Donnie Osmond has it all.
January 27, 2008 1:34 PM Subscribe
You've seen the original White and Nerdy Video. Now watch two and a half minutes of pure, unadulterated awesome.
Is it just me... or was Donnie Osmond fucking awesome?
posted by farishta at 1:47 PM on January 27, 2008 [10 favorites]
posted by farishta at 1:47 PM on January 27, 2008 [10 favorites]
As a Weird Al fan from way back, this is not new to me, but still reminds me that Donny (who just turned 50 and still doesn't answer to "Don") is one of my Top Three Mormon Dudes (the others being Ken Jennings and webcomicker Howard Tayler).
posted by wendell at 1:52 PM on January 27, 2008
posted by wendell at 1:52 PM on January 27, 2008
I want some of whatever he's drinking. So, y'know, lemonade.
posted by ourobouros at 1:52 PM on January 27, 2008
posted by ourobouros at 1:52 PM on January 27, 2008
When you finish with this, make sure to check out Albuqurque and the Drive Through.
posted by Lord_Pall at 1:53 PM on January 27, 2008 [2 favorites]
posted by Lord_Pall at 1:53 PM on January 27, 2008 [2 favorites]
Confession, I like that song. Just to keep this color coordinated: The Rise of the Black Nerd l Buy Mii a Wii - Black Nerd Music Video l Doin' the Urkel l Leave Black Nerds Alone.
Lyrics to White 'n Nerdy.
posted by nickyskye at 1:55 PM on January 27, 2008
Lyrics to White 'n Nerdy.
posted by nickyskye at 1:55 PM on January 27, 2008
Er, is it just me or is the "original" way more awesomer?
posted by imperium at 1:55 PM on January 27, 2008
posted by imperium at 1:55 PM on January 27, 2008
Imperium, I think the same as well.
posted by MaryDellamorte at 1:58 PM on January 27, 2008
posted by MaryDellamorte at 1:58 PM on January 27, 2008
Christ. I only just got rid of that damn earworm!
Oh well, I suppose it's better than damnable Bubbly song.
posted by Dave Faris at 1:59 PM on January 27, 2008
Oh well, I suppose it's better than damnable Bubbly song.
posted by Dave Faris at 1:59 PM on January 27, 2008
Er, is it just me or is the "original" way more awesomer?
posted by imperium at 1:55 PM on January 27
Well...yes...but I think you're missing the point. This is an alternate take, an addition, a contribution, which even if it does not supersede the original, well, complements it.
I think the original song "Ridin'" is better than Yankovic's parody but that, again, is missing the point.
posted by vacapinta at 2:02 PM on January 27, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by imperium at 1:55 PM on January 27
Well...yes...but I think you're missing the point. This is an alternate take, an addition, a contribution, which even if it does not supersede the original, well, complements it.
I think the original song "Ridin'" is better than Yankovic's parody but that, again, is missing the point.
posted by vacapinta at 2:02 PM on January 27, 2008 [1 favorite]
So has anybody done a chroma key mashup of the second link? It's just begging for it. I'm too lazy busy by far, but this will help get you started.
posted by LordSludge at 2:03 PM on January 27, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by LordSludge at 2:03 PM on January 27, 2008 [1 favorite]
Donny Osmond has a sense of humor about him, for sure. A "making of" video which exposed me to the fact that the greenscreen stuff was filmed way slowed down. Is this typical of a music video?
posted by maxwelton at 2:03 PM on January 27, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by maxwelton at 2:03 PM on January 27, 2008 [1 favorite]
That's great. Go Donny.
posted by LobsterMitten at 2:05 PM on January 27, 2008
posted by LobsterMitten at 2:05 PM on January 27, 2008
I hadn't seen that full making of video. That ruled too.
posted by Lord_Pall at 2:13 PM on January 27, 2008
posted by Lord_Pall at 2:13 PM on January 27, 2008
Is it just me... or was Donnie Osmond fucking awesome?
Given the expanse of his popularity back in the day, Donny could've racked up Wilt Chamberlain bedroom numbers. Instead, he's merely a very pleasant, happily married grandfather (dude!) with a whole lot more talent than most.
Not bad, I say.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 2:36 PM on January 27, 2008
Given the expanse of his popularity back in the day, Donny could've racked up Wilt Chamberlain bedroom numbers. Instead, he's merely a very pleasant, happily married grandfather (dude!) with a whole lot more talent than most.
