The Corporate Whore Hall of Fame:
Single Song Division

JR notes: in my blog on corporate whores and musical sellouts, I attempt to document the tidal wave of corporate song whoring by musicians who may or may not need the money and may or may not have any integrity. The precise assessment of what constitutes a "corporate song whore" is actually a pretty tricky business, and over time, I will be elaborating on my overall criteria. In the meantime, you can get a better sense of how we determine the nature of song whoring over at the blog. To see my dreaded list of the bands (and artists) who have bent over the most, check out my All-Time Corporate Song Whores list.

Let's kick off the next phase of the "corporate whores" project with the most shocking and embarrassing moments in the category of single song sales. The list includes the artist, the song, and the company they shilled it to. Note that there is a word about the criteria for inclusion on this list below. If you have a nomination for inclusion, email me.

1. Bob Dylan, "The Times They Are A Changin'," Coopers and Lybrand*

2. The Beatles, "Revolution," NIKE

3. Peter Gabriel, "Salisbury Hill," NASCAR

4. David Bowie, "Changes," Fidelity

5. Ramones, "Blitzkrieg Bop," AT&T*

6. The Who, "Who Are You?" Charlie's Angels

7. Chris Isaak, "Wicked Game," Heineken

8. Johnny Cash, "I've Been Everywhere," Comfort Inn

9. Aerosmith, "Dream On," ESPN/High Definition t.v.

10. Cream, "All Right Now," Gatorade

11. Traffic, "Dear Mr. Fantasy," NFL Network

12. Aerosmith, "Sweet Emotion," Starsky and Hutch (movie)

13. Ted Nugent, "Stranglehold," Dodge

14. Squeeze, "Tempted by the Fruit of Another," The Gap*

15. Cheap Trick, "Surrender," Universal Studios

16. ZZ Top, "La Grange," ESPN Sports

17. Billy Idol, "White Wedding," Mass Mutual

18. Led Zeppellin, "Rock and Roll," Cadillac

(*songs with an asterisk have been written about in the corporate whores blog).

A word about the criteria for the single-song division: in order for a song to make this list, it has to kick you in the gut the first time you see it. It has to make you feel as if everything you ever cared about can be bought and sold on the open market. The song must be an all-time classic and the sponsor must either undermine or trivialize the spirit of the song in question (for example, Aerosmith's sale of "Dream On" to the "Miracle" soundtrack and movie made a lot of sense. But selling such a monumental song to pump up HDTV and ESPN was another matter entirely). The fierceness of the original artist and the recording itself is also a major factor. Thus, the sale of the Fine Young Cannibals "She Drives Me Crazy" is not relevant to this list. The original artist was anything but fierce and the record was made with the top 40 in mind. Journey's sale of "Any Way You Want It" doesn't qualify for the same reasons. These may be good songs, but you can't whore out something that was created first and foremost for money in the first place. Obviously, what separates "song whoring" from acceptable song selling is very tricky territory, which is why we will be defining the nature of corporate song whoring in detail on our "definition of a song whore" page. Note that selling a quality song is not necessarily a crime if you choose the right cause or sponsor. The artists on this list did not use such discretion.