I just learned about the strange history of Exxon-sponsored showtunes

The other day, I retweeted a post from my own band about a collaborative playlist of songs about conspiracy theories. It seemed like a fun promotional exercise, ya know?

What's your favorite song about #conspiracytheories? Add your favorites tunes about the #illuminati or #911truthers or #UFOs or #Qanon or whatever other weird shit you're into to our #playlist: https://t.co/BhcRmZJZqPWe've already got @therentals @nathanleighsays and more! pic.twitter.com/3v7YVagByK

— The Roland High Life has a new album coming out?! (@RolandHighLife) July 14, 2020

A friend of mine responded with something much more surprising: the revelation that Exxon Corporation released an album of showtunes in 1976. I certainly knew that the oil industry pumped money into all kinds of strange avenues of propaganda, but this was not something I had ever heard about or expected. Even more bizarre is that they weren't the only oil company to get into the musical business, either.

There's not a lot of information available about these musicals, but the best I found came from a Tiny Mixtapes blog:

Produced to entertain, inform, and mildly indoctrinate employees at the 1976 Exxon Convention,The Spirit of Achievement is something of a pro-corporate conservative manifesto set to music. As you can guess, its not a project steeped in subtlety. Tracks like Americas Way gives a full-throated endorsement of laissez-faire economics with lines like Americas way, the free enterprise way / thats what got us here today. Backed by a triumphant slice of sunshine pop, the Singers deliver these hummable slogans with a straight-forward sincerity.