Not bad, I say.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 2:36 PM on January 27, 2008
He looks just a little bit like Number One in that original video....heh.
posted by konolia at 2:41 PM on January 27, 2008
posted by konolia at 2:41 PM on January 27, 2008
From the comments (as always, the most intelligent part of YouTube):
does anyone know where 2 git da lyrics?
Um. The internet?
posted by The Deej at 3:00 PM on January 27, 2008
does anyone know where 2 git da lyrics?
Um. The internet?
posted by The Deej at 3:00 PM on January 27, 2008
nickyskye beat me to that sweet Buy Mii a Wii video.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 3:04 PM on January 27, 2008
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 3:04 PM on January 27, 2008
Is anyone else disturbed by how well Weird Al can rap? It's just me (guiltily nodding my head in time)? Ok then.
posted by device55 at 3:06 PM on January 27, 2008
posted by device55 at 3:06 PM on January 27, 2008
I kind of liked Donny Osmond before the original video. But this is so much more awesome.
posted by cmgonzalez at 3:06 PM on January 27, 2008
posted by cmgonzalez at 3:06 PM on January 27, 2008
This is great, and so is the Buy Mii a Wii linked above (how he's rolling around the floor with that box!?! You can't not laugh.)
posted by salvia at 3:38 PM on January 27, 2008
posted by salvia at 3:38 PM on January 27, 2008
I'm tilting my head, furrowing my eyebrows. Something is very right about Mormonism. Maybe it's all the ice cream parties?!
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 3:45 PM on January 27, 2008
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 3:45 PM on January 27, 2008
This is great! Loved the "making of" video too.
posted by ObscureReferenceMan at 3:53 PM on January 27, 2008
posted by ObscureReferenceMan at 3:53 PM on January 27, 2008
maxwelton - changing the playback speed of the music is pretty standard, it allows for lip synch when they change the speed of the film. In this case, the film is sped up, or overcranked, so when you watch it later, it plays back faster than real time. It makes the action funnier, like the Keystone Cops.
More commonly, you'll see the opposite thing happen, where the music playback onset is sped up, and the film camera is undercranked, and you get the interesting effect you see in hip hop music videos especially, where everyone is dancing in slow motion, but it's still in time with the music.
The speed change on the music can be worked out easily beforehand, and just figuring out how fast or slow you're going to change the picture speed. It's an inverse relationship to speed change of the film.
If that helps... :)
posted by MythMaker at 4:04 PM on January 27, 2008 [2 favorites]
More commonly, you'll see the opposite thing happen, where the music playback onset is sped up, and the film camera is undercranked, and you get the interesting effect you see in hip hop music videos especially, where everyone is dancing in slow motion, but it's still in time with the music.
The speed change on the music can be worked out easily beforehand, and just figuring out how fast or slow you're going to change the picture speed. It's an inverse relationship to speed change of the film.
If that helps... :)
posted by MythMaker at 4:04 PM on January 27, 2008 [2 favorites]
Wait, I just got the overcranked, undercranked things backwards... *sigh* My mind's somewhere else.
Overcranking, or shooting at frame rates higher than playback (i.e. faster than 24 fps), gets you slow motion.
Undercranking, or shooting at frame rates slower than playback (slower than 24 fps), gets you fast motion.
They were undercranking...
posted by MythMaker at 4:13 PM on January 27, 2008 [1 favorite]
Overcranking, or shooting at frame rates higher than playback (i.e. faster than 24 fps), gets you slow motion.
Undercranking, or shooting at frame rates slower than playback (slower than 24 fps), gets you fast motion.
They were undercranking...
posted by MythMaker at 4:13 PM on January 27, 2008 [1 favorite]
This is good, but MC Frontalot is better. He has a whole song about crypography, for goodness sakes.
posted by poe at 5:04 PM on January 27, 2008
posted by poe at 5:04 PM on January 27, 2008
"We're white, we're white
We walk with our buttocks extremely tight..."
posted by Oriole Adams at 5:06 PM on January 27, 2008
We walk with our buttocks extremely tight..."
posted by Oriole Adams at 5:06 PM on January 27, 2008
If that helps... :)
It certainly helped me. For years I've wondered how they managed to lip sync while doing awfully strenuous shit in music videos. I *knew* they couldn't actually be singing, but the idea that they could be lip syncing seemed almost as unfeasible.
