Mondays Musical Gem. The comedy song is an interesting genre, and one that not many people get right. Some people think that, because its a comedy song, everything has to be funny and its simply not true. For it to be a great comedy song, most of the elements need to be played straight. There doesnt need to be a funny voice, although there can be exceptions (Ernie, The Fastest Milkman In The West by Benny Hill). Also there dont necessarily need to be funny noises, although, again, there are exceptions (Right Said Fred by Bernard Cribbins). The main thing that runs through all the best comedy songs is the fact that theyre usually musically brilliant. And/or lyrically rather clever (check out Weird Al Yankovics parody on Blurred Lines). This particular selection is definitely musically brilliant. I mean, the people in the band include Willie Hall on drums (from the Blues Brothers film) and Chuck Findley & Don Menza in the horn section (both of whom were in Buddy Richs band in the 60s). I got bought the album that this track is off when I was about 7 or 8 years old. It was the Disco Duck album, and even by the time I got hold of it it was fairly musically out of fashion. But I didnt care; I was very musically out of fashion (still am, come to think of it...). All the tracks parodied certain singers, styles, films or public figures of the time (the late 70s) - Barry White, Elvis, Shaft, Jimmy Carter. This particular selection is just taking the mickey out of the disco craze; the low male lead voice, the high female backing, wah-wah guitar, lyrics about meeting girls in clubs, the key change for the chorus... all clichés, but clichés are clichés because they work. And this works very well. In fact the only comedy thing about this is the title, and the fact that those chorus lyrics are being sung straight. Other than that, it couldve been a dancefloor smash! https://youtube/watch?v=s6TnvaCIhEE
Posted on: Mon, 29 Dec 2014 08:00:01 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015