The First of May

"When I was small, and Christmas trees were tall / We used to love while others used to play // Don't ask me why, but time has passed us by / Someone else moved in from far away …"
 

The Song Remains The Same: “Happy” Beyond Pharrell Williams

This month, we present a special interruption of “Art-For-Art’s-Sake Theatre” which is our usual midweek feature. This special sub-series is named for the 1973 concert film by Led Zeppelin. After showing two very different versions of an AC/DC hit last month, it was decided to delve into the world of pop music remixes.

This first one put an American singer-songwriter, rapper, record producer, musician, and fashion designer by the name of Pharrell Williams on the map, and now everybody's doin' that happy dance, at a time when the world needs it most. There is even a 24-hour version at

24hoursofhappy.com

You can either watch the "behind the scenes" video above, or you can check the one-hour segments of the 24-hour full monty, whether at 12 midnight, 12 noon, or any hours in between. Meanwhile, everybody is getting in on the act, provided with any excuse for a flash mob. Here's how they get it done in Malaysia.

We have featured Burlington, Ontario-based Walk Off The Earth at Art-For-Art’s-Sake Theatre before, bringing a unique and off-the-mainstream approach to mainstream pop music, as much fun to watch as they are to hear. And here they are with their friends from Parachute, along with the big brooding fellow, being big and brooding as always.

Our next feature is one you can expect given the fun we have here with á cappella ensembles; in this case, the Brigham Young University-based Vocal Point. Hey, didn't we feature these guys once before? Oh, yeah we did, son of a gun! They seem to have grown in numbers since then, not to mention varied in their wardrobe so they don't look so much like Mormons even though they are, well, you know ...

Of course, we cannot forget the ultimate imitation as a form of flattery, starring none other than Weird Al Yankovic and his rendition of “Tacky.” He features comedian Margaret Cho, actor Jack Black, and some other people we can't seem to name at the moment. (Maybe you can, and the combox is open.)

Now, it's understood that you, dear reader, cannot wait to do your happy dance, so we're calling on choreographer Andrea Wilson to show you the moves, as we move on to our intense research for the next highlight of this special feature of our usual midweek feature.

Maybe if everybody around the world would do their happy dance all at the same time (and a search on YouTube for “pharrell williams happy” will give you quite an idea), we just might all stop killing each other long enough to forget why we ever started, don't you think?

Or don't you?
 

TGIF: Noah Ritter “Songified”

Thank God it's Friday, and here it is, your moment of whimsy.

Noah Ritter of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, stole the show on WNEP-TV News one evening, during an interview with reporter Sofia Ojeda at the Wayne County Fair.

Naturally, this gave The Gregory Brothers an idea. And so Even and Andrew teamed up to cover what would become the kid's smash hit, “Apparently.” This second clip facilitates the process that is called "songifying."

And that's how the job gets done, as only “The Gregsters” can do it. The result is for a kid who had never been on live television, to perform the greatest song ever, about not having ever been on live television. There's your fifteen minutes, kid.

And so it goes.
 

Art-For-Art’s-Sake Theatre: Home Free vs The Filharmonic “I’m Alright”

Time once again for our usual midweek feature.

It's been a while since we've seen anything here from NBC's “The Sing Off” hasn't it? We sure do love that á cappella singing, don't we, especially since yours truly has watched Pitch Perfect on DVD about a hundred times by now.

So, let's remedy this situation, as Home Free and The Filharmonic sing off to the Kenny Loggins hit, “I’m Alright” from the movie “Caddyshack.”

That's “Fil” as in “Filipino.” Clever.
 

Art-For-Art’s-Sake Theatre: Weird Al Yankovic “Word Crimes”

Time once again for our usual midweek feature.

The latest album by “Weird Al” Yankovic is entitled “Mandatory Fun” and is the inspiration for his long-awaited mainstream acceptance, especially for his parody of Pharrell William's song “Happy” entitled “Tacky.” ABC News announced its "discovery" of the phenomenon last Monday night. And the aforementioned video includes a few mainstream comedic celebrities. Yeah, that song is okay, but the one featured here is our favorite from off that album.

