"Somehow Captain Beefheart convinced Warner Bros. to finance a sixty-second television commercial for Lick My Decals Off, Baby. No one had tried to construct an actual television ad campaign for an album before, so Warner Bros. had no system of control in place. To the band and label's disappointment, timid programmers deemed the finished work too strong for commercial broadcast. Still, it made the rounds of industry screenings, attracted a critical buzz, and ultimately included in the Museum of Modern Art's initial collection of videos." - from Neil Feineman's introduction to Thirty Frames Per Second: The Visionary Art of the Music Video.
I've been a fan of the Capt since the early 70's and I must say he's one of the most original artist I've ever experienced. yes, he's underrated and misunderstood by the masses but he's much appreciated by the rest of us.
A former roommate of mine remembers seeing this ad during the ABC Late Late Show back in 1970. Probably never saw it more than once or twice before it was pulled. You figure an African-American man whose musical influences include Beefheart, Silver Apples, The Move, XTC and Sun Ra. That's a rounded and righteous portfolio, man. Don Van Vliet himself said he hated this ad, but... he does fabricate a lot.
Wonder if the announcer knew that it was a bush recording! Dear old cap, saw him live at manchester free trade hall in 1973. We asked for more and he whistled the old standard "more"!
What actually aired was shorter I think-- starting from "In plain view". It was on one of the local LA channels (9 or 13?), on I think a Sunday afternoon. I had recently discovered Beefheart via the Trout album, and happened to be watching TV that afternoon. Could hardly believe my eyes. It was banned because some people complained that the album title was offensive. It's been hard to describe to people just how weird it was to suddenly see that appear on broadcast TV in the late '60s.
torker24 . Indeed, it would have fit in with the early Lynch shorts. Van Vliet’s paintings, poetry, and music, taken together, may be the single greatest body of American late 20th century abstract art. He is criminally under-recognized.
With a bit of Rene Magritte in the mix. (the surreal painter who had paintings of people with their faces covered with cloth as he was witness how they dragged his mom out of a river when he was a child and she killed herself and her face was covered in a simular cloth)
I remember watching this commercial in junior high school while watching late night creature feature horror classics. I remember how much I hated this weird commercial. Beefheart had a sense of humor.
I came to YT looking for this. I'm listening to the audiobook of "Sonic Boom: The Impossible Rise of Warner Bros. Records" (by Peter Ames Carlin). At one point the author describes this ad. Thanks for posting this video so I could actually see it! 🤯
Saw him on this tour supporting this record at the Ludlow Garage in Cincinnati. Ry Cooder(solo) was the opening act. Must have been very early 1971. One of the last shows at the Garage.
This Captain Beefheart advert is amazing! A bit like what Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds were aiming for with the adverts to Dig Lazarus Dig, only many moons before.
In case none of you heard or noticed, Decals has been on iTunes and other MP3 stores since January. If you don't have it and want it now, go get it. I did and I also have the 2000 vinyl reissue (which I used my USB turntable with. It sounds a bit better in the MP3 all cleaned up IMO)
Someone should. I'm a member on Lynch's website and he does take and answer questions on there, so I guess I should ask and see if there's an answer. Will keep everyone posted. In the documentary photographer Anton Corbijn (sp?) made about/with Van Vliet, Lynch makes several appearances, asking him questions, calling him "Don" and referencing earlier conversations, so I think they're actually friends.
Whatever the intended meaning, it doesn't matter. This kind of marketing has been proven to work. Is this really that weird when you think back over the creepiness of The Burger King? I hate those commercials...but they bring in lots of customers. This ad was actually ahead of it's time.
My mind stops every time that line, and it is deep and almost unfathomably beautiful, comes back to me as it has been coming back to me ever since I first heard it 50 years ago and listened to it over and over. It taps into that part of my heart that can be broken, and breaks it again.
I hate adverts with a passion, but somehow this is the only advert I can bear to watch. I was lucky - the Magic Band came to little old Penzance in West Cornwall a few years back... they even came into my shop in Newlyn to buy some smocks. Life is full of surprises! Check out my review of Lick My Decals Off, Baby: yecaterpillar.blogspot.co.uk/2010/03/lick-my-decals-off-baby.html
Oh yeah, and it just occured to me that since this clip is in a museum somewhere - MOMA? that Lynch may have seen it on a visit, no telling how early, though. If it was early enough it may have played a role. Also, in one interview at least Van Vliet mentioned that he loved Twin Peaks.
