In 1966 a band called The Monkees premiered on tv. It immediately propelled the members to instant stardom:They were a clean cut bunch of basically non-musicians pretending to be rock stars. With the guaranteed publicity of a tv show, their first recording went #1.
At exactly the same time, another band wasn’t doing quite as well:
Davy Jones and the Lower Third recorded a few songs, they went nowhere, there was no tv. I am guessing at some point a disgruntled drunk teen girl whined during a show that they needed to play Last Train to Clarksville. Not to be confused with a super-hot group, the lesser known Davy Jones changed his name and his image:
He became David Bowie. The rest is pretty well documented here.
Davy Jones died today.
Whitney Houston died last week. It was way overblown. I’m guessing the Davy Jones tribute concert/funeral will be a little less hyped. But, if it did come about, it would be so cool.
First off, you’d have Bowie resurrect his 1966 look and front the Monkees for I’m a Believer:
They immediately, of course tear into Daydream Believer:
Which, of course, morphs into Bowie’s tribute to the “pink monkee bird”:
Then, what’s left of the Beatles will take the stage to perform their 1968 payback to the Monkees
Little known fact, the Monkees were based on the Beatles’ Hard Days Night. Davy Jones was Paul McCartney. Paul McCartney sang Everybody’s Something to Hide Except for Me and My Monkee. Coincidence? I think not.
Then of course, The Stones will take the stage for their acknowledgement of Monkee might in the late 60′s:
“I’m a Monkee man!”
I’m sure the Brady Bunch will re-unite for one magical night as well. But, the hilite for me would be one of my all time favorites. Fifteen years after the Monkees hit #1, Peter Gabriel hit the charts with his, now very prophetic:
Why don’t you shock the monkee?
Davy Jones died of a heart attack.
Weird?
I’ve documented here before how many Bowie references Lady Gaga had made, a long time ago. It doesn’t seem to stop. A few days ago she serenaded her hair:
My bud Cristin mentioned a blurb about finding David Bowie in Watchmen. I loved that flick so I had to check it out. Here’s the scene in question:
Not exactly David Bowie. But, that is definitely Aladdin Sane. Even got him hanging out with Mick Jagger and The Village People. Given the other historical references in the sequence, it strikes me as being a little odd, and a little out of place.
Will Ferrell is such a cut-up I never know what to expect from him. As such, when he does something not looney, I often sit waiting for the punch line. Sometimes it never arrives and you realize there never was one. Sometimes he’s just serious. I think this is one of those times. I might be wrong. It’s just done too well to be his usual farcical self.
According to NASA administrator Maj. Gen. Charles F. Bolden, Jr., the highly experimental glam space program—dubbed Project Starman—has been in development for exactly five years. Though engineers initially feared the mission might blow our minds, the historic launch ultimately proceeded without incident.
“Admittedly, this is a very bold and risky departure for the agency,” said Bolden, later adding that Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust period and other outer-space-related work has been a major influence on NASA’s direction since the early 1970s. “Those familiar with NASA’s previous, more conventional research and exploration sensibilities are going to be in for quite a shock. Many are likely to be confused and threatened by the boundary-pushing nature of the project.”
And it only gets better from there. Love The Onion!
I got an email alert about a guy, David Lister, who went to a show by The Ukelele Orchestra of Great Britain. They did a joke segment they called “plagiarism”. It’s pretty clever. Here it is:
Only thing is, there is no joke. And, as with every other form of entertainment, parody is not plagiarism.
It all started with this fella, Claude Francois wrote a melody called Comme d’habitude. It was a pretty piece. He got a fella named Jacques Revaux to put some lyrics to it. The original version’s lyrics were about a strained relationship. They go something like this ( pardon the bad Google translation ):
I get up
And I’ll upsets
You do not wake up, As usual
I back you on the sheet
I fear that you have cold, As usual
My hand caresses your hair
Almost despite myself, As usual
But you turn your back on me, As usual
Then I get dressed quickly
I leave the room, As usual
All alone I drink my coffee
I’m late, As usual
Quietly I leave the house
Everything is gray outside,As usual
I’m cold
I raise my neck, As usual
As usual
All day
I’ll pretend play
As usual
I’ll smile
As usual
I’ll even laugh
As usual
Finally I will live
As usual
And then the day will go
I will return, As usual
You will exit
And not back yet, As usual
All alone I will go to bed
In this cold bed, As usual
My tears I hide, As usual
As usual
Even the night
I’ll pretend play
As usual
You come home
As usual
I’ll wait
As usual
You smile at me
As usual
As usual
You undress
As usual
You lie
As usual
They embraced
As usual
Sorta strikes me as a song about someone who’s struggling day to day with finding anything meaningful. I know the feeling.
