TV TUNES: Record store clerks are reporting...

TV TUNES: Record store clerks are reporting that people are regularly coming in and asking for “that Volkswagen thing.” The ethereal song they’re looking for is “Harry’s Game,” a 10-year-old song by the Irish group Clannad that is being used in a television ad campaign by the German car maker.

This is the fourth time around for the song, which was originally written as the title song for a British TV series, then in the mid-’80s was singled out by U2’s Bono as his favorite number and then was used prominently in the 1992 movie “Patriot Games.” Now the band and its record company, Atlantic, are looking to make the most of the connection, including a sponsorship deal for Volkswagen to support the group’s next tour.

“I don’t mind at all having the song tied to a product, since it gives it the opportunity to be heard,” says Maire Brennan, Clannad’s singer.

The group has just finished a new album, titled “Banba,” which will be released in the U.S. in the fall, and plans to make its first stateside tour since 1988.