Parody – Not A Low Art Form At All
Earlier this week, I spotted a lovely little parody of Pixar’s Luxo Lamp intro – the one you see at the beginning of all the Disney / Pixar movies.
Here’s the original, to refresh your memory:
And here’s the parody. Wonderfully twisted, and perfectly in the spirit of the Hallowe’en season…
Now, here’s a really fun parody with a different approach. Certainly a little more lighthearted:
A bit of looking on YouTube indicates that the Pixar Luxo Lamp intro is a very popular subject of parody and imitation. There are many, many videos done by aspiring CGI animators out there.
Let’s wrap up with a quick “outtake”:
Enjoy the weekend, and I’ll be back soon with a more serious subject to discuss.
Who You Gonna Rip Off?
Holy Toledo, fellow music fans. Another week has passed, and here I am again with one of my last “borrowed music” blog entries. (I suspect some of you are getting well and truly tired of these…)
Be that as it may, here’s one that was so obvious, I missed it entirely until my housemate reminded me. This case of kleptomelodica was front page news in the ’80s, but nowadays, few people really remember it except when playing “Trivial Pursuit“. On to the setup:
We open with a brisk and zippy little tune by Huey Lewis and The News, entitled I Want A New Drug:
Much controversy at the time over those lyrics. This was, after all, Nancy Reagan’s America, where we were all supposed to “just say no to drugs“. Of course, the whole point was that the song was all about being in love, and that’s the “drug” in question. Good old reactionaries… gotta love ‘em.
Fast forward a few years, and a movie called Ghostbusters is in post production, and the producers call in one Ray Parker Jr. to help score the film. They have put in Huey’s I Want A New Drug as a sort of placeholder for the title theme, and they tell Ray that they want a song that kind of sounds like this.
Oh, boy. Talk about walking into a spinning propeller. Ray Parker did it straight on that time. I almost feel sorry for him, but not really. He’s worth way more than I am.
As for Huey Lewis, he did okay out of it, too. The lawsuit led to developing contacts in the film industry, and our Mr. Lewis made a brief appearance in Back To The Future.
“Hold it, fellas. I’m afraid you’re just too darn loud.“
See you in a few days to a week – it’s been really busy.
21 Guns On The Telephone Line
Hey, kids! Dlock’s back again with another Magical Musical Juxtaposition.
Green Day’s newest album, 21st Century Breakdown, features a little tune called 21 Guns. Something about the chorus seemed a little familiar. Let’s have a listen…
It took me a few weeks here for my wobbly old brains to make the connection. Let’s listen now to a band from my youth (which feels like only yesterday, but for some reason is now decades gone)…
Oh, telephone line, give me some time – I’m living in twilight. Those few bars sound – to my grizzled ears – a lot like the Green Day chorus.
Good old Electric Light Orchestra. They were quite the supergroup, back in the days of leisure suits and disco dancing. I first saw ELO on NBC’s late night Midnight Special concert program, which was a sort of cross between MTV and American Bandstand, and announced by Wolfman Jack. They performed Roll Over Beethoven which, at the time, I thought was the coolest thing ever.
(Jeff Lynne looked totally freaky! Hey, it was 1973, and everyone had as much hair as they could possibly grow.)
Have a fine weekend, everyone. Got to get back to work. Be looking for more examinations of music and pop culture in a few days.
Billy Joel Didn’t Start The Fire
(Yeah, another audio comparo blog post. I’ve got a few of these left. See what happens when I don’t blog for 6 flippin’ months?)
Okay. Here we go. In 1989, Billy Joel released a fast-moving, pop-culture-reference-loaded, rock-rapper titled We Didn’t Start The Fire:
Turned out to be hugely popular, with lots of air play at the time. The “classic” FM stations still play it, almost everywhere you go in the Western World.
However, three years earlier, a much less well-known band called Big Audio Dynamite had recorded a remarkably similar tune called E = MC2:
Hate doing that to you, Billy. Love ya, man. Have lots of your albums, even on vinyl. Big fan, back in the day. Saw Billy Joel in Portland on The Stranger tour. People were dancing in the aisles. I’ve even heard Cold Spring Harbor. But – this sounds like at least an influence, if not a lift.
