Call Me MAYBE: Theories on "Catchy"

In this previous post, I wrote about the "Call Me Maybe" cover contest and the exploding number of covers of this song.  The covering hasn't stopped since then, but has only continued...

...from the Olympic Swim Team visiting Downing Street...



...to Military in parts unknown...



...to Late Night...



...to Sesame Street.


Has there ever been a more quickly and over-parodied song in the history of music?

If you type in "Call Me Maybe cover" into a YouTube search, you'll receive "about 146,000 results"!  Compare that to a Katy Perry hit of the same time frame--type in "Fireworks cover" and you get "about 11,900 results".

According to a Wikipedia article, (the song already has a significant enough history to warrant an article), the Canadian born Carly Rae Jepsen's catchy hit was released in September 2011, in Canada, breaking the Canadian Music scene's top 100 in October.  It's not until April of 2012 that the song cracks US Billboards Top Ten--it reached number 1 by June 23--and, as of this posting, it's still number 1.

What makes a silly, "chick-flick" of a song the default soundtrack of summer?

It's not because it's a better song than all the other songs released in the same time frame.  It's not because Carly Rae Jepsen has a track record of great music and fanatic following.  It's not because she slickly marketed her song through YouTube, Twitter, and other social media networks.

So what was it?

Maybe, because it's different:

It's not laced with innuendo, even in the age where "sex sells" and taboo equals "cha-ching", it retains a bit of innocence.

Maybe, because of timing:
Spring fever is all about the crush, and this song gains momentum in the largest media market in April.

Maybe, because it's universal:

"Crush at first sight and, though unconfident, wanting to do something about it" is Romantic Fiction 101 because it resonates.

Maybe, because it's simple--instrumentally, lyrically, and vocally:
It's simple, quirky casio-friendly melody gets stuck in your brain.  Vocally, it doesn't it have high-arching/range-stretching vocal solos, so it can be easily replicated in the shower.

Maybe, because it's all of the above.
Marketing "guru" Seth Godin shared in a TED Conference on "How to get your ideas to spread" that "in a world where we have too many choices and too little time, the obvious thing to do is just ignore stuff."  He goes on to talk about the necessity of being "remarkable"--literally causing someone to create a remark:
to notice the difference,
at the right time,
connecting with need or desire,
and the simple option.

Godin uses two examples of products:
1) SILK "milk", which watched their product sales triple immediately when they took their product out of the aisles and placed it in the refrigerators beside the milk--even though didn't need refrigeration.  Godin exemplifies, "milk, milk, milk, Silk?!?"

and 2) Dutch-boy Paint, whose product line was saved by not making a better paint, but a new paint can.

Godin thinks proclaims that Silk and Dutch-boy challenged their alternatives/competitors by simply being 'remarkable'.

"Call Me Maybe" is not the best song of the summer, but it's been the 'remarkable' one--and that will have people remembering this summer with this song for years and years to come.  Potentially, when flashback scenes in romantic comedies are filmed in 2022 or 2032, don't be surprised if you hear this song playing.

(Side note: If this hit becomes her albatross, as in becoming a "one-hit-wonder" she cannot escape, the potential, ongoing future royalties will make it a little easier to bear as opposed to other one-hit wonders such as Vanilla Ice, Dexy's Midnight Runners, or Toni Basil.)

So, what does this matter? What lessons can we learn from the summer success of "Call Me Maybe"?

Attention getting, movement creating, interest drawing -- however you want to define it -- is essential in  offering anything in the day and time in which we live.  Beyond the applications to creating something new, what about what we currently provide or do?

When you work, are you attempting to offer something "remarkable" or just enough to get an "A" or cross it off the "to-do" list or out of the "in box"?  One of my greatest educational challenges came when a different professor asked if a project I had prepared was "my best"--I knew it wasn't; I knew it was just enough to get the "A", but I didn't strive to give it my all, and his question pierced me.

