Dear John - BASF

We Only Had 60 Seconds

By Murray Grindlay 29/05/2020

My first memory of the Dear John ad occurred in a stairwell in the Colenso building, circa 1981. The creatives felt we needed some inspiration (make of that what you will). So, there I was, sitting on a step with my guitar, going through the chords of an existing song that they wanted to use, entitled 'A Dear John Letter'. The song had been written in 1953 and was a crossover country/pop hit for [American singers] Ferlin Husky and Jean Shepard. Their arrangement had Jean singing the only verse in the song two or three times in succession, with Ferlin speaking his part (the contents of the letter) in his trademark sonorous tones between the verses.

This wasn’t going to work for us. Firstly, we only had 60 seconds. Secondly, our hero in the ad receives a BASF cassette tape (not a letter) with his sweetheart singing her deadly message. We also had to modernise it. So I slowed the tempo down a bit, trying for more of a torch song feeling, and changed a few lyrics as in "you’ll like him John, he’s your brother, so adieu to you forever dear John". The brother did appear in the original, but only in Ferlin’s speaking part.

Next stop — Stebbing Recording Studios. I had a great little band featuring Red McKelvie on pedal steel, but the icing on the cake was the fabulous singer Jacqui Fitzgerald. She totally owned it and got that torch thing I was looking for. Much to my delight, the ad became world-famous and won several awards. 

P. S: never underestimate a stairwell: the reverb's great. 

- Murray Grindlay has composed and performed on many of New Zealand's most beloved commercials.