Sure, all the cool kids know him now. But the REALLY cool kids were listening to him do "Another One Rides The Bus" in the late 1970s on syndicated radio's "The Doctor Demento Show." And yours truly went to his concert thirty years ago.

That puts us ahead of the curve, don't you think?

Or don't you?
 

Art-For-Art’s-Sake Theatre: Jenny Lewis “Just One Of The Guys”

Time once again for our usual midweek feature.

The American singer-songwriter-musician-actress Jennifer Diane “Jenny Lewis” wrote this song upon the death of her father and the breakup of her indie band, Rilo Kiley. She is joined in the video, which sort of speaks for itself, by actresses Anne Hathaway, Brie Larson, and Kristen Stewart. The album is due out on July 29.
 

Art-For-Art’s-Sake Theatre: Crosby Stills Nash & Young “Fancy”

Time once again for our usual midweek feature.

In this clip, Neil Young performs the hit song by Iggy Azalea. He is joined by three old guys who resemble his old bandmates, Stephen Stills (formerly of Buffalo Springfield), Graham Nash (formerly of The Hollies), and David Crosby (formerly of The Byrds). Neil does a great job of making a mainstream pop song his own, and the three impersonators look almost like the real thing, right down to the fat, aging, stoned-out geezer who impersonates Crosby.

Watch it all the way to the end. Seriously.
 

FAMW: OK Go “The Writing on the Wall”

OK Go is back with a new music video that lives up to the incredible visual trickery we have come to expect from them. This one took three weeks and a huge team to create and over fifty attempts to get just right -- if only for this week's Friday Afternoon Moment of Whimsy.

(H/T to 22 Words.)
 

Art-For-Art’s-Sake Theatre: The Willis Clan “My Favorite Things” Remixed

Time once again for our usual midday Wednesday feature.

This week, a story of triumph out of tragedy.

“Twenty years ago in a horrific accident on I-94, Pastor Scott Willis and his wife Janet lost their six youngest children … [but] God has blessed the Willis family in suprising ways. One of the older three Willis children who was not in the van now has twelve children who are currently appearing on America’s Got Talent ...”

And so, on a televised talent show, a family that would never listen to Howard Stern on the radio managed to leave an impression even on him. Fact is stranger than truth.

(H/T to Kathy O'Donnell.)
 

Art-For-Art’s-Sake Theatre: The Gregory Brothers “Happy Sad Songs and Sad Happy Songs”

Time once again for our usual midday Wednesday feature.

Those wacky Gregory Brothers (and their equally wacky wife/sister-in-law) are at it again. In this work just released today, they experiment with major/minor key changes and how it affects songs, both new and ancient.

Among other things.
 

“It was fifty years ago today ...” Why The Beatles Matter

Fifty years ago tonight, the Beatles did their first televised performance in America, on The Ed Sullivan Show on CBS. They had already been together for several years, and had already released at least two albums the previous year, one in the United States. They had even made their first hit single, Please Please Me. But 1964 was the year that really put them on the map, and into the mainstream of American pop culture.

People can go on at great length as to the influence of "the four lads from Liverpool" on popular music. While they certainly did not invent rock and roll, they are responsible to a large extent for the genre as we know it today. To understand that, and to know why one major label actually rejected their audition two years earlier, is to understand the state of that genre for five years prior to that time.

There is, of course, the conventional wisdom; that the tragic death of Texas rocker Buddy Holly, just five years earlier almost to the day of the Beatles' USA debut -- it was memorialized in 1971 by Don McLean's "American Pie" as "the day the music died" -- signaled an end of innocence for popular music, if only for the white audiences. The raucous rockabilly beat that came out of the white musicians of Memphis, gave way to a smoother, more polished sound of Pat Boone and Frankie Avalon, while the Motown sound, with James Brown leading the way, went in its own direction.

Then again, as Elijah Wald writes for CNN:

In fact, the rock 'n' roll scene had become increasingly integrated through the early 1960s, to the point that in late 1963 Billboard magazine stopped publishing separate pop and R&B charts because so many of the same records were on both.

