails I've received; one from KB+P and one from Virgin Pulse.

Everyone here is still hoping that Target will decide to include the song on a CD in the future.

Lisa :lol:

 

[michelle]

Originally posted by vladko89@Oct 10 2003, 02:04 PM
I received a different reply from the folks at the ad agency (KB+P).

The music on this spot is from JRalph.  You can go to www.jralph.com for more info.  Thanks for your interest.

That's a little different than what LMW2112 got from the press person (who said it was several different musicians from different bands). My reply was not from the press person...I had emailed the info@ address.

I checked out JRalph and I didn't come up with the specific tune. It is possible that it is his work, but some of you all would probably be better judges of music style than I. If it is his, he might post it on his sight. He apparently had done music for a VW commercial that is posted there.

Interesting...

Well, I emailed someone from J.Ralph's website... So, I'll post the info I get back from them as soon as I hear anything relative.

J.Ralph became popular because he provided music to a few different huge tv ad campaigns, and subsequently (and, supposedly) started a company that produces original compositions for ads -- So, it's quite possible that his company provided the music to the KB+P agency (who, in turn, used it for this Target ad)...

Who knows... This is all speculation.

Like I said, I'll post any info I get back from the J.Ralph camp...

 

[michelle]

Okay. I heard back from J.Ralph and the song was indeed done by him for the Virgin Pulse at Target ad. The name of the song is called "My Good Friend," and according to him/his rep the song isn't available yet. Therefore, implying that it will be released most likely from him.

So, rest easy... Don't bother with emailing and campaigning for the song to be released. The song is in the works and in the future, when I hear of it's release, I'll make an entry to the Adtunes.com Weblog.

 

[jschutkeker]

Hi --

I'm new to this discussion, but I stumbled into it yesterday while looking for, you guessed it, the excellent tune on the Target commercial with the dancing guards.

You may not have noticed, but you guys have received contradictory replies from Target and J. Ralph (aka. Joshua Ralph). Target said that they own the song exclusively, but Ralph said that he may release it, which he couldn't if it were wholly owned by Target.

I've e-mailed Ralph about this, and I hope to hear a satisfactory answer before too long. I hope I don't get sucked into a he-said-she-said bickering match between Ralph and Target.

Incidentally, I believe that we *should* send e-mail to both Target and J. Ralph expressing our interest in getting a commercial copy of this song. Letter writing campaigns are a tradition as old as America, and if we don't tell them that we're interested, how will they know that there are a lot of us, enough to make it worth their while.

 

[michelle]

Yes, we know we got contradictory replies -- which is why I emailed J. Ralph yesterday and asked what the deal was. I got responses back from him confirming he wrote the song and is working on a full-length version.

I presumed he'll be the one to release the song, since the ones he's done in the past for Volvo and Volkswagen were released by him on his own album... I'm only speculating based on past routine. And, of course, could be wrong on that.

Will be interesting if he's able to fill you in on who exactly is planning to release the song, though.

 

[Gloaming]

For those of you who play guitar, I've figured out the tab for the main riff:

(first two chords "My good friend has...")
x35xxx
x24xxx

(play this part quickly "an army or whatever")
x24xxx
x04xxx
3xxxxx
0xxxxx

(first chords again)
x35xxx
x24xxx

x24xxx
xx24xx


Pretty easy to play. Now those of you who play guitar can hear it whenever you want. ...or make your own full version.

Cheers.

Ryan

 

[Cedric]

Hey guys, I'm new to this place and I hope you can help me out.

I really want to know what the song is on that ad where they'res all those dancing British guards. They're all listening to the same song on their own music player. If you could help me out here it would be great, this has been driving me crazy.

Also, it would be cool if you could tell me the song on this one drink ad, I donno what it's for, but the song goes something like "gonna start a riot, don't try and fight it".

Eh? Thanks in advance

 

[Finchy]

The song is called "My Good Friend" by J. Ralph and it is unavailable for purchase at the moment, but likely will be soon.

 

[mayorofghoulsville]

HERE IS THE REAL SCOOP ON THE MUSIC

JRalph aka SPY aka Joshua Ralph is a artist and producer in New York City. He works with many bands and musicians and is constantly approached by companies to licensce the music he creates.

