Our Hit Parade - Today Was a Fairytale

We opened January's edition of Our Hit Parade with a medley of Taylor Swift's new song, Today Was A Fairytale with Something There from Beauty and The Beast. Not sure how this medley popped into my head, but add on Bridget dressed as a princess and Neal with a Bear Head covering his hair, and it all added up to a pretty darn good opening for the show. I will be rooting for Taylor Swift tonight on the Grammy Awards. And I cannot believe that Lady Gaga and Elton John are performing a duet! What will they be singing? Will this be as controversial as Elton's duet with Eminem? I was once kissed on the lips by Elton John. It was quite an evening in London...
Also we went as saw Tyler Perry live in Madea's Big Happy Family. It was possibly the best 3 hours I have ever spent in the theater. A compelling story, big musical numbers and Tyler Perry. He is right when he has said that if you haven't seen Madea in a live show, you haven't really experienced Madea. He was like Murray Hill,Dame Edna and Richard Pryor all rolled up into one hysterical and yet poignant package. Five star entertainment. And if that wasn't enough, we also met Martha Stewart at the restaurant we went to before the show. She leaned over to our table and asked if any of us could fix her cellphone. With the help of an online manual we fixed her phone and she showed us pictures of her new cats. She is awesome!

Kenny

Kate McGarrigle 1948-2010

I wrote the following for the blog of Butt Magazine:

Kate McGarrigle 1946-2010
When I was 17 ,Rolling Stone put out at list of the top 100 albums you just had to own if you were really living. It was through this list that I discovered Al Green, Richard and Linda Thompson and Etta James. All amazing discoveries. It was also how I discovered Kate and Anna McGarrigle. Their album, Dancer With Bruised Knees was on the list and even if today I do not think it is their best work (Matapedia rocks my world), it transfixed me. Imagine a high school student in the San Fernando Valley awkwardly leaving behind his years of playing Dungeons & Dragons and coming upon lyrics like:

“No being however mighty
Where chaos reigns alone
Will see his feeble love grow
When cast upon a stone
Kitty come home”

Some of the album was sung in French!!!
The worlds that opened up on the day I put that album on my turntable still open up in front of me today. Over the years I have had the pleasure to meet Kate and Anna and Kate’s children Rufus and Martha. The many wonders of the McGarrigles and their tribe continued to thrill me and seeing them perform live was one of the greatest pleasures of my life. Even if ¾ of a concert was taken up with tuning of the many instruments, the ¼ taken up by music making was always transcendent
I have loved the McGarrigles for 25 years. I will continue to love them for 25 more. I mourn that I will never be able to see them perform live again. The joy in my life is noticeably and irrecoverably lessened.
“Talk to me of Mendocino
Closing my eyes I hear the sea
Must I wait
Must I follow
Won't you say “come with me””
My heart is with her whole family.

I will also add that one of the best days of my life was at The Fez here in New York City when I was introduced to Kate and Anna McGarrigle AND Linda Thompson all on the same night. I have received so much joy from those three women over the years and I am so sad that one of them left us yesterday....

Kenny

Click to Download - Talk To Me Of Mendocino - Kate and Anna McGarrigle Cover

It Is The King's Birthday! Naw, The King of R and B!!!

Well it is not only Elvis Presley's and David Bowie's birthday. It is R. Kelly's! Happy Birthday Mr Kelly. This is his new song in which he introduces the world to R and B Yodeling. He is a pioneer!



Who knew that there is a whole set of videos of prayer groups acting out this song whilst the original version plays over the sound system.

Here is another one:



Neal, Bridget and I did this in Neal and my R Kelly show. How stupid were we to actually learn the song when we could have just stood there and let the original play. I think the strange thing about this is that it is all very static. I mean, These people are just on the phone!!!!!!!! It is like Robert Wilson staged it!

Anyway, Happy birthday Mr Kelly! May this year be a good one, filled with joy and love not lawsuits and pee...

Kenny


P.S. here is Weird Al Yankovic's parody of you!

OK, while we're talking about things that should be hits...

This video, which was brought to our attention by being on our friend Adam's blog is pretty much the perfect set of things I'm into right now:

vague and obscure sounding soundtrack-style instruments
lyrics about loving on dogs
VideoToaster effects

I feel like Drake or Kid CUDI should sample this song and make at least me freak out....




--Neal Medlyn

Beer Can Hair Rollers like Bridget Everett

a propensity to wear multiple outfits that aren't fit for outdoors like Neal!

lipstick outside the actual lines of the lips like Kenny!

This video, which was sent to us by the wonder that is Larry Krone, who you may have seen recently in Our Hit Parade singing the top country songs of the decade, is kinda my new favorite thing.

Make this a hit, America, so I can by those pantyhose!!

--Neal Medlyn


El Tigeraso

MALUCA | MySpace Music Videos

you're a jerk - newboyz

You're A Jerk - New Boyz

THE best part of going anywhere outside of my house, is eating seeing or doing something I've only seen on the internet, in a video, pictures or print, in real life. On my last trip to L.A. I had an in-n-out burger, bought super cute things on Melrose and Little Tokyo, went to The Grove AND I SAW KIDS JERKING.

The Jerk is a dance born on the west coast, I would liken seeing Jerking in the wild to seeing Breakdancing in the Bronx in the early 80's.

it's also a dance I learned in my hotel rooms this past year. mostly from videos like this



POW POW HAPPY NEW YEAR.

this song rules, its old school without the kids knowing and it's changed fashion for atleast this year. thank you internet.

p.s. I also ate breakfast pasta at Hugos on Santa Monica, where we saw Tim Riggins from Friday Night Lights, and Josh Brolin basically stalked us on our plane ride home to new york.

you might say i'm a name dropper, you might say I'm a jerk.

i know

love brendan