Took a few flights these past weeks where a new safety video, starting with the "welcome aboard" greetings in several languages, had a music bed that was barely perceptible and sounded like a Rhapsody in Blue wanna be.
In that there seems to be little left of PMUA visually, I think it would be a big mistake for UA to "change their tune".
RiB, while always a pleasure to hear, is also United Airlines. I certainly hope they are not abandoning it.
Does anyone know if this is the case?
Moderators: richierich, ua900, PanAm_DC10, hOMSaR
RE: UA Abandoning Gershwin?
Absolutely not.
You may hear different orchestrations of Rhapsody in Blue from the original, but it is not going away. In fact, they seem to be using it just as much if not more post-merger than sUA did.
You may hear different orchestrations of Rhapsody in Blue from the original, but it is not going away. In fact, they seem to be using it just as much if not more post-merger than sUA did.
RE: UA Abandoning Gershwin?
It WAS a nice tune but UA have ruined Rhapsody in Blue for this traveller. Reminds me of the bad old days when we used to call the reservation center on the phone to book a flight. Now anytime I hear the first few bars of that tune I feel like I'm waiting on Hold.
The song has run it's course and is burned out. 20 years now? Too bad. I used to like it.
The song has run it's course and is burned out. 20 years now? Too bad. I used to like it.
RE: UA Abandoning Gershwin?
The new safety video has a more traditional arrangement of Rhapsody than the previous iteration, thankfully. The post-merger video used an electronica hack job that I could barely stomach.
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- intermodal64
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RE: UA Abandoning Gershwin?
It's time to respectfully retire Rhapsody in Blue. Every time I hear it I cringe because I associate it with such negative experiences: long delays, broken and overcrowded DC-10's, stressed out cabin crew, I'm tired and I want to go home . . . For me it has come to represent the lowest point in United's history -- the summer of 2000. I literally quit flying United for over 10 years after that. (Now I'm back w/ UA as a happy customer w/ platinum status.)
RE: UA Abandoning Gershwin?
As much as I love the song, I think it is time to move on. I hate how UA has butchered it so much recently. They should just launch a whole new rebranding and ad campaign.
RE: UA Abandoning Gershwin?
I don't think it is being retired but I think maybe it should be. As much as I love the song, it just doesn't seem to fit with the "new" UA.
RE: UA Abandoning Gershwin?
If UA decided to abandon "Rhapsody" and wants a more contemporary song, I've always thought that "Snow" and "Escape Velocity" (used together) by The Chemical Brothers from their 2010 album "Further" (tracks 1 and 2 to be exact) would fit UA's new image. And though electronic dance music is the genre of the moment right now and The Chemical Brothers are EDM artists, these songs aren't what you would get from David Guetta or Skrillex (playing the latter on a plane could freak out some passengers).
"Snow" has only one piece of lyrics (repeated several times) that are fitting for an airline: "Your love keeps lifting me (repeat 3x), lifting me higher (repeat 3x)", though they are not the same (by a long shot) as the 1960s Jackie Wilson song "Higher and Higher" (which sounds to me like something PMCO would have used when Kaplan Thaler was their agency). "Snow" could be used for situations where a song with vocals could be appropriate (replacing Rhapsody for phone hold music, TV commercials, and such). And "Escape Velocity", the sister song, could be used for instrumental-only usage (safety video, ORD T1 B-C tunnel, and other such uses), plus part of it has that "jet taking off" feel. Listen to them on Spotify, download them from iTunes or Amazon, and see if you'll agree that these songs would be a good fit for UA.
Oh, and I hope someone at UA agency of record mcgarrybowen is listening (pun intended).
"Snow" has only one piece of lyrics (repeated several times) that are fitting for an airline: "Your love keeps lifting me (repeat 3x), lifting me higher (repeat 3x)", though they are not the same (by a long shot) as the 1960s Jackie Wilson song "Higher and Higher" (which sounds to me like something PMCO would have used when Kaplan Thaler was their agency). "Snow" could be used for situations where a song with vocals could be appropriate (replacing Rhapsody for phone hold music, TV commercials, and such). And "Escape Velocity", the sister song, could be used for instrumental-only usage (safety video, ORD T1 B-C tunnel, and other such uses), plus part of it has that "jet taking off" feel. Listen to them on Spotify, download them from iTunes or Amazon, and see if you'll agree that these songs would be a good fit for UA.
Oh, and I hope someone at UA agency of record mcgarrybowen is listening (pun intended).
RE: UA Abandoning Gershwin?
Rhapsody is so awesome, I doubt they'll just drop the theme.
BTW, They use it in the recent Airline videos you find in here: https://hub.united.com/en-us/Videos/Company/Pages/Mobile-app.aspx
So, Rhapsody in Blue is here to stay.
BTW, They use it in the recent Airline videos you find in here: https://hub.united.com/en-us/Videos/Company/Pages/Mobile-app.aspx
So, Rhapsody in Blue is here to stay.
