Light My Fire

I’ve been looking forward to this one for quite some time. I was going to go into one of my breathless rants about how much I love Jim Morrison. Because that’s not a point I ever get tired of making. But I’m going to throw in a little something fun too, because last night I happened to remember about Jimmy Fallon and his eerily spot-on musical homages. His parody of The Doors is extremely, extremely convincing, and not really even a parody. It’s funny alright, but it’s not a parody in the sense that it makes The Doors look ridiculous or in need of a takedown. What it does is bring out the innate Doorsiness that we didn’t know the Reading Rainbow song was possessed of all along. Jim Morrison wasn’t exactly known for having a great sense of humor about himself, but I like to imagine that he would dig this. He was a big champion of literacy, and it’s not much of a stretch to imagine him eventually, if he had lived long enough, coming up with a song about children’s books.

Frodo, Don’t Wear the Ring

Enough with all these serious acclaimed real musicians. Let’s have some fun! I’m posting this because I love Flight of the Conchords and I love the Lord of the Rings movies, which together equals something that never fails to crack me up. Some of you might be a bit befuddled here, or think I’m having a stupid day or something, but bear with me. Flight of the Conchords, of course, are New Zealand’s greatest (if fourth most popular) parody folk duo. Their self-titled HBO series was short-lived but brilliant and their satirical songs bear the distinction of (unlike most comedy songs) being pleasant to listen to. This one isn’t musically one of their best, leaning heavily on quotes from the movies. However – and non-LOTR fanatics may be lost here – it’s still the damn funniest thing I’ve ever seen. Simply because I love anything to do with LOTR and I love making fun of it also. I don’t always appreciate jokes at the expense of things I love. It has to be done in good taste, and with due respect. This succeeds on every possibly count, having elements of so many things that tickle me – Lord of the Rings, music, funny accents. What takes to the next level is the meta awesomeness that Bret McKenzie was a real-life LOTR cast-member, appearing as an elf extra in the first movie during The Council of Elrond and then having a short scene with Liv Tyler in the third movie, again as an elf. Weirdly, though he was onscreen only a few seconds in the former and had two lines in the latter, the character has become a cult favorite, christened Figwit by fans and subject of adoring fan-sites. There’s now a Figwit trading card, an action figure, a short documentary film (made by McKenzie’s wife) and an Elvish translation of his name – Melpomaen. So popular is he that Peter Jackson has gone so far as to write him into his upcoming adaptation of The Hobbit. Ok now I’m way off my usual subject matter and I’m sure I’ve left most of you music lovers way behind. So what – I’m a geek and I can’t help going off into Rings minutiae at half a chance. I bet Robert Plant would be with me on this!

 

Foux Du Fafa

Not exactly a ‘real’ song, but bear with me. I love Flight of the Conchords, ok. Though through some cosmic oversight still haven’t seen their second season. Besides being a crazy hilarious show, Flight of the Conchords is music. They overstep the usual rule that comedy songs are only funny once and don’t have any legitimate musical value outside the joke. Conchords songs are funny, even out of context (though more funny in it), and fun to listen to just because they’re good songs. Why they’re not on TV anymore is inexplicable and saddening.

(Don’t Fear) The Reaper

Here’s a lesson in weird pop culture permutations. Blue Oyster Cult were a band who scored a couple of hits in the mid seventies and then faded peacefully into irrelevance. Their biggest and best song, (Don’t Fear) The Reaper appeared in 1976 and is a prime example of an otherwise mediocre band being struck, for a moment, with a bolt of brilliance. It struck a chord with record buyers and went to Number 14. Sadly for them, BOC never came close to regaining their brief burst of prominence. They went down in history as one-hit-wonders and (Don’t Fear) The Reaper clung to the collective conscience through occasional airtime on nostalgia peddling radio stations. Then, in the year 2000, this happened. Suddenly, BOC became a catchphrase, a proto-meme, and a punchline. Ha ha ha MORE COWBELL!!!! Yes, there’s something inherently funny about the cowbell. It’s an absurd turn of events that a genuinely good song (by an otherwise mediocre band) should abruptly regain some degree of relevance in people’s minds thanks to, basically, the combined comic wattage of Will Ferrell and Christopher Walken. One wonders how the members of BOC feel about, on one hand getting some unexpected free publicity and undoubtedly a boost in royalty checks, but on the other hand being branded for the foreseeable future as the band who needed MORE COWBELL.

