Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Odorono

...dozens of times you've noticed it. The climax of a long evening...a cabaret, crowded, warm...a merry party sitting close...bodies twist, necks crane to watch the entertainers. Something unpleasant creeps in. Under the arms, dampness...stains...inevitably, odor. Nature's sure reaction! But Nature never catches you off guard. Twice a week you, like millions of men and women the world over, use your Odorono for checking excessive perspiration and odor. That's what gives you your assurance--which soap and water can never give--of constant after-the-bath freshness, of continuous daintiness.
The New Yorker, June 11, 1927

7 comments:

VanillaJ said...

The only way I ever truly feel clean is scouring until the blood beads to the surface. Ah, purity at last!

Anonymous said...

Four words--The Who Sell Out.

LP jacket on the front shows Pete Townshend smirkingly applying a two-foot roll-on bottle of Odorono to his armpit with the caption, "Replacing the stale smell of excess with the sweet smell of success, Peter Townshend, who, like nine out of ten stars, needs it. Face the music with Odorono, the all-day deodorant that turns persperation into inspiration." Next to a pic of a faun-like Roger Daltrey ensconced in a tub of Heinz Baked Beans.

And of course the song "Odorono."

And there's an album, "Petra Haden Sings" The Who Sell Out." The caption is reworded, and her beans are darker--and deeper.

"Wonderful Radio London...Whoopee!"

e

Anonymous said...

Vanilla, I've told you a hundred times: you ALREADY exude "continuous daintiness." Stop worrying!

Anonymous said...

Do you have ANY idea how confusing that album cover was to me as a child?

My exposure to The Who was Ken Russell's "Tommy" movie, so to this 8-year-old kid they already represented scary craziness. Then to see that album cover...I just DIDN'T GET IT. I didn't realize that album covers could be FUNNY.

A close second for "scary album covers" was Frank Zappa's "Weasels Ripped My Flesh." And I think Cheap Trick had a crazy, cartoony cover as well (was it by Robert Crumb?)

But what it all comes down to is: ODORONO! The Who did a SONG about Odorono?

Anonymous said...

Yes. It's all about a singer who loses out on a recording contract because, as the last words of the song say:

"She ripped her glittering gown,
She couldn't face another show, no--
Her deodorant let her down:
She should have used Ororono."

Quite a nice little song, with a almost operatic bridge:

"Triumphant was the she felt,
As she acknowledged the applause;
Triumphant was the way she felt,
As she saw him at her dressing room door."

I had never heard of Odorono, though, till you pointed out that ad. A bit of research says that its was one of the first deodorants marketed for women.

"Hold your group together with Rotosound strings!"

The conceit of the album was that it was a broadcast of a pirate radio station, "Radio London," and thus was filled with commercials, such as that one, and PSAs ("Radio London reminds you go to the curch of your choice.") But "Odorono" is the only full-fledged song based on a product (there's a minute-long bit on Heinz Baked Beans too).

The album that turned me on to the 'orrible 'Oo. Banks of Hi-Watt amps, concept albums, and sadness over lives wasted by excess and stupidity.

e

Adam Thornton said...

It's amazing to read that bands (particularly The Who & Jimi Hendrix) were responsible for enhancements in sound equipment, and not the equipment manufacturers themselves! Marshall stacks, fuzzboxes...

Since my Who experience has never gone much further than Tommy (and that great video of Keith Moon's drum kit exploding with double the expected power on a TV show) I'll make "The Who Sells Out" and must-listen!

And I DID watch "To Russia With Love," but I'm still fortifying myself for the eventual post about it. :)

Anonymous said...

Uh-oh--not even a chuckle when Bond deadpans over a fallen Rosa Klebb (played by Mrs. Kurt Weill, Lotte Lenya), "She's had her kicks"? Sorry you didn't like it. But at least your criticism will be enjoyable to read.

So I'll stop myself from extolling the virtues of "Who's Next" as an unfinished torso of Townshend's next concept album after "Tommy," "Life House," and neither will I try to point out the excellencies of "Quadrophenia." But, if you get a chance, you might want to cast an eye on the concert version of "Quadrophenia" that the three remaining members put on in the late 90s. It includes other singers, film montages that firmly set the music in the 60s, clips from the movie version of the film, and an actor playing Jimmy, the central character, whose narration ties the whole thing together. The DVD has some interesting background on Daltrey's input into this new version.

And their new drummer is Zac Starkey (whose first drum kit was a present from Keith Moon) and who is a better drummer than his dad.

Gee--I guess I did extol them anyway.

e, an unregenerate Whooligan