DON'T BLOW THIS FOR US, GENE
April 8, 2021 5:40 AM Subscribe
“Every time I heard ‘(Don’t Fear) The Reaper’ by Blue Öyster Cult, I would hear the faint cowbell in the background and wonder, ‘What’s THAT guy’s life like??’” — Will Ferrell
Twenty-one years ago today, "More Cowbell" aired on SNL.
Twenty-one years ago today, "More Cowbell" aired on SNL.
As far as I can tell, this is the first mention of More Cowbell on MeFi. Usual amount of link rot- here's a contemporary Web Archive entry for the linked Cowbell Project.
posted by zamboni at 6:11 AM on April 8, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by zamboni at 6:11 AM on April 8, 2021 [2 favorites]
Metafilter: Needs more cowbell.
posted by Hardcore Poser at 6:14 AM on April 8, 2021 [6 favorites]
posted by Hardcore Poser at 6:14 AM on April 8, 2021 [6 favorites]
"Needs more cowbell" - a phrase tossed at musicians and crew on a regular basis - has gone from, "Yeah, ha ha, that was a pretty funny skit" to saying that with a pained smile and thinking, "oh god please no that was funny the first 35,000 times I heard it" to a sort of meta-humor where using the phrase amongst musicians and crew is itself funny not only because it references the original skit (which is funny) but the sheer absurdity of the number of times we've all heard the phrase.
posted by soundguy99 at 6:31 AM on April 8, 2021 [29 favorites]
posted by soundguy99 at 6:31 AM on April 8, 2021 [29 favorites]
So what you're saying is, there's a fine line between clever, and stupid?
posted by thelonius at 6:42 AM on April 8, 2021 [21 favorites]
posted by thelonius at 6:42 AM on April 8, 2021 [21 favorites]
The Wikipedia article is great. “Despite the fact that Frenkle is fictional, fans occasionally express their sympathies to Blue Öyster Cult over his death.”
posted by oulipian at 6:51 AM on April 8, 2021 [14 favorites]
posted by oulipian at 6:51 AM on April 8, 2021 [14 favorites]
Then there was the time Ben & Jerry and Jon Fishman helped put together the world's largest cowbell ensemble in Burlington, Vermont.
posted by bondcliff at 6:54 AM on April 8, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by bondcliff at 6:54 AM on April 8, 2021 [2 favorites]
I got a fever.
posted by mhoye at 7:05 AM on April 8, 2021 [14 favorites]
posted by mhoye at 7:05 AM on April 8, 2021 [14 favorites]
A couple of years ago, in a rehearsal of a piece of music with a large and interesting percussion section, I wasn't hearing a particular percussionist's part in one passage, and had to ask her to play out some so that her part was more audible in the overall texture.
(In contemporary, composed music for larger ensembles, the percussion parts are typically multi-instrument set-ups, with each player assigned a part (i.e., Percussion IV) that may utilize 8 or 10 (or more) different instruments at different times. So usually, when making such a request from the podium, I identify the player by name and ask them to adjust their part at a specific point in the music, but I also say the specific instrument, rather than just 'the percussion part,' as in, "hey, name, could you bring out the instrument at measure numbers?" or something similar.)
You know what's coming: the part she was playing, too quietly at that moment, was a part for cowbell. After two decades of this joke kicking around, especially being dropped in all sorts of rehearsal contexts, I actually got to legitimately tell a student that I needed to hear more cowbell. And the rehearsal was absolutely ruined for the next few minutes, it was one of the best musical moments of our lives and every student seemed to know this SNL sketch, even though most of them were babies when it first aired.
Some things abide, and "more cowbell" is one of them.
posted by LooseFilter at 7:16 AM on April 8, 2021 [99 favorites]
(In contemporary, composed music for larger ensembles, the percussion parts are typically multi-instrument set-ups, with each player assigned a part (i.e., Percussion IV) that may utilize 8 or 10 (or more) different instruments at different times. So usually, when making such a request from the podium, I identify the player by name and ask them to adjust their part at a specific point in the music, but I also say the specific instrument, rather than just 'the percussion part,' as in, "hey, name, could you bring out the instrument at measure numbers?" or something similar.)
You know what's coming: the part she was playing, too quietly at that moment, was a part for cowbell. After two decades of this joke kicking around, especially being dropped in all sorts of rehearsal contexts, I actually got to legitimately tell a student that I needed to hear more cowbell. And the rehearsal was absolutely ruined for the next few minutes, it was one of the best musical moments of our lives and every student seemed to know this SNL sketch, even though most of them were babies when it first aired.
Some things abide, and "more cowbell" is one of them.
posted by LooseFilter at 7:16 AM on April 8, 2021 [99 favorites]
has gone from, "Yeah, ha ha, that was a pretty funny skit" to saying that with a pained smile and thinking, "oh god please no that was funny the first 35,000 times I heard it" to a sort of meta-humor where using the phrase amongst musicians and crew is itself funny not only because it references the original skit (which is funny) but the sheer absurdity of the number of times we've all heard the phrase.
... not to mention the band Blue Oyster Cult itself, who well -- that's all the mention they get for the most part. The more cowbell song, the one about Godzilla (and how history tells us again and again how nature points out the folly of men) ... and maybe Burning For You. Which, of course, is all part of the ruse. Because what's really going on is ... well ...
