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A little over 2 years ago I was putting in an order to Turntable Lab and while I was looking around at the new music they had to offer I came across an EP CD for a band called The Virgins. The editors at Turntable Lab were absolutely raving about this band calling them something along the lines of “The New Strokes, except better”. Since the CD was only $5 I decided to give it a shot and add it to my order. When I played my new CD I was pleased to hear some good old fashioned catchy hook heavy pop rock that fit perfectly with what I was playing at my bi-weekly People Lounge gig.

I was certain that it was just a matter of time before the Virgins caught fire. But it never happened. A little less than a year ago The Virgins self titled LP was released on wax to what seemed like very little fanfare, so I picked that up as well and continued to play their songs out when the mood hit me, but not once did anyone at my gigs express interest in the band at all.

Fast forward to a Thursday night gig at Debonair Social Club two weeks ago. To my surprise a friend of mine that I met through my day job, a very professional local business woman, comes up to the booth and asks me if I have anything by The Virgins. A bit shocked at my first request for The Virgins after having been playing their tracks for a seeming eternity without anyone so much as batting an eye, I dropped my favorite track of theirs, “Love Is Colder Than Death”.

The next day I was talking to my friend who had asked me to play The Virgins and expressed my surprise that she was a fan of the band. She then told me that their song “Rich Girls” is featured on the apparently wildly popular night time Soap Opera “Gossip GIrl”. After hearing that, it comes as no surprise at all that as I was looking around on Hype Machine today (I’m embracing blog culture at this point) I saw not only a slew of new remixes of “Rich Girls” but also a cover called Rich Boys by pop electronica princess Little Boots which is available at www.sharethevirgins.com.

This entire episode made me think of an article in the March issue of MixMag by Joe Muggs called “Buy Now For Sale”, which dealt with the commonality of indie and dance music being used to either sell products or to draw viewers to movies or tv shows. Muggs explored both sides of the issue but pointed out in no uncertain terms that the artist that refuses to allow their work to be used commercially is an overwhelming minority nowadays. The article also pointed out that with revenue from album sales flagging artists are scrambling for new and creative ways to make a living off the music they so love to make.

As far as my own opinions on this subject are concerned I’m afraid I am an utter puddle of ambivalence. In fact, as I’ve been writing this post the opposite sides of my brain have been dueling with each other over what conclusion I need to write myself into. On the one hand I believe that there are some magical associations that we all create to our music (people and places and vacations and crushes, etc.) and those can be diminished to some extent when all of a sudden our favorite songs are tied to a shoe company or a compact car. But on the other hand, these artists are making music because they want people to hear it and love it, and there is no better way to accomplish that than to put the music in a medium (such as a nationally, or even internationally broadcast commercial or movie trailor) that will reach millions of people in a short period of time.

I guess that at the end of the day, I feel The Virgins music is just as great as I did when I first listened to their EP in 2007, but thanks to the producers of Gossip Girl, I’m joined by much more company.

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The Virgins – Love Is Colder Than Death MP3