Schlitz was once the largest brewer of beer in the USA. By the time I was of legal age to buy beer, Schlitz had changed their ingredients (including the addition of silica gel) and method of brewing. From the top of the US beer world, they slid to become known and reviled as a bargain bin beer to drink if you wanted to get drunk on a budget.
It’s not like Schlitz didn’t try to convince us to drink its swill. They were famous for their “Drink Schlitz or we’ll kill you” commercials.
Yes, that is actress Teri Garr as the waitress incredibly AFTER her classic role in “Young Frankenstein.”
But I’m most impressed by this musical effort from a favorite band of mine to convince us to drink Schlitz.
Before they had us “Reelin’ in the Years,” Donald Fagen and Walter Becker were doing Schlitz jingles. Catchy tune with weird Spanish spoken-word vocals that was never used. Maybe that’s why Schlitz declined in popularity. Nah, it was the taste.
And for all you Steely Dan haters out there who think they are a pretentious artsy-fartsy band (I know you’re out there), get a load of the Dan from 1973 in this video that recently surfaced. They rock!
Frankly, I’m surprised that the guitar wasn’t smoking after Jeff “Skunk” Baxter finished making love to it. And why wasn’t the audience on their feet for that whole song?
I can’t help but think the Schlitz brand wasn’t the inspiration for this bit of SNL lunacy for a special version of Schmitts beer.
It’s beer for gays …
Jim Flanigan Looks at the World 