In reaction to this, he created The Rumor Mill, (www.therumormill.com). You can read his bio at www.jralph.com. You can also hear his current recordings at the ITunes music store.

I was there during the recording sessions, and they did 3 different songs, Target chose 1. "My Good Friend". I play with him at his studio, which Jralph rarely leaves. It is located in an abandoned movie theatre from the 1800's. JRalph is a close friend as well as a musical peer and is very gratefull for the response this peice of music is getting.

Look at JRalph.com for news, you're not gonna wanna miss it.

Yours Truely,
The Mayor of Ghoulsville

 

[LMW2112]

Honorable Mayor of Ghoulsville; B)
Awesome post! Thanks for the information about Joshua Ralph. This morning I had another e-mail from Mr. Jeremy Kuhn, at the ad agency KB+P. He's been following this forum and has seen the sometimes conflicting messages regarding the music for this ad. Here is the text of his latest e-mail to me (and thank you, Mr. Kuhn, for clarifying things for all of us who SO love this song!):

Hey Lisa-
I hope you're doing well. I was checking out the Adtunes string again and realized the name JRalph had popped up; I thought I'd take a second to clarify how this whole thing worked so it didn't seem like anyone was contradicting each other: what basically happens is we figure out the best way to create the music for the commerical, and in some cases hire a music producer (this time it was Joshua Ralph) to create the music for us to license--he writes it and then hires musicians to play it. The musicians are the guys from different bands I referred to (what I mean by that is they're not a band that necessarily exists as this group of people: the individual musicians could play together, play in different bands, etc.); the producer has discretion over who those guys are (which is why I wouldn't be able to say who the musicians are: I don't know). After the license has expired, the producer also owns the music, since he created it, unless the company who hired the producer to create that music buys it outright for its lifetime. In any case, it sounds from the forum like Josh is making a full-length song from the piece, which is great news! Way to go on your campaigning.

Take care-
--
Jeremy Kuhn. 212.352.4582
kirshenbaum bond + partners. new york.

So,
Hopefully nobody will have any more questions about this, we all can just wait for Mr. JRalph to release a full-length version of this little treasure and we can all die happy!!! Peace to all...
Lisa

 

[MoonWing Pamela]

Sometimes I just love the internet! I too love this song! It took a whole 10 seconds for me to find this forum and discover all the great info about JRalph, etc...
I really appreciate all the hard work you guys did for the rest of us!

Now if we could only find out who did the choreography for the dancing Royal Guards...

Ha! Just kidding!

 

[papercutdoll]

Thanks to everyone involved for this topic. I've been searching for information on this commercial. I'm the stage manager for my high school's fall play and the director wants us to (he's such a sadist) learn the dance and perform it at the end of the play. Our drama group does a popular dance at the end of all our plays. This is why I really laughed when a poster (I'm sorry I can't remember the name) said something about figuring out the choreography because I actually have to do that! :lol: I'll be watching this thread hoping for progress. Great topic!

 

[wowza fan-tastic]

sorry i sent you all on a wild goose chase with the Kings of Leon, but I do know for a fact that they were UP for the song in that commercial, along with another band that has been mentioned on here before (this is from my various sources), but I guess they decided to use this guy instead. OH WELL@ glad you guys found out.

 

[SpenceFiraga]

I bought a song on iTunes by The Stills called Still in Love, check that out, if that isn't it, it's damn close.

Spence

 

[jinx77]

ok so this might be completely wrong, but i work @ american eagle outfitters and the new spring mix has a song on it called "still in love song" by the stills, and i know a remix of this song is out there somewhere ( called the 12'' extended mix) and it sounds ridiculously similar, granted i haven't compared them, but it's a thought. check it out, a good song (the original, i haven't actually been able to find the remix yet) at any rate.

 

[michelle]

the songs might sound similar, which is cool... since the song in the ad is good. but, just so we don't create chaos, it's definitely not the same song heard in the TV spot -- i spoke with the artist who created the music for this ad and he told me it was done just for the ad and didn't exist full length yet. <_<