Odd. Consider it a cartoon before the main feature.
Best opening sequence for Cheers without the cloying theme song.
Buddy Guy talks about how his career began with a salami sandwich. True rags-to-riches story. (G.E. Smith backing.)
I was prowling for some early Thunderbirds when I found a name I’d forgotten about. Here’s Kid Ramos and Los Fabulocos cranking on “Burnin’ the Chicken” in New Braunfels, Texas, 21 March 2009.
This is the funniest version of Dylan’s “It Ain’t Me, Babe.”
The Turtles made a mockery of pop love songs, but created a decent string of hits anyway. Flo and Eddie eventually joined Frank Zappa’s Mothers. (Mrs. Strutts pointed out that Eddie dances the Freddie at the end of the clip.)
Don’t know who these folks are, but “Oh Gee” was a hit in 1955 by the Crows. Could be them.
The Persuasions were/are possibly the most underrated acapella group (featuring bass singer Jimmy Hayes, who Frank Zappa called “the human sub-woofer”).
(This group was featured here before, but unfortunately the videos were yanked by Utoob for seventy mental reasons.)
This is an old one from the Beeb, narrated by David Attenborough. It’s cool, bizarre and gross at the same time, but it’s nature. I posted it just because Thelit said her kids and their friends love this kinda stuff. Go for it.
After the Slugs (wasn’t that a Grateful Dead tune, or maybe a Peter Sellars movie?) this may help clean your eye sockets. Other than the dopey devilpigs, it’s all cool.
1973. Ugh. Rock N Roll was losing its edge, and then some unknown band like Focus got a lot of airplay, at least for a few minutes. We did our best to ignore the yodeling, except for the Popeye part. Here’s a rare live version of “Hocus Pocus,” with Gladys Knight(?!) doing the intro.
1973 also brought this to our FM converters so we could hear it on our AM car radios. Golden Earring‘s greatest hit, “Radar Love,” wasn’t their best song, but it was great roadtrip music.
1973 had THIS highlight, though: Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition” (before he went weeny on us).
1973 music sucked on a whole lotta levels never seen before. Top BillBoard hits included:
“You’re So Vain” by Carly Simon
“Crocododile Rock” by Elton John
“Bad Bad Leroy Brown” by Jim Croce
“Top of the World” by the Carpenters
“There’s Got To Be A Morning After” by Maureen McGovern
“Tie a Yellow Ribbofdpnoa oh man I can’t type any more of that garbage without gagging.
BUT THERE WAS THIS:
Gladys Knight was awesome. We were all Pips in the days of old (“Whoo-whoo!”). Then I lost my direction again with this:
Edgar Winter’s “Frankenstein” was being played on the radio about the same time brother JohnnyRick Derringer was getting airplay for “Rock And Roll Hoochie Coo.” [cbullitt corrected me in the comments section.]
Johnny Winter was better at the blues, but he cranked on Dylan’s “Highway 61.” (Look for G.E. Smith on rhythm guitar.)
Dang. I could take this string for another dozen utoobage links, but I’ll cut it here… temporarily.
* “SatMat” means “Saturday Matinee.” It looked better abbreviated on the title.
Excellent version of The Foundations’ “Build Me Up Buttercup.” You know she’s singing to YOU… wait for it. (Bunkessa found this one.)
Well, gabba gabba hey.
*Jake Shimabukuro’s Ukelele Gently Weeps.
*Led Zep on Uke with eggs and sausage and hot coffee.
*Minitallica!
Don’t forget the trainwreck previously posted here.
Videos marked with (*) were recobamended by saraH, who should have her own website by now but doesn’t. She’s been lurking around for a long time, dropping rare occasional comments about batmobile babe magnets.
[Tip ‘o the tarboosh to saraH… your eco-friendly VatoMobile is in the works.]
The laugh track is unfortunate as this dealie is funny by itself. I’ve got no idea what they’re saying. [Found here.]
“On an August morning in 1978, French filmmaker Claude Lelouch mounted a gyro-stabilized camera to the bumper of a Ferrari 275 GTB and had a friend, a professional Formula 1 racer, drive at breakneck speed through the heart of Paris early in the morning . The film was limited for technical reasons to 10 minutes; the course was from Porte Dauphine, through the Louvre, to the Basilica of Sacre Coeur.
“No streets were closed, for Lelouch was unable to obtain a permit. The driver completed the course in about 9 minutes, reaching nearly 140 MPH in some stretches. The footage reveals him running real red lights, nearly hitting real pedestrians, and driving the wrong way up real one-way streets.
“Upon showing the film in public for the first time, Lelouch was arrested. He has never revealed the identity of the driver, and the film went underground.”
[Link and description via email. Apparently it’s been around for a while, but. Tip o’ the tarboosh to Dan S.]
This was my introduction to Tom Waits, via the Eagles, and I hated the Eagles from then on. Looky here:
Ahhh. Yeah. The originals are always the best. Like this one:
This trippy oddness was found here. Kinda long, but somebody put a lot of time into it. The result is excellent.
Here’s a trailer for an unreleased documentary. The Wrecking Crew was a band you’ve never heard of, but you’ve heard ’em.
Tommy Tedesco was a member of The Wrecking Crew, and was probably the most talented session guitarist ever. He was certainly the most recorded one.
Lightnin’ Hopkins. How many POS bands covered this great song?
It’s getting late, so here’s John Prine, live at the kitchen table. I miss nights like that.
[Bonus below the break. I’m gonna break the G-rating just this once, only because I think it’s funny. Kids, bring your dad in before you click on it, have him read this caveat, and you won’t get into trouble. I’ll take the blame, and I promise I won’t do it again as far as he knows.]
The Dell-Vikings’ “Jitterbug Mary” is an unrecobanized classic. They were my favorite doowop group. I hear this kinda stuff and it makes everything better.
My favorite doowop group was The Five Satins. Here they lipsynch for a bunch of white people.
Gene Chandler was better known for “Duke of Earl.” Here’s the Duke singing “Good Times.” Although this song is R&B, he’s my favorite doowop singer.
“Love of My Life” is one of the greatest songs ever, and Frank Zappa’s bands are my favorite doowop group. (This song is still my favorite — too bad The Ramones aren’t still around to do a Zappa tribute album.)
At 8:30PM tonight, make sure you turn all your lights on, power up your TVs and stereos, and celebrate the Technological Achievements of Humanity. Get in your cars and drive somewhere, just for the sake of it, and just for fun. Raise and lower your garage doors, and run your washing machines. Run the dryer without anything in it. Got a power mower? Crank it up. Heat up your cat’s food in the microwave. Take your dog out to Burger King. Make as many long distance telephone calls as you can. Run your dishwasher with half of the normal load, and run the other half separately. Open up your refrigerator door, and look without removing anything to eat. Do it again. Download updates for all your computer programs and email them to all your friends.
LET’S CELEBRATE AMAZING ACHIEVEMENTS FOR A CHANGE!
“But why should I do that?” you ask. I’ll tell you.
We’re fighting Global Cooling. Mostly we’re fighting Global Idiocy, but let’s call it Global Cooling for now. The feel-good crowd will never know the difference anyway.
Those folks who think that turning their electricity off for an hour will “save the planet” (or “send a message” to someone or something) are the same folks who stood outside their homes a couple of years ago with candle wax dripping over their fingers, believing that the space shuttle was gonna zoom by and take a photo of the earth lit up with peace candles. My message is:
Tacky Raccoons 