Music
monkeyFLASHmonkeyBACK… Oliver & Billy Joel AND Huey Lewis?!
This post presupposes that I had access to the TripleDoubleU or blogging before there was either… this would be my post back in 1988, when I was prime fodder for the TripleDoubleU or blogging these days.
This could be one of the best things I’ve ever heard. Let me begin by introducing you to this guy: Dodger from Walt Disney Pictures new cartoon movie, Oliver & Company.
He's more Artist, than Artful.
First off, a new Disney cartoon film? I haven’t seen one since I was a kid three years ago (that would be The Black Cauldron… I never got to see The Great Mouse Detective, mostly because I didn’t care to.) Also, I didn’t think they made cartoon films anymore, at least not after the awesome Tron (I hope they make a sequel soon – it’s been seven years already).
But get this – Billy Joel is the voice of Dodger, and he sings Why Should I Worry? in it! When’s the last time there was singing in a Disney movie… The Jungle Book back in the 60’s?!
And guess what’s even better?
Huey Lewis is performing the theme song, Once Upon a Time in New York City. I can’t wait to get this cassette! The only way this news could get any better is if my dream girl sang on the soundtrack:
In retrospect, what the hell is wrong with me?
Musical Musings… What Makes Dubstep Dubstep?
To be honest, I’ve went over the all-knowing Wikipedia, and though extensive, I still barely get what makes dubstep what it is. It’s still techno to my limited understanding, just with a half-step drum pattern and wobbling bass lines? I guess it does sound different enough, because unlike techno… I kinda like it.
This is an example of dubstep by Plastician called Japan:
Or it may be grime.
I don’t know.
Coinkydink Or Coinkydonk? The ABBA-Nicki-Minaj Collage
Initially, this post was going to bring up how the start of the chorus in Nicki Minaj’s Super Bass is quite reminiscent of the bridge in Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream, but I found another angle… a sign of the times, if you will.
(SIDENOTE: If you’re interested in which portion of the songs I speak of, here you go:
SUPER BASS: Boy you got my heart beat runnin’ away/ Beating like a drum and it’s coming your way
TEENAGE DREAM: I’ma get your heart racing/ In my skin-tight jeans / Be your teenage dream tonight
That is all…)
So anyhotties, what was I saying? Oh yeah.
I only recently learned of this terrible song by ABBA called Super Trouper, and it got me thinking… this is a precursor to Nicki Minaj’s Super Bass. Besides both of them having the world super in their titles, they both have a lot more in common than you’d think (I’ve included the full videos at the end of this post, after the jump).
Aside from one being about –
Super trouper lights are gonna find me…
– and the other being about –
Don’t you hear that heartbeat comin’ your way…
– in both videos you have the following:
- Icy Blue Glows
Check
- Singer Closeups
Check
- Topless Men
Check
- Quick Costume Changes
Check
- Sound Stage Night Clubs
Check
- Unique Party Locales
Check
- Playing With Elements
Check
- Distinct Eye Makeup Choices
- The Source Of Blue Glows Revealed as Spotlights
Check
- Optical Effects in the Third Act
Everyone in ABBA gets a chance at being a GIF, so "check" again.
Happy Find… First World Problems Rap
I originally saw this kid’s spoof of Rebecca Black’s Friday, and his speech impediment was off-putting. This video is clever enough that I could ignore that.
His choices are what make this work because they are not easy attempts at humor. For easy attempts at humor, check out the two videos below this one (or this blog on a regular basis):
monkeyFLASHmonkeyBACK… Wrong Music, Wrong Movie
This is only my second journey down monkeyFLASHmonkeyBACK lane, and as it turns out, this post also takes place in 2004. I really should have started blogging earlier…
Vindicated? Not quite...
There’s nothing quite like a great theme song. I’m not talking about the musical score, the likes of which composer John Williams will never miss a beat, I’m sure.
(SIDENOTE: I’m of course being sarcastic. His new music from Star Wars Episodes I and II is okay at best, as well as his theme for the first Harry Potter movie, but none of them will ever be Jaws, E.T., or Indiana Jones. (INNER SIDENOTE: I doubt they’ll ever make all those stupid warlock books into movies… they’re on book five already… it has to end sometime…))
No, what I’m talking about is the Eye of the Tiger. Shaft. Wind Beneath My Wings.
So what does all this have to do with Spider-Man 2? It has a crappy theme song.
