Dear Columbia, please don't ruin the Ting Tings

For all intents and purposes, the U.K. duo the Ting Tings has now made it. And the peppy dance-rock act hasn't even sold an album in the U.S.

Its "Shut Up and Let Me Go" is in heavy rotation nightly, thanks to its placement in the latest iPod commercials for Apple. It's one of three songs from the act's debut album for Columbia Records, "We Started Nothing," that can be freely and legally heard in the U.S. (out digitally on May 20, and in ye olde CD format on June 3).

While the band seems relatively pleased by the placement, adorably writing on its website that the ad resulted in a "very big week for the Tings," is this cause for worry?

Certainly Apple's iPod is deemed a "cooler" product than Bud Lime, but these things have a tendency to be a bit ubiquitous. After all, there's no reason for Feist to ever again perform "1234," as the song no longer belongs to her. It's more or less Steve Jobs' property now.

And the same goes for Yael Naim's precious "New Soul." But even worse, if the Ting Tings don't follow in the footsteps of Feist and find themselves performing at the 2009 Grammys, they could go the way of the Fratellis, heretofore known as one of the many bands who "had one of those iPod songs."

On the plus side, Apple had the decency to pick one of the Ting Tings' lesser songs, thereby preserving the integrity, thus far, of the act's superior tunes. While the disco groove and punky guitar spikes of "Shut Up," coupled with Katie White's insistence that she ain't "freaking" or "faking," pack plenty of spunk, it's also a bit thinner -- and sillier -- than "Great DJ," or the terrific "That's Not My Name."

The latter is the current single in the U.K., and a video has been out for weeks. But Columbia hasn't made it available to buy in the U.S. Note to major labels: The right to complain about file-sharing is hereby forfeited if a song cannot be purchased once the band has posted it on its MySpace page.

But for now, the song -- one of the strongest singles of 2008 -- remains free of any corporate endorsements. It's got a hip-hop brashness, a slinky beat and a booming grand finale (self-plagiarism alert), resulting in a smashing singalong number. But see for yourself. And let it play -- the fuzzy guitar pickup at about the 3-minute mark is the kind of pop perfection that's spine chilling.

Photo: Associated Press

Comments

[Edward]

"Note to major labels: The right to complain about file-sharing is hereby forfeited if a song cannot be purchased once the band has posted it on its MySpace page."

Well put.