Sandy Pearlman, Black Sabbath, the Clash, Patti Smith, Process Church of the Final Judgment, Son of Sam, Sovereign Order of Saint John, Warlock Shoppe, Peter Levenda, Wicca, Charles Manson, Operation Gladio, Christian Identity, stay-behind armies, drugs, Nazis, meth, speed, Gordon Kahl, UFOs, Sirius, Men in Black, Minot, cults. 1974. Amitiyville Horror, Long Island, Roy Radin, Cotton Club murders, John Dee, scrying, Vodoun, Spinal Tap
posted by philip-random at 7:18 AM on April 8, 2021 [5 favorites]
... not to mention the band Blue Oyster Cult itself, who well -- that's all the mention they get for the most part. The more cowbell song, the one about Godzilla (and how history tells us again and again how nature points out the folly of men) ... and maybe Burning For You. Which, of course, is all part of the ruse. Because what's really going on is ... well ...
Sandy Pearlman, Black Sabbath, the Clash, Patti Smith, Process Church of the Final Judgment, Son of Sam, Sovereign Order of Saint John, Warlock Shoppe, Peter Levenda, Wicca, Charles Manson, Operation Gladio, Christian Identity, stay-behind armies, drugs, Nazis, meth, speed, Gordon Kahl, UFOs, Sirius, Men in Black, Minot, cults. 1974. Amitiyville Horror, Long Island, Roy Radin, Cotton Club murders, John Dee, scrying, Vodoun, Spinal Tap
posted by philip-random at 7:18 AM on April 8, 2021 [5 favorites]
This video is for all of us who have longed to have our expertise in cow bells, triangles, and the like not just necessary, but encouraged. No more wall flowering while trying to look part of the group for us!
One day, I will hear the magic words, 'needs more badly played penny whistle', and my moment will have come.
posted by lesbiassparrow at 7:18 AM on April 8, 2021 [21 favorites]
One day, I will hear the magic words, 'needs more badly played penny whistle', and my moment will have come.
posted by lesbiassparrow at 7:18 AM on April 8, 2021 [21 favorites]
First time I've watched that video since it broadcast. Maybe ever. Of course I know it intimately as does everyone. Still on watching I notice three things.
posted by Nelson at 7:20 AM on April 8, 2021 [12 favorites]
- It's yet another stupid SNL "we only have one punchline" skit. The show is full of these. The line is funny and then they use it again and again and well isn't that special?
- And yet it's hilarious because Walken is delivering the line in trademark deadpan style. Also he gets to escalate to the "I've got a fever" line which is dopey as can be and yet hilarious.
- Will Ferrell sells the hell out of this performance. You know it's gonna be good the moment you see the costume, the too-tight jeans, the shirt pulled up over his belly. And in the second take when he starts, I dunno, belly-dancing with that cowbell all the wheels come off and it is a moment of pure horror and hilarity.
posted by Nelson at 7:20 AM on April 8, 2021 [12 favorites]
You know what has never gotten its due is the vibraslap.
posted by thelonius at 7:31 AM on April 8, 2021 [16 favorites]
posted by thelonius at 7:31 AM on April 8, 2021 [16 favorites]
Frankly it goes on too long
You already said it was an SNL sketch. ;)
posted by xedrik at 7:44 AM on April 8, 2021 [15 favorites]
You already said it was an SNL sketch. ;)
posted by xedrik at 7:44 AM on April 8, 2021 [15 favorites]
So what you're saying is, there's a fine line between clever, and stupid
goddamnit thelonius
posted by soundguy99 at 7:45 AM on April 8, 2021 [4 favorites]
goddamnit thelonius
posted by soundguy99 at 7:45 AM on April 8, 2021 [4 favorites]
Filming that must have been deafening, since the other instruments seem to be turned down pretty low and Farrell is beating the heck out of it. Plus Jimmy Fallon in the back dropping character like always.
posted by The_Vegetables at 7:47 AM on April 8, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by The_Vegetables at 7:47 AM on April 8, 2021 [2 favorites]
I do recall reading somewhere that leading up to dress rehearsal, the sketch wasn't quite working, and at the last minute Ferrell changed wardrobe to a shirt that was a couple of sizes too small, and the change in audience reaction was immediate. His intuition that the bit needed for him to be visually ridiculous, too, is really sublime.
