Robbie Robertson

Question: My roommate and I have a dinner riding on this bet. I believe that one of the singers in the "Give a Little Bit" Gap commercial was Lou Reed. She disagrees. Do you know who the artists were? I realize that this isn't quite up your alley — you know all things broadcast television-wise — but do you know about the commercials?

Answer: Y'know, Fan, normally I'd be my cranky self and take you to task for doubting my knowledge of all things television, then move on to mocking you for implying that commercials somehow exist apart from broadcast TV and for missing all the ad-related questions I've answered in this space in the past. But I lived in Manhattan for 13 years, so I'll go easy on a fellow New Yorker.

Do you really think my hero Lou Reed, the gritty, Velvet Underground-founding poster child for rebellion, would go all corporate toadie on me and shill for Gap? For shame! (Well, there read more