RE: UA Abandoning Gershwin?
| Quoting 26point2 (Reply 2): It WAS a nice tune but UA have ruined Rhapsody in Blue for this traveller. Reminds me of the bad old days when we used to call the reservation center on the phone to book a flight. Now anytime I hear the first few bars of that tune I feel like I'm waiting on Hold. |
I actually miss that phone hold 1980s rendition of Rhapsody in Blue. They only replaced it 6-8 months ago with the crappy garageband version that you hear in the safety video.
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- ThePinnacleKid
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RE: UA Abandoning Gershwin?
Unrelated, apologize in advance... any idea the new track American is using for their adds and livery merger launch videos? It sounds proprietary.. but not sure
RE: UA Abandoning Gershwin?
"Miles Away" from Madonna's Hard Candy album, rename Mileage Plus to Miles Away and a new uniform for female F/A's would include Viking breast cups and stiletto's. Better yet, it could be a unisex uniform to cover all the bases....and Madonna fans.
RE: UA Abandoning Gershwin?
I love Rhapsody. Every time I hear it, I pretend they still have the tulip. 
I hope it stays!
I hope it stays!RE: UA Abandoning Gershwin?
| Quoting FWAERJ (Reply 7): If UA decided to abandon "Rhapsody" and wants a more contemporary song, I've always thought that "Snow" and "Escape Velocity" (used together) by The Chemical Brothers from their 2010 album "Further" (tracks 1 and 2 to be exact) would fit UA's new image. |
| Quoting FWAERJ (Reply 7): (playing the latter on a plane could freak out some passengers). |
Having listened to both tracks now, at your suggestion, I would respectfully submit that you have, either, horrible taste in music, OR you have some sort of interest in a plane full of passengers undergoing mass hysteria and rage at the same single note being played for over five minutes at a time, without a break. Snow? What is that "bad phone connection" screech that continues, unabated, in the background for the full length of the song, and WHY would you want it selected as hold music or boarding music or walking-through-the-tunnel-at-O'Hare music?
Heinous.
Keep Rhapsody, UA, just don't overdo it.
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- RyanairGuru
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RE: UA Abandoning Gershwin?
| Quoting tommy767 (Reply 9): I actually miss that phone hold 1980s rendition of Rhapsody in Blue |
Coming from the CO side, I had never held with UA prior to the merger. I had therefore never heard it before, and it was IMHO the best thing to come out of the merger!!! Unfortunately they ditched it...
That said, I understand what some PMUA people are saying about it being from another era.
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- usairways85
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RE: UA Abandoning Gershwin?
I can still be heard in the walkway between B and C at ORD.
I think the predeparture videos are a tough judge. Sometimes they start a few seconds late, sometimes the FAs just skip to the safety part, etc.
I think the predeparture videos are a tough judge. Sometimes they start a few seconds late, sometimes the FAs just skip to the safety part, etc.
RE: UA Abandoning Gershwin?
Actually I had my first flight this morning with the new safety video and immediately remarked that it is MORE Rhapsody in Blue than before. I distinctly heard all of the main themes throughout the video. I was a nice surprise.
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- Type-Rated
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RE: UA Abandoning Gershwin?
I think "Airplanes" by David Usher would be an appropriate song for the new UA. It's definitely more upbeat than Rhapsody and I think the lyrics fit UA's current situation better anyway.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXJeE0NuQ7M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXJeE0NuQ7M
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- captainstefan
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RE: UA Abandoning Gershwin?
I don't think RiB is going anywhere - It's so intertwined with their brand and recognition that I think (as hackneyed as it may seem to employees and some FFs) it would be really detrimental to their image to ditch it. I think if you played some of the more popular riffs from it on the street and quizzed people on the associated airline, a good number would be able to name United. Take the commercial music from any other airline and you'd be hard pressed to find the same results.
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- UA777lover
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RE: UA Abandoning Gershwin?
Ilove rhapsody in blue. It's my ringtone on my phone. I too see the tulip in my heart and mind when I hear it. It HAS to stay.
RE: UA Abandoning Gershwin?
Please let it be so, I am so sick of that tune.
RE: UA Abandoning Gershwin?
It is the single BEST example of sonic branding. If or when the new United becomes Americas preferred airline it will be associated with that and not the parts of United's checkered past.
It's faboulous.
It's faboulous.
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- Transpac787
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RE: UA Abandoning Gershwin?
| Quoting FWAERJ (Reply 7): If UA decided to abandon "Rhapsody" and wants a more contemporary song, I've always thought that "Snow" and "Escape Velocity" (used together) by The Chemical Brothers from their 2010 album "Further" |
Oh my.
Where do I even start?? For one, the name "Chemical Brothers" alone would likely be enough for UA, or any airline, to never play any of their music.