(That kind of perfect comedic insight reminds me of the story John Cleese tells about "co-writing" Monty Python's famous Dead Parrot sketch with Graham Chapman: he rewrote an old bit they'd done about a mechanic, and then pitched it to Chapman as set in a pet store and about a dog. Cleese said that Chapman sat and listened impassively through his entire reading of the draft and when he was done, took his pipe from his mouth and simply said "make it a dead parrot." And that was the only change he suggested, but it was so perfect and made the bit so perfectly absurd, that a comedy gem was born.)
posted by LooseFilter at 7:50 AM on April 8, 2021 [23 favorites]
(That kind of perfect comedic insight reminds me of the story John Cleese tells about "co-writing" Monty Python's famous Dead Parrot sketch with Graham Chapman: he rewrote an old bit they'd done about a mechanic, and then pitched it to Chapman as set in a pet store and about a dog. Cleese said that Chapman sat and listened impassively through his entire reading of the draft and when he was done, took his pipe from his mouth and simply said "make it a dead parrot." And that was the only change he suggested, but it was so perfect and made the bit so perfectly absurd, that a comedy gem was born.)
posted by LooseFilter at 7:50 AM on April 8, 2021 [23 favorites]
I came here to bring up the time Will Ferrell played the cowbell when Weezer was the musical guest,
Technically that was not Ferrell but Gene Frenkle. It's a Miley/Hannah sort of deal.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:50 AM on April 8, 2021 [4 favorites]
Technically that was not Ferrell but Gene Frenkle. It's a Miley/Hannah sort of deal.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:50 AM on April 8, 2021 [4 favorites]
Sandy Pearlman, Black Sabbath, the Clash, Patti Smith, Process Church of the Final Judgment, Son of Sam, Sovereign Order of Saint John, Warlock Shoppe, Peter Levenda, Wicca, Charles Manson, Operation Gladio...
🎵 We didn't start the fire 🎵
posted by ZaphodB at 7:54 AM on April 8, 2021 [20 favorites]
🎵 We didn't start the fire 🎵
posted by ZaphodB at 7:54 AM on April 8, 2021 [20 favorites]
... not to mention the band Blue Oyster Cult itself, who well -- that's all the mention they get for the most part. The more cowbell song, the one about Godzilla (and how history tells us again and again how nature points out the folly of men) ... and maybe Burning For You. Which, of course, is all part of the ruse. Because what's really going on is ... well ...
I considered scanning the recent, print only article in Third Man Records' "Maggot Brain" about BOC using an early consumer dot matrix printer to provide fans sending them a self-addressed stamped envelope w/lyrics sheets for 1973's "Tyranny and Mutation" for an FPP. They're a genuine cult band, and there's a lot going on there.
posted by ryanshepard at 8:16 AM on April 8, 2021 [6 favorites]
I considered scanning the recent, print only article in Third Man Records' "Maggot Brain" about BOC using an early consumer dot matrix printer to provide fans sending them a self-addressed stamped envelope w/lyrics sheets for 1973's "Tyranny and Mutation" for an FPP. They're a genuine cult band, and there's a lot going on there.
posted by ryanshepard at 8:16 AM on April 8, 2021 [6 favorites]
... and there's a book coming out soon.
Flaming Telepaths -- Imaginos Expanded and Specified
In 1967, a now deceased prophet known as Memphis Sam—H.P. Lovecraft reincarnated—wrote the rough outline of a cryptid-encrypted tall tale purported to explain the occult origins of World War I.
Five years later, a band called Blue Öyster Cult would begin disseminating pieces of the story across their albums, with the biggest data dump coming in 1988, on a record of theirs called Imaginos.
posted by philip-random at 8:25 AM on April 8, 2021 [4 favorites]
Flaming Telepaths -- Imaginos Expanded and Specified
In 1967, a now deceased prophet known as Memphis Sam—H.P. Lovecraft reincarnated—wrote the rough outline of a cryptid-encrypted tall tale purported to explain the occult origins of World War I.
Five years later, a band called Blue Öyster Cult would begin disseminating pieces of the story across their albums, with the biggest data dump coming in 1988, on a record of theirs called Imaginos.
posted by philip-random at 8:25 AM on April 8, 2021 [4 favorites]
I'm more surprised that Will Ferrell regularly heard Blue Oyster Cult.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 8:46 AM on April 8, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 8:46 AM on April 8, 2021 [1 favorite]
Dumb question - is there an article that was supposed to be linked to that quote from Will Ferrel?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:53 AM on April 8, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:53 AM on April 8, 2021 [2 favorites]
That song was forever linked in my head with the chilling opening scene from the miniseries of The Stand. Until this came along, and it wasn't anymore.
posted by Mchelly at 9:05 AM on April 8, 2021 [7 favorites]
posted by Mchelly at 9:05 AM on April 8, 2021 [7 favorites]
I can think of one quote Christopher Walken has endured hearing far far more than enough in airports.
Talk about the labors of Hercules...
posted by y2karl at 9:09 AM on April 8, 2021
Talk about the labors of Hercules...
posted by y2karl at 9:09 AM on April 8, 2021
Yeah the whole cowbell thing, but really the clinching moment for me is Walken's "GUESS WHAT!"
posted by schoolgirl report at 9:22 AM on April 8, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by schoolgirl report at 9:22 AM on April 8, 2021 [1 favorite]
I've never really loved the sketch but I do love how it highlights and mocks in a kinda-sorta affectionate way the importance of what we usually think of as the crap instruments. All those touring bands that have a cowbell player or a claves player (somebody literally just whacking two sticks together) who don't do anything else because that's their job. Do they make a career in the top-flight ensembles being a fucking amazing claves player, or is claves kind of the entry instrument you play hoping someday to get promoted to congas, or do groups just pick up a local cowbell player in every town they have shows? There is a lot of mystery in the small parts of the percussion section and it requires a documentary or at least an oral history.
posted by ardgedee at 9:33 AM on April 8, 2021 [9 favorites]
posted by ardgedee at 9:33 AM on April 8, 2021 [9 favorites]
So what you're saying is, there's a fine line between clever, and stupid?
