Monday, November 9, 2015

He loves his suit

Here is something a little different.   In 1977 Ringo made four TV commercials in Japan for "Simple Life" leisure suits.     Some of the ads are very much like the Goodnight Vienna video but there is one that is my favorite.   Ringo is heard singing a catchy little song that goes "I love my suit..." and then in the background you hear "he loves his suit..."   Those background singers are non other than Ringo's BFF Harry Nilsson and Monkee Davey Jones!    Most likely Harry wrote the song "I love my suit," but no one seems to know for sure.    

Here are some fun photos for Japanese advertising.    I first heard these commercials on bootlegs in the early 2000's and of course now they are on youtube. 





3 comments:

  1. Harry and ex-Monkee Davy Jones on backing vocals.

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  2. Sorry just read your post and that info is already there. Doh!

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  3. Great pics! These are the first ever actual pics I've seen for "Simple Life" apart from the videos. This is the most fascinating project Ringo ever did as we know so very little about it. Biggest question of all is when exactly were the TV ads filmed and secondly where? One thing I am certain of is they are not from 1977 and I'm pretty sure they were not filmed in Japan. According to a Japanese fan report published in a Beatles fanzine in 1977, seven different TV ads aired on Japanese TV between March 1976 - early 1977. Given that in a couple of ads Ringo hair is permed and that in one ad he's wearing his "Goodnight Vienna" spacesuit I'm kinda guessing the ads (or at least some of them) were filmed in LA circa June - Sept 1975 as we know he had a perm around Aug/Sept 1975 and not again in the next 2 years as far as we know. We also know he shaved his head in July 1976 and it didn't grow fully back until March 1977 leaving mid/late 1975 as our best guess. Anyway if anyone out there knows anything specific about the time and place these ads were filmed then please let us know.

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