The Greatest Thing on The Internet... today...
February 26, 2014 12:04 PM Subscribe
He just wants to dance with somebody, feel the heat with somebody, dance with somebody who loves him.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 12:12 PM on February 26, 2014 [9 favorites]
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 12:12 PM on February 26, 2014 [9 favorites]
A little more background into why.
Short version, via Byrne: "in the U.S., unlike most other countries, performers don’t get paid when their work is played on radio. Many of us think this is a good time to change that"
posted by inigo2 at 12:21 PM on February 26, 2014 [4 favorites]
Short version, via Byrne: "in the U.S., unlike most other countries, performers don’t get paid when their work is played on radio. Many of us think this is a good time to change that"
posted by inigo2 at 12:21 PM on February 26, 2014 [4 favorites]
The video for the original Biz Markie song is also something you might want to see...
posted by neroli at 12:28 PM on February 26, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by neroli at 12:28 PM on February 26, 2014 [1 favorite]
The gasping dawn of realization from the crowd when they figure out what's happening. I could subsist on that and water indefinitely.
posted by 1adam12 at 12:31 PM on February 26, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by 1adam12 at 12:31 PM on February 26, 2014 [2 favorites]
I read too quickly and thought this was going to be David Bowie... That might be even better, come to think of it.
posted by skycrashesdown at 12:43 PM on February 26, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by skycrashesdown at 12:43 PM on February 26, 2014 [2 favorites]
The undeniable awesomeness of this aside, it's the exact opposite of why I like the original: decent rapping and terrible singing. It works. When the chorus is in key it's just wrong.
posted by jimmythefish at 12:46 PM on February 26, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by jimmythefish at 12:46 PM on February 26, 2014 [2 favorites]
Why is Biz Markie's awful singing so wonderful?
"Bennie and the Jets"
posted by neroli at 12:52 PM on February 26, 2014 [4 favorites]
"Bennie and the Jets"
posted by neroli at 12:52 PM on February 26, 2014 [4 favorites]
See also: Jeff Tweedy reading 'My Humps' and playing 'I Gotta Feeling'.
posted by jimmythefish at 12:53 PM on February 26, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by jimmythefish at 12:53 PM on February 26, 2014 [1 favorite]
Biz Markie's singing is wonderful because he's wonderful. It's just out of key enough to have that lovely, appealing flatting and he's consistent about it. Great performer, charisma to burn.
posted by jimmythefish at 1:00 PM on February 26, 2014 [6 favorites]
posted by jimmythefish at 1:00 PM on February 26, 2014 [6 favorites]
He just wants to dance with somebody, feel the heat with somebody, dance with somebody who loves him.
Calling this for the closing credits sequence for my scrappy indie flick about a banker and a manic pixie dream girl who run away to New Jersey and knock over a liquor store run by John Waters.
posted by Sara C. at 1:01 PM on February 26, 2014 [6 favorites]
Calling this for the closing credits sequence for my scrappy indie flick about a banker and a manic pixie dream girl who run away to New Jersey and knock over a liquor store run by John Waters.
posted by Sara C. at 1:01 PM on February 26, 2014 [6 favorites]
Calling this for the closing credits sequence for my scrappy indie flick about a banker and a manic pixie dream girl who run away to New Jersey and knock over a liquor store run by John Waters.
This is almost the exact plot of Something Wild which coincidentally features one of my favorite songs ever by David Byrne: Loco de Amor
posted by any major dude at 1:12 PM on February 26, 2014 [2 favorites]
Not to derail from the original video in the post, which is a fucking delight, but the "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" cover has made me ridiculously happy as well -- like bad-day-fixing happy.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 1:17 PM on February 26, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by MCMikeNamara at 1:17 PM on February 26, 2014 [2 favorites]
Wow, he looks pretty grandpa now. But in a good way! I'm putting good ol' David Byrne in the category of distinguished, playful, and goodhearted old men that also includes Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan. I hope they invite him to some of their playdates.
posted by painquale at 1:29 PM on February 26, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by painquale at 1:29 PM on February 26, 2014 [2 favorites]
I now have an awesome new song to sing at karaoke!
Thanks Metafilter!
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 1:49 PM on February 26, 2014
Thanks Metafilter!
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 1:49 PM on February 26, 2014
He's achieved avuncular-ness. Avuncularity?
posted by GrapeApiary at 1:50 PM on February 26, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by GrapeApiary at 1:50 PM on February 26, 2014 [1 favorite]
See also: Jeff Tweedy reading 'My Humps yt ' and playing 'I Gotta Feeling yt '.
