Musical Musings

Musical Musings… How Could I Have Mixed These Bands Up?

Posted on by sgottahurt

It’s funny that I was confusing this band

hedley

called Hedley with this band

deadsy

called Deadsy when I heard this song by Hedley (seriously fuck Universal Music Group and their disabled embedding!) and confused it with the stylings of this song by Deadsy:

At least I didn’t confuse either band with this group

faith1

or these odd orange guys (if you only watch one video on this page, make it this one):

INTERESTING FACTS

  • Deadsy’s lead singer, P. Exeter Blue I, is Cher’s son, Elijah Blue Allman. 
  • Hedley’s lead singer, Jacob Hoggard, placed third on Canadian Idol.
  • Faith+1’s debut album sold one million copies and “went myrrh.”
  • Deadsy’s album Commencement is still the only CD that I bought and gave away.  Prong’s Cleansing is the only cassette tape to share that honor.
  • Hedley, British Columbia was once for sale at a price tag of $346,000.  Not sure if that’s in US or Canadian dollars, but the band was named for the city.
  • b4-4 is also from Canada, and they have to be like totally gay, eh?  When the trio broke up, two stayed together and formed the band, RyanDan.  It’s named after themselves, for Faith+1’s sake!  (Okay, I guess they’re twins, but still…)

Musical Musings… My Top Ten List Of 80’s Remakes

Posted on by sgottahurt

So many comments, so little time. (See below*)

So many comments, so little time. (See below*)

A couple months ago, I showcased my friend/boss Paul’s top five punk covers of 80’s rock bands, but I feel he missed out on some other fine remakes by focusing solely on the punk versions. 

I didn’t and still don’t agree with his number one selection, and although two of his choices made my top ten list, he’s little bit out of touch with the alternative music scene of late.  I’m not claiming to be any wunderkind either, but here are ten of my favorite reinventions/redos/remakes/reboots… whatever it is that Hollywood calls them. 

Let me know in the comments if I missed any.

10) No Doubt – It’s My Life (original by Talk Talk)
Probably the last good song No Doubt made, and will ever make, and it’s not even their own.

9) Seether – Careless Whisper (original by Wham!)
Cool video.  Not sure if it’s official.

8) Alien Ant Farm – Smooth Criminal (original by Michael Jackson, duh)
Paul put this at #5 of 5.  See where I rank it.  I think the leader singer’s weirdness in the video puts me off, but the homages to MJ’s life bring me back.

7) HIM – Wicked Game (original by Chris Isaak)
The original is a haunting song.  HIM is a haunting band.  Win.

6) The Ataris – Boys of Summer (original by Don Henley)
The Ataris once said in an interview I don’t feel like relocating that they wanted to remake this song to point out the creepiness inherent in it.  I never noticed it was creepy until they mentioned it, and that made me love both versions more.

5) Nonpoint – In the Air Tonight (original by Phil Collins)
The gorilla says it all for me.

4) Disturbed – Land of Confusion (original by Genesis)
Likewise, the puppets say it all for me.

3) Orgy – Blue Monday (original by New Order)
This isn’t really my kind of music (neither version).  And the fact that I dig it despite that speaks volumes.

2) Marilyn Manson – Tainted Love (original by Soft Cell)
Who am I kidding?  The video sold me.  Chyler Leigh, Mia Kirshner, and Jaime Pressly will cancel out Manson every time.

1) Limp Bizkit – Faith (original by George Michael)
I make no apologies for this.  I had a weird story happen over the course of listening to this song, and for that, it gets number one.  And now for the comments on the pic at the top of the post:

* COMMENTS
“I don’t know who pulls off the leather better.  I’d bet it’s a tie.”
“Is George Michael smelling his armpit?”
“Why does Fred Durst look like one of my uncles now?  They even wear the same jacket!”
“Why do I get the feeling these two have awkwardly bumped into each other using the restroom.”
“something-something… at least he’s wearing a glove!”

Finis.

Songs Burned In Our Brains From Grade School (A Musical Musings/My Boss Paul’s Top Five List Joint)

Posted on by sgottahurt

Ah, the good ol’ days.  That’s what people say when they reflect upon their youth.  

For my boss (and old friend) Paul and I, the good ol’ days in our Catholic grade school happened way before they were our good ol’ days, as evidenced by our textbooks.  Most notably: our music class textbooks. 

I know, I know… at least we had a music class.  Nowadays, all of the arts are disappearing from our schools (for shame!), but that’s not what this post is about.

The fact of the matter was that we had crappy old text books and a music teacher that could barely play the one instrument she claimed to be able to play (the flute).  Sure, it was unfortunate that she replaced the single greatest music teacher ever.  (He played “Name That Tune” on the piano – and they were always theme songs!)  The following list represents the worst of the songs we were taught… four oldies, one newie, and zero goodies.

Top 5 Songs Burned In Our Brains From Grade School

5. Little Boxes – Malvina Reynolds
Paul doesn’t really remember this one, hence it being placed at the bottom spot.  I couldn’t forget it, and Weeds wouldn’t let me… until season 4 at least.

4. Du, du liegst mir im Herzen – German folk song
Paul refused to sing this song hence to him being xenophobic; but then again he refused to sing any of the songs.  For me – it’s my 99 Luftballons.

3. Shortnin’ Bread – James Whitcome Riley
Paul despised (no, loathed!) this song.  I didn’t remember it at first, but then it all came crashing back to me like a repressed memory.