Yeah, and slightly reminiscent of David Lynch's short films. I'm sure Lynch was not directly inspired and probably never saw this, but it feels like he COULD HAVE.
According to Zoot Horn Rollo, Warner Bros. paid for the commercial, which features Fred May, who I guess was famous advertising voiceover person at the time. I also remember reading that the original idea might've come from Elliot Ingber (Winged Eel Fingerling), but I'm too lazy and stoned to look it up. Fucking genius nonetheless.
on a documentary it said that beefheart made this ad and paid for a slot on late night television out of his own pocket.It was not banned, the station just received an excessive amount of complaints from the public begging to have it taken off, people hated it.
This is a crazy dada commercial. The montage is rhythmic, quite clever. If I am not mistaken, this ad was not really shown publicly, the company thought it suggested drug use or something like that. Must have been the cigarettes and egg beater.
I wonder how many TV stations actually aired this advert at the time, and more to the point, how many people ran out and bought the record after seeing the ad. BTW, I remember the Grateful Dead had several radio commercials for their albums that were similarly strange. The ones for Aoxomoxoa are hilarious, "I'm here to tell you about the new record from the Grateful Dead on the Warner Bros/Seven Arts label. I'd tell you what it's called, but I forgot how to pronounce the title!".
the title of the record was considered questionable. at least that's the excuse that was given at the time. I suspect it was because the commercial was just plain too much for their mirrors, so to speak.
Great short film but - What a waste of good semolina! The band were starving making TroutMask and were done by the Police for stealing food in a Supermarket but bailed out by Frank Zappa. All in a Day in a Life of The Great Don!
The greatest advertisment for anything EVER!!!!
"Somehow Captain Beefheart convinced Warner Bros. to finance a sixty-second television commercial for Lick My Decals Off, Baby. No one had tried to construct an actual television ad campaign for an album before, so Warner Bros. had no system of control in place. To the band and label's disappointment, timid programmers deemed the finished work too strong for commercial broadcast. Still, it made the rounds of industry screenings, attracted a critical buzz, and ultimately included in the Museum of Modern Art's initial collection of videos." - from Neil Feineman's introduction to Thirty Frames Per Second: The Visionary Art of the Music Video.
"managed to convince" LOL yeah ok, Frankfort/Tavistock/Mockingbird
I've been a fan of the Capt since the early 70's and I must say he's one of the most original artist I've ever experienced. yes, he's underrated and misunderstood by the masses but he's much appreciated by the rest of us.
I die every time Beefheart strikes that pose after "In plain view...", he looks like he's gonna start laughing. LOL
Brilliant! Nobody makes 'em like this anymore!
I've never seen such a stunning ad as this.
In the 60s pop and dada advertising met
in this work of art.
It's the "Chien Andalou" of my generation.
Ry Cooder said in the BBC Beefheart Doco that they got hate calls when they played this on local TV in the USA.
ïm not sure why, but the flinging of the cigarette or what it is is so cool, and captain beefheart in plane view is spectacular!
go Captain, go go!
How good is this...even today.
The Captain is ahead of his time
even with making adverts.
A former roommate of mine remembers seeing this ad during the ABC Late Late Show back in 1970. Probably never saw it more than once or twice before it was pulled. You figure an African-American man whose musical influences include Beefheart, Silver Apples, The Move, XTC and Sun Ra. That's a rounded and righteous portfolio, man. Don Van Vliet himself said he hated this ad, but... he does fabricate a lot.
A tremendous Dadaist .. and a remarkable human being.
RIP ( rock in paradise ) el 'Cap.
Wonder if the announcer knew that it was a bush recording! Dear old cap, saw him live at manchester free trade hall in 1973. We asked for more and he whistled the old standard "more"!
Same happened in Birmingham...not many got it!
What actually aired was shorter I think-- starting from "In plain view".
It was on one of the local LA channels (9 or 13?), on I think a Sunday afternoon.
I had recently discovered Beefheart via the Trout album, and happened to be watching TV that
afternoon. Could hardly believe my eyes. It was banned because some
people complained that the album title was offensive. It's been hard
to describe to people just how weird it was to suddenly see that appear on
broadcast TV in the late '60s.
This is a great example of "Lynchian". Great and creepy
David Lynch is a huge devoutee and admirer of Beefheart
torker24 . Indeed, it would have fit in with the early Lynch shorts. Van Vliet’s paintings, poetry, and music, taken together, may be the single greatest body of American late 20th century abstract art. He is criminally under-recognized.
