Songs By Assholes will be happening at The Cinema Bar in Los Angeles on June 15th. All comedy music show featuring Captain Danger, Gary Stockdale, and Eric Schwartz (who you’ll be reading more about here soon.), plus others.
Looks like a great bill. If you’re in the area, stop on through. Cinema Bar is at 3967 Sepulveda in Culver City, CA.
These days, Adam Sandler is known as an actor and producer with classics like Happy Gilmore and The Wedding Singer and clunkers like You Don’t Mess With Zohan under his belt. And of course, his 4 year turn on SNL.
But over the years 1993-2004 he also released 5 very funny comedy music albums. Of course, most people know “The Chanukah Song” because every radio station with a guilty conscience plays it a Xmas time. And while it’s funny, it’s not his best work.
On many of his cuts he’s able to get past the goofy, mumbly nonsequiters and lay down some very convincing vocals in a wide variety of styles. His take on Springsteen’s style on “The Lonesome Kicker” comes to mind.
His story lines also avoid the retreads a lot of comedy music artists slog through and digs into some really off-kilter story lines. One of my favorites is “The Goat” – an 8 minute tale of a talking goat who’s beaten by his owner and eventually learns to smoke weed at a rock concert.
Listen to Adam Sandler at MOG.
And let’s see a video….
I won’t go so far as to call MC Lars a comedian. His songs aren’t based in the art of standup. But the guy, nevertheless has some funny stuff and certainly gets away from the standard hip-hop themes. Which is a good thing since he’s a white guy from Berkeley, CA
MC Lars is probably best known for his song “Download This Song” in which he lambasts the record label establishment and let’s them know what time it is. Ironically that song is distributed by Warner Music. And that’s definitely his MO. Lars has his finger on the pulse of the modern generation (as in the song “iGeneration”), but has no problem taking them down a notch (as in “Hot Topic Is Not Punk Rock”) In other words he’s old enough to know better, but young enough to get away with it.
You might think that doing really topical stuff like Hot Topic and Guitar Hero will lead to a back catalog that doesn’t hold up over time. And you’re probably right. It takes a lot of new material to keep up with stuff like this. But then again, the internet is all about a constant stream on new material.
Check out MC Lars’s video for “Guitar Hero Hero” and visit his main website at www.mclars.com
Spin Magazine today has an interview with The Lonely Island and their choices for the top 5 comedy albums.
The quick rundown is:
1. Tenacious D – Tenacious D
2. Spinal Tap – This Is Spinal Tap
3. Weird Al Yankovic – Weird Al Yankovic in 3D
4. Adam Sandler – They’re All Gonna Laugh At You
5. Steve Martin – A Wild And Crazy Guy
Of course, anyone interested in reading this blog has heard these albums. And they are amazing pieces of work. But kind of obvious, don’t you think? Maybe for Spin’s readership these will be a revelation.
So what would you add to this list? Me, personally, I’d like to see Stephen Lynch’s “Craig Machine”, Weird Al’s “Bad Hair Day” or “Running With Scissors”, and Adam Sandler’s “What’s Your Name?”.
Regardless of the picks though, coverage of comedy music in a major publication like Spin is a good thing for all of us. Even if it’s is The Lonely Island pimping their new album.
Ok, go… What are your top 5 comedy music albums?
Oy vey… It’s been a little while since I posted on here. Bad me, bad me. Between being on the road performing (with spotty hotel wi-fi access), spending time in the recording studio, and a DSL outage at my house, things just weren’t pointing toward blog post. Anyway, enough excuses.
One of the things I enjoy about writing this blog is that I can discover some of the comedy music artists out there that have had long successful careers, that I’ve never heard of. Not everyone is Weird Al or Stephen Lynch.
Sean Morey is one of those guys. He was on Johnny Carson three times and Jay Leno three times. Do the math… This guy’s got a few years under his belt. In 1998 he had the #1 requested song on morning radio with “The Man Song”, a song in which he is the big man of the house, except for his wife. Something that every powerful man with a wife can attest to. Good line… “I’m the big down around here, but I’ve been neutered.” Follow-ups include The Woman Song and The Toddler Song.
He’s also won two prizes in the International Songwriting Competition’s comedy category with “Dear Santa” (first place) and The ADD Song (3rd place).
Sean Morey is custom built for radio (hence his zillion Bob and Tom appearances). Lots of man/woman and everyday reference type of jokes, perfect for that guy slogging through the morning commute, with plenty of one-liners he can repeat when he gets to the office. He’s really got down one of the things I think makes an really effective comedian. He knows how to take every audience right to their edge of “naughty”. At a corporate gig he can get a laugh with just a gesture towards the crotch. In a club he can drop a few f-bombs and not look awkward or forced doing either.
He does a lot of crowd work and throws a few bits and songs in between. That really gives him the persona of the guy at the party with a sense of humor and a guitar. Except he’s funny and can actually play.
You can find out more about Sean at his website www.SeanMorey.com
Roll the clip Bob…
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