…and two hard boiled eggs.

Oh, just another little reason why the ATX is so much cooler than wherever it is you’re living. If you’re like me, and I’m sure you are, because otherwise you wouldn’t be here, you’ve got an arsenal of Groucho lines culled from spinning your Marx Bros dvds down to the pixels. But to see A Night At the Opera on a real live theatre screen – that is a rare and kingly privilege. Especially in the fittingly opulent Paramount Theatre. It makes me all warm and fuzzy inside to see that people of all ages still rolling in the aisles 75 years later. Let’s just say, it’s not every movie that gets an ovation at the end.

…and make that three hard boiled eggs.

Crackerbox Palace

I always thought Crackerbox Palace was  a slightly boring George Harrison song. Then I saw the video. We tend to think of George as the inward gazing mystic, serious all the time. But don’t forget he was once one fourth of one the best comedy troupes ever. He never lost the taste for absurdity and whimsy. He was a big supporter of Monty Python, even financing some of the movies (in the vain hopes that they would flop and he’d get a tax break.) The Python influence is clear as day in this video, from the first glimpse of the manny nanny, and on to the star himself putzing around in a schoolboy costume (looking rather like that guy from AC/DC.) There’s also shades of I Am the Walrus in the carnivalesque line-up of supporting players. I believe there’s a documentary out there about the making of the video as well.

Business Time

“Formerly New Zealand’s fourth most popular guitar-based digi-bongo acapella-rap-funk-comedy folk duo”

Flight of the Conchords just finished the second season of their popular NBO series. Word has it there may not be a third one, but let’s hope there is. This comedy gold cannot be sacrificed, even to Jemaine’s nascent film career. Here’s hoping since Gentlemen Broncos tanked pretty hard he may desire the steady paycheck. Flight of the Conchords is a very important addition to the comedy canon, musical parody comedy especially.  

Buenas Tardes Amigo

Keep in mind, this is a parody that should not be taken seriously. If you’re the type to get offended by an el queso Spanish accent and stereotypes about vengeful Latinos, lighten up already.

“Buenas Tardes Amigo”

Buenas tardes amigo
Hola, my good friend
Cinco de Mayo’s on Tuesday
And I hoped we’d see each other again

You killed my brother last winter
You shot him three times in the back
In the night I still hear mama weeping
Oh mama, still dresses in black

I looked at every fiesta
For you I wanted to greet
Maybe I’d sell you a chicken
With poison interlaced with the meat

You… you look like my brother
Mama loved him the best
He was head honcho with the ladies
Mama always said he was blessed

The village all gathered around him
They couldn’t believe what they saw
I said it was you that had killed him
And that I’d find you and upstand the law

The people of the village believed me
Mama… she wanted revenge
I told her I’d see that she was honored
I’d find you and put you to death

So now… now that I’ve found you
On this such a joyous day
I tell you it was me who killed him
But the truth I’ll never have to say

Buenas tardes amigo
Hola, my good friend
Cinco de Mayo’s on Tuesday
And I hoped we’d see each other again

Blues In The Night

Blues In the Night, music by Harold Arlen, lyrics by Johnny Mercer, written 1941. Originally written for a film of the same name, Blues In the Night has since been recorded by nearly every jazz singer our there, including Ella Fitzgerald, Cab Calloway, Rosemary Clooney, Doris Day, Dinah Shore, Artie Shaw, Bing Crosby, Judy Garland and many many others.

Lucky for us the great Ella lived well into the television age, and we can see her in full color.

Cab Calloway’s version, complete with funny business. Besides leading his popular orchestra, Calloway appeared in a series of musical films in the 30’s and 40’s, most of them now forgotten. Judging from this performance, he had quite a gift for comedy.

Cab and Ella are all well and good, but the definitive version of this song is and always will be Daffy Duck’s.

Bluebird

Pretty rare video of Wings in concert, mid-seventies. I can tell by the eyeball-searing mullet he’s sporting. This is like a master class in Paul-isms. All the tics are there; the eyebrows reaching for the sky, the head tilt, the googly eyes. To sum it all up, I had to post this very helpful tutorial from comedian Stevie Riks. Teach yourself Paul McCartney! Doo!