'I Ain't Earning Shit': Did TV Spot Steal Andy Prieboy's 'Tomorrow Wendy'?

"Tomorrow Wendy ripped off by Spectrum. The title of this is 'Earning It Every Day'. I ain't earning shit."

The above comment hit my FB news feed with a ferocity one doesn't usually expect to see from the calm and reserved composer Andy Prieboy.

As a huge fan of post-Stan Ridgway Wall of Voodoo, and an ardent follower of "White Trash Wins Lotto" during its lengthy incubation period at L.A.'s intimate Largo, I follow singer Andy Prieboy on Le Book of Face and was privvy to the above post earlier today.

Prieboy, for those unaware, is from yonder Joliet, IL and joined Wall Of Voodoo in time to take part in the band's 1985 release, Seven Days In Sammystown. Two poorly-promoted albums later, Prieboy found himself a free agent, releasing his first solo record, ...Upon My Wicked Son in 1991 on the late lamented Dr. Dream label.

As a huge fan of post-Stan Ridgway Wall of Voodoo, and an ardent follower of "White Trash Wins Lotto" during its lengthy incubation period at L.A.'s intimate Largo, I follow singer Andy Prieboy on Le Book of Face and was privvy to the above post earlier today.

Prieboy, for those unaware, is from yonder Joliet, IL and joined Wall Of Voodoo in time to take part in the band's 1985 release, Seven Days In Sammystown. Two poorly-promoted albums later, Prieboy found himself a free agent, releasing his first solo record, ...Upon My Wicked Son in 1991 on the late lamented Dr. Dream label.

The album was notable for featuring a Prieboy-penned song by the name of "Tomorrow Wendy" (about a close friend of Prieboy's suffering from AIDS) that had been released two months prior by Concrete Blonde. In a clever bit of casting, Johnette Napolitano guests on Prieboy's version and Prieboy appears on Concrete Blonde's version, which enjoyed considerable radio airplay throughout the '90s and even charted in Canada!

Which brings us to 2017 and the appearance of a TV commercial by Spectrum that utilizes what appears, for all intents and purposes, to be an instrumental version of "Tomorrow Wendy".

"Cable-guy-as-first-responder to the rescue!

Upon watching the ad, quite frankly, I was struck dumb. It made me wonder what sort of company approximates a song about slow and painful death from a horrible disease for an ad about cable service?

While no musicologist, myself, I'm of the mind to believe the song's writer when he recognizes an unauthorized appropriation of his intellectual property.

Does Mr. Prieboy have reason to cry foul? YOU make the call!