And the fine is too inconsequential for me to not cross it on the regular!
posted by srboisvert at 9:38 AM on April 8, 2021 [2 favorites]
And the fine is too inconsequential for me to not cross it on the regular!
posted by srboisvert at 9:38 AM on April 8, 2021 [2 favorites]
ardgedee: I'd like to introduce you to Bez of Happy Mondays.
posted by kuanes at 9:43 AM on April 8, 2021 [5 favorites]
posted by kuanes at 9:43 AM on April 8, 2021 [5 favorites]
Not sure I’ve seen bands with dedicated claves players. It’s more often to give a backup singer, or musician without a part for their instrument in this song, something to do with their hands. It’s usually a tambourine, though.
posted by sjswitzer at 9:47 AM on April 8, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by sjswitzer at 9:47 AM on April 8, 2021 [1 favorite]
Come to think of it Bob Nastanovich played a role similar to Bez for Pavement.
posted by sjswitzer at 10:02 AM on April 8, 2021
posted by sjswitzer at 10:02 AM on April 8, 2021
Plus Jimmy Fallon in the back dropping character like always.
There's a reason he was hidden in the back. Before helping promote Trump, he was also known for frequently corpsing and annoying fellow SNL cast along the way.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 10:09 AM on April 8, 2021 [8 favorites]
There's a reason he was hidden in the back. Before helping promote Trump, he was also known for frequently corpsing and annoying fellow SNL cast along the way.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 10:09 AM on April 8, 2021 [8 favorites]
Jimmy Fallon absolutely cannot keep it together in this sketch. I don't know whether I love or hate that a significant portion of the SNL cast can't make it through their own skits.
posted by GuyZero at 10:15 AM on April 8, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by GuyZero at 10:15 AM on April 8, 2021 [3 favorites]
There's a reason he was hidden in the back. Before helping promote Trump, he was also known for frequently corpsing and annoying fellow SNL cast along the way.
Hader was 10x worse at not laughing than Fallon ever was.
posted by sideshow at 10:36 AM on April 8, 2021 [1 favorite]
Hader was 10x worse at not laughing than Fallon ever was.
posted by sideshow at 10:36 AM on April 8, 2021 [1 favorite]
Hader was 10x worse at not laughing than Fallon ever was
Hader has the benefit of actually being funny, though.
posted by hanov3r at 10:50 AM on April 8, 2021 [24 favorites]
Hader has the benefit of actually being funny, though.
posted by hanov3r at 10:50 AM on April 8, 2021 [24 favorites]
"Honky Tonk Woman" turns away, a single bitter tear coursing down its cheek: "It should have been me, damnit."
posted by Halloween Jack at 10:51 AM on April 8, 2021 [5 favorites]
posted by Halloween Jack at 10:51 AM on April 8, 2021 [5 favorites]
There is a lot of mystery in the small parts of the percussion section and it requires a documentary or at least an oral history.
Accessory Percussion Specialists: Unsung Heroes of Music
posted by LooseFilter at 10:55 AM on April 8, 2021
Accessory Percussion Specialists: Unsung Heroes of Music
posted by LooseFilter at 10:55 AM on April 8, 2021
ok I had actually never seen the cowbell sketch before. snerk. I have now!!
posted by supermedusa at 10:55 AM on April 8, 2021
posted by supermedusa at 10:55 AM on April 8, 2021
Hader was 10x worse at not laughing than Fallon ever was.
Though Hader often broke during bits designed to make him break, like the Stefon character (with Mulaney writing surprise jokes that Hader would see for the first time on air, as he was saying them).
posted by LooseFilter at 10:57 AM on April 8, 2021 [13 favorites]
Though Hader often broke during bits designed to make him break, like the Stefon character (with Mulaney writing surprise jokes that Hader would see for the first time on air, as he was saying them).
posted by LooseFilter at 10:57 AM on April 8, 2021 [13 favorites]
In a household where both of us play percussion, it is of course legendary.
Maybe this is a good topic for an Ask, but I never understood why Jimmy Fallon was used as a performer so much. It's not like the show was shy about firing people. By all accounts he's a good writer, but especially in this sketch he's unfunny and his breaking character is extremely distracting. Why not keep the guy in the writers room or get rid of him altogether?
posted by wnissen at 11:08 AM on April 8, 2021 [3 favorites]
Maybe this is a good topic for an Ask, but I never understood why Jimmy Fallon was used as a performer so much. It's not like the show was shy about firing people. By all accounts he's a good writer, but especially in this sketch he's unfunny and his breaking character is extremely distracting. Why not keep the guy in the writers room or get rid of him altogether?
posted by wnissen at 11:08 AM on April 8, 2021 [3 favorites]
All those touring bands that have a cowbell player or a claves player (somebody literally just whacking two sticks together) who don't do anything else because that's their job.
Rex Stardust, lead electric triangle for Toad the Wet Sprocket...
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 11:15 AM on April 8, 2021 [3 favorites]
Rex Stardust, lead electric triangle for Toad the Wet Sprocket...
