Common People, Cap'n

July 22, 2004 2:42 PM

William Shatner covers 'Common People' by Pulp, with the help of Ben Folds and Joe Jackson. Album of further genius forthcoming. [thanks Suw!]
posted by feelinglistless (41 comments total)

The man is a God.
posted by John Kenneth Fisher at 2:53 PM on July 22, 2004 [1 favorite]

I'm so gutted the mov is audio only. :-(.
posted by Flat Feet Pete at 2:58 PM on July 22, 2004

Thank you. That was awesome.
posted by davebushe at 3:00 PM on July 22, 2004

I find it amusing but less so than his initial releases in the past (of which the live Rocketman is my favourite). Less so because now he knows it's funny. Then he didn't. At least presumably.
posted by juiceCake at 3:11 PM on July 22, 2004

Lucy in the Sky with Jarvis.
posted by vbfg at 3:12 PM on July 22, 2004

Didn't the whole William Shatner talking over music thing stop being funny a long time ago?
posted by xmutex at 3:16 PM on July 22, 2004

I knew this was gonna be great, but it's so much better than I thought it would be.

Funny, my ass. This rocks!
posted by kindall at 3:18 PM on July 22, 2004

Joe Jackson sings the bit at the end. Here's a track listing with links to Windows Media.
posted by kirkaracha at 3:19 PM on July 22, 2004

This is just way too much for me to handle.

Awesome.
posted by fillsthepews at 3:26 PM on July 22, 2004

Joe Jackson? *shudders* Miguel's not gonna like this.

Imagines Shatner's famous Star Trek II yell changed from "Kha-a-a-an!" to "Ca-a-a-ardoso!"
posted by wendell at 3:34 PM on July 22, 2004

Fantastic.
posted by GriffX at 3:48 PM on July 22, 2004

Shatner has been in on the joke since at least the mid-80's (possibly earlier). In fact, you could make a pretty good argument that he's spent the last 20 years making a living off of spoofing his own image.
posted by Zonker at 4:09 PM on July 22, 2004

This makes me think of that Futurama episode where Shatner/Kirk does "The Real Slim Shady."
posted by brownpau at 4:27 PM on July 22, 2004

Common People is one of my favourite singles of all time, and I never thought I'd enjoy listening to a cover version. This, though.. this is brilliant.
posted by jess at 4:34 PM on July 22, 2004

Diamond.
posted by carter at 4:42 PM on July 22, 2004

Pencil Skirt next, Pencil Skirt next!
("that goes in there" from this is hardcore would be incredible by capt kirk, as well)
posted by Peter H at 4:45 PM on July 22, 2004

At least he didn't try to cover "My Lighthouse", man would that be painful.
posted by bobo123 at 5:10 PM on July 22, 2004

shatner is the man.
posted by sgt.serenity at 5:37 PM on July 22, 2004

anybody note that he also did a track with henry rollins...(!)

the mind boggles...
posted by sunexplodes at 5:38 PM on July 22, 2004

Lucy in the sky with Diamonds by Shatner.

Warning: you can't "unlisten" to this.
posted by fluffycreature at 5:45 PM on July 22, 2004

this is the greatest fpp in mefi history.
posted by sgt.serenity at 5:58 PM on July 22, 2004

oh, crap, this is great.

Spooky thing is, it actually *is* great. It's not just good because it's so bad. It's really *good*.
posted by lodurr at 7:25 PM on July 22, 2004

This is cool. It reminds me of Shatners original collaboration with Ben Folds on Fear of Pop - In Love (scroll down to "Listen to Samples").
posted by internal at 8:41 PM on July 22, 2004

I *so* cannot wait to crank up the volume on this and mess with my co-workers' heads. I don't think they quite know of my Shatner proclivities... yet.
posted by codger at 9:45 PM on July 22, 2004

This is fucking fantastic.

William Shatner or Joe Jackson = old, cliched, formerly cool, ironically un-hip.

William Shatner and Joe Jackson = wow.
posted by yhbc at 9:56 PM on July 22, 2004

The Shatner thing is kind of old, but wow 'Common People' - the choice is so brilliant it's kind of like it's new again.
posted by sixdifferentways at 1:21 AM on July 23, 2004

Wow. That freaking rocks. Who knew?
posted by litlnemo at 1:38 AM on July 23, 2004

Cool. Speaking of high dynamic compression, though. Anyone have a bead on the full version? And what's with the hateon for Joe Jackson? Joe is a God.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 2:57 AM on July 23, 2004

this is the greatest fpp in mefi history.

it's certainly in my personal Top 10. thanks, feelinglistless
posted by matteo at 3:35 AM on July 23, 2004

Is it really theJoe Jackson? Is she really going out with him and different for girls are two of my favourite songs of all time.

And that Shatner version, well, I thought I was going to like it in an ironic way (because I'm just so achingly hip) but it just rocks. Fanatastic find.
posted by ciderwoman at 4:41 AM on July 23, 2004

There's no mistaking Jackson's voice. It's him. "Be My Number Two" is my favorite song of his.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 4:46 AM on July 23, 2004

It brought tears to my eyes...
posted by FidelDonson at 6:00 AM on July 23, 2004

this should have been on the bad cover version single, along with nick cave doing disco 2000. both will be on itunes repeat all day.
posted by grimley at 6:14 AM on July 23, 2004

And people say that MF no longer has the Best of the Web. Brilliant.
posted by papercake at 8:36 AM on July 23, 2004

This is fantastic!!!!!
posted by john_son at 9:17 AM on July 23, 2004

This is why I read Mefi every day. Well, this and the fights. Thank you feelinglistless!
posted by reidfleming at 10:18 AM on July 23, 2004

I'm a fan of Ben Folds, William Shatner and Joe Jackson so I've just exploded with joy and this message is being typed by my disembodied hand.
posted by dodgygeezer at 12:43 PM on July 23, 2004

Don't just thank me. Thank Suw. She did all the leg work. I'm only the messenger.

That said it really is amazing. I can't wait to buy the album.
posted by feelinglistless at 1:41 PM on July 23, 2004

anybody note that he also did a track with henry rollins...(!)

Henry talked about doing it during his last spoken word tour...it was hysterical.

This link is also hysterical. William Shatner, bless his heart, is the best satirist of himself that ever was.
posted by dejah420 at 9:05 PM on July 23, 2004

I have played the clip for the missus. She loves it.

She agrees with me that this could rival the compilation "If I Were a Carpenter", with one of its best songs, Sonic Youth doing "Superstar" (the ultimate "stalker song"), but might even be better.

Congrats Bill, you have pre-sold.
posted by yhbc at 10:03 PM on July 23, 2004

I've listened to this .mov many times over the last week. It's amazingly good. Thanks! I'm definitely buying "Has Been" is it out yet?
posted by ParisParamus at 1:32 PM on July 26, 2004