For two - when I decided to actually listen to this song "Snow", I thought for a few seconds that my computer's speakers and/or YouTube were having a rather serious technical malfunction and that all I was getting was high-pitched, obnoxious static. Eventually I realized it was actually the 'song'. Regardless, who wouldn't love to hear music that is easily mistaken for static and equipment malfunction during the entire duration of the boarding process?!
And finally - I think the final nail in the coffin on the idea of this music as the boarding music - it would likely increase our inadvertent slide deployments several times over. Though in these particular cases, it would be more or less deliberate evacuation, not accidental deployment.
RE: UA Abandoning Gershwin?
| Quoting VC10er (Reply 21): It is the single BEST example of sonic branding. If or when the new United becomes Americas preferred airline it will be associated with that and not the parts of United's checkered past. It's faboulous. |
Unfortunately the wonderful song imprints a certain image in most consumers brains -- and it's sure as hell not a globe lol
RE: UA Abandoning Gershwin?
If they are going to change to anything it should be to the Bolero by Ravel. Imagine the boarding process; as boarding starts they begin the music, and when the door closes, it's the end of the song. That way passengers would know once you hear that final note, you've missed your boarding opportunity. Make for a more enjoyable boarding process.
RE: UA Abandoning Gershwin?
| Quoting FWAERJ (Reply 7): Oh, and I hope someone at UA agency of record mcgarrybowen is listening (pun intended). |
These guys summed it up, I just wanted to add:
| Quoting AA737-823 (Reply 13): Having listened to both tracks now, at your suggestion, I would respectfully submit that you have, either, horrible taste in music |
| Quoting Transpac787 (Reply 22): Though in these particular cases, it would be more or less deliberate evacuatio |
x3, and I even listen to EDM, there is no way I'd ever consider playing a moment of those songs unless they were THOROUGHLY abstracted from the originals. And yes, I listed to the full length of both songs which is 17 minutes of my life I will never get back.
RE: UA Abandoning Gershwin?
| Quoting AA737-823 (Reply 13): Having listened to both tracks now, at your suggestion, I would respectfully submit that you have, either, horrible taste in music, OR you have some sort of interest in a plane full of passengers undergoing mass hysteria and rage at the same single note being played for over five minutes at a time, without a break. Snow? What is that "bad phone connection" screech that continues, unabated, in the background for the full length of the song, and WHY would you want it selected as hold music or boarding music or walking-through-the-tunnel-at-O'Hare music? |
| Quoting Transpac787 (Reply 22): And finally - I think the final nail in the coffin on the idea of this music as the boarding music - it would likely increase our inadvertent slide deployments several times over. Though in these particular cases, it would be more or less deliberate evacuation, not accidental deployment. |
| Quoting RDH3E (Reply 25): x3, and I even listen to EDM, there is no way I'd ever consider playing a moment of those songs unless they were THOROUGHLY abstracted from the originals. And yes, I listed to the full length of both songs which is 17 minutes of my life I will never get back. |
Sounds like the answer to this "what if" scenario is a resounding no.
That said, I do like Rhapsody in Blue. It screams UA even more than the tulip did, and I hope that UA never drops it - for UA, it has been their instantly-identifiable sonic branding signature for 25 years now. There have been dozens of custom versions of Rhapsody made for UA over the years from traditional scores to electronic arrangements to Asian music versions, yet I think they've barely scratched the surface with Rhapsody.
[Edited 2013-02-18 10:42:53]
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- highflier92660
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RE: UA Abandoning Gershwin?
When Boeing finally works the battery bugs out of the 787 I suppose United could go briefly with the ever popular Also Sprach Zarathustra... providing everyone isn't so emotionally worn out by the time the 787 finally flies the line.
Gershwin has been such an identifiable classic ad tune for United there should be some mighty corporate soul searching before they replace it. And after that, should they replace Rhapsody in Blue with some time-tested melodies from the light or major classics, contemporary hits, or go with an original commercial composition?
Here is a memorable one from decades ago with the late actor Burgess Meredith doing the voice-over: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2_y6Qr3acc
Gershwin has been such an identifiable classic ad tune for United there should be some mighty corporate soul searching before they replace it. And after that, should they replace Rhapsody in Blue with some time-tested melodies from the light or major classics, contemporary hits, or go with an original commercial composition?
Here is a memorable one from decades ago with the late actor Burgess Meredith doing the voice-over: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2_y6Qr3acc
RE: UA Abandoning Gershwin?
| Quoting kordcj (Reply 24): If they are going to change to anything it should be to the Bolero by Ravel. Imagine the boarding process; as boarding starts they begin the music, and when the door closes, it's the end of the song. That way passengers would know once you hear that final note, you've missed your boarding opportunity. Make for a more enjoyable boarding process. |
That is rich. All must be boarded and seated by the time Bolero is finished...musical chairs for the adults if you will. Mix in the double entendre aspect and you have a hilarious scenario.
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