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 11:15 AM on April 8, 2021 [3 favorites]
I can give a shot at explaining Fallon's appeal, and/or why breaking character isn't the worst thing that can happen. Clearly, his breaking did nothing to prevent this sketch, for example, from becoming one of the best-known SNL sketches of all time.
What a comedian breaking character does, in a sketch or improv situation, is to provide the audience with a viewpoint character. You are Jimmy and Jimmy is you, cracking up at the comedy being presented. It's like a big finger pointing right at the humor. You can worry that people will look at the finger, not the humor, and sometimes that does happen, but it's just as likely or more so that people will follow the finger and be carried along by the breaking performer's infectious enthusiasm.
It's also an example of somebody failing at their job, publicly, which has a slapstick sort of humor all by itself.
Essentially, suspension of disbelief is not the most important thing in comedy.
posted by slappy_pinchbottom at 11:25 AM on April 8, 2021 [15 favorites]
What a comedian breaking character does, in a sketch or improv situation, is to provide the audience with a viewpoint character. You are Jimmy and Jimmy is you, cracking up at the comedy being presented. It's like a big finger pointing right at the humor. You can worry that people will look at the finger, not the humor, and sometimes that does happen, but it's just as likely or more so that people will follow the finger and be carried along by the breaking performer's infectious enthusiasm.
It's also an example of somebody failing at their job, publicly, which has a slapstick sort of humor all by itself.
Essentially, suspension of disbelief is not the most important thing in comedy.
posted by slappy_pinchbottom at 11:25 AM on April 8, 2021 [15 favorites]
I'm too much of a rock music pedant to get on board with this skit. The guitars are all wrong. No one looks like Buck Dharma or Eric Bloom. Farrell is a fun kind of silly and Walken does well, but this is no David S Pumpkins or Wayne's World Madonna.
posted by Ber at 11:32 AM on April 8, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by Ber at 11:32 AM on April 8, 2021 [4 favorites]
All those touring bands that have a cowbell player or a claves player (somebody literally just whacking two sticks together) who don't do anything else because that's their job.
Yeah, sometimes you end up with that person who is so much a part of your band that you can’t really imagine it without them, but they don’t play an instrument so you find some way for them to be a part of it all. Sometimes their enthusiasm and understanding of the music and triangle skills are enough.
posted by corey flood at 11:55 AM on April 8, 2021 [2 favorites]
Yeah, sometimes you end up with that person who is so much a part of your band that you can’t really imagine it without them, but they don’t play an instrument so you find some way for them to be a part of it all. Sometimes their enthusiasm and understanding of the music and triangle skills are enough.
posted by corey flood at 11:55 AM on April 8, 2021 [2 favorites]
The guitars are all wrong
Blue Öyster Cult isn't even a German band! What a scam
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 12:11 PM on April 8, 2021 [4 favorites]
Blue Öyster Cult isn't even a German band! What a scam
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 12:11 PM on April 8, 2021 [4 favorites]
Yeah, sometimes you end up with that person who is so much a part of your band that you can’t really imagine it without them, but they don’t play an instrument so you find some way for them to be a part of it all.
I've always wanted to be this person, but never managed to pull it off.
posted by MrJM at 12:14 PM on April 8, 2021 [3 favorites]
I've always wanted to be this person, but never managed to pull it off.
posted by MrJM at 12:14 PM on April 8, 2021 [3 favorites]
Blue Öyster Cult isn't even a German band! What a scam
I've never even seen a non white oyster.
posted by Reasonably Everything Happens at 12:28 PM on April 8, 2021 [1 favorite]
I like this skit. Christopher Walken's approach, affable seriousness, really works for me, and Will Farrell is at his finest when he is COMMITTING to some ridiculous embarrassing thing.
But also, as a music pedant myself, it has always bugged me that the name of the producer Walken is playing is Bruce Dickinson. Bruce Dickinson is also the name of lead singer of Iron Maiden. In the context of metal (metal adjacent, I guess?) musicians/producers it's just weirdly distracting to me. BÖC and Maiden are too close on the family tree of music for that not to short circuit my brain.
And and and! There are lots of songs with, ahem, more cowbell. Like, Hair of the Dog was sitting right there! I get that Blue Öyster Cult is intrinsically funny, and Don't Fear The Reaper is a stone banger, but still.
posted by dirtdirt at 12:30 PM on April 8, 2021 [4 favorites]
But also, as a music pedant myself, it has always bugged me that the name of the producer Walken is playing is Bruce Dickinson. Bruce Dickinson is also the name of lead singer of Iron Maiden. In the context of metal (metal adjacent, I guess?) musicians/producers it's just weirdly distracting to me. BÖC and Maiden are too close on the family tree of music for that not to short circuit my brain.
And and and! There are lots of songs with, ahem, more cowbell. Like, Hair of the Dog was sitting right there! I get that Blue Öyster Cult is intrinsically funny, and Don't Fear The Reaper is a stone banger, but still.
posted by dirtdirt at 12:30 PM on April 8, 2021 [4 favorites]
"Needs more cowbell" - a phrase tossed at musicians and crew on a regular basis - has gone from, "Yeah, ha ha, that was a pretty funny skit" to saying that with a pained smile and thinking, "oh god please no that was funny the first 35,000 times I heard it" to a sort of meta-humor where using the phrase amongst musicians and crew is itself funny not only because it references the original skit (which is funny) but the sheer absurdity of the number of times we've all heard the phrase.