Also: Donny *was* awesome. Until I saw it slowed down. Then he was just mundane. Which I guess is why magicians insist that nobody reveal the secret of how it's all done.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 5:38 PM on January 27, 2008
It certainly helped me. For years I've wondered how they managed to lip sync while doing awfully strenuous shit in music videos. I *knew* they couldn't actually be singing, but the idea that they could be lip syncing seemed almost as unfeasible.
Also: Donny *was* awesome. Until I saw it slowed down. Then he was just mundane. Which I guess is why magicians insist that nobody reveal the secret of how it's all done.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 5:38 PM on January 27, 2008
I see weird Al. is directing a The Presidents of the United States video now. (And I had no idea a guy I know did the mixing on PUSA's latest album. Very cool.)
posted by maxwelton at 5:39 PM on January 27, 2008
posted by maxwelton at 5:39 PM on January 27, 2008
Oh my god.
How did I know that Donnie Osmond was awesome like this?
posted by koeselitz at 5:52 PM on January 27, 2008 [1 favorite]
How did I know that Donnie Osmond was awesome like this?
posted by koeselitz at 5:52 PM on January 27, 2008 [1 favorite]
You set the bar pretty high when you describe a video as "pure, unadulterated awesome," but Donny hopped right over it. Nice link.
posted by brain_drain at 6:01 PM on January 27, 2008
posted by brain_drain at 6:01 PM on January 27, 2008
Like Donnie, I'm male, white and 50. Sadly, that's as far as the resemblance goes. He sure does bring the awesome, doesn't he?
posted by tommasz at 6:10 PM on January 27, 2008
posted by tommasz at 6:10 PM on January 27, 2008
Oh god, this is awesome. Metafilter is awesome. Weird Al is awesome. Donny Osmond is awesome. THE INTERNET, IT IS AWESOME. *head explodes*
posted by saturnine at 6:13 PM on January 27, 2008 [2 favorites]
posted by saturnine at 6:13 PM on January 27, 2008 [2 favorites]
Holy crap that's awesome. I'm still laughing out loud. Jeezum Crow, I'm going to email this to all my white nerdy peeps RIGHT NOW!
posted by asavage at 7:45 PM on January 27, 2008
posted by asavage at 7:45 PM on January 27, 2008
I will never get tired of that song. Ever.
posted by SpacemanStix at 7:57 PM on January 27, 2008
posted by SpacemanStix at 7:57 PM on January 27, 2008
fuck yes.
posted by unknowncommand at 8:36 PM on January 27, 2008
posted by unknowncommand at 8:36 PM on January 27, 2008
I've been a fan of Weird Al since the "I Love Rocky Road" days.
In fact, I saw him in concert with a total of 20 other fans. He was performing at the local college and I think someone forgot to advertise it. I saw a flyer on a light pole. Literally, we all fit on the front row, then we relocated to the 2nd row and used the empty seats to prop up our feet.
Instead of turning around and walking out, he played a 2 hour show. Talked to us after. Showed me and a girl his bus. We were like 15.
Class act, even back then.
I've owned everything he's recorded on LP, Tape, and CD. I am a true fan. One byproduct of being so prolific is that he and his band have transformed into remarkably good musicians.
With all that said, Albuquerque is, in my opinion, his finest work.
Seriously, you owe it to yourself to listen. And I mean really listen. Don't do something else, just listen and follow the story.
Had my tray table up, and my seatback in the full upright position.
posted by Ynoxas at 8:43 PM on January 27, 2008 [1 favorite]
In fact, I saw him in concert with a total of 20 other fans. He was performing at the local college and I think someone forgot to advertise it. I saw a flyer on a light pole. Literally, we all fit on the front row, then we relocated to the 2nd row and used the empty seats to prop up our feet.
Instead of turning around and walking out, he played a 2 hour show. Talked to us after. Showed me and a girl his bus. We were like 15.
Class act, even back then.
I've owned everything he's recorded on LP, Tape, and CD. I am a true fan. One byproduct of being so prolific is that he and his band have transformed into remarkably good musicians.
With all that said, Albuquerque is, in my opinion, his finest work.
Seriously, you owe it to yourself to listen. And I mean really listen. Don't do something else, just listen and follow the story.
