Major Tom

Caught the new Lincoln MKZ commercial the other day. It features a cover version of Peter Schilling’s 1983 song “Major Tom (Coming Home)”.

I’d forgotten how catchy the song is. You can’t buy the original English version of it on iTunes. The original German version? Yes. Cover versions galore? Yes. The original English? No. You can also catch a couple of live versions on Youtube, but that’s not the same thing as listening to it on your iPod. (I have a vague recollection of the original video featuring Peter Schilling on top of a huge junk pile in a junk yard.)

Saw the commercial again today and decided to actually find out who sings this cover — it sounds familiar. Turns out it’s Shiny Toy Guns, whose “Le Disko” was the music on that Motorola Razr commercial where the man and woman were attacking each other on the subway platform with their Razr’s used like throwing stars. Anyway, their cover of “Major Tom (Coming Home)” is available as a free download from the official Lincoln site — when you click that link, the commercial will automatically start playing; click the DOWNLOAD IT NOW link on the bottom right of the commercial pop-up to download the full version of the song. (If you see articles and posts elsewhere that point you towards http://shinytoyguns.com/news/transmission-to-major-tom/, be aware that the Shiny Toy Guns link will ultimately, after forcing you to register, reroute you to the official Lincoln page. I’d cut out the middle man, if I were you, unless you really want to register with Shiny Toy Guns.)

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