Be that as it may, by 1962, it was apparent to the music industry, that "guitar bands" were already a thing of the past. Small wonder, then, that Decca Records dismissed the Beatles' audition demo that year. This wasn't the direction the music was going, and these boys, however hard-working, however optimistic, simply didn't fit the narrative. Few would have guessed that Capitol Records would have made the right choice in picking them up only two years later for American distribution.

While the Beatles did not introduce white kids to black music, they went a long way towards making more respectable for mainstream distribution. It was no longer just "Negro music," the sound of a particular demographic, but "rock and roll" that was for all with ears to hear. The would-be rockers in port cities like Liverpool scooped up the 45rpm singles by black artists like Chuck Berry and Little Richard, brought to their shores by British seamen returning from America, and boys like John Lennon and Paul McCartney, already teamed up with a skiffle band known as The Quarrymen (skiffle being a jazzed up form of jug band or folk rock made popular by artists like Lonnie Donegan), listened to every line, and copied every riff they heard.

The "fab four" were not the first to bring together the Negro sounds of rhythm and blues out of Detroit and Chicago, with the white sounds of rockabilly out of Memphis and Nashville. But under the influence of manager Brian Epstein, and the artistic genius of veteran producer George Martin, the band lent a degree of light and shade heretofore unknown to the emergent genré, as if unconsciously inculcating centuries of European culture. Critics would still dismiss them as a passing fad, but a few musicologists noticed a certain sophistication to their arrangements, both instrumental and vocal. Even classical music scholars such as Peter Schickele have found melodic similarities between early Lennon-McCartney compositions and various classical works.

The Beatles were not the mere fabrication of promoters, picked off the street with good looks and no talent; they were, at least in their essential form, a collective creature of their own making. There were no backup singers, no anonymous horn sections, no army of songwriters manufacturing creations for the uncreative (the occasional covers of R&B standards notwithstanding). What you saw was the whole package, on the packagers' own terms. No compromising with commercialism, but the other way around. Even trading in the slicked-back hair and the leather jackets, for the "pudding basin" haircuts and the matching suits and cravats, was their own brainchild, or at least that of Epstein, who followed a hunch for a trendsetter, by which they made their own mark on haute couture, and the culture at large.

As time went on, four young men who became overnight sensations in their early- and mid-twenties would come to terms with their sudden wealth, and their coming of age. With that would be the pull in different directions. There has been much speculation over the years, and more will be written anew, as to whether they would have lasted past the end of the decade, were it not for John Lennon's encounter with an older woman, an avant-garde conceptual artist from Japan by way of New York, by the name of Yoko Ono, who consumed John's life from their first meeting, and whose relationship has been said by some to be the catalyst of the band's demise. But the truth is, Yoko or no Yoko, all four of them were already on divergent paths. It would be some years after the tragic assassination of Lennon in December of 1980, that the remaining three would appear together in a television documentary, remembering their lost comrade, and singing the melodies together that they once knew.

It was the closest to a "Beatles reunion" the world would ever know. The opening segment begins here, with the video clip immediately above (and part two of twelve gets even better) ...
 

When Harry Met Reality

Personally, I never watch shows like American Idol. It's bad enough watching some people embarrass themselves, like that one guy who sounded a little too much like Garth Brooks. (Will we see Garth Brooks impersonators in the wake of Elvis impersonators? You decide.) It's also a bit of dissonance when a lily-white boy or girl tries to sing in the style of Negro spirituals.

But none of that compares to the people who judge them.

I mean, seriously, what the hell can Simon Cowell actually do? Does he dance? Can he sing or play a musical instrument? Can he even do card tricks? No, he doesn't do any of that. The guy is a poseur, but he just happens to be really, REALLY good at it. (Notice I didn't say he wasn't any good at it. Did I say he wasn't good at something? Of course not. Anyway ...) The only other thing I can see him being really good at, is leaving his shirt halfway unbuttoned, which really kind of went out of style by the 1980s, unless you're a coming-of-age Italian-American male from New Jersey.

I believe the polite term is "Guido."