2. God Bless the USA – Lee Greenwood
The only current-ish song on the list was also an exercise in irritation.  We had to sing this at a recital, and as everyone knows – recitals blow.  What’s worse is that we had to hold up signs that read Detroit when we sang that line.  Because we lived in Detroit, oh say can you see.

1. Fender Bender – ? 
This song presented a unique situation for us.  For virtually nowhere on the TripleDoubleU, could we find ant reference to this song.  The only proof that it ever existed arrived via a MySpace Forum.  It the thread, a reference is made to the lyrics:

Fender bender, yeah yeah yeah!

The poster recalled the misspoken lyric:

Finger banger, yeah yeah yeah!

Which ceremoniously lead to the diddy being banned (band?) from music class.  Thanks, Mack Danger, for the memory backup!

I wish we would have thought of "finger banger"...

I wish we would have thought of "finger banger"...

Musical Musings… I Don’t Wanna But I Gotta: A New Literal Video

Posted on by sgottahurt

I was just discussing with my boss Paul that there needs to be a new literal video.  Universe asked… message received… dascottjr delivered.

I loved the previous creations by Dusto McNeato.  Check out his works here and here.  Although I feel the vocals are a bit better in his takes, you have to admit that Bonnie Tyler’s Total Eclipse of the Heart is ripe for the pickin’, and pick away they do.

Musical Musings… Maybe It’s Regina Spektor (Sing It Like The Maybelline Jingle)

Posted on by sgottahurt

To start off… I know, I know, the last two posts have been kind of lady-centric (which literally meant something way different back in the Old West… say it slowly), so why stop now on this Memorial Day.  In addition to the current state of this blog, my last Musical Musings was about songs sounding the same that may or may not have sounded the same.  Don’t hold that one against my credibility.  Heck, don’t even believe that I have any credibility.  But this time – I think I’m onto something.

Listen to the background music in this Maybelline commercial featuring Adriana Lima (hey guys, at least it’s featuring a Victoria’s Secret model… and a golf ball for some reason):

Now take a listen to Regina Spektor’s On the Radio:

(For the record I was at that Lollapalooza concert performance.  I think you can see me in the crowd at the end. I’m the guy in a striped shirt, clapping. My face was a little blurry that day, so I kind of blend in.)

Now I dare you to go back and listen to the Maybelline commercial and see how they ripped her song off.  (Maybe I should have put them on this page in the opposite order… oh well, deal with it.)

The song is definitely not the original, and amazingly, it’s coincidentally similar.  Kind of like these posters:

OneSheet (Page 1)

sweet_home_alabama

Okay, it’s even closer than these two posters… but still.

Musical Musings… SimilariTegans In The Metric System

Posted on by sgottahurt

I like both of these songs, as minimalist and repetitive as as they are… but is it just me, or are they kind of the same even though they’re different?  It’s probably just me.

I feel the same way about the beginnings of these songs, too:

SIDE NOTE: I like the acid flashback feeling of seeing the old CD cases in the Letterman clip.

Musical Musings… Why Do I Find Myself Defending Flo Rida?

Posted on by sgottahurt

When rapper Flo Rida originally burst on the scene (his song Low was featured in the award-winning-worthy Step Up 2 The Streets), I wasn’t a fan.  I thought the song was essentially shilling a catalog of products: Apple Bottoms jeans, Uggs (boots with fur), Reeboks (with straps), and um, baggy sweatpants…

But somewhere along the line, I got hooked.  The same happened with his follow up (In the Ayer) and Right Round, which borrows quite liberally from the classic 80’s tune, You Spin Me Round (Like a Record) by Dead or Alive.

Now know this – I usually can’t stand it when most songs lift old songs for new ones.  (Rihanna’s borrowing of Soft Cell’s Tainted Love back-beat to create the entirely different SOS was a major exception.  And I don’t count the Numa Numa song lifted for TI and Rihanna’s Live Your Life.)  And Right Round barely passed that opinion, but imagine my surprise when I heard Eiffel 65’s Blue in a new song:

Initially, I thought, “Oh geez, not this now!”  But when I figured out it out was Flo Rida, all was forgiven.  Why is that?

Musical Musings… When Memes Take Steroids

Posted on by sgottahurt

Internet memes are a phenomenon in so much that they spread faster than a wildfire, faster than a rumor in high school, and faster than any milk product through my lactose intolerant friend, Jay.

Now when you take something we’ve all seen and taken for granted and add music… Internet Meme 2.0.

YouTube user/musician ParryGripp has done just that.  I’ve featured one of his videos once before (that got taken down because the original video poster is a d-bag).  It was Hamster On a Piano that was eating popcorn.  It was hilarious, I thought, but these are of the same, if not higher, caliber.  Enjoy!

Musical Musings… There Could Be Worse Ear Worms

Posted on by sgottahurt

Ever hear of Carly Rae Jepsen?  Ever hear her song Tug of War?  Well hear ya go! 

May it get stuck in your head as it has mine.

Musical Musings… The Ladies of “Lady Marmalade”

Posted on by sgottahurt

Almost seven years ago, this song reintroduced Voulez-vous coucher avec moi (ce soir)? back into pop culture.  Sure, it’s probably gone again, ‘cuz y’know, all these kids, with their short attention spans and stuff…

How have the fair Ladies of Marmalade, um, fared since?  I’ve devised this nice pictograph to illustrate.  Hopefully you’ve brushed up on your French!

voulezvous

Translations after the jump. Read More