Interesting. So it seems "More Cowbell!" is to Millennials what "Play Freebird!" was to Generation X.
posted by Atom Eyes at 12:31 PM on April 8, 2021 [10 favorites]
Interesting. So it seems "More Cowbell!" is to Millennials what "Play Freebird!" was to Generation X.
posted by Atom Eyes at 12:31 PM on April 8, 2021 [10 favorites]
"Honky Tonk Woman" turns away, a single bitter tear coursing down its cheek: "It should have been me, damnit."
"Mississippi Queen" sighs, thinks "I could have been a contender..."
posted by Nat "King" Cole Porter Wagoner at 12:53 PM on April 8, 2021 [7 favorites]
"Mississippi Queen" sighs, thinks "I could have been a contender..."
posted by Nat "King" Cole Porter Wagoner at 12:53 PM on April 8, 2021 [7 favorites]
"Play Freebird!"
I heard a story about a band who learned it, and, when this happened, they would whip it out, about 8 minutes of it. They left it to their audiences to discipline offenders.
posted by thelonius at 12:58 PM on April 8, 2021 [6 favorites]
I heard a story about a band who learned it, and, when this happened, they would whip it out, about 8 minutes of it. They left it to their audiences to discipline offenders.
posted by thelonius at 12:58 PM on April 8, 2021 [6 favorites]
🎵 We didn't start the fire 🎵
Okay, then I'll just mark it down as a fire of unknown origin.
posted by Sys Rq at 2:03 PM on April 8, 2021 [12 favorites]
Okay, then I'll just mark it down as a fire of unknown origin.
posted by Sys Rq at 2:03 PM on April 8, 2021 [12 favorites]
Then there's the time Ferrell revisited his cowbell on top of a limo in the epic 30 minute Beastie Boys Fight For Your Right (Revisited). (Around the 11:45 minute mark at this link.) I think that was one of MCA's final videos, and it is just the best.
posted by heyitsgogi at 2:15 PM on April 8, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by heyitsgogi at 2:15 PM on April 8, 2021 [3 favorites]
Yeah the whole cowbell thing, but really the clinching moment for me is Walken's "GUESS WHAT!"
I'm partial to Horatio Sanz's "He speaks for all of us."
posted by AndrewInDC at 2:25 PM on April 8, 2021 [2 favorites]
I'm partial to Horatio Sanz's "He speaks for all of us."
posted by AndrewInDC at 2:25 PM on April 8, 2021 [2 favorites]
I feel the need to share, about "on a record of theirs called Imaginos"
The record did have a couple re-orchestrated-and-performed versions of two of the songs from the Secret Treaties album: "Astronomy" and "Subhuman" (retitled as "Blue Oyster Cult").
When they changed the arrangement to "Subhuman," makign it slower, they put in the ending two sets of chants: "We understand, we understand" and "Bluue Oyster Cuuuult". (Around 5:55 here )
I don't know if it was deliberate, but the way they sing "Bluue Oyster Cuuuult" sounded enough to me like "threee-hour touuur" from Gilligan's Island, when I first heard this in 1990 or so, that it's been stuck in my head as that ever since.
I pointed it out later to other friends of mine, which devolved into inserting "Blue Oyster Cult" into other song's lyrics.
My one friend won the battle, responding via e-mail:
"Jeremiah was a bullfrog
Was a good friend of mine.
Never understood a single word he said
But I helped him drink his wine.
And he always had some mighty fine wine.
Singin
Bluuue Oyster Cult.
Bluuue Oyster Cuuult.
Soft White Underbelly was their touring name.
Blue Oyster Cult."
posted by Mutant Lobsters from Riverhead at 2:40 PM on April 8, 2021 [6 favorites]
The record did have a couple re-orchestrated-and-performed versions of two of the songs from the Secret Treaties album: "Astronomy" and "Subhuman" (retitled as "Blue Oyster Cult").
When they changed the arrangement to "Subhuman," makign it slower, they put in the ending two sets of chants: "We understand, we understand" and "Bluue Oyster Cuuuult". (Around 5:55 here )
I don't know if it was deliberate, but the way they sing "Bluue Oyster Cuuuult" sounded enough to me like "threee-hour touuur" from Gilligan's Island, when I first heard this in 1990 or so, that it's been stuck in my head as that ever since.
I pointed it out later to other friends of mine, which devolved into inserting "Blue Oyster Cult" into other song's lyrics.
My one friend won the battle, responding via e-mail:
"Jeremiah was a bullfrog
Was a good friend of mine.
Never understood a single word he said
But I helped him drink his wine.
And he always had some mighty fine wine.
Singin
Bluuue Oyster Cult.
Bluuue Oyster Cuuult.
Soft White Underbelly was their touring name.
