Def Jam was founded by Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin in Rubin's dorm room at New York University. The first releases on Def Jam Recordings were LL Cool J's I Need A Beat and the Beastie Boys' Rock Hard, both in 1984. The singles sold well, eventually leaI got a call today from my 27-year-old daughter. She was driving on I-75 in Florida. She asked, "...daddy, are you still writing about songs in TV commercials?" "Of course," I said.
"Who sings that song, I think it's on a Verizon commercial, that goes 'baby, I fell asleep amid the flowers, for a couple of hours'...I really like it."
I didn't know and I was only vaguely familiar with the commercial. Within about fifteen minutes, while watching the baseball game, I saw the spot. What a great sound! So I stopped what I was doing to investigate. When I called my daughter back about two hours later (still driving on I-75!), I told her the following:
Although it sounds like the singer is saying "baby, I fell asleep amid the flowers," actually the words are "Daydream, I fell asleep amid the flowers..."
The song is the excellent work of UK recording act, I MONSTER. I Monster is the British "electronic" duo comprised of Sheffield- based producers Dean Honer and Jarrod Gosling. Their smart, compelling songs have landed in a number of TV and film projects including ads for the aforementioned Verizon, Absolut, Cadillac, Ford, and Toyota. Notably, I Monster's music was featured on the soundtracks of the 2007 major motion picture Shaun of the Dead and in TV's The Heist, and Shark.
The band's inventive and entertaining video for "DayDream In Blue" was nominated in 2001 for Video of the Year in the Q Awards, UK's annual music awards presented by the music magazine Q. The import album which contains "Daydream," Neveroddoreven, is chock-full of hook-laden pop with a nostalgic twist.
Said one reviewer,"This is an album in which every song is a gem and completely unique. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes electronica and/or old sci-fi films...."
The reference to "old sci-fi films" probably was evoked by I Monster's use of ear-catching electronic sounds, including the Theremin, the early proto-type of the synthesizer, a totally unique and fascinating "instrument" whose sound was made famous by the Beach Boys' classic and 1966 #1 smash, "Good Vibrations." (And by the fact the band's very name is derived from I, Monster, a 1971 British horror film.)
There is even a picture of what looks like Leon Theremin, Russian inventor of the device that makes odd sounds in an odd way (without being touched by the player!), on the band's equally quirky and fun website, IMonstermusic.com.
DA Jack Hayford is the editor of the popular music reference website, Events-in-Music.com, which features a special section on #1 Songs. Mr. Hayford is also the Program Director and co-founder of DurangoSong.com, the online home of the ten-plus-year old Durango Songwriters Expo, a premier annual educational and inspirational event for aspiring songwriters.
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