Here's a nice tip from Holly Buchanan, WMXB-FM, Richmond, VA. Check out this month's Cassette for a couple of spots from Holly for a club called Maxwell's that illustrate what Holly's talking about!
If you're a Production Director, you've probably done thousands of them. The names and addresses change, but the basic concept remains the same. They've been here for decades. And long after you've gone to that production studio in the sky (the one with the digital workstation and a doorway that vaporizes any salesperson who tries to walk through it), people will still be writing...CLUB NIGHT SPOTS.
Club night spots can be some of your most creative commercials. They can also lead to irreversible brain damage. Think about it. What's on your average club night production order? "WXYZ night at night club A. Top 40 dance music. Drink specials. WXYZ DJ will be there from eight till ten. Prizes and giveaways." If you're lucky, the salesperson might be feeling creative and decide to throw in an original twist like a "ladies night."
You now have three sentences that you have to stretch into a sixty second commercial. Not a problem. You can be creative and come up with something clever. But what happens when six more identical orders come in for the other six club nights of the week? Different DJ, different club, same everything else.
Well, here's an idea. If you've already done thirty-six creative, original club commercials and just can't come up with a new idea for number thirty-seven, don't do a thing. Don't write a single word. Call the DJ who's doing the club night into the production studio. Hand him a sixty-minute cassette and say, "Tape your club night." It's that simple.
The next day, the jock brings the tape back to you. (Hopefully, he hasn't left it in his car seat in the sun.) Listen to the tape and pull off the highlights. (I know this can be time consuming, but if the guy's good, you might learn something.) Slap the highlights together with a few zingers and zappers, add the club name and address, and you've got yourself a club night spot...without destroying a single brain cell! (Unless, of course, it's a karaoke night!)
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