But then, there are the young ladies like the one in this video, fifteen years old, with stars in her eyes, who sang Grace Potter's Paris, a song that tells more of a longing for defilement than it does the City of Lights. (You've been warned.) Fortunately, the acclaimed jazz singer/pianist and actor Harry Connick Jr was on the panel. After hearing the young hopeful's selection, her own idol gave her the thumbs up. But then it was Harry's turn.

After J Lo called the performance “Cute”, Harry Connick Jr counseled Morgan that it was important to “find the songs that are right for you” and encouraged her to look for tunes that are age-appropriate, “Cuz hearing about you ‘shaving me smooth’ really was creepin’ me out.” ... J Lo turned to him and said, “You’re such a dad!” with a giggle in her voice.

As a matter of fact, in addition to being a practicing Catholic, Connick is also the father of three daughters, the oldest nearly fourteen. Connick also managed to one-up Australian country singer/songwriter Keith Urban, before all three were called to give the thumbs-up. On the bright side, it's probably a good sign that this season's panel of judges genuinely want to be supportive of anyone who gets up there and takes the risk that they do. (When I auditioned for talent shows and musicals, I had the luxury of hiding behind a guitar. Those were the days ...)

Yesterday's homily, in anticipation of the March For Life, was about Audous Huxley's 1932 dystopian classic Brave New World, depicting the loss of humanity through the mechanization of reproduction, and its separation from the conjugal act, indeed, from marriage and family altogether. A gentleman who spoke to the priest after Mass today told of a class of high school students given the book as required reading, who were unphased by such a civilization as this.

Sometimes “art imitates life” all too well, don't you think?

Or don't you?
 

Art-For-Art’s-Sake Theatre: Of Monsters And Men “Mountain Song”

Time once again for our usual midday Wednesday feature.

Of Monsters and Men is a six-member, English language,indie folk/pop band from Iceland, started up in 2010, and with a full-bleed animated splash-page website. Call them a kinder, gentler version of Mumford and Sons if you will, but give them a listen, in this video produced last April at the Fuse/VEVO house in Indio, California.
 

Art-For-Art’s-Sake Theatre: Ylvis “The Fox (What Does The Fox Say?)”

TIme once again for our usual midday Wednesday feature.

If you thought last week's installment was over the edge, you haven't seen what was uncovered in the course of finding it, no less than this little gem. Ylvis is a comedy duo from Bergen, Norway, consisting of two brothers named Bård and Vegard Ylvisåker. (So, "Ylvis" is an abbreviation of their surname, not the Norwegian spelling of "Elvis" after all. Imagine the relief.)

Most Americans got their first glimpse of them on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon just two weeks ago. From their professional debut in 2000, they now have a successful talk show on NorgeTV, already in its third season.

This video already has 180 million views. It's not hard to see why, don't you think?

Or don't you?
 

Women and Men

I knew that one day, if this venue were to continue for long enough, I'd be writing on a subject like this. But what could I say that would add to the conversation, that has not been already -- lately?

I subscribe to a number of sites through Facebook, if only for personal amusement. One of them is Upworthy, devoted to progressive and liberal causes. Some of them are quite worthy. Most ... eh, not so much. Occasionally, they present one that leaves a great deal to be desired. This may be one of them.

Step 1: Search Google for things such as "Women shouldn't" or "Women can't."

Step 2: Check out the auto-complete suggestions.

The results in these UN Women advertisements are real, and many online commenters have said the results are the same or very similar around the world.

The world's most popular search engine has shown us what the world really thinks of women.

And so, following a most scientific method, according to the United Nations (with the help of Google), this is what the world thinks.

women cannot
women cannot drive
women cannot be bishops
women cannot be trusted
women cannot speak in church

There are three other illustrations, so that the following are covered:

women shouldn't
women shouldn't have rights
women shouldn't vote
women shouldn't work
women shouldn't box

women should
women should stay at home
women should be slaves
women should be in the kitchen
women should not speak in church

women need to
women need to be put in their place
women need to know their place
women need to be controlled
women need to be disciplined

Now, some of these issues are genuine injustices. And, noting that of the four illustrations in the series representing the women of varying races of the world, the last one appears to be wearing traditional Muslim garb, including the "hijab," a veil that covers the head and chest, worn by females beyond the age of puberty in the presence of adult males. It is also worth noting that a number of regimes that impose such restrictions on women, also persecute Christians, even granting to some the crown of martyrdom, and such draconian rulers are enjoying a particularly favorable relationship with the current administration. (To be fair, some have for many years, but especially so at present.)

