20 May 2012 - Cee-Lo Green - F**k You / Gwyneth Paltrow - Forget You

Today, it is my fiancee Lisa's birthday.  I gave her the opportunity to pick today's song.  She chose the biggest solo hit by one-half of Gnarls Barkley.

The song, despite its angry and profane title, is a spot-on soul throwback by a singer with a huge voice.  If not for a few of the lyrics, I could easily see a group like The Four Tops play this song.  The subject matter is straight out of blues - rejection and heartbreak, with a little revenge mixed in.  As Nick Levine called it in his review for Digital Spy, the single is "a middle finger extending from the fist of a pop single - and a gloriously catchy Motown stomper of a pop single at that."

The video is a gem, too!  I love the gloriously profane young Cee-Lo walking into this little diner.



Yes, there were two clean versions released so this could be a huge hit, so if the above offended you, try this version instead:



This song was so huge, it was performed on the hit television show Glee.  By an Oscar winner!  And the reason that 1. this song is getting posted in this blog and and not Totally Covered and 2. this post isn't getting the Guilt-Free Sunday tag is that I really love the Gwyneth Paltrow version of this song.  She did a fine job!



And, for those who thought 1. Cee-Lo wouldn't be a fan and 2. Gwyneth Paltrow could not sing need only watch this performance from the 2011 Grammys, when the did the song together.  And told each other that they really hated each other's ass right now.  Surprisingly, THIS performance worked.  And Gwyneth knew the words better than Cee-Lo.

18 May 2012 - Winger - Seventeen

It's the return of Hair Metal Friday!

Confession time. I have previously mentioned how my first concert was Bullet Boys and Cinderella. What I failed to mention is that the real reason why I went to that particular concert was because I really wanted to see the middle band - Winger.

Yup, I was that guy.

17 May Special Edition - Donna Summer - Last Dance

We lost Donna Summer today. She was a clear leader in the disco world, and was going to be a future Wicked Guilty Pleasures honoree. However, in light of today's news, we bid her a peaceful farewell.

 

17 Mai 2012 - a-ha - Take On Me

Dagens post er fra Norge nest største skatt, a-ha. Deres største skatten er, selvfølgelig, dette. Vi gjør dette for å feire Norge sin nasjonaldag, mer kjent som Syttende Mai. Hvilket bringer oss til vår favoritt norsk spøk:

Lars: Say, Hilde, har de 17 Mai i Sverige?
Hilde: Nei, jeg tror ikke det.
Lars: Hva gjør de, går fra den 16. til den 18.?

Totally Covered er også med et par covere av denne sangen i dag. Gå hit og nyt dem!

Today's post is from Norway's second greatest treasure, a-ha.  Their greatest treasure is, of course, this.  We are doing this in celebration of Norway's Constitution Day, more commonly known as Syttende Mai.  Which brings us to our favorite Norwegian joke:

Lars: Say, Hilde, do they have 17 Mai in Sweden?
Hilde: No, I don't think so.
Lars: What do they do, go from the 16th to the 18th?

Totally Covered is also featuring a couple of covers of this song today.  Go here and enjoy them!

16 May 2012 - C.W. McCall - Convoy

The CB radio classic is a timeless treasure.  That uses a lot of weird CB jargon.

Oh, you don't know what CB is?  CB, short of Citizens' Band, was a type of 2-way radio that truckers used (and still use) in their cabs to communicate.  They were very popular during the 70's.  So, before you hop on your cell phone, enjoy this!

This song was so huge, it inspired a movie with an epic trailer directed by Sam Peckinpah.

15 May 2012 - Norah Jones - Chasing Pirates

Sometimes I like being wrong. When Norah Jones first hit the scene with Come Away With Me I was unimpressed. Sure, she had a great voice, but I had no idea why the slow moving Don't Know Why was being played to death on my town's mostly indie/hippie station. The airplay eventually waned and I mostly forgot all about her until 2009's The Fall was released and that same radio station started playing her new single Chasing Pirates. The song knocked me out and I went into "reconsider mode" and stormed through her back-catalog. Yup, I'm now a fan. By the way, her new record, Little Broken Hearts (produced by Danger Mouse) is being described as a "bold departure." I describe it as "rad."

13 May 2012 - She & Him - Why Do You Let Me Stay Here

Today, we celebrate the start of Upfronts Week - the time of year when television networks all take turns and announce their new fall schedules.

It was a year ago this week that Fox had their 2011-2012 upfront, and announced that they would be featuring all sorts of new shows.  One of these shows was a new comedy named New Girl, which would star Zooey Deschanel.  It always bothered me that Emily Deschanel had her own show, but not Zooey.  I've been a fan of hers for years, at least since she did that movie with Jennifer Aniston and stole the show, and definitely since the woefully underrated Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, when she was the only non-British actor in the movie and stole the show.  Now, I didn't have to be bothered anymore.

The Good Girl.  That's what the movie was called.  I had to look that up.  It wasn't a great movie.  It was a movie with a great performance.

New Girl ended up being a hit, and with good reason - it's fun and smart and clever and great to watch. Because of the success of New Girl, Zooey's band, She & Him, has gotten a little more attention. That's a good thing.  They're fun and smart and clever and great to listen to.


Disclaimer: Bones is an excellent and entertaining show.  I have nothing against Emily Deschanel, who is a fine actress and who I hope is having an excellent Mother's Day.\

Update: There's a 2nd video!!!!  Also official.



Update: I just felt like adding another version of this song.  It's my blog, so I can do that. It's such an earworm, I feel like everyone should hear it.