And the hits just keep on coming. Back in a few days with more cool sounds from Dave’s stacks of wax. If you’ve got some ideas (or complaints), well… there’s that space below, you know.
A Classic “Borrowed” Melody
This time, let’s take a look at the most well-known case of musical plagiarism, the George Harrison My Sweet Lord debacle. In late 1969, George, noodling around on his guitar, came up with a little tune that was released on his 1970 album, All Things Must Pass:
Turned out that George appears to have – either consciously or unconsciously – taken the melody for My Sweet Lord from a song recorded by The Chiffons in 1962, He’s So Fine:
Do lang, indeed… And so, George was well and truly raked over the coals, and eventually a (rather complex) settlement was reached.
What a mess. George later recorded a song about the experience, called, simply enough, This Song:
(Sorry about that failure to embed the video. The YouTube page opens in a new window. The copyright holders are being sticky about it. Poopheads.)
Self-parody never sounded so good. Monty Python alumnus Eric Idle even makes a brief voice appearance about halfway through, offering the opinion that it “sounds like Sugar Pie Honey Bunch!”
Or perhaps, as Eric also said, it sounds more like Rescue Me. Funny, though. The ladies of the jury look like George.
Please join me here again in a few days to examine another pair of songs, and compare their similarities. If you’ve got any ideas, or wish to dispute my conclusions, feel free to offer your opinion below. I’m looking forward to it!
Sowing The Seeds Of The Walrus
Greetings, fellow music nerds. Allow me to humbly present part two of my side-by-side music comparisons. This time, one of my favorite ’80s bands alongside the most important band of the ’60s.
Tears For Fears released a song called Sowing The Seeds of Love in 1989, and I recently noticed just how much it sounded like The Beatles’ I Am The Walrus…
Now contrast that little melody with the tune by the Fab Four:
Quite a lot of commonality in the whole concept of Sowing the Seeds… the intro, the vocal style, the expression and tempo of the lyrics… For me, the similarities are fairly obvious, but what about you? Feel free to comment below. Take me to task, but be ready to defend your assertions!
Next time, more “dueling ditties” for your entertainment and edification. See you back here in a few days, kids! In the meantime, if you’re not already sick of listening to I Am The Walrus, check out this version, too. I’d never seen this, and I’m old enough to have seen it first time around – had I been paying attention:
I was wondering how they were going to handle the lyrics at 2:32 (you know the one – “been a naughty girl”). Tell me what you see.
(I… bury… Paul…)
Goodbye, Michael Jackson. We Hardly Knew You.
Believe it or not, I’ve been planning this blog entry since February, and wrote the rough draft almost 2 weeks ago. So you can imagine just how much it surprised me when the king of pop himself, Michael Jackson, died this week. Let’s get on with it then…
I was in the video store back in February, and saw a music video by Robin Thicke that caught my attention. But perhaps not for the reasons you might think… Here. Take a look at the video, then read on.
(You’ll have to go here for the original music video. The trolls at EMI / Polydor have disabled embedding, the bastards.)
Huh. I always wondered what they did with all the old props and models from the filming of 2001: A Space Odyssey. But what really got my attention was how much this Robin Thicke video borrows from the seminal Jackson Five video, Can You Feel It:
Yipes! Everything old is new again! I won’t bother to comment on Robin Thicke’s “blue-eyed soul” sound, which is also nothing really new. Not to mention the moves and the hat stolen from Michael Jackson’s Smooth Criminal. But I did want to contrast these two videos, and examine the similarities. Perhaps even generate a little discussion, eh?
In fact, this blog post is the first of several in this very vein, comparing two songs side by side, to spark a little examination of creativity, and how it borrows from that which has gone before.