Had my tray table up, and my seatback in the full upright position.
posted by Ynoxas at 8:43 PM on January 27, 2008 [1 favorite]
a) Donny Osmond is awesome.
but also b) I never really thought about the racial aspect of this song before. I think the first time I heard it (and saw the video), I was just seeing it as a nerdy vs cool hip-hop culture thing. And I didn't think about how the lyrics declare (unintentionally, I'm sure. but still pretty clearly) that nerdom is an essentially white thing. I've never really thought of it that way, but that might be because I was first exposed to serious nerdom at a Star Trek convention and, happily, Star Trek fandom is pretty racially integrated. Black, white, Asian, and everyone else, all wearing inappropriately coloured latex head/ear gear together. Certainly, it was a more multicultural environment than either my neighbourhood or school. And it wasn't any over-reaching white culture, it was Klingon/Romulan/medieval/vampire/clone...
I don't want to get down on Weird Al, especially as I do really like the song, but at the same time I wish he had made it about being "wide and nerdy" or "sly and nerdy" or something else.
Watching some of the youtube links - Black Nerd Comedy, and links from there - I see that black and nerdy seems to have some tension. Which is a real shame, because if there is one thing that should be completely colour blind, it's nerdom.
posted by jb at 9:51 PM on January 27, 2008
but also b) I never really thought about the racial aspect of this song before. I think the first time I heard it (and saw the video), I was just seeing it as a nerdy vs cool hip-hop culture thing. And I didn't think about how the lyrics declare (unintentionally, I'm sure. but still pretty clearly) that nerdom is an essentially white thing. I've never really thought of it that way, but that might be because I was first exposed to serious nerdom at a Star Trek convention and, happily, Star Trek fandom is pretty racially integrated. Black, white, Asian, and everyone else, all wearing inappropriately coloured latex head/ear gear together. Certainly, it was a more multicultural environment than either my neighbourhood or school. And it wasn't any over-reaching white culture, it was Klingon/Romulan/medieval/vampire/clone...
I don't want to get down on Weird Al, especially as I do really like the song, but at the same time I wish he had made it about being "wide and nerdy" or "sly and nerdy" or something else.
Watching some of the youtube links - Black Nerd Comedy, and links from there - I see that black and nerdy seems to have some tension. Which is a real shame, because if there is one thing that should be completely colour blind, it's nerdom.
posted by jb at 9:51 PM on January 27, 2008
Holy crap that Buy Mii a Wii video is awesome.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 12:07 AM on January 28, 2008
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 12:07 AM on January 28, 2008
Which is a real shame, because if there is one thing that should be completely colour blind, it's nerdom.
Stop acting white, jb.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 4:41 AM on January 28, 2008
Stop acting white, jb.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 4:41 AM on January 28, 2008
Speaking of under/overcranking, check out 2:51 of this video.
posted by designbot at 8:56 AM on January 28, 2008
posted by designbot at 8:56 AM on January 28, 2008
I have a new mission in life. I am going to learn that dance. At that speed.
I will be like a god when I hit the clubs.
posted by quin at 8:57 AM on January 28, 2008
I will be like a god when I hit the clubs.
posted by quin at 8:57 AM on January 28, 2008
designbot - in the Amish Paradise video, on that shot, Weird Al's actually walking backwards, and they're overcranking, and they reverse the film on playback. So his lip synch is backwards and sped up - you have to give the man props for being able to pull that off...
posted by MythMaker at 10:16 AM on January 28, 2008
posted by MythMaker at 10:16 AM on January 28, 2008
Is anyone else disturbed by how well Weird Al can rap?
No, what's disturbing is how well Weird Al is able to mimic every style of music. He's nailed every genre over three full consecutive decades... props!
posted by dgaicun at 10:51 AM on January 28, 2008 [1 favorite]
No, what's disturbing is how well Weird Al is able to mimic every style of music. He's nailed every genre over three full consecutive decades... props!
posted by dgaicun at 10:51 AM on January 28, 2008 [1 favorite]
I remember sitting in my college radio station with a bunch of the other DJs when we first got "Off the Deep End" in, and watching their reaction his pitch perfect deconstruction with "Smells like Nirvana" was about one of my favorite moments. So many people in that room had dedicated huge portions of their shows to the Seattle 'movement' and how it was going to change everything. And Al's genius is not that he can parody a song, but he can do so in a way that makes it clear that he really loved the source material. It never seems insulting so much as: 'Wow, that was pretty fucking good.'