Bowie chanced upon the song and decided to put some English lyrics to it. His idea basically went nowhere. Then, someone else came up with the same idea. Paul Anka had also heard the song. He was hanging out with Frank Sinatra, and the story is Frank was pondering retiring, but wanted Anka to write a song for him. So, Anka, armed with Claude Francois’ melody, put “Frank” words to the song:
And now the end is near
So I face the final curtain
My friend, I’ll say it clear
I’ll state my case of which I’m certain
I’ve lived a life that’s full
I’ve traveled each and every highway
And more, much more than this
I did it my way
Regrets, I’ve had a few
But then again, too few to mention
I did what I had to do
And saw it through without exception
I planned each charted course
Each careful step along the byway
Oh, and more, much more than this
I did it my way
Yes, there were times, I’m sure you know
When I bit off more than I could chew
But through it all when there was doubt
I ate it up and spit it out
I faced it all and I stood tall
And did it my way
I’ve loved, I’ve laughed and cried
I’ve had my fails, my share of losing
And now as tears subside
I find it all so amusing
To think I did all that
And may I say, not in a shy way
Oh, no, no not me
I did it my way
For what is a man, what has he got
If not himself, then he has not
To say the words he truly feels
And not the words he would reveal
The record shows I took the blows
And did it my way
The record shows I took the blows
And did it my way
Now, I get it. Frank Sinatra was not a person who ever presented the aura of being blase. He never struck people as struggling for something to be excited about. He was as arrogant and egotistical a personality as you’d find. He was the mob. He was the godfather. He did it his way, you did it his way. The lyrics were perfect for Frank Sinatra. It didn’t hurt that Frank Sinatra could belt it out loud:
Needless to say, Bowie’s version got stomped all over on. It disappeared. However, the whole incident did not. Seeing his idea become someone else’s monster hit didn’t fade for a while. So, when he signed with RCA with his first major recording deal, one of the very first songs he did, armed with Mick Ronson on strings and Rick Wakeman on piano, was a little piece called “Life on Mars”. Now, if you listen closely, it very strongly resembles My Way:
And, of course, there’s the lyrics:
It’s a god-awful small affair
To the girl with the mousy hair
But her mummy is yelling “No”
And her daddy has told her to go
But her friend is nowhere to be seen
Now she walks through her sunken dream
To the seat with the clearest view
And she’s hooked to the silver screen
But the film is a saddening bore
‘Cause she’s lived it ten times or more
She could spit in the eyes of fools
As they ask her to focus on
Sailors fighting in the dance hall
Oh man! Look at those cavemen go
It’s the freakiest show
Take a look at the Lawman
Beating up the wrong guy
Oh man! Wonder if he’ll ever know
He’s in the best selling show
Is there life on Mars?
It’s on America’s tortured brow
That Mickey Mouse has grown up a cow
Now the workers have struck for fame
‘Cause Lennon’s on sale again
See the mice in their million hordes
From Ibiza to the Norfolk Broads
Rule Britannia is out of bounds
To my mother, my dog, and clowns
But the film is a saddening bore
‘Cause I wrote it ten times or more
It’s about to be writ again
As I ask you to focus on
Sailors fighting in the dance hall
Oh man! Look at those cavemen go
It’s the freakiest show
Take a look at the Lawman
Beating up the wrong guy
Oh man! Wonder if he’ll ever know
He’s in the best selling show
Is there life on Mars?
About people who are bored. Blase. Struggling to find something meaningful in life. A lot truer to the original song than My Way.
One final irony. Sinatra’s retirement wasn’t a kept secret. He had talked about it a long time. In 1971, he actually had a retirement performance. The last act to perform before Sinatra took the stage was Barbra Streisand. Sinatra came out of retirement to release “My Way”. At pretty much the same time, Barbra re-did Life on Mars?. Coincidence?