(Oh, by the way… isn’t the rhythm track of Can You Feel It just plain slammin‘? Man, that is nothing but concentrated Motown funk of the early ’80s variety. And the symbolism in the imagery is worth reflecting upon. The elements of water and fire; the Jacksons as gigantic, godlike figures; the solar eclipse – to name a few.)
So. Come back in a couple of days for a new entry. I promise it will be worth it, especially if you are a music nerd.
And thanks for bearing with me while I was otherwise busy. I really do want to make this blog fun, interesting, and thought provoking.
I promise to write more often. Yeah, I’m sure you’ve heard that one before…
I Kind Of Miss Her Already
Damn, y’all. It’s only been 2 weeks since the election, and I already sort of miss Sarah Palin. Smokin’ hot MILF, yes, but dumb as a Doug Fir stump. And plainly, I’m not the only American male who gets all “woodsy” thinking about Alaska’s governor…
Oh, Sarah! Sweet, adorable gubernatorial babe! Great tune, eh? Credit goes to Brian Haner, currently touring with Jeff Dunham and Peanut. (Herr Doktor Haner used to play with some pretty cool people, like Frank Zappa. And he’s father to Synyster Gates of Avenged Sevenfold.)
How about some more GILF Goodness?
GILF as in Governor I’d Like To F***… Love me that Craig Ferguson almost as much as Sarah Palin! And she even offered to take Craig “fishin’”. Mmmm, that sexy Alaskan dialect… makes me go all wibbly.
How about one more look at the lovely Governor Palin before we go?
Sigh… dense as block of solid lead, but oh so very boinkable.
We’ll miss you, Sarah! Stay in touch, eh? You betcha!
UPDATE: November 23, 2008
Hey, sugar! How can we miss you when you won’t go away? Just when I thought we were never going to see the delicious Governor Palin ever again, this fascinating video from KTUU / Anchorage appeared on YouTube:
(Warning: scenes of gruesome, brutal, turkey carnage! I mean it! Seriously! Alaskan dude brazenly killing turkeys! And staring vacantly at the camera!)
All well and good for the turkey that was pardoned, but not the best day ever for the turkeys in the background, while this video was being shot. I will refrain from further comment. Many other pundits (or “pun-dints” as the luscious Sarah would say) have made all the good comments already.
However, the universe decided to toy with my wee brain while I was watchin’ the turkey killin’ video. This song – “Vicarious” – by the band Tool popped up on my MP3 player. Be advised – Tool is not for the faint of heart. The imagery in the following video may be unsettling, as might be the lyrics. But if you’re so inclined, you may see the depths of the synchronicity between the two videos. Enjoy… or perhaps simply contemplate.
Attention, Alternative Energy Enthusiasts!
Friends, neighbors, and fellow geeks – this is the most exciting news I’ve heard all year. The legendary oil man T. Boone Pickens has started an online effort to help get America off imported oil, and onto renewable domestic energy. You could have knocked me over with a feather. Quite a small one, in fact. Here’s a video that explains why the plan is needed:
So – go right now to his web site – it’s free to join. It’s a social / Web 2.0 sort of site, with all sorts of options for participation. I’ve only had time to explore a small part of the site, but I was so impressed and excited, I had to get to blogging about it.
Not to toot my own horn, but he’s saying some of the same things I have been trying to communicate for years. That there is no way to drill our way out of this mess. That we need to move on to other energy sources, and lose the petroleum habit.
Pickens has also acknowledged that the peak of world oil production (known as peak oil) occurred in 2005, and from here on, it’s going to be more expensive and more scarce. For more information on peak oil, and the petroleum crisis, check out a film called Crude Impact. Ask me, and I can loan you my copy. It’s an important documentary, and extremely serious. I want as many people as possible to see it.
It’s kind of nice to be vindicated, to be sure. But it’s truly exciting to know that there are some smart, well-regarded people willing to stand up and put their names & fortunes on the line for a future where America isn’t sending all its money out of the country, impoverishing ourselves for no good reason.
Now – let’s do this. The stakes are too high to just sit back and wait for the hammer to fall, because when it does, it’s going to fall hard.