Blue Oyster Cult."
posted by Mutant Lobsters from Riverhead at 2:40 PM on April 8, 2021 [6 favorites]
I haven’t given much thought to Blue Öyster Cult in decades so I looked up their Wikipedia page. Apparently they did several collaborations with Patti Smith and were the first to use ersatz umlauts in their band name.
posted by sjswitzer at 2:56 PM on April 8, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by sjswitzer at 2:56 PM on April 8, 2021 [1 favorite]
So it seems "More Cowbell!" is to Millennials what "Play Freebird!" was to Generation X.
Rolling your eyes at cliches yelled at you by the audience transcends generations. Millennials & Gen Z definitely know all about "Freebird!"
posted by soundguy99 at 2:57 PM on April 8, 2021 [3 favorites]
Rolling your eyes at cliches yelled at you by the audience transcends generations. Millennials & Gen Z definitely know all about "Freebird!"
posted by soundguy99 at 2:57 PM on April 8, 2021 [3 favorites]
What bums me out about this sketch is Walken so clearly reading off of cue cards. (see also any SNL where Robert DeNiro is the host)...
Be a professional, read the fucking script ahead of time.
posted by Windopaene at 3:29 PM on April 8, 2021
Be a professional, read the fucking script ahead of time.
posted by Windopaene at 3:29 PM on April 8, 2021
I reserve "ërsätz ümläüts" as my sock puppet / band name.
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 3:31 PM on April 8, 2021 [11 favorites]
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 3:31 PM on April 8, 2021 [11 favorites]
Be a professional, read the fucking script ahead of time
Apparently Lorne Michaels discourages the hosts from memorizing scripts, as the sketches are often being rewritten and revised right up to airtime.
posted by Atom Eyes at 3:36 PM on April 8, 2021 [5 favorites]
Apparently Lorne Michaels discourages the hosts from memorizing scripts, as the sketches are often being rewritten and revised right up to airtime.
posted by Atom Eyes at 3:36 PM on April 8, 2021 [5 favorites]
BOC released a song during the pandemic, That Was Me; with Albert Bouchard making a cameo in the video ... and banging the hell out of the cowbell. (at around 3:00)
posted by indianbadger1 at 3:45 PM on April 8, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by indianbadger1 at 3:45 PM on April 8, 2021 [1 favorite]
I direct a handbell choir. Sometimes during rehearsal I will say “Needs more handbell!”
IIRC, Walken is one of only a half-dozen people who has a standing invitation to host SNL whenever his schedule permits. Can’t remember who the others are, probably Tom Hanks and other members of the Platinum Club.
posted by Melismata at 4:03 PM on April 8, 2021 [5 favorites]
IIRC, Walken is one of only a half-dozen people who has a standing invitation to host SNL whenever his schedule permits. Can’t remember who the others are, probably Tom Hanks and other members of the Platinum Club.
posted by Melismata at 4:03 PM on April 8, 2021 [5 favorites]
This thread reminds me that I really need to hear Christopher Walken sing Bacharach.
“Rain ... drops keep ... falling on ... my ... head”
How can we make this happen?
posted by sjswitzer at 4:31 PM on April 8, 2021 [1 favorite]
“Rain ... drops keep ... falling on ... my ... head”
How can we make this happen?
posted by sjswitzer at 4:31 PM on April 8, 2021 [1 favorite]
A high school acquaintance of mine once did an excellent karaoke performance of Walken doing Love Shack. I think Raindrops would work equally well.
posted by condour75 at 5:15 PM on April 8, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by condour75 at 5:15 PM on April 8, 2021 [4 favorites]
IMO Bacharach’s genius is the conversational cadence in his lyrics. They have a natural flow. And Walken has cultivated such an unnatural cadence that the contrast would be perfect. But I see how Live Shack works too. You have the advantage to have experienced it IRL, so the win is yours.
posted by sjswitzer at 5:39 PM on April 8, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by sjswitzer at 5:39 PM on April 8, 2021 [2 favorites]
I came here to bring up the time Will Ferrell played the cowbell when Weezer was the musical guest, but turns out that he had maracas. Memory is a fragile thing.
It's not too far off. Will Ferrell makes an appearance as cowbell virtuoso, Gene Frenkel, during Queens of the Stone Age performing "Little Sister"
posted by jonp72 at 6:30 PM on April 8, 2021 [4 favorites]
It's not too far off. Will Ferrell makes an appearance as cowbell virtuoso, Gene Frenkel, during Queens of the Stone Age performing "Little Sister"
posted by jonp72 at 6:30 PM on April 8, 2021 [4 favorites]
I haven’t given much thought to Blue Öyster Cult in decades so I looked up their Wikipedia page. Apparently they did several collaborations with Patti Smith and were the first to use ersatz umlauts in their band name.