If memory serves, that album also had Trigger Happy, which still makes me grin like a fool whenever I hear it.
posted by quin at 11:07 AM on January 28, 2008
If memory serves, that album also had Trigger Happy, which still makes me grin like a fool whenever I hear it.
posted by quin at 11:07 AM on January 28, 2008
1. Why does Donny have an enormous package?
2. My husband did those dances on our wedding day and wound up punching me in the nose accidentally.
3. Donny doesn't believe in oral sex. Sad.
posted by dasheekeejones at 4:46 PM on January 28, 2008
2. My husband did those dances on our wedding day and wound up punching me in the nose accidentally.
3. Donny doesn't believe in oral sex. Sad.
posted by dasheekeejones at 4:46 PM on January 28, 2008
Similar story to Ynoxas:
I saw Weird Al in concert about 15 years ago. The show was advertised, but for whatever reason - probably the venue - only several dozen people came. (The venue was an old department store that had been converted into an aerospace plant that had then been converted into a nightclub. It was one story, the ceilings were low, and it was way too big for what it was being used for. It was also in the middle of nowhere. This place didn't last long, of course.) So we all got up nice and close to the stage and were dancing and whooping and hollering and having a great time. They played a hell of a show too. At one point in the middle, Al stops between songs and says "This has always been my dream... to play in an abandoned warehouse in front of a couple of hundred people." We were worn out by the time the show was done. Hell of a show, and a great time.
posted by azpenguin at 7:32 PM on January 28, 2008
I saw Weird Al in concert about 15 years ago. The show was advertised, but for whatever reason - probably the venue - only several dozen people came. (The venue was an old department store that had been converted into an aerospace plant that had then been converted into a nightclub. It was one story, the ceilings were low, and it was way too big for what it was being used for. It was also in the middle of nowhere. This place didn't last long, of course.) So we all got up nice and close to the stage and were dancing and whooping and hollering and having a great time. They played a hell of a show too. At one point in the middle, Al stops between songs and says "This has always been my dream... to play in an abandoned warehouse in front of a couple of hundred people." We were worn out by the time the show was done. Hell of a show, and a great time.
posted by azpenguin at 7:32 PM on January 28, 2008
MC Pearly White brings the moves and then some. Way cool.
posted by Devils Slide at 8:53 PM on January 28, 2008
posted by Devils Slide at 8:53 PM on January 28, 2008
As for Weird Al, I never tire of his shtick. He's just a genuinely nice guy who, as quin said, actually likes the material he's parodying. And every artist whose music he's "covered" seems to like him and take his parody as a compliment. Everyone except Coolio, that is, but that's another story.
It's just nice to see a very nerdy seemingly unremarkable guy have such a long lasting career in music. The first thing that pops into my head when I think of Al is him on his knees on stage pouring lighter fluid on his accordion and fanning the flames a la Jimi. Gotta love him.
posted by Devils Slide at 9:07 PM on January 28, 2008
It's just nice to see a very nerdy seemingly unremarkable guy have such a long lasting career in music. The first thing that pops into my head when I think of Al is him on his knees on stage pouring lighter fluid on his accordion and fanning the flames a la Jimi. Gotta love him.
posted by Devils Slide at 9:07 PM on January 28, 2008
3. Donny doesn't believe in oral sex. Sad.
He doesn't believe in it? As in he doesn't think it exists, like Santa Claus?
posted by Ynoxas at 3:27 PM on January 29, 2008
He doesn't believe in it? As in he doesn't think it exists, like Santa Claus?
posted by Ynoxas at 3:27 PM on January 29, 2008
Jeez, ynoxas. Spoiler alert, next time.
posted by Dave Faris at 3:36 PM on January 29, 2008
posted by Dave Faris at 3:36 PM on January 29, 2008
Stop acting white, jb.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 7:41 AM on January 28 [+] [!]
I wasn't actually talking about nerd as in academically sucessful, but nerd as in, well, nerdy. I think everyone's popularity goes down with being nerdy - Star Trek conventions and Spock ears, that kind of nerdy. Actually, in addition to being somewhat integrated racially, Star Trek conventions are also one of the few social events I've been to that integrate developmentally disabled people to a degree. Not all nerdy people are smart - but all can be nerdy together.
posted by jb at 10:17 PM on January 29, 2008
posted by PeterMcDermott at 7:41 AM on January 28 [+] [!]
I wasn't actually talking about nerd as in academically sucessful, but nerd as in, well, nerdy. I think everyone's popularity goes down with being nerdy - Star Trek conventions and Spock ears, that kind of nerdy. Actually, in addition to being somewhat integrated racially, Star Trek conventions are also one of the few social events I've been to that integrate developmentally disabled people to a degree. Not all nerdy people are smart - but all can be nerdy together.
posted by jb at 10:17 PM on January 29, 2008
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posted by parmanparman at 1:44 PM on January 27, 2008