Beefheart was way before that poser
With a bit of Rene Magritte in the mix.
(the surreal painter who had paintings of people with their faces covered with cloth as he was witness how they dragged his mom out of a river when he was a child and she killed herself and her face was covered in a simular cloth)
I remember watching this commercial in junior high school while watching late night creature feature horror classics. I remember how much I hated this weird commercial. Beefheart had a sense of humor.
Mark Brown You sound like a square.
@@p0llenp0ny he's paying his duties now
2 yrs ago... I think that is the best advertisement ever.
I came to YT looking for this. I'm listening to the audiobook of "Sonic Boom: The Impossible Rise of Warner Bros. Records" (by Peter Ames Carlin). At one point the author describes this ad. Thanks for posting this video so I could actually see it! 🤯
Fantastic... Captain Beefheart Genius! Woe-is-uh-mw-Bop-Skop's...
I love Captain! This adversement is magneficent...
Shit, less than a week after I viewed this...RIP, Captain, you loony genius
Still makes me chuckle. Beats David Lynch at his own game!
R.I.P., Don. You DEFINE "irreplaceable."
Who HASN'T wanted to do that at least once in their life?
What a beautiful advert this is: a piece of performance/film art all by itself.
'New on Repreeeeese, it's "Lick My Decals Off Baby".
RIP Captain.
In Melksham... it's me!
What an ad - what an album - what a man!!
I just realized that at no point during the commercial is the band’s name mentioned.
one of the best album titles in the world,too!!!!!
and also, a tin teardrop!!
ALSO A TIN TEARDROP!
the Inflated Tear by Rahsaan Roland Kirk
The advertisement was seldom shown, but never banned.
Saw him on this tour supporting this record at the Ludlow Garage in Cincinnati. Ry Cooder(solo) was the opening act. Must have been very early 1971. One of the last shows at the Garage.
Still better than the noisey annoying commercials of today
IT HAS LIFE IN IT! THE OPPOSITE OF A STATE AFFECTED BY MILITARY.
This Captain Beefheart advert is amazing! A bit like what Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds were aiming for with the adverts to Dig Lazarus Dig, only many moons before.
The T of his T-strap stands for tippy-toe
His tippy-toes fit him to a T!
Oh CB why don't you dance for me
Joey Mitchell Breaker breaker 19 come in Tipsy Toes,Go ahead. Toenail.
In case none of you heard or noticed, Decals has been on iTunes and other MP3 stores since January. If you don't have it and want it now, go get it. I did and I also have the 2000 vinyl reissue (which I used my USB turntable with. It sounds a bit better in the MP3 all cleaned up IMO)
Hey, the captain is wearing his "Trout Mask Replica" hat!
Someone should. I'm a member on Lynch's website and he does take and answer questions on there, so I guess I should ask and see if there's an answer. Will keep everyone posted. In the documentary photographer Anton Corbijn (sp?) made about/with Van Vliet, Lynch makes several appearances, asking him questions, calling him "Don" and referencing earlier conversations, so I think they're actually friends.
Methinkz we need more DaDa ads on TV.
Kit kaboodle and the kitchen sink
Whole kit kaboodle and the kitchen sink
supposably first tv music video. ironically, his last video" ice cream for crow" was rejected by MTV for being too weird;
Whatever the intended meaning, it doesn't matter. This kind of marketing has been proven to work. Is this really that weird when you think back over the creepiness of The Burger King? I hate those commercials...but they bring in lots of customers. This ad was actually ahead of it's time.
Enigma/Straight released it and some of the other beefheart/tim buckley/alice cooper stuff in the late-80s/early 90s...i too have decals on cd...
The voiceover reminds me of the announcer when Noah's Arcade takes over the Wayne's World set.
Also, a tin teardrop.
"The black paper between a mirror breaks my heart so that I can't go..."
My mind stops every time that line, and it is deep and almost unfathomably beautiful, comes back to me as it has been coming back to me ever since I first heard it 50 years ago and listened to it over and over.
It taps into that part of my heart that can be broken, and breaks it again.
beautious thrill
It was shown publically, people complained about it because it freaked them out. Ry Cooder talked about it in John Peels BBC documentary.
I hate adverts with a passion, but somehow this is the only advert I can bear to watch.
