Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Danny the Pitchman (Pronounced "PITCH-mun")


Big fan of Danny Balis.  It looks like most Confessors are as well. One hears the occasional complaints about music snobbishness, but they are more than offset by those who think he is the savior of a declining Hardline.  Myself, I don't even mind the aging slacker persona presented on the Orphanage. I don't care how old he is, it's not only a good bit, it's not even a bit.  Like it or not, his radio personality seems entirely genuine.  And he's a funny, witty guy.  He pulls it off. 

 

Which is why I get such an enormous kick out of his solo advertising spots. You can hear the struggle in his voice:  On the one hand, he wants to keep faith with his sponsor and convey a sincere interest in persuading the listener to purchase the product. On the other, he wants to convey to his fans that he hasn't sold out. On top of this, he has to cram a lot of words into a short period of time, not his customary mode of expression.  The result is a not-unpleasant but somewhat unctuous semi-ironic tone, vaguely intimate and strongly inflected, that hopes to please the sponsor while nudging the P1 in the ribs.

 

I had to laugh listening to the Park Place Mercedes-Benz ad driving in the other day.   I pictured Danny returning to his apartment in his 2-Series after a long day of broadcasting, producing, and careful show prep.  He turns on his laptop and sees  a long list of P1s who have e-mailed him at his Park Place address, requesting his urgent assistance in purchasing a new Mercedes-Benz as he invites them to do in his ad.  I picture him opening each email, carefully examining the preferences and desires of each Mercedes-needing listener (they must be countless in The Ticket's demo), cross-referencing that data with the inventory at Park Place Mercedes, and selecting the exactly appropriate sales consultant to arrange an introduction for the corresponding P1 – or, in Danny's phrase, to "hook you up."  It's an amazing service Danny offers, allowing the P1 to take advantage of his close professional connection with the doubtless hard-to-reach members of the Park Place Mercedes-Benz sales department.

 

Love it.  It's Great to Shop at The Ticket.
 
Danny B with Another Fine Park Place Brand
 
Follow Your Plainsman on Twitter:  @Plainsman1310
Email Your Plainsman:  ThePlainsman1310@gmail.com

13 comments:

  1. Danny's greatness. You're right, it isn't a bit. I don't know him, at all, but I do see him o a weekly basis at a watering hole down the street from my apartment. Danny is the very definition of WYSIWYG.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mixing with Danny and Davey is one of my favorite parts of having our show and you have no idea how topical this post is. Over the last couple of days I'd been thinking about bringing up his Park Place ads in this weekends mix. Not sure if this helped or hurt the percentage chance of it happening, Plainsman, but you happened to be thinking like me this week for sure.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I agree! Danny is the glue these days.

    ReplyDelete
  4. It's getting all hosty up in hera! Welcome, Cash Sirloin.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Cash, you have a perpetual, non-cancellable, worldwide, royalty-free, paid-up right and license to quote at will from this trailblazing article, with or without attribution. Signed, The Plainsman.

    I'm sure Danny would be very appreciative to have his commercial work spotlighted.

    And thank you for shopping at My Ticket Confession.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I had to role my eyes a little at Corby's "disgust" at Danny's story about racist comments made at a bar on election night. Jake should have had the nads to crank up some highlights from the Davidson song collection.

    ReplyDelete
  7. nope. I'm sorry. If I mention it, my massive ego wouldn't allow for anyone else to feel that they had any part in the massive success that I'm certain the mix would become.

    Good luck with your little internet blog though.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Understood.

    Yes, it's a modest little internet blog, but there are those of us who love it.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hmmm, a wee bit O real venom in Cash S's final line? Dunno. Doubt it. Still...

    Anon Ron, I'm right there with you. This has ZERO to do with the despicable behavior of the people Danny encountered. It has to do with Corby's utter lack of self-awareness. Someone said to the effect "if they even have jobs," and Corby instinctively blurted out in the most confident fashion "No! They absolutely don't!" I just get so sick of know it all Corby. Along those lines, and I hate to say this because I'm rooting for the guy, but Jake is beginning to show signs that he has a lot of Corby in him. He's a bit too confident in his own cognitive abilities.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Nah, I think Cash is cool with the site. He's checked in before.

    I think he was being ironic, by way of acknowledging our immense influence. He knows that by and large we're a friend of the JV.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I didn't get the "cognitive abilities" comment. To what are you referring? I've thought his contributions are pretty on, doesn't jump on unless he's invited, pitching his contributions about right.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Damn. Spam. I can't believe it's taken this long for it to happen, but now that it has, get ready........

    I meant "cognitive abilities" in that yes, he's a smart guy, but he seems, like Corby, to think that he pretty much has every angle of every topic or person figured out, and that his assessment is the correct one. While I would've agreed with you a couple of months ago on his letting the game come to him, I don't any longer. Be it off air encouragement or whatever, Jake's on air more and more every week. Personally I could do without it. I liked the understated manner he had been going about things. Psycho Dave like. I will say that he still hasn't gone down the beating the listener into submission with drop after drop. Hopefully that part of his game will remain as is.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Ah, crap, I missed the first part of the busting of Danny's Park Place balls by Cirque.

    Sorry about the ad that's appeared a couple of times in this string. I've deleted it twice. Hope this does not prove a chronic problem that has somehow evaded the captcha. Unforch, I am not an Internet expert and if Blogger doesn't put the solution right in my lap I'm not gonna find it.

    ReplyDelete