An open-top car glides through the moonlit Californian night, its passengers gazing out at the star-filled sky. It pulls up at a beach house where a rowdy party is being thrown. The four young people in the convertible look at each other and, silently agreeing that it's just not their scene, drive on.

The 1999 Volkswagen advert is 60 seconds long but nearly a quarter of a century later, viewers are still posting online about its profound impact, not because of the stylish visuals but because of the haunting music accompanying them: Nick Drake’s Pink Moon.

The English singer-songwriter died in 1974 at the age of just 26. He had released three albums which didn’t make much of a splash during his lifetime, but which gradually gathered a cult following after his death. The US commercial sparked a major upsurge of interest in his work.