I was lucky - the Magic Band came to little old Penzance in West Cornwall a few years back... they even came into my shop in Newlyn to buy some smocks. Life is full of surprises!
Check out my review of Lick My Decals Off, Baby:
yecaterpillar.blogspot.co.uk/2010/03/lick-my-decals-off-baby.html
what a gem!
I was in Athens, Oh that year. Rumor was that The Magic Band was coming to OU, but it never happened.
Beefheart goes Bunuel / Dali.
Oh yeah, and it just occured to me that since this clip is in a museum somewhere - MOMA? that Lynch may have seen it on a visit, no telling how early, though. If it was early enough it may have played a role. Also, in one interview at least Van Vliet mentioned that he loved Twin Peaks.
Woe-is-a-me-bop
Om-drop-a-re-bop-om
Yeah, and slightly reminiscent of David Lynch's short films. I'm sure Lynch was not directly inspired and probably never saw this, but it feels like he COULD HAVE.
R.I.P. Don (van) Vliet, Captain Beefheart.
RIP Captain.
Rest in peace, Don.
Man, times were different.
The Hand And Toe Investment!
According to Zoot Horn Rollo, Warner Bros. paid for the commercial, which features Fred May, who I guess was famous advertising voiceover person at the time. I also remember reading that the original idea might've come from Elliot Ingber (Winged Eel Fingerling), but I'm too lazy and stoned to look it up. Fucking genius nonetheless.
Dude, YEAH!..i was hoping this was on YOutube, thank you :)
this is too good
decalikoff! winged spillfarting, licious flickstops. mek i chukkl
on a documentary it said that beefheart made this ad and paid for a slot on late night television out of his own pocket.It was not banned, the station just received an excessive amount of complaints from the public begging to have it taken off, people hated it.
George Putnam, of Channel 11 NEWS, complained about it and refused to let it be aired on his show.
"New on Reprise, it's Lick My Decals Off Baby." = XD
no i think people called in and wanted it taken off because it freaked people out back in the day
The music for my life
RIP
This is a crazy dada commercial. The montage is rhythmic, quite clever. If I am not mistaken, this ad was not really shown publicly, the company thought it suggested drug use or something like that. Must have been the cigarettes and egg beater.
RIP Don .
A squid, eating dough in a polyethylene bag, is fast and bulbous, got me?
tight also!
You can find more info about the refusal of this clip on the ultimate Beefheart website. For the link: see my description above...
The thing with the cigarette lol
i love u don van vielt
The world's a poorer place today without Don V V.
nobodysbard Why? He retired from music in 1982.
I wonder how many TV stations actually aired this advert at the time, and more to the point, how many people ran out and bought the record after seeing the ad.
BTW, I remember the Grateful Dead had several radio commercials for their albums that were similarly strange. The ones for Aoxomoxoa are hilarious, "I'm here to tell you about the new record from the Grateful Dead on the Warner Bros/Seven Arts label. I'd tell you what it's called, but I forgot how to pronounce the title!".
and one of the more 'accessible' for newcomers to mr. van vliet's music.
'New on Reprise: it's "Lick My Decals Off Baby."'
the title of the record was considered questionable. at least that's the excuse that was given at the time. I suspect it was because the commercial was just plain too much for their mirrors, so to speak.
Out of print. You can rip it off on soulseek.
~That's right.
Appaeently this disturbed a lot of viewers. Who would have thought?
im 17 nd rly got into the captain....where the fuck can i get a copy of this!?
fast and bulbous, also tapered.
Great short film but - What a waste of good semolina! The band were starving making TroutMask and were done by the Police for stealing food in a Supermarket but bailed out by Frank Zappa. All in a Day in a Life of The Great Don!
Winged eel fingerling
thats the kind of comercials I don't mind seeing
Quick 'n Lumpy!
look in description...
@AcidTrout Tight also!
Who's the announcer? I remember that voice!
Not really banned - probably the title itself offended some viewers, and the squeaky wheel gets the grease.
That's right, the AcidTrout, fast and bulbous.
i always thought that the commercial was banned because people hated the confusing nature of it, not because of a guy wearing a hood or the title.
tapered also!
Hahaha, did this ad ever air at all?!
Hahaha! Oh Peter!
this video plays at MOMA.
Dada-ist ads.Fabtasticularisticatingly missed. sho enuff.
Why was it banned?
Was that Gary Owens as the announcer?
It was Fred May from Channel 13 in Los Angeles.
The guy who did the Ginsu Knife ad.