Rufus Wainwright Sings Classic Chewing Gum Jingles in Funny or Die Video
Back in the glory days of major labels and FM radio, pop stars didn’t have to think too hard about promoting their latest album — they released a single, made a video, did the talk show rounds, and hit the road. But that era’s over, and now artists need to get a little more creative when it comes to helping get the word out about their new music, which is why this morning we’re watching a video starring Rufus Wainwright singing jingles from old chewing gum commercials.
The clip comes courtesy of Funny or Die, where someone had the bright idea to wrap Wainwright’s velvety pipes around classic odes to Juicy Fruit, Doublemint and Big Red. If you’ve ever played one of Wainwright’s records and sighed that you’d listen to him sing the phone book, this might be as close as you ever get to proving it (and actually, the two-minute medley is pretty fun).
Wainwright’s new album, ‘Out of the Game,’ finds him working with producer Mark Ronson, whose previous credits include Amy Winehouse and Duran Duran. His seventh studio set channels Wainwright’s long-standing love of baroque pop into a radio-friendly set of songs wrung from a series of major life events, including the birth of his daughter and the passing of his mother, singer-songwriter Kate McCarrigle. Released to widespread critical praise in April, ‘Game’ has thus far peaked at No. 35 on the Billboard albums chart.
Watch Rufus Wainwright’s Funny or Die Gum Jingles Video