Dan Pasley, the Shakespeare of advertising.

Another dear friend gone. Dan Pasley was a character in all the meanings of that word. He was an ad man, of the type that Don Draper would have become if he kept writing ad campaigns into the ’70s. Dan was kind enough to include me on many of his jingles, and other projects. I not only got to play drums, but I was sometimes a voice actor. Dan would show up at the studio with a briefcase, which he would open to reveal a bottle of alcohol and a yellow legal pad. The next several hours would be spent trying to make art. Or advertising. Or something. Dan was really a songwriter, a playwright, a provocateur. Which was not always what the client wanted but the work sure stood out from the usual tripe. (For instance, a 60-second radio jingle for Britches Western doesn’t mention the clothing store until 31 seconds into the song.)

While I have copies of many of the songs I worked on (Penguin Feather, Jerry’s Subs, Clydes), I don’t have a copy of Don’t Buy Books By Crooks, the theme song for the Committee to Boycott Nixon’s Memoirs–an attempt to stop the disgraced president from cashing in on his infamy. Dan’s ad agency handled all the promotion. Here’s a New York Times editorial turning up the paper’s nose at the very idea.

Despite what the Times said, Dan got a T-shirt to Dan Aykroyd, who promptly wore it on Saturday Night Live.

I still remember the song’s opening lines:

If the hero of San Clemente
Sells his books he’s gonna rake in plenty
And I don’t think that he should make a dime

I took the portrait above at a Bicentennial party in Arlington. Dan Pasley was definitely the Shakespeare of advertising. And so much more. Will miss him greatly.