Earlier today (while maxing out my new Amazon credit card, yipee), I had the pleasure of listening to some snippets from both Pat Boone's "metal" record (that is, songs like "Panama" & "Holy Diver" recast as big band numbers, complete with Pat crooning) & some of the Golden Throats series (Lorne Greene in French ain't too shabby, and, boy, check out the pipes on Gomer Pyle). While there are a select few in the world that can appreciate these records for what they have to offer, most (I imagine) just listen to this stuff to laugh their asses off (in a derisive fashion).
So, my question - what sort of stuff do you intentionally put on to make yourself guffaw? (And, of course, I mean the BAD stuff, not the fun stuff.) Do you do such a thing; that is, do you receive pleasure from hearing Leonard Nimoy sing? (A better question would involve explaing your feelings re: Leonard's photos, but never mind.) Is bad good, or is it just bad?
― David Raposa, Wednesday, 2 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
This question also came to mind while browsing the Moldy Peaches
site. (Did you know that Spin Doctor Chris Barron has played guitar
w/ the Peaches? I'm disappointed that this angle hasn't been played
up for kitsch hyucks.)
I imagine somewhere underneath all this laughing lurks a disdain for
public figures. A jealousy, a desire to be where they are, and a
need to smack them down because they're there and you're here.
― David Raposa, Wednesday, 2 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
The jealousy angle doesn't convince me - too easy an argument
(especially since the reason records like Boone's metal LP and
Nimoy's psych stuff is the public figure's jealousy of The Kids who
are doing stuff they - demonstrably - don't understand.)
But I don't listen to it. There's enough humour in most of the music
I do love - even enough bad bits - for me not to use specific records
like that. Bad is bad.
― Tom, Wednesday, 2 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
I've posted this before, but Dennis DeYoung's version of "Fire" is a
laugh-riot. Absolutely hil-fucking-arious.
And a friend of mine did a 25 minute remix version of Brick House
that always makes me laugh.
― Dave225, Wednesday, 2 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
Well, Tom, I believe (in that "jealousy" comment) I was projecting
just a wee bit. I listen to this stuff, and I think, "Dear God,
that's so bad it's good!" (You know, the mating call of the Ironic
Aesthete.) And some of it is terribly awful; a lot of them have
competent voices, though. A lot of the humor (personally) comes from
imagining the sheer chutzpah / ego these singers must possess to
brave the studio & butcher these songs. But, then, that isn't much
different from the ego of "real" singers recording stuff out of their
range. And how much of a difference sits between liking Golden
Throats for its crapitude and the appreciation of artists like the
Shaggs or Wesley Willis?
― David Raposa, Wednesday, 2 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link