Music autographs are my favorite. And, being a writer, I always appreciate reading about writers.

And, since I'm in my late 30s now, I've also started reading obituaries. Sometimes I'll see someone I went to school with. Or, a famous person I met or interviewed. Or, someone that should be famous and wasn't. As is the case with Thomas W. Dawes, who was 64, and a musician, but probably more well know for the commercial jingles he wrote.

He had a stroke after carotid artery surgery.

He co-founded the grou The Cyrkle, which was a folk-pop group that is best known for its 1966 hit single Red Rubber Ball, written by Paul Simon and Bruce Woodley.

In the mid 60s, The Cyrkle opened for the Beatles on their final U.S. tour and released their second (and last) single, "Turn Down Day." It wasn't the only Beatles connection. The band was originally called The Rhondells. They were discovered by a lawyer that was partners with Beatle manager Breian Epstein, and it was Lennon that suggested the band name "Cyrkle" and the distinct spelling (of course, The Beatles, with that spelling, is still a cooler name).

In the mid 70s, Dawes worked for the Foghat (Slowride, I Just Wanna Make Love to You, Fool for the City).

The New York native wrote a book on music and lyrics called "Talk of the Town" which is a great read.

But, what he is probably best known for, by all of you reading this: his commercials. He wrote songs that ad agencies and companies dream of: they stay in your head months and years, after the commercial stops airing.

He wrote "Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh what a relief it is," for Alka Seltzer.

Less popular, but catchy, were his McDonald's catchphrase "You, You're the One," and American Airlines "Something Special in the Air," and for Coke "Coke is It."

And how did he meet his longtime wife? She was a competitor in the jingle business (and they collaborated on a few, once they got together).

He also wrote the "7Up, the Uncola" and "Our L'eggs Fit Your Legs" and an American Airlines tagline about "We're American Airlines, Doing What We Do Best."

It seems, doing commecials, is what he did best.