Former Journey frontman Steve Perry has revealed that "Lights" -- the band's loving tribute to San Francisco -- was actually originally recorded about Los Angeles. Perry spoke about the track to Classic Rock magazine, recalling, "I actually had the song sketched in my brain while I was living in L.A. I was up at Griffith Park Observatory many nights looking over the lights of Los Angeles. And being a country boy, it just astonished me how it would go on forever. One morning, very early, the sun was coming up and the lights were slowly starting to go down and the original line was: 'When the lights go down in the city/and the sun shines on L.A.'"

Perry went on to explain how the song changed cities once guitarist Neal Schon was brought into the songwriting process: "I told Neal about this idea, and he liked it and wrote the bridge with me. It quickly switched to going over the Golden Gate Bridge and observing the same thing -- the lights going down, and then of course, 'the sun shines on the bay.'"

"
One of the big debates on radio concerns how to treat the music that stations play.

The current term is "respect the music."  The implication is if you talk over the intro or the close of a song you are not showing the song and artist the "respect" they deserve.  I've always felt that once I pay for the record I've shown MY respect.  Then there is the issue of the artist and songwriter selling the music for commercials.

You've seen and therefore heard the commercials for a variety of company's using popular music as background.

In recent years, there has been a huge increase in the use of "rock" songs making their way to the soundtracks of commercials to help hawk product. 

Since I wanted to be sure this was more than a quick trend, I did a little research, to reinforce my theory that many artists were sensitive to their creations UNTIL enough dollars were stacked up before them.  Now, while you may not agree with that position, I give you a partial list of  those songs that fall into the rock or oldies category.  Nothing from country, or the current pop listings is included. 

Oh..One more thing. When hear people talk about how "class rock" is dead, is no longer important, or relevant, I plan to use this list as well.  You will notice quie a few titles by Classic rock artists. Classic Rock is important enough, alive enough and relevant enough that sponsors are willing to PAY to use these wonderful songs as themes to sell their products.

BTW, I would love to hear your opinion on this. Agree or disagree....makes no difference.

Product: Buick
Song: Aerosmith, "Dream On"

Product: 7UP
Song: The Partridge Family, "Sunshine"

Product: Allstate
Song: The Association, "Never My Love"

Product: Ameriprise
Song: The Spencer Davis Group, "Gimme Some Lovin'

Product: Carnival Cruises
Song: Bobby Darin, "Beyond The Sea"

Product: Chase
Song: Brenton Wood, "Gimme Little Sign"

Product: Chevy
Song: The Yardbirds, "Over Under Sideways Down"

Product: Chevy
Song: The Kinks, "You Really Got Me"

Product: Chevy
Song: Climax, "Precious And Few"

Product: Chevy
Song: Herman's Hermits, "I'm Into Something Good"

Product: Cialis
Song: The Ronettes, "Be My Baby"

Product: Cingular/AT&T Wireless
Song: The Allman Brothers, "Melissa"

Product: Cingular/AT&T Wireless
Song: The Band, "The Weight"

Product: Cisco
Song: The Who, "Baba O'Riley"

Product: Clinique
Song: The Turtles, "Happy Together"

Product: Clix
Song: Johnny "Guitar" Watson, "Gangster Of Love"

Product: Coca-Cola
Song: T. Rex, "The Slider"

Product: Coca-Cola With Lime
Song: Harry Nilsson, "Coconut"

Product: Coors
Song: The O’Jays, "Love Train"

Product: DeBeers
Song: Cat Stevens, "How Can I Tell You"

Product: Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper
Song: The Muppets, "Mahna Mahna"

Product: Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper
Song: Fats Domino, "Ain't That A Shame"

Product: Diet Dr. Pepper
Song: Tom Jones, "Help Yourself"

Product: DirecTV
Song: Bo Diddley, "Better Watch Yourself"

Product: DirecTV
Song: Thunderclap Newman, "Something In The Air"

Product: Dodge
Song: Nazareth, "Hair of the Dog"

Product: Dodge
Song: Deep Purple, "Smoke On The Water"

Product: Dr. Pepper
Song: Hot Chocolate, "You Sexy Thing"

Product: ESPN Mobile
Song: Chad and Jeremy, "A Summer Song"

Product: Fidelity Investments
Song: The Zombies, "Time Of The Season"

Product: Fidelity Investments
Song: KC and the Sunshine Band, "(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty"

Product: Fidelity Investments
Song: Billy Preston, "Nothing from Nothing"

Product: FluFacts
Song: Mungo Jerry, "In The Summertime"

Product: Gatorade
Song: Rare Earth, "I Just Want to Celebrate"

Product: GE
Song: Tennessee Ernie Ford, "Sixteen Tons"

Product: GM
Song: The Marshall Tucker Band, "Can't You See"

Product: GMC
Song: Bill Withers, "Use Me"

Product: Honda
Song: Parliament, "Tear The Roof Off The Sucker (Give Up The Funk)"

Product: HP Picture Book
Song: The Kinks, "Picture Book"

Product: Hummer
Song: The Who, "Happy Jack"

Product: Hummer
Song: Tom Jones, "Help Yourself"

Product: Jeep
Song: Andy Kim, "Rock Me Slowly"

Product: Journey Diamond
Song: Dusty Springfield, "What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life"

