Cab Calloway sings “St. James Infirmary Blues” in an old Betty Boop cartoon:
You’ve seen this– RIGHT?
Jokerman done in a riff-rock style. Pretty cool stuff.
The Tallest Man on Earth is the moniker of the folk musician Kristian Matsson of Dalarna, Sweden. Matsson also sings in a band called Montezumas.
Via 3ack.
Nick Cave sings Kurt Weill.
Harry Dean Stanton in Dreamin’ of You, the new Bob Dylan single. He plays a Dylanologist, I think.
Cool video and both artists are of course amazing, but I’m just not feeling the song. I was hoping it was going to be more like that Beck collaboration piano track from the Conquest EP. The song, and the video, are over produced in my opinion.
Oh well, here’s to future collaboration.
Via The Modern Age.
Yer Blues by The Dirty Mac because… well, why not?
One more Debbie Harry video. In this one’s she’s with Iggy Pop singing Cole Porter.
Here’s Tom Waits from the same album:
And lastly, David Byrne.
Here is Jobriath, the American record company response to David Bowie. Apparently there was a billboard in Times Square and a massive publicity campaign behind Jobriath but he never took off.
I can see why. The introduction to his performance promises “[a]n unusual and exciting theatrical event” which fails to materialize. He seems to be wearing springs and at one point he does flying leaps around the stage. The voice is also second rate Bowie derivative. This isn’t exactly Width of a Circle.
I would imagine the biggest obstacle to Jobriath’s success is that he got to the patent office second (or 72nd considering glam was already waning when his first release came out). Strangely he shares a given name with actor Bruce Campbell.
Russell Brand is America’s Golden Saviour
Russell Brand has made Fox News and those Disney rock stars angry. He’ll always be my hero for introducing the concept of seagulling (see definition #2).
They offer some extra facts “for the record”, which is thoughtful.
Fox News:
The “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” funnyman also encouraged Americans to vote for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama in the upcoming election, referred to George W. Bush as a “retarded cowboy fella” and took a shot at Republican VP nominee Sarah Palin and her pregnant daughter.
“The safe sex message is to use a condom or become a Republican,” Brand said.
For the record, Rus isn’t an American citizen and can’t vote anyway …
The Flat Duo Jets On MTV’s The Cutting Edge (1985):
And then there’s little brother, Dexter, who moved his bed into a building behind the house. He calls it ‘The Mausoleum.’
Here’s my nomination:
His description is also pretty priceless:
This is My Sharona by the Ramones(?), A Tribute to the Grandfathers(?) of punkrock. The first punk rock band.