Balladeer’s Blog’s segment Give Them A Shoutout Before They’re Dead returns with Elvis Costello’s Pump It Up:
Tag Archives: music
THE NEW MONKEES (1987): FORGOTTEN TELEVISION
The New Monkees are remembered as the most pointless re-launch of a band in history AND as one of the worst television shows in history. I’ve never listened to their one and only album so I can’t say if they make it a Hat Trick with one of the worst albums in history, too.
The premise sounds like a comedy sketch from the glory days of SCTV but unfortunately this thoroughly bizarre attempt to recapture the flukish charm of the original Monkees was 100% real.
Here’s the debut episode of The New Monkees‘ 13 episode run in 1987. Everything you’ve heard is true: We get Rocky Horror Picture Show lips voiced by a black lady, a weird sci-fi mansion home for the title foursome, a built-in diner and their annoying butler, Manford.
The laugh track does NOT go off during the few things that seemed funny, like a couple of apparently ad-libbed jokes by the New Monkees during their screen test footage, but instead goes off during lame, obvious jokes that not even small children would laugh at. Continue reading
Filed under Forgotten Television
THE BANGLES: IN YOUR ROOM
Balladeer’s Blog’s Give Them A Shoutout Before They’re Dead returns with a shoutout to the Bangles with their song In Your Room.
Filed under opinion
SPIN DOCTORS: LITTLE MISS CAN’T BE WRONG
It’s another installment of Balladeer’s Blog’s Give Them A Shoutout Before They’re Dead. This time the shoutout goes to the Spin Doctors with their song Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong. If you look hard enough you can still find episodes of the science fiction series Dead at 21 online.
Filed under opinion
FASTBALL: FIRE ESCAPE
It’s another round of Give Them A Shoutout Before They’re Dead here at Balladeer’s Blog! You get your choice of bland or eerie versions of Fastball with their song Fire Escape.
For the more adventurous among you, you can watch the controversial video that had everybody talking! (CLICK BELOW) The video with the deranged fan getting dressed for work in the morning while her house is littered with the dead bodies of the members of Fastball.
The creepiness factor was always aided by the nonchalant way that our smiling killer casually types “They are all dead in my house. HA HA” to an online friend asking what may have happened to the “missing” band Fastball.
That creepiness factor shot through the roof as you could see the friend’s frantic response of “What? What are you talking about? Why would you say something like that?” and on and on while our killer ignored them and went back to her morning routine. Shades of the Claridryl ad! The toast in the fridge is a nice touch, too.
I know the brief pause for an “update” about the band’s disappearance muffed the timing a bit, but it’s still got a macabre overall feel until the wimpout ending. Anyway, no matter which band you perform YOUR morning VooDoo rituals to, enjoy this eerie music video from the pre-Adult Swim era.
Filed under opinion
TOMMY SHAW: WHAT IF?
Balladeer’s Blog
Balladeer’s Blog presents another edition of Give Them A Shoutout Before They’re Dead! Tommy Shaw’s solo career away from the band Styx has ignited countless passionate debates about his overall importance to the band and about Styx’s overall importance in rock and roll history.
But let’s put all that aside for now and give a shoutout to Tommy Shaw’s What If aka Remo’s Theme. This was, of course, the theme song for the movie Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins.
That movie kicked off the monumentally successful series of films about that American James Bond, the Destroyer himself: Remo Williams. Billions of dollars would follow as it seemed each pulse-pounding installment of Remo’s on-screen saga earned more money than the one that preceded it.
I’m being sarcastic, of course. Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins earned back about 14 million dollars off a FORTY MILLION DOLLAR BUDGET … and featured Joel Grey making Christopher Lee and Mickey Rooney feel MUCH better about their own renditions of Asian characters.
Filed under Bad and weird movies, opinion
SMITHEREENS: BEHIND THE WALL OF SLEEP
Balladeer’s Blog strikes again, giving a shoutout to a group of musicians before they’re ALL dead. This shoutout goes to the Smithereens and their song Behind the Wall of Sleep:
Filed under opinion
GREEN DAY: BASKET CASE
Yes, it’s another installment of Give Them A Shoutout Before They’re Dead. This shoutout goes to Green Day and their song Basket Case.
Filed under opinion
TOP ODDLY-NAMED BANDS OF THE PAST
If I ever formed a rock band of my own I would, needless to say, base the name on something from Bad Movie Lore. Something like Renegade Belgian Cardinals – based on a line of dialogue from the Serial-Killer Priest flick The Confessional.
Putting that aside here’s a quick Balladeer’s Blog list of Oddly-Named Bands of the Past. It’s strictly for people who sometimes wake up at 3am and wonder if Gene was only pretending to love Jezebel.
THE TRASH CAN SINATRAS
When you hear the name Sinatra you immediately think of … Scotland? Well, no you don’t, but that’s where this band hailed from.
Used in a Sentence: “The Trash Can Sinatras is a hell of a mean-spirited way of referring to Nancy and Tina!”
FRONT 242
For decades this band was known as THE influence in Belgian Industrial Rock, complete with all the massive cultural firepower that implies. (Oh, sure, Balladeer, pick on the Belgians!)
Used in a Sentence: “You fight the front 242 … I’ll handle the 243rd guy back there.” Continue reading
Filed under humor
PRINCE: I COULD NEVER TAKE THE PLACE OF YOUR MAN
Regular readers of Balladeer’s Blog may remember that Prince’s passing a few years ago was what prompted me to start my recurring bit Give Them A Shoutout Before They’re Dead.
Adam Ant was the first artist I gave a shout-out to way back then, but since Prince himself was left out let’s ignore the “dead” part and give him an overdue shout-out anyway. From Sign O’ The Times in 1987 it’s I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man:
Filed under opinion
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