When you are preparing for a weekly or monthly meeting, are you preparing to make it "remarkable," or just routine?  How many church services include copy-and-pasted bulletin material, rerun sermon outlines, similar song sequences, and little imagination?  (As a result, how many people walk out facing the "too many choices versus too little time" dilemma and may choose just to "ignore" the next meeting?)

What thoughts do you have?
How would you dissect or define "catchy", and how would you apply that?

My Favorite Olympic Record (UPDATED)

As we await Opening Ceremonies of the 2012 Olympic Games in London, we're excited.  We love the competition, the national pride, the superiority of American basketball, but most of all the stories that we learn about these athletes every 4 years.  This has caused me to reminisce a bit in the past couple weeks of my favorite Olympic moments--some that I've only read about.  But my favorite Olympic Record may be my favorite Olympic story--and it's a record that will likely never be broken...

Australian swim-sensation Ian Thorpe was the one to watch in the pool when the Olympic games were held in Sydney in 2000.  Thorpe would win three gold and two silver medals during those games, setting three World Records in the process.

But Thorpe never had the opportunity to swim against my favorite Olympian of the 2000 Games.  Even though Eric Moussambani set an Olympic record and won his heat, he would not compete against any other swimmer during those Olympic games.

Eric Moussambani went to the 2000 Olympic Games as wide-eyed as a kid in a candy shop holding a $10 bill--he went representing his tiny African country of Equatorial Guinea with the equivalent of $80 in his pocket.  Though given the honor of carrying his nation's flag in the Opening Ceremonies, no one knew him prior to his Olympic performance--yet few who watched him set my favorite Olympic Record will ever forget him.

Eric was at the Games by virtue of a now revoked Olympic Committee privilege that allowed smaller, usually non-competing nations a pass straight to the games in a select events, intending to build the Olympic spirit and encourage participation by all.  Equatorial Guinea was given the opportunity to send someone to participate in the 100 meter free-style race.

Eric knew that he would have to swim the length of a 50 meter pool.  No such pool existed in his tiny nation--but that was not his biggest problem.  No, Eric's biggest hurdle was learning to swim.

Eric began to train and teach himself at the largest pool he could find--20 meters in length at a hotel.  The first time he would see an Olympic/competition sized pool would be at his Olympic practice, the day before his race, the first heat.  Imagine the awe of this 22 year old African--not just of the pool, but also of the 15,000+ spectators who had began to fill the natatorium for a day of Olympic races!

But this, again, was not his biggest surprise; prior to the heat, he learned that he would not only swim the length of the pool once, but twice for the 100 meters.  Prior to the competition and all throughout his training, he only prepared for 50 meters; in fact, he had never swum 100 meters at one time!

The irony and the amazing turn of events never stop in this story.

Eric steps onto his first starting block in lane 5 against 2 seasoned and overly eager swimmers--yes, only 3 swimmers in this first heat.  At the first gun, Eric doesn't move, perhaps still out of shock--it's a good thing though because the other 2 were too anxious and BOTH end up false starting.

So there's Eric, alone, on the block, staring at the largest pool he has ever seen, in front of 15,000 fans, at the Olympic games.

Barring a false start, simply finishing guarantees he will win his heat.  But Eric would not only finish, he would finish in Olympic Record time...

...the slowest Olympic time ever recorded for 100 meter freestyle.  Check it out...



100 meters in 1 minute, 52.72 seconds.
How slow is that?  Consider this: Ian Thorpe, the day before, swam 200 meters 7 seconds faster.

UPDATE:  New CNN article adds additional info, including:
--he was the only "swimmer" to show up at the "selection event"
--he didn't know how to dive, only learning after watching US team practice
--he did compete at 2002 World competition
--he is still attempting to earn permission from E.G.'s Olympic committee to compete in 2016
--regarding the 2000 Olympics, "It was me against the swimming pool.  I didn't care about anything else, I just wanted to finish the race ... When I went to Australia that was the first time I had seen an Olympic swimming pool.  I was scared of the dimensions."

