This 1988 Europa commercial showcases the guitar playing of American bluesman Stevie Ray Vaughan. An anthem to good times on the road, the promo features four friends — musician Midge Marsden, jingles veteran Murray Grindlay, Vaughan’s fiance Janna Lapidus and Brigitte Berger — larking around the North Island in an old ute. Stopping off at the iconic DC3 aeroplane parked in small-town Mangaweka, they step into a bar made from car parts to join Stevie Ray on stage. A shorter cut of this petrol station promo also screened, plus an ad featuring an acoustic version of the song.

Great adverts are strange things: mini works of magic, with the power to make viewers smile, cry, and even buy. Kiwi directors have shown such a knack for making them, they've been invited to do so across the globe. But this collection is about local favourites; dogs on skateboards, choc bar robberies, ghost chips. NZ On Screen's Irene Gardiner backgrounds the top 10 here.

In this April 1989 excerpt from music show CV, local bluesman Midge Marsden interviews BB King between flights at Auckland Airport. Sitting with his beloved Gibson guitar Lucille, King reveals his dissatisfaction with his own guitar playing, his family's distaste for blues music while growing up, and his belief that the growing sophistication of blues has helped it win increased popularity. He also mentions Bono writing him a song ('When Love Comes to Town'), and his take on friends James Brown and Ike Turner getting in trouble with the law.  

In New Zealand for his 1983 Serious Moonlight tour, David Bowie stops for a cigarette with Radio with Pictures, to talk about past, present and future projects. Bowie mentions recording hit album Let’s Dance in three weeks, and briefly touches on mysterious music and screen projects, and the "very funny" Ziggy Stardust concert film. Also mentioned: his opinions on Jagger versus McCartney, his desire to work again with Iggy Pop, and how he feels about making the cover of Time magazine. The interview is bookended with brief footage of Bowie's opening number at Athletic Park.

One of NZ's preeminent blues musicians, New Plymouth-born Keith (Midge) Marsden got his first big break with 60s Wellington r'n'b band Barri and the Breakaways. After hosting a blues show on the NZBC, he went on to tour in various formations in the mid 70s. During a visit to the United States he befriended guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan; the Texan featured on one of the classic 'Travellin' On' adverts that Marsden appeared in, alongside Murray Grindlay. In 1996 Marsden studied Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi. A decade later he was made a member of the NZ Order of Merit, for services to music.

'Travellin' On' could be a theme song for veteran musicians everywhere — and blues legend Midge Marsden has recorded this Murray Grindlay song on three occasions. This version is quieter and more reflective, in keeping with the Europa commercial Marsden appeared in during the 1980s (for which Grindlay took lead vocal). Later the pair joined American Stevie Ray Vaughan for a far rockier take. Footage from the various adverts is reprised here, but the blue/gray wash, along with shots of Midge's travels, make this rendition more of a remembrance of a life spent on the road.