Both are more deliberate, but I do like Joseph Gordon Levitt's version of "Ignition (Remix)" and Scout Niblett's quite different cover of "Just What I Needed".
posted by Going To Maine at 1:50 PM on February 26, 2014
Both are more deliberate, but I do like Joseph Gordon Levitt's version of "Ignition (Remix)" and Scout Niblett's quite different cover of "Just What I Needed".
posted by Going To Maine at 1:50 PM on February 26, 2014
Overalls?
posted by oddman at 2:02 PM on February 26, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by oddman at 2:02 PM on February 26, 2014 [3 favorites]
This is almost the exact plot of Something Wild which coincidentally features one of my favorite songs ever by David Byrne: Loco de Amor
Yes that's my exact point.
The Whitney Houston cover feels very much like something that would be in Something Wild.
posted by Sara C. at 2:32 PM on February 26, 2014 [1 favorite]
Yes that's my exact point.
The Whitney Houston cover feels very much like something that would be in Something Wild.
posted by Sara C. at 2:32 PM on February 26, 2014 [1 favorite]
There's also this gem from Senor Tweedy.
"...and that's a Toy Story quote!"
posted by pxe2000 at 3:08 PM on February 26, 2014
"...and that's a Toy Story quote!"
posted by pxe2000 at 3:08 PM on February 26, 2014
The Whitney Houston cover feels very much like something that would be in Something Wild.
really? also who would describe Melanie Griffin as a pixie? Are we talking about the same movie? I was also really hoping that you came up with that movie idea on your own because I really love straight laced guy/eccentric girl movies.
posted by any major dude at 3:19 PM on February 26, 2014
Previously, Jeff Goldblum and Biz Markie.
posted by running order squabble fest at 3:51 PM on February 26, 2014 [4 favorites]
posted by running order squabble fest at 3:51 PM on February 26, 2014 [4 favorites]
This was better than I was prepared for it to be.
I'd better go back and watch it again, because from what I could see, the guy had no flow and didn't even know the words -- which kinda suggested he didn't actually know the song so was performing it to make some political point.
Ah yes, it is a bit like karaoke insofar as he only really knows the chorus.
Thread delivers because of the Biz Markie clips though.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 3:58 PM on February 26, 2014 [2 favorites]
I'd better go back and watch it again, because from what I could see, the guy had no flow and didn't even know the words -- which kinda suggested he didn't actually know the song so was performing it to make some political point.
Ah yes, it is a bit like karaoke insofar as he only really knows the chorus.
Thread delivers because of the Biz Markie clips though.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 3:58 PM on February 26, 2014 [2 favorites]
Okay, running order squabble fest, your clip wins.
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 5:32 PM on February 26, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 5:32 PM on February 26, 2014 [1 favorite]
1adam12, most of us in the audience knew what was happening -- many got a newsletter from Byrne saying he was going to play it at the event. It was still the greatest thing, though.
should have known someone would get to this before I did. Here's the backgrounder I wrote out as a FPP anyway:
Former Talking Heads frontman David Byrne took the stage in New York City last night along with alt-country singer Tift Merritt, Cake lead singer John McCrea, has-played-with-abso-bloody-everyone favorite Marc Ribot, and a handful of other musicians and activists. The songs they played were well-known, but as the artists repeatedly emphasized, the hits had not made a cent off of radio play for the performers who had made them famous.
The concert/rally was staged to support Artists' Pay For Radio Play, a campaign aiming to raise awareness that the United States is one of a scant few countries worldwide which do not demand radio stations pay performers when playing their songs. The other countries, the campaign claims, are Iran, North Korea, China, Vietnam, and Rwanda. Interestingly, songwriters do get paid in the US for the same airplay, and streaming radio does pay (though not much) due to 1995 legislation. The system, called "voodoo math" by one performer, is defended by the likes of ClearChannel as "protecting local radio," as it would be radio stations that would need to pay up.
Many of the artists who have been most hurt by this arrangement over the years have been backup musicians and jazz musicians, leading the Jazz Foundation of America to get involved in addition to its usual work providing healthcare, housing, and emergency assistance to jazz musicians. The campaign is being mounted by the Content Creators Coalition, which also includes musicians' unions. Organizers urged attendees to sign a petition to change the law.
somehow I forgot to write about the overalls. THE OVERALLS.
posted by gusandrews at 5:34 PM on February 26, 2014 [3 favorites]
should have known someone would get to this before I did. Here's the backgrounder I wrote out as a FPP anyway:
Former Talking Heads frontman David Byrne took the stage in New York City last night along with alt-country singer Tift Merritt, Cake lead singer John McCrea, has-played-with-abso-bloody-everyone favorite Marc Ribot, and a handful of other musicians and activists. The songs they played were well-known, but as the artists repeatedly emphasized, the hits had not made a cent off of radio play for the performers who had made them famous.
