Tribute to Get Crazy, Pt. 1:"A Deathbed Request"

In 1983, an extremely significant musical comedy was released entitled Get Crazy. It remains significant not for it's acting or writing, but for its cast: predominantly rock stars and actors portraying rock stars. Among them is Lou Reed, the members of Fear, Malcolm McDowell playing a Mick Jagger-type singer, as well as cameos from Fabian, Bobby Freeman, Howard Kaylan and others.

The story concerns the owner of the Saturn Theater, one Max Wolfe. Max has a heart attack while organizing the Saturn's New Year's Eve celebration and, fearing this year may be his last, decides to make this celebration a major blowout. To this end, he contacts a faded rock star known only as Auden to appear at the Saturn. Auden hasn't left his apartment for 6 years (his apartment being an exact replica of the cover of Bob Dylan's Bringing It All Back Home).

In this first installment, all of the Lou Reed scenes have been spliced together apart from the closing number (I'll get to that later).

Click on the image to view it. Enjoy.

This May Be The Funniest Thing Ever

There's a guy on YouTube who goes by the name of StSanders. He has created a number of hilarious videos featuring numerous guitar heroes with his own sound overdubbed. My friend, David Stiles, turned me on to these; it's his fault. I'll say no more, other than StSanders (or whoever he really is) is possibly the greatest comedic genius of the past 20 years. Or maybe I'm just easily amused. But, c'mon, can't it be both?

This particular video features Jake E. Lee and Ozzy Osbourne, but he has dozens more, and I would highly recommend checking those out as well.

Click on the image to view it.

[UPDATE: Apparently, StSanders has been banned from YouTube, so this is the only video of his available at this point. Hopefully, this will be resolved soon. I stand by my earlier assessment of his comic genius. YouTube needs to get a sense of humor.]

Distant Memories of Cop Rock

For reasons too complicated to explain, I was asked to find old clips of the notorious 1990 Steven Bochco flop, Cop Rock. Although the show itself still doesn't quite hold up after all these years, some of the songs, strangely enough, do.

Though I can't fully set this one up, having never seen this episode, it goes something like this:

A young couple, apparently having trouble conceiving a baby of their own, and having exhausted all legitimate forms of adoption, stumble across a man who calls himself the "Baby Merchant." And - wouldn't you know it? - he has own song. And it's a damn catchy one to boot.

Is the story ridiculous? Yes. But if after hearing this song a few times, you won't admit to singing it to yourself at least once or twice, then I have no choice but to call you a liar.

That's right, I'm throwing down the musical gauntlet on this one.

Click on the image to watch the clip.

The Late Night Wars Resume

Here's a brief recap.

Jay Leno:

First of all, Jay explains away his choice to come back to the airwaves by crassly stating that, because WGA talks had broken down, "19 people were putting 160 people out of work." Jay also took a backhanded stab at Letterman by saying "Dave had his own company [Worldwide Pants, Inc.] and was able to negotiate a deal for his writers, and God bless him," suggesting that the Tonight Show doesn't have that kind of leverage [I guess Big Dog, Inc. is merely an imprint. I always thought it was Jay's company, didn't you?]. Mike Huckabee was his first guest. Perhaps it wasn't the wisest choice of program for someone so desperate to be perceived as pro-working man on which to appear. Mike foolishly crossed the picket line anyway, showing off his bass playing skills (which aren't half bad, but he has next to no sense of rhythm) and the amount of weight he's lost since his previous appearance on Leno. 110 pounds! I mean, I gotta admit, that's pretty impressive. Jay's second guest was Emeril Lagasse, who would basically do anything to save his career at this point, so crossing a picket line hardly seemed to matter, I'm sure.


Conan O'Brien:

Conan came out in far more genuine support of the writers strike, not only by sporting a full beard, but by saying upfront that what the writers are asking for is fair and they should get it. Somehow, this came off as a far more sincere gesture than Jay's. Conan continued by showing a hilarious video of what he and the production staff have been doing since the strike began. Conan's first guest, Bob Saget, pretty much bombed. Dwayne Perkins was both clever and funny, though the audience weren't too kind. Robert Gordon and Chris Spedding were the musical guests. They performed a song from their recent album of Elvis covers, It's Now Or Never. I love Robert Gordon, but I'd not seen him for a while. With his hair slicked back, he kinda looks likes a lot like Emeril Lagasse, ironically enough. They sounded great, nonetheless.


David Letterman:

After an pre-recorded introduction by Hillary Clinton, Dave came out with an even more shocking beard than Conan's. It made him look a little like Buddy Ebsen. He took the stage with a group of would-be Rockettes with "WGA On Strike" signs. Ten still-striking writers delivered the Top Ten list. Robin Williams, predictably, was insufferable. I mean I'm one to talk, but if this guy could finish ONE SENTENCE in the same dialect, I'd be satisfied. Next Dave interviewed his Associate Producer, Nancy Agostini. Overall, a strong show that gave more than its share of shout-outs to the striking writers.

I didn't Jimmy Kimmel or Craig Ferguson. Sorry.

Of the three I saw, I'd give the nod to Conan for doing the best show overall, especially given the fact that he had no writers. Naturally, Leno beat Letterman in the ratings. I have no idea why people keep watching The Tonight Show, other than a total lack of taste.