Chris Carrabba, lead (only?) singer of Dashboard Confessional, wrote this wonder of lyric-fest that just “screams” Spider-Man:
Hope dangles on a string like slow spinning redemption
Winding in and winding out, the shine of it has caught my eye
And roped me in, so mesmerizing and so hypnotizing
I am captivated, I amCHORUS:
Vindicated, I am selfish, I am wrong, I am right
I swear I’m right, swear I knew it all along
And I am flawed but I am cleaning up so well
I am seeing in me now the things you swore, you saw yourselfSo clear like the diamond in your ring, cut to mirror your intention
Over sized and overwhelmed, the shine of which has caught my eye
And rendered me so isolated and so motivated
I am certain now that I amCHORUS
So turn up the corners of your lips
Part them and feel my finger tips
Trace the moment, fall foreverDefense is paper-thin
Just one touch and I’ll be in
Too deep now to ever swim against the currentSo let me slip away, so let me slip away
So let me slip away, so let me slip against the current
So let me slip away, so let me slip away
So let me slip away, so let me slip awayCHORUS
Slight hope dangles on a string
Like slow spinning redemption
What?! Does that have to do anything with Spider-Man at all? It has been rumored (or it’s totally true) that he had another song called I Need a Sure Thing ready to go prior to seeing the completed film, then he had a change of heart and wrote Vindicated in about fifteen minutes. How would that song have fared? Well, here are its lyrics:
You are a razor blade
You are precision-cut
You are a stare sharp as the tack in my eye?
At rest in my veins
[Your pulse in my neck?]
As sharp-edged as questions the time I have left
And so you are on my mind.I need a burning stake
I need a piercing dart
I need something as hot as it is sharp
And I need to bleed
I need to burn
I need a sure thing
I need a sure thing
And you are a mystery to meYou are a paper bird
Folded and folded and creased
And bent and shaped from a five dollar bill
It’s priceless to me
And never spent
It hangs from a ceiling fan over my bed
And so you are on my mindI need a burning stake
I need a piercing dart
I need something as hot as it is sharp
And I need to bleed
I need to burn
I need a sure thing
And you are a mystery to meI’ll hang my hopes all at once on a rope
There’s a possibility that this is happening to someone who’s not me
I’ll hold my head
Keep it still and pretend
That these spins and the webs
Are actually desirableI need a burning stake
I need a piercing dart
I need something as hot as it is sharp
And I need to bleed I need to burn
I need a sure thing
And you are a mystery to me
I’m beginning to think Chris Carrabba doesn’t know the difference between a spider, a vampire, and a Spider-Man.
At least Chad Kroeger and Josey Scott’s Hero from the first Spider-Man film was about a hero coming to save us (or not) and him not staying to wait. But then again, Macy Gray sang a song in that same movie:
"I tried to walk away but... my contract with Sony kept me here."
In closing, I guess every song can’t be Peter Cetera’s Glory of Love from The Karate Kid II. That was a perfect match.
(SIDENOTE: It wasn’t a perfect match. It was originally supposed to be in one of the Rocky films…)
JusWondering… This Girl Can’t Be Real, Can She?
I’ve written about the Gregory Brothers/Schmoyoho before, plus who hasn’t heard the Bed Intruder or Double Rainbow Song yet?
This is their latest:
- Can’t Hug Every Cat
Here’s the original for good measure:
But the question remains – this girl can’t be real, can she?
Leave it to this curious (as a cat) news guy to get to the bottom (feeder) of it:
Sure, it takes some of the catnip of Can’t Hug Every Cat, but it’s still a fancy feast (sorry for that stretch).
Musical Musings… Is There An Equivalent To Squinting For Your Ears?
If you squint your ears just a bit, Neil Young’s The Needle and the Damage Done, which is this song…
…sounds just a bit like Jewel’s You Were Meant For Me, which is this song:
It should also be noted that both songs are about addiction… Jewel’s addiction is only slightly more pathetic. Gah…
(SIDENOTE: I don’t really like Neil Young, but I like Jimmy Fallon’s impersonation of him.)
(BONUS SIDENOTE: Jewel’s covered that song.)
InASense, Lost… I Thought These Were Bad Ads, But Then…
I saw this ad come up on my iPhone when I was looking for… something…
It's a Mexican bread company. They should know bimbo.
And I thought it was bad, until I was told about this ad:
This ad is being accused of a lot of things...
But then this… this… slide happened in Poland…
(SIDENOTE: I really like the version of Bohemian Rhapsody used in the background…)
(More Than) A Handful Of… Songs Named After Famous People
I was going to make this list based solely on the discovery of Frank Zappa’s Bobby Brown (Goes Down), but alas, it is not about this guy:
This was the key to Whitney Houston's crack pipe...
Even still, I thought it would be fun anyway to collect (More Than) A Handful Of… Songs Named After Famous People. Enjoy, or care less, which I will do in tandem with you.
- Beastie Boys – Paul Revere
- David Bowie – Andy Warhol
- Duck Sauce – Barbra Streisand
- Fenix TX – Phoebe Cates
- Goldfinger – Wayne Gretzky
- Gorillaz – Clint Eastwood
- MIKA – Grace Kelly
- Outkast – Rosa Parks
- The Postal Service – Clark Gable
- Scissor Sisters – Paul McCartney
- Sufjan Stevens – John Wayne Gacy, Jr. (this one is creepy, natch…)
- Taylor Swift – Tim McGraw
- Weezer – Buddy Holly
(SIDENOTE: Obviously, this is not all of the songs named after famous people. I almost put Falco’s Rock Me Amadeus, Herman’s Hermits’ I’m Henry the Eighth, I Am and Kim Carnes’ Bette Davis Eyes, but their titles contain ancillary words.)
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