One of my favorites of The PreFab Four (posted previously).
What the heck. Here’s Zappa’s version.
Here’s to the Royal Disco Wedding for our friends across the pond: “There was funky Chinamen from funky Chinatown.” Great lyrics from Carl Douglas. Reminds me of National Lampoon’s classic “Have a Kung-Fu Christmas.”
Heh. The Black Keys are my current favorites in the land of retrorock, and they fit right in with the Soul Train motif. [Tip o’ the tarboosh to Bunkessa]
And as long as we’re going retro, here’s some rockabilly from the UK: The Streamline Rockers.
That makes five for this episode of the Saturday Matinee, and with that I’m out. Have a great weekend folks, and see you back here tomorrow for more fun.
A wooden ball is set atop a long, wooden structure that might be a xylophone or a marimba, constructed in the middle of the woods. As the ball rolls downward, dropping onto each wooden “key,” it plays a note, and suddenly we are hearing Bach’s Cantata 147, “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring.” .. “We did not add any artificial music at all,” Harano wrote (though they did adjust some levels to “bring out the sound of river and nature”).
Yeah, ultimately it’s a commercial, but it’s still very very cool. [via]
The New York Dolls were stuck between classic rock and proto-punk, but they had that pseudo-tranny stuff going on that turned off a lot of potential fans, at least in my opinion.
[Deleted the video. Screw ’em since they’ve blocked embedded links. If they don’t want free advertisement, then they shouldn’t post it on the Utoobage.]
So, in place of a cool video of the folks originally posted above, here are The Milenberg Joys. I think they had more talent than that Katzjamband anyway.
Red Nichols & His Five Pennies were awesome in their time.
Speaking of time, I’m out of it. Have a great weekend, folks. Be back here tomorrow for more fun.
Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks were mildly successful in the 70s with their 1930s hot club jazz/bluegrass style. “Crazy ‘Cause He Is” was my favorite Hicks ditty. (NSFK: flip off in the vid image, mild language warning. Fun song otherwise.)
Leon Redbone’s version of “Polly Wolly Doodle.” According to Wiki, there’s no secret meaning to the song, but here’s a verse I’d never heard:
“Behind the barn, down on my knees,
Sing Polly Wolly Doodle all the day;
I thought I heard a chicken sneeze,
Sing Polly Wolly Doodle all the day.
Oh he sneezed so hard with the whooping cough,
Sing Polly Wolly Doodle all the day;
He sneezed his head and his tail right off,
Sing Polly Wolly Doodle all the day.”
I suspect that the song predates The War Between The States even though the popular tune is played in ragtime. So let’s play some ragtime!
Yep. 1980s hits played in ragtime. There’s something wrong with piano players who can pull off stuff like this (actually, I think there’s something wrong with piano players in general). Must be a subconscious and deep-rooted jealousy thing just because I can’t do what they do.
And with that, we’re done. Have a great weekend, folks. Be back here tomorrow for more fun.
Heh. If you’re going to steal a truck, better know how to operate a clutch. [Found here]
Clarence Carter‘s “Slip Away” was one of the prettiest R&B tunes of the 60s. Here he is in 2010 with an excellent live version.
Small Faces‘ “Hey Girl” from 1966 is fun in a trolley.
The Turtles, featuring Flo & Eddie, with “The Story of Rock and Roll.” About the only redeeming quality of this sappy song (besides the intro) is a nice move at about 01:45.
There should be no introduction needed for these guys. (Watch the dancer on the left… she’s doing a modified boogaloo.)
With that, I’m out. Have a great weekend folks – be back here tomorrow for more fun.
Remember “Zezu” Zidane’s infamous headbutt at the 2006 World Cup? He’s running a training camp now. Here’s some more of his dickery.
In 1986, this was state of the art computer animation. Here’s Pixar’s “pencil test” of the most recognizable early computer animation of all time.
In 1988, Brian Jennings’ and Bill Kroyer’s “Technological Threat” combined digital animation with Tex Avery’s classic style. It was nominated for best animation short (but was beat out by Pixar’s “Tin Toy”).
So now, let’s fast forward to 2011. Computer animation is at its peak with this example of awesome. I love it.
[Courtesy of Bunkessa.]
And with that, have a great weekend, folks. Be back here tomorrow for more fun.
King Sunny Adé popularized Nigerian juju music during the “World Music” meme of the 1980s. Didn’t hurt that he was awarded the title of Minister of Music there, either.
Oh ya mon. Me got de steel drum reggae.
Adjust your volume up and groove it.
Great Googly Moogly! Here’s The Sonics “Anyway The Wind Blows” from 1967 – and all these years I thought it was a Frank Zappa composition. Woof.
[Update: Maybe I was right after all. On the Wiki list for “Cruising with Ruben & the Jets” the song is credited to Zappa.]
Have a great weekend folks. See you back here tomorrow.
“Space is the Place” featuring the music of Herman Poole Blount, aka Sun Ra and his Arkestra. The description on that vid is, um, well you’re on you’re own:
“Sun Ra – space-age prophet, Pharaonic jester, shaman-philosopher and avant-jazz keyboardist/bandleader–lands his spaceship in Oakland, having been presumed lost in space for a few years. With Black Power on the rise, Ra disembarks and proclaims himself “the alter-destiny.” He holds a myth-vs reality rap session with vblack inner-city youth at a rec center, threatening “to chain you up and take you with me, like they did you in Africa” if they resist his plea to go to outer space. He duels at cards with The Overseer, a satanic overlord, with the fate of the black race at stake. Ra wins the right to a world concert, which features great performance footage of the Arkestra. Agents sent by the Overseer attempt to assassinate Ra, but he vanishes, rescues his people, and departs in his spaceship from the exploding planet Earth.”
Before you dismiss him as a kook, check this out. It’s from the awesome LP record “Stay Awake,” where various artists were invited to interpret their favorite Disney songs:
Now on to something completely different.
That one was suggested by Bunkessa, who said that it’s been around for a while, but “most of your peeps haven’t seen it.”
I’d forgotten all about The Steve Gibbons Band until I remembered his cover of that Chuck Berry song. Not bad rock and roll for a Brit.
Have a great weekend, folks. See you back here tomorrow.
[Update: This just came to my attention via DoD, just hadda post the video below.]
Before you get all humpy like this is just a last minute hodge-podge throw-it-together post for the Saturday Matinee, chill. It’s all good, and it’s all connected in an odd sort of way…
“Hail Fredonia,” written and performed by Frank Portolese with Brian Sandstrom (Bass) and Rusty Jones (Drums).
Now for a completely unrelated vid, here’s Joe Cocker and Leon Russell from 1970 – “Cry Me A River.” Lotta noise, but a lotta fun.
Here’s CCR‘s “Ramble Tamble from 1970, pasted onto a time lapse cross-country roadtrip. The tune reminds me of The Chips‘ greatest hit (sorry, no video action except for a spinning 45):
Tacky Raccoons 