Nick Kamen (jeans model)

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guitartangoguitartango Frets: 1012
Dead at 59...

“Ken sent me.”
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Comments

  • EricTheWearyEricTheWeary Frets: 16253
    Hard to explain to people now why he had such a big impact at the time but he did. Having Madonna singing backing vocals for you is some kind of mark of fame surely. 
    It wasn't clear from the report I read what he died of but only 59. 
    Sad news, RIP. 
    Tipton is a small fishing village in the borough of Sandwell. 
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  • merlinmerlin Frets: 6598
    Laundrette ad for 501s.
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  • jonnyburgojonnyburgo Frets: 12258
    By all accounts really nice humble guy RIP
    "OUR TOSSPOT"
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  • HattigolHattigol Frets: 8176
    Died of cancer, I believe.

    I can vividly recall being with mates in the ABC Cinema in Chester and the excitement of a new 501 advert coming on the screen - they were always great but his was probably the most iconic.

    Hard to explain any of this to the next generation - 'what, you got excited about adverts for jeans?' but there you go.

    59. No age at all. Sad news.
    "Anybody can play. The note is only 20%. The attitude of the motherf*cker who plays it is  80%" - Miles Davis
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  • axisusaxisus Frets: 28280
    At the time I just thought of him as some pointless pretty boy that the media pandered to, but every time I have read about him it says what a lovely guy he was. I guess he got his 15 minutes of fame so he did better than most people. It's alway a bit of a shock when someone dies and they are basically the same age as you are. 

    It certainly was one of the all-time iconic adverts.
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  • westwest Frets: 994
    Hard to explain to people now why he had such a big impact at the time but he did. Having Madonna singing backing vocals for you is some kind of mark of fame surely. 
    It wasn't clear from the report I read what he died of but only 59. 
    Sad news, RIP. 



    Reporting now that he died of bone marrow cancer and was diagnosed in 2014 ... rip
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71960
    merlin said:
    Laundrette ad for 501s.
    Possibly the coolest ad of all time, and one of the most successful.

    I bought my first pair of 501s almost by accident a little before it came out, and it's hard to believe now but they were perceived as old-man's jeans, because of the button fly - which I've always preferred but were very difficult to find then, 501s were pretty much the only trousers with them - and even they weren't stocked in most shops.

    A few months later and they were the must-have clothes of the 80s. I've been wearing them ever since and I'll probably be buried in a pair...

    RIP :(

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • LewyLewy Frets: 4126
    edited May 2021
    It wasn't until I saw this news and YouTube'd the old ad that I realised it was a Marvin Gaye sound-alike and not the origiginal track on that ad.

    Anyway, this was an amazing time for the 12 year old me. I discovered soul music through Levi's ads and blues through Budweiser ads.
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  • LastMantraLastMantra Frets: 3822
    ICBM said:
    merlin said:
    Laundrette ad for 501s.
    Possibly the coolest ad of all time, and one of the most successful.

    I bought my first pair of 501s almost by accident a little before it came out, and it's hard to believe now but they were perceived as old-man's jeans, because of the button fly - which I've always preferred but were very difficult to find then, 501s were pretty much the only trousers with them - and even they weren't stocked in most shops.

    A few months later and they were the must-have clothes of the 80s. I've been wearing them ever since and I'll probably be buried in a pair...

    RIP :(

    I always thought they were old man jeans  ;)
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  • HattigolHattigol Frets: 8176
    Lewy said:
    It wasn't until I saw this news and YouTube'd the old ad that I realised it was a Marvin Gaye sound-alike and not the origiginal track on that ad.

    Anyway, this was an amazing time for the 12 year old me. I discovered soul music through Levi's ads and blues through Budweiser ads.
    Fairly sure all the Levis ads used soundalikes as it is staggeringly cheaper. Convincing though, aren't they.

    For anyone who's ever had Richtone's hold music, that's not actually Sean Bean either. Just a very good impersonator who also does the 02 ads.

    Sorry for the derail. 
    "Anybody can play. The note is only 20%. The attitude of the motherf*cker who plays it is  80%" - Miles Davis
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  • RedlesterRedlester Frets: 1072
    Yes, that ad had a big impact. I forget what the sales figures were- I saw them once- but effectively that was the ad that broke Levis big once again in the mid 80s, and got everyone back in stonewashed denim, and finally reversing the downward trend for denim that punk and other fashions had started. After that it was the pale blue stonewash look all the away, as redonlent of the 80s as Thatcher and mass unemployment. 
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  • JanekLubanskiJanekLubanski Frets: 166
    RIP Nick Kamen. 59...no age at all.


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  • JanekLubanskiJanekLubanski Frets: 166
    ICBM said:
    merlin said:
    Laundrette ad for 501s.
    Possibly the coolest ad of all time, and one of the most successful.

    I bought my first pair of 501s almost by accident a little before it came out, and it's hard to believe now but they were perceived as old-man's jeans, because of the button fly - which I've always preferred but were very difficult to find then, 501s were pretty much the only trousers with them - and even they weren't stocked in most shops.

    A few months later and they were the must-have clothes of the 80s. I've been wearing them ever since and I'll probably be buried in a pair...

    RIP :(
    I had my 'Levi or Wrangler' moment/decision to make as a 15 y/old in 1973. I went for Wrangler.....they were cheaper.
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71960
    JanekLubanski said:

    I had my 'Levi or Wrangler' moment/decision to make as a 15 y/old in 1973. I went for Wrangler.....they were cheaper.
    I had Wranglers as a kid because my mum bought them... even that was a push, I had to go on about not having whatever own-label Marks & Sparks type crap she could palm me off with. When I started buying my own it was Levi's - they were just cooler. Not that I could ever hope to reach Nick Kamen levels of that.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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