Product: Just For Men
Song: Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, "Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing"

Product: Kohl's
Song: The Lovin’ Spoonful, "Do You Believe in Magic"

Product: Kohl's
Song: Electric Light Orchestra, "Do Ya"

Product: Korbel
Song: Pilot, "Magic"

Product: Lexmark
Song: The Rolling Stones, "Complicated"

Product: Levis
Song: Johnny Cash, "I Walk The Line"

Product: Levis
Song: The Commodores, "Easy"

Product: Lincoln
Song: Santo and Johnny, "Sleep Walk"

Product: M&Ms
Song: The Hues Corporation, "Rock The Boat"

Product: Mastercard
Song: Roger Miller, "Walkin' In The Sunshine"

Product: Mercedes
Song: Booker T. and the MGs, "Green Onions"

Product: Mercedes
Song: Sam Cooke, "For Sentimental Reasons (I Love You)"

Product: Mercury
Song: Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, "Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing"

Product: Monster.com
Song: Electric Light Orchestra, "Do Ya"

Product: Move Free
Song: The Mamas and the Papas, "Go Where You Wanna Go"

Product: Mylanta
Song: John Sebastian, "Welcome Back (Theme from 'Welcome Back Kotter')"

Product: NFL.com
Song: Canned Heat, "Let's Work Together"

Product: Nike
Song: Kool & The Gang, "Summer Madness"

Product: Office Depot
Song: Bachman-Turner Overdrive, "Taking Care of Business"

Product: OfficeMax
Song: The Spinners, "Rubberband Man

Product: Pizza Hut
Song: Nancy Sinatra, "These Boots Were Made For Walkin'

Product: Planters
Song: Bay City Rollers, "Saturday Night"

Product: Pringles
Song: Carl Carlton, "Everlasting Love"

Product: Sears
Song: Electric Light Orchestra, "Mr. Blue Sky"

Product: Slimfast
Song: Chairmen of the Board, "Give Me Just A Little More Time"

Product: Smart Balance
Song: Jackie DeShannon, "Put A Little Love In Your Heart"

Product: Snickers
Song: Bobby Sherman, "Make Your Own Kind Of Music"

Product: Special K
Song: Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto, "The Girl From Ipanema"

Product: Target
Song: Max Frost and the Troopers, "Shape Of Things To Come"

Product: Target
Song: Charles Wright and the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band, "Express Yourself"

Product: Target
Song: The Beatles, "Hello Goodbye"

Product: Tide
Song: Al Green, "Let's Stay Together"

Product: Tommy Hilfiger
Song: Jefferson Airplane, "Volunteers"

Product: Total
Song: Canned Heat, "On The Road Again"

Product: Toyota
Song: Eric Weissberg and Steve Mandell, "Dueling Banjos"

Product: UPS
Song: Stevie Wonder, "Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing"

Product: Verizon
Song: The Five Stairsteps, "O-o-h Child"

Product: Volkswagen
Song: The Ohio Players, "Love Rollercoaster"

Product: Wendy's
Song: Steppenwolf, "Magic Carpet Ride"

Product: Wrangler
Song: Thin Lizzy, "The Boys are Back in Town”

Product: Zales
Song: The Yardbirds, "For Your Love"

Did you hear about this?  Paul McCartney was the surprise guest at Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band's return to London's Hard Rock Calling Festival in Hyde Park. Backstreets.com reported that earlier in the day, Springsteen joined John Fogerty and his band onstage to perform "Rockin' All Over The World" -- a Fogerty favorite that's remained a Springsteen staple over the years. Fogerty returned the favor by performing "The Promised Land" during the "The Boss'" set. Also on hand was Tom Morello who joined the E Street Band on "Death To My Hometown," "Jack of All Trades," and "The Ghost Of Tom Joad."

After "Dancing In The Dark," McCartney playing a Les Paul, joined Bruce and the band onstage to perform "I Saw Her Standing There" and "Twist And Shout." After McCartney left the stage, the band was set to perform another number -- but their sound was cut off, having gone 11 minutes over the festival's curfew. With his mic dead, Springsteen sang a bit of "Goodnight Irene" and split.

An irate Steve Van Zandt tweeted his displeasure on the show "One of the great gigs ever in my opinion. But seriously, when did England become a police state? We break curfews in every country but only English cops needs to 'punish us' by not letting us leave until the entire crowd goes. Is there just too much fun in the world? We would have been off by 11 if we'd done one more. On a Saturday night! Who were we disturbing? The cops got nothing more important to do? How about they go catch some criminals instead of f***ing with 80,000 people having a good time? English cops may be the only individuals left on earth that wouldn't want to hear one more from Bruce Springsteen and Paul McCartney! I'm sorry but I have to be honest I'm pissed. Like I said, it didn't ruin the great night. But when I'm jamming with McCartney don't bug me! If it's a public transport issue I'm sorry but people are adult enough to go get a train if they need to without the cops pulling the plug!"

Mitt Romney gave a speech to the recent NCAAP national convention.  He hit his normal talking points regarding jobs, taxes, etc.  Several times during that speech he was interrupted by loud boos from the audience.

I wonder….if that had been President Obama and the audience was the Future Farmers of America, and he was booed during his speech…would the FFA members be called racists?