Musical Cathartics

By June 24, 20068 Comments

When it comes to music, I’m not fussy. I like all types and genres, from classical to rap, to electronica and indie. Pachelbel, Eminem, Daft Punk and Fall Out Boy all feature in my eclectic musical collection.
There are a few musical quirks in the wibbler back catalogue that I’m surprisingly unashamed to admit, however. I never fail to get groans whenever I want to put a Meatloaf CD on. Michelle was made to listen to a whole album once, bless her. I remember buying a CD of his back in 1994, then watching the videos, and deciding that on top of the clever lyrics and music, he at least deserves respect for treating all his songs and videos like feature productions. The songs contain outrageously overblown guitar riffs, while the videos house all sorts of Hollywood-style shots and actions. He is larger than life, and isn’t ashamed of it.
The other one that should seem a little embarrassing is Fatboy Slim. For some reason, I’ve got the impression that he’s a sort of chav hero, someone I really should know better than enjoy music from. But the first time I hear most of his songs, I’ve no idea they’re his – but that doesn’t stop me tapping away and singing along. It’s actually a bit of a shock when I find they’re Fatboy Slim’s musical numbers. It’s happened with songs like Praise You, Weapon of Choice, The Joker, and now today with That Old Pair of Jeans (here’s an archive of videos, if you’re interested).
And like Meatloaf, the videos seem to be more “off the wall” than the standard ones plastered over MTV. They seem to point out that music and rhythm is everywhere, whatever you do. I remember Praise You was just a home video of a group breakdancing. Weapon of Choice was a constant stream of Christopher Walken dancing. And with That Old Pair of Jeans, the main video is of a man juggling. It’s certainly impressive, and has spawned a whole series of copycat videos, many of them almost as good. If you’ve got a spare half an hour, have a peek at them
Anyway, here’s the video (archived here):

And here’s one of the best copycat ones:

8 Comments

  • Vanquish says:

    Meatloaf? Fatboy Slim? Nothing to be embarrassed about there…Quality Stuff. You want dodgy? Reading this post made me think of a few I’ve had over the years. Now that I’ve stopped crying with laughter/cringing, here’s a couple I should be worried about: I not only bought Whigfield’s Saturday Night, but also the album! As well as Aqua’s unacclaimed ‘Aquarium’, Zig and Zag (from Big Breakfast), and Technoheadz ‘I wanna be a Hippy’. I’m going to stop now, I’ve scared myself….

  • JohnF says:

    My god, Whigfield?! That is truly awful. Mind you, I have ZZ Top in my collection…

  • Jack says:

    Meatloaf also embarked upon an acting career didn’t he? I seem to remember he played a character in Fight Club. Now what was that character called….?

  • Vanquish says:

    He appeared as Robert ‘Bob’ Paulson, he was credited in the film as ‘Meat Loaf Aday’. Hmmm…

  • Wibbler says:

    Oh, very funny.

  • shunta says:

    His name is Robert Paulson, his name is Robert Paulson, his name is Robert Paulson, his name is Robert Paulson, his name is Robert Paulson…..

  • shunta says:

    If I remember correctly, you also bought Dr Jones by Aqua…..

  • Shunter says:

    Go one, now it’s your time to cry…

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