THE OFFICIAL SITE OF PHOTOJOURNALIST/MUSICIAN MIKE STARLING
Rx For Tourism: Embrace the Orange Barrel
By SUSAN LAMPERT SMITH
(Original article published Feb. 13, 2005 in the Wisconsin State Journal)
MADISON, Wis. – Mike Starling felt kind of bad for state tourism officials this week. After all, they’d paid $22,000 for a song, “Wisconsin–Life’s So Good,” as part of the new $2.2 million campaign promoting the state, only to learn that it sounds suspiciously like a 1995 song song by a British group, Supergrass.
The faux pas got lots of publicity for Wisconsin – it made the international news wires, and tourism officials were teased by people from as far away as China. Yes, the phones were ringing off the hook at Tourism last week, but unfortunately, the callers were nasty reporters, not nice tourists hoping to book a feel-good week in Wisconsin Dells. Even worse, the state had paid for a tune that probably can’t be used.
So Milwaukee songwriter Starling, a giving kind of guy, sent Tourism Secretary Jim Holperin an offer. The state can have his ready-to-go original Wisconsin song for the bargain price of just $10,000. It’s called “Road Construction” and contains such catchy lyrics as:
“We got four seasons here in the Midwest
There’s winter, there’s spring, there’s fall
And there is road construction.”
“It’s definitely a topic everyone in the state can relate to,” said Starling. “I wrote it back when I lived on West Avenue in La Crosse, and got woke up one morning by jackhammers.”
Starling says Holperin sent back a nice, thanks-but-no-thanks e-mail.
I think he should reconsider. Coming up with the world’s most totally honest tourism song would be a great way to recover from the stolen-song mess.
They could tailor the “Road Construction” campaign to Wisconsin’s different regions and tourism events.
If you were stuck in traffic trying to get to Oktoberfest in La Crosse, you could turn to tourism radio and get “The Orange Barrel Polka.” (“Roll out the barrels, getting to the beer will be a barrel of fun.”) If you were in Milwaukee and could see Summerfest, but couldn’t get there due to construction in the massive Marquette Interchange, your tourism radio would soothe you with that childhood favorite, “On top of Spaghetti Bowl, I’m turning to cheese. I must find a rest room, I hope I don’t sneeze. . .”
And for all those tourists stuck in Interstate 90-94-39 traffic while trying to get up north on a Friday night or back home on Sunday, there’s a song from Creedence Clearwater Revival that’s so perfect you don’t even need to change the lyrics. It begins:
“Just about a year ago, I set out on the road
Seekin’ my fame and fortune, lookin’ for a pot of gold
Things got bad, and things got worse
I guess you know the tune
Oh, Lord, stuck in Lodi again.”
I can hear you humming along from here.
Download Road Construction at Amazon.com
Complete song lyrics
Header photo: Indigo Freeway (detail) ©2006 Mike Starling. All rights reserved.
(Original article published Feb. 13, 2005 in the Wisconsin State Journal)
MADISON, Wis. – Mike Starling felt kind of bad for state tourism officials this week. After all, they’d paid $22,000 for a song, “Wisconsin–Life’s So Good,” as part of the new $2.2 million campaign promoting the state, only to learn that it sounds suspiciously like a 1995 song song by a British group, Supergrass.
The faux pas got lots of publicity for Wisconsin – it made the international news wires, and tourism officials were teased by people from as far away as China. Yes, the phones were ringing off the hook at Tourism last week, but unfortunately, the callers were nasty reporters, not nice tourists hoping to book a feel-good week in Wisconsin Dells. Even worse, the state had paid for a tune that probably can’t be used.
So Milwaukee songwriter Starling, a giving kind of guy, sent Tourism Secretary Jim Holperin an offer. The state can have his ready-to-go original Wisconsin song for the bargain price of just $10,000. It’s called “Road Construction” and contains such catchy lyrics as:
“We got four seasons here in the Midwest
There’s winter, there’s spring, there’s fall
And there is road construction.”
“It’s definitely a topic everyone in the state can relate to,” said Starling. “I wrote it back when I lived on West Avenue in La Crosse, and got woke up one morning by jackhammers.”
Starling says Holperin sent back a nice, thanks-but-no-thanks e-mail.
I think he should reconsider. Coming up with the world’s most totally honest tourism song would be a great way to recover from the stolen-song mess.
They could tailor the “Road Construction” campaign to Wisconsin’s different regions and tourism events.
If you were stuck in traffic trying to get to Oktoberfest in La Crosse, you could turn to tourism radio and get “The Orange Barrel Polka.” (“Roll out the barrels, getting to the beer will be a barrel of fun.”) If you were in Milwaukee and could see Summerfest, but couldn’t get there due to construction in the massive Marquette Interchange, your tourism radio would soothe you with that childhood favorite, “On top of Spaghetti Bowl, I’m turning to cheese. I must find a rest room, I hope I don’t sneeze. . .”
And for all those tourists stuck in Interstate 90-94-39 traffic while trying to get up north on a Friday night or back home on Sunday, there’s a song from Creedence Clearwater Revival that’s so perfect you don’t even need to change the lyrics. It begins:
“Just about a year ago, I set out on the road
Seekin’ my fame and fortune, lookin’ for a pot of gold
Things got bad, and things got worse
I guess you know the tune
Oh, Lord, stuck in Lodi again.”
I can hear you humming along from here.
Download Road Construction at Amazon.com
Complete song lyrics
Header photo: Indigo Freeway (detail) ©2006 Mike Starling. All rights reserved.