Well, luckily he’s not singing it. But, it’s a rather odd video nonetheless. Personally, I don’t get it. But, I’m not privvy to Brit politics. If someone would like to explain it, I’d appreciate it.
David Bowie has worked for all kinds of charities. Most of them not your run-of-the-mill stuff. One of them is something called Tibet House. They strive to preserve the culture of Tibet. Oddly enough, Bowie recreated one of my all-time favorite obscure songs from way back when, for this charity event. Which, by the way, is not held in Tibet. And, I guess not so oddly, the song is about Tibet. So, without further ado, the song about Tibet sung at an event for Tibet but not in Tibet, Silly Boy Blue:
While scarping this video from boobtube, I was filled in on the fact that Bowie did indeed remix Silly Boy Blue for a project album called “Toy”. “Toy” apparently never made the cut and Silly Boy Blue will remain very obscure. However, given Bowie’s updated re-mix, I’d just as soon stick with the original. I’ve got my ideas on how it should sound in the 21st century:
Here is the Music Player. You need to installl flash player to show this cool thing!
I stumbled on an article in Glide Magazine, “Cover Wars: Moonage Daydream Edition“. It listed some covers and then let readers choose the best. Only problem I have is the list is quite limited and there seems to be no rhyme or reason to it. Then oddly enough, in the meat of the article, they quote James E. Perone who likens Bowie’s Moonage Daydream to Elton John’s Tiny Dancer? What the hell is that about? So anyways, their list is:
Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians, who manage to make an elevator version. I like interpretations, but Edie just doesn’t get it.
The Killers, it’s awful. They don’t even try to do the solo. Probably smart.
LA Guns, fairly accurate, but forgot the echo chamber.
Of Montreal, does one of my favorite covers. Worthy of the list.
Oh! You Pretty Things. Now, this one shouldn’t be on the list. No one is sure if they are even a band. From the description it sounds like they just got together on a cruise. But, imagine Percy Sledge doing a slightly Caribbean version of Moonage Daydream and you get the picture. It’s cool.
Rose Hill Drive. Solid, but misses the guitar nuances and totally forgets the echo chamber. People, it’s the echo chamber that MAKES this solo.
The White Stripes. This copy has been around for YEARS. I’ve never liked it. Still don’t.
So, a couple are good, a couple ok, and a few suck. But, there are plenty of other versions they totally missed. If you’re going to count Edie Brickell, then you HAVE to count New England Ukulele Orchestra. Once you’ve stopped laughing hysterically, check it out:
I truly like this a lot more than Edie’s. Then you get to more traditional versions. Some stand out over the others I think. Check out Aladdinsane’s:
OK, we’ve had ukelele, Caribbean, traditional rock, now for some screamo:
If that’s not enough translations, try mixing David Lee Roth’s Van Halen with David Bowie:
Then of course, there’s the schoolhouse version:
Another band that totally got it was The Alarmists:
Can’t forget some more famous covers, like basically Def Leppard:
I’m not sure anyone on the other list nail it quite this way. Now, the Cybernaut shows were in Japan, so it’s only proper we have an Asian interpretation from Hong Kong, here’s Last Orders:
Starting to get the idea? If you do a search on Youtube, you’ll get an almost endless list of covers. God forbid you Google it. I get the feeling these guys just grabbed about the first five or so they stumbled on. I’ve been checking these out for years. Trust me, their list sells the covers short by a mile. I hate it when people hack at something holy.
They were a clean cut bunch of basically non-musicians pretending to be rock stars. With the guaranteed publicity of a tv show, their first recording went #1.
Davy Jones and the Lower Third recorded a few songs, they went nowhere, there was no tv. I am guessing at some point a disgruntled drunk teen girl whined during a show that they needed to play Last Train to Clarksville. Not to be confused with a super-hot group, the lesser known Davy Jones changed his name and his image:
. I loved that flick so I had to check it out. Here’s the scene in question:
. Even got him hanging out with Mick Jagger and The Village People. Given the other historical references in the sequence, it strikes me as being a little odd, and a little out of place.
—has been in development for exactly five years. Though engineers initially feared the mission might 
period and other outer-space-related work has been a major influence on NASA’s direction since the early 1970s. “Those familiar with NASA’s previous, more conventional research and exploration sensibilities are going to be in for quite a shock. Many are likely to be confused and threatened by the boundary-pushing nature of the project.”