BÖC is certainly underrated, but they weren't the first band to use fake umlauts. The first band to do that was a garage/psych band from Detroit circa 1967 called Früt of the Loom. I think there might have been an early Black Sabbath single release in some country where umlauts were added to the title. I remember reading about it on the "heavy metal umlaut" page of Wikipedia, but the no-fun rules-lawyering rage-nerds of that place have appeared to decommissioned that page and replaced it with a much less cooler "metal umlaut" page.
posted by jonp72 at 6:49 PM on April 8, 2021 [9 favorites]
BÖC is certainly underrated, but they weren't the first band to use fake umlauts. The first band to do that was a garage/psych band from Detroit circa 1967 called Früt of the Loom. I think there might have been an early Black Sabbath single release in some country where umlauts were added to the title. I remember reading about it on the "heavy metal umlaut" page of Wikipedia, but the no-fun rules-lawyering rage-nerds of that place have appeared to decommissioned that page and replaced it with a much less cooler "metal umlaut" page.
posted by jonp72 at 6:49 PM on April 8, 2021 [9 favorites]
thelonius, responding to Free Bird: "Play Freebird!"
I heard a story about a band who learned it, and, when this happened, they would whip it out, about 8 minutes of it. They left it to their audiences to discipline offenders.
I was friends with a punk band whose brand was the sloppy and irreverent part of punk, but who were actually serious music geeks who just liked to get drunk and play loud music. Anyway, they had a thing when the lead singer was too much in his cups and someone yelled out "Freebird!" that they could play it *perfectly*
posted by indexy at 8:25 PM on April 8, 2021 [2 favorites]
I heard a story about a band who learned it, and, when this happened, they would whip it out, about 8 minutes of it. They left it to their audiences to discipline offenders.
I was friends with a punk band whose brand was the sloppy and irreverent part of punk, but who were actually serious music geeks who just liked to get drunk and play loud music. Anyway, they had a thing when the lead singer was too much in his cups and someone yelled out "Freebird!" that they could play it *perfectly*
posted by indexy at 8:25 PM on April 8, 2021 [2 favorites]
Uh, yeah, BOC has a lot of really dedicated fans and for good reason (Astronomy, possibly my favorite song of all time). Dismiss them if you will, but some of us know better... ;. )
posted by WalkerWestridge at 8:37 PM on April 8, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by WalkerWestridge at 8:37 PM on April 8, 2021 [2 favorites]
ok I had actually never seen the cowbell sketch before. snerk. I have now!!
Me too! I wonder if we're rela-
Oh.
posted by medusa at 8:53 PM on April 8, 2021 [2 favorites]
Me too! I wonder if we're rela-
Oh.
posted by medusa at 8:53 PM on April 8, 2021 [2 favorites]
a few BOC gems:
Astronomy
Career of Evil (lyrics Patti Smith)
Nosferatu
Joan Crawford has risen from the grave
posted by philip-random at 9:30 PM on April 8, 2021 [4 favorites]
Astronomy
Career of Evil (lyrics Patti Smith)
Nosferatu
Joan Crawford has risen from the grave
posted by philip-random at 9:30 PM on April 8, 2021 [4 favorites]
Apparently Lorne Michaels discourages the hosts from memorizing scripts, as the sketches are often being rewritten and revised right up to airtime.
In fact, sketches are often being revised DURING the show. (Watching that video gave me even more respect for the behind-the-scenes staff of SNL than I had previously; the whole series of videos is worth watching.)
posted by Inkslinger at 9:48 AM on April 9, 2021 [6 favorites]
In fact, sketches are often being revised DURING the show. (Watching that video gave me even more respect for the behind-the-scenes staff of SNL than I had previously; the whole series of videos is worth watching.)
posted by Inkslinger at 9:48 AM on April 9, 2021 [6 favorites]
Michael Schur, comedy legend, was a writer for SNL before working on The Office and co-creating Parks and Recreation, The Good Place, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine. He wrote about the anniversary:
> Watching this live was life-changing. Happy birthday to five minutes of pure comedic perfection.
> We called Parnell "The Ice Man" because he never broke, ever, in a scene. This sketch solidified that reputation. Imagine Will getting that close to your face, with that cowbell, and not laughing. Heroic.
posted by Pronoiac at 2:44 AM on April 10, 2021 [2 favorites]
> Watching this live was life-changing. Happy birthday to five minutes of pure comedic perfection.
> We called Parnell "The Ice Man" because he never broke, ever, in a scene. This sketch solidified that reputation. Imagine Will getting that close to your face, with that cowbell, and not laughing. Heroic.
posted by Pronoiac at 2:44 AM on April 10, 2021 [2 favorites]
Uh, yeah, BOC has a lot of really dedicated fans and for good reason (Astronomy, possibly my favorite song of all time). Dismiss them if you will, but some of us know better... ;. )
BOC was one of the first bands I got “into” as a kid (in the 90s/00s, not the 70s) I think ultimately because I thought their name was cool?
posted by atoxyl at 11:49 AM on April 10, 2021
BOC was one of the first bands I got “into” as a kid (in the 90s/00s, not the 70s) I think ultimately because I thought their name was cool?
posted by atoxyl at 11:49 AM on April 10, 2021
Blue Oyster Cult will always be the band that had a poster of them doing this kind of thing. My memory is that they had 5-7 guitarists in the poster, but the frontage is apparently a thing they do and Wikpedia doesn't list more than 5 people in the band, so I guess I've been mistaken in thinking all along that BOC is the band with 8 guitarists.
posted by rhizome at 7:18 PM on April 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by rhizome at 7:18 PM on April 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
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posted by nubs at 5:51 AM on April 8, 2021 [9 favorites]