An American original, a smart, intuitive and open-minded genius, Hal Riney, has died at the age of 75. Known by virtually everyone in the automotive and advertising fields, and well-known to hundreds of millions of radio and TV users because of the smooth, dulcet, calm, reassuring tone of voice he affected, Riney put General Motors' then-new Saturn brand on the American peoples' radar, both by using his phenomenal voice on the GM brand's first TV and radio spots, and the tagline which he and his co-workers created: "A different kind of company. A different kind of car". (Photos --- Above, a 2006 Saturn VUE; Below, Hal Riney).
The first campaign which put Riney firmly on advertising's international map was his use, in 1970, of the 
brother-sister music act of Karen and Richard Carpenter singing their own song, "We've only just begun," as the not-very-background music in commercials for California's Crocker Citizens Bank. That song is still in "heavy-request" at weddings and the like, and it was listed #405 on Rolling Stone's list of the "500 Greatest Songs of all Time," published in 2004.
Riney also produced TV campaign spots for Ronald Reagan, but it was a much-anticipated car from GM, meant to be the giant corporation's, and, by extension, America's "answer" to what many perceived as an "Asian invasion" of vehicles, not a US president, that made Riney's craft and voice an immutable part of American culture.
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