The concert/rally was staged to support Artists' Pay For Radio Play, a campaign aiming to raise awareness that the United States is one of a scant few countries worldwide which do not demand radio stations pay performers when playing their songs. The other countries, the campaign claims, are Iran, North Korea, China, Vietnam, and Rwanda. Interestingly, songwriters do get paid in the US for the same airplay, and streaming radio does pay (though not much) due to 1995 legislation. The system, called "voodoo math" by one performer, is defended by the likes of ClearChannel as "protecting local radio," as it would be radio stations that would need to pay up.
Many of the artists who have been most hurt by this arrangement over the years have been backup musicians and jazz musicians, leading the Jazz Foundation of America to get involved in addition to its usual work providing healthcare, housing, and emergency assistance to jazz musicians. The campaign is being mounted by the Content Creators Coalition, which also includes musicians' unions. Organizers urged attendees to sign a petition to change the law.
somehow I forgot to write about the overalls. THE OVERALLS.
posted by gusandrews at 5:34 PM on February 26, 2014 [3 favorites]
My favorite part of Saint's Row IV (skip to Just a Friend).
posted by dirigibleman at 5:38 PM on February 26, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by dirigibleman at 5:38 PM on February 26, 2014 [3 favorites]
Biz Markie's singing is wonderful because he's wonderful. It's just out of key enough to have that lovely, appealing flatting and he's consistent about it. Great performer, charisma to burn.
Authenticity is compelling. Look at him in that video. He's not winking to the audience; he's not ashamed, and he's not bragging; he's just delivering it in the way he does, well enough to be listened to without cringing but badly enough that you figure singing along would only improve it, so you want to.
posted by davejay at 6:29 PM on February 26, 2014 [4 favorites]
Authenticity is compelling. Look at him in that video. He's not winking to the audience; he's not ashamed, and he's not bragging; he's just delivering it in the way he does, well enough to be listened to without cringing but badly enough that you figure singing along would only improve it, so you want to.
posted by davejay at 6:29 PM on February 26, 2014 [4 favorites]
I say that with the absolute top level of respect deserved, by the way.
posted by davejay at 6:32 PM on February 26, 2014
posted by davejay at 6:32 PM on February 26, 2014
Why does Jeff Goldblum know how to play Biz Markie songs? Now my head hurts.
posted by MarvinTheCat at 9:56 PM on February 26, 2014
posted by MarvinTheCat at 9:56 PM on February 26, 2014
"in the U.S., unlike most other countries, performers don’t get paid when their work is played on radio. Many of us think this is a good time to change that"
That has been a major part of Record Companies' Business Model since long before I was in the Radio Biz in the 1970s & 80s... it considered the Radio Business to be providing nothing but free advertising for its product. Meanwhile, Music Publishers, through ASCAP and BMI, did collect performance royalties for songwriters (with the help of some often-annoying recordkeeping). It made no sense to me then, but, hey, it helped make the early Talking Heads records into million-selling hits, right? Who knows WHAT radio would have sounded like over the last 60+ years if spinning records had not been the absolutely cheapest programming they could do...
posted by oneswellfoop at 10:12 PM on February 26, 2014
That has been a major part of Record Companies' Business Model since long before I was in the Radio Biz in the 1970s & 80s... it considered the Radio Business to be providing nothing but free advertising for its product. Meanwhile, Music Publishers, through ASCAP and BMI, did collect performance royalties for songwriters (with the help of some often-annoying recordkeeping). It made no sense to me then, but, hey, it helped make the early Talking Heads records into million-selling hits, right? Who knows WHAT radio would have sounded like over the last 60+ years if spinning records had not been the absolutely cheapest programming they could do...
posted by oneswellfoop at 10:12 PM on February 26, 2014
which kinda suggested he didn't actually know the song so was performing it to make some political point.
I mean, that's exactly why he was performing it.
posted by inigo2 at 6:59 AM on February 27, 2014 [1 favorite]
I mean, that's exactly why he was performing it.
posted by inigo2 at 6:59 AM on February 27, 2014 [1 favorite]
When I become wealthy, I will hire David Byrne to come and sing every single song I own. Who wouldn't want to hear his version of "When the Levee Breaks"?
posted by Chrysostom at 8:27 AM on March 4, 2014
posted by Chrysostom at 8:27 AM on March 4, 2014
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posted by ColdChef at 12:10 PM on February 26, 2014 [1 favorite]