Why is this my favorite Olympic record?

Courage.

Most of your Olympic athletes have been competing their whole lives, most because they possess a particular knack or physical ability that sets them a part from their peers.  They get discovered, get training, get better.  They also get pressure and scrutiny by fans and skeptics as they progress--by the time they reach Olympic level competition they are seasoned and strong, not just physically, but mentally and emotionally.  They are not swayed by crowds or critics, not in awe of venues, and never surprised by what their discipline will demand of them.

Eric has no such benefits or conditioning.  He teaches himself by his own dedication and gumption in a simple hotel pool.  He prepares for the honor of representing his country.

When he learns that everything he has prepared for is wrong, he still steps out of his warm ups.

When his old style, baby-blue, Adidas bikini doesn't match the newer, technologically-advanced Speedo suits, he doesn't flinch.

Though 15,000 people are not there for him, he steps onto the block in front of them.

When the others false start, and it's just him, alone in a pool, he still dives in.

When he doesn't feel he can go on, and the echoing laughter throughout the natatorium, he still kicks and strokes rather than grab the ropes.

When he is seemingly about to drown and the laughter turns to cheers and applause to urge him forward, he digs in and finishes the race.

As a result, Eric can say many things that many of us couch-potatoe, Monday-morning quarterbacks will never be able to say--in fact, even a few Olympians can not make some of these statements:
- "I represented my country in the Olympics."
- "I carried the flag for my country at the Olympics."
- "I won my heat at the Olympics."
- "I finished the race at the Olympics."

In fact, in one of the hundreds of interviews given by Eric after his heat, Moussambani said he had telephoned his mother soon after his win but she was not even aware that he was supposed to be racing. "I told her: 'Mama, I have done it,'" beamed Moussambani. "Many people thought that I would not be able to finish the race. I would have been ashamed had I not been able to finish the race. I would not have been able to live with myself." (This link is to a great, similar article that also shares the after story and his preparation for the Athens Games in 2004).


Eric entered the Sydney games an obscure name in the program, but he left the Sydney games as the darling, earning the nickname, "Eric the Eel"--fellow competitors would even be asked about his effort, and all seemed to praise him as the ideal of the Olympic spirit.  


Unfortunately, he returned to his home country not as a hero, but as a laughingstock--his government feeling embarrassed by his representation rather than pride in his commitment and effort.  Eric continued to train despite obstacles and ridicule, shaving more than a minute of his time and and raising his ability to world competition status; though he would never compete on the world stage again.


But today, as the Olympics open in London, Equatorial Guinea has a swim team--and they will be coached by "Eric the Eel".

Follow us now on Twitter @ok2serve

Olympic Countdown

Three days (at the time of this posting) until the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics in London.

We love the Olympics, and we love London, so it was a no brainer to buy some tix for a few choice events.

That's a lie.  These aren't our tickets.

We'd love to--but not likely anytime soon.

So, like the majority of the planet, we will be watching online broadcasts and replays.  For those who will be lucky enough to attend an Olympic event, you may want to check this Yahoo article for a list of curiously banned items, including:

Liquids, even water, greater than 3 ounces.  The TSA must have contributed ideas to the Olympic security committee.  While there's the obvious need to keep yourself hydrated in the summer, you'll be doing so by purchasing water in the venue.  Hey, you got to pay for the Olympics somehow.

No large umbrellas and no big hats.  It's London--it rains there--in fact, isn't this picture stereotypical of what you picture when you think of London?  And wearing big hats in London is kind of customary (remember the royal wedding).  I know this has also got to be safety/security issue; if you can have shoe and underwear bombs, imagine what you could put in any of these hats pictured!  But this may simply be a courtesy issue--who wants to pay all that money to be stuck behind an umbrella or a gaudy hat?  Also, large flags (greater than 3ftx6ft) are similarly banned.

No vuvuzelas -- the ban on the World Cup sound sensations will allow everyone to maintain their hearing without trading and arm and leg for Olympic earplugs.