It goes to show that, yes, there are some genuine injustices against women in the world, at a time when the Holy Father is most attentive to the role of women in the Church (which is not the same thing as giving them titles, but ... that's another story).

But then I thought, hey, why not have a little fun with this? So, I did the same thing on Google -- you guessed it -- for men! Here now are the results of the (equally scientific) search on Google, for the top four items of the following:

men cannot
men cannot be feminists
men cannot be trusted
men cannot get hit from women
men cannot pick up chair

Actually, that last one is true. If you can stand watching this for nine minutes (as over 107,000 have already tried), you can find our for yourself that men really cannot do this, but women can. Don't ask me why.

men shouldn't
men shouldn't wear shorts
men shouldn't wear flip-flops
men shouldn't marry
men shouldn't hit women

Nor should women hit men. It happened to me once, completely unprovoked, but that's another story.

men should
men should die
men should always pray
men should pursue women
men should not wear makeup

Before our fourth item, they had "men should not marry," but we covered that already.

men need to
men need to feel needed
men need to ejaculate
men need to cheat
men need to be men

Well, that one sure ran the gamut. And finally, yours truly cannot resist the urge to add a few of his own.

men cannot bear children
men shouldn't get in the lifeboats before women and children
men should pay for dates (number six on Google's list, actually)
men need to love their wives, and lay down their lives for them

We are who we are because God made us that way. He makes men to be men, and women to be women. He does not make men who should have been made into women, or women who should have been made into men. God does not make mistakes. This means that if a man or a woman believes otherwise, and we hear so often these days of those who do, they are IN ERROR -- don't you think?

Or don't you?
 

Art-For-Art’s-Sake Theatre: Barenaked Ladies “Odds Are”

Time once again for our usual midday Wednesday feature.

This week we feature Scarborough, Ontario's own Barenaked Ladies. The band released this music video for the second single from their 2013 album, Grinning Streak, only eight days ago, produced by Rooster Teeth Productions. The timing couldn't be better, what with the government shutdown still in force, with the entire planet wondering whether the entire world economy will be thrown into total chaos. Like the song says: “The odds are that we will probably be alright.”

And speaking of the lilies of the fields:

"Do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek all these things; and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day's own trouble be sufficient for the day." (Matthew 6:31-34)

Padre Pio was more succinct.

"Pray, hope, and do not worry."

And so it goes.
 

Art-For-Art”s-Sake Theatre: The Shadowboxers “Still Crazy After All These Years”

Time once again for our usual midday Wednesday feature.

I have no idea who these guys are, except my cousin Denise sent this to me, she knows one of the guys in the band, and they sound ... well, better than the original. See if you agree.
 

Art-For-Art’s-Sake Theatre: Lindsey Stirling and Pentatonix “Radioactive”

Time once again for our usual midday Wednesday feature.

Lindsey Stirling is an American violinist and performance artist, part of the recurring phenomenon of "crossover" classical musicians. She appears in this rendition of Radioactive with Pentatonix, one of the new wave of a cappella ensembles, that hails from Arlington, Texas.
 

Art-For-Art’s-Sake Theatre: Paul McCartney “Coming Up”

Time once again for our usual midday Wednesday feature. Let's make this one a double.

“Coming Up” is a song written by Paul McCartney, and is the opening track on his second solo album McCartney II. With the album's release in 1980, the song rose to number two on the charts in the UK in just three weeks. Of particular interest is the music video, shown here with Spanish subtitles (and somewhat poor quality, as a better quality version is no longer to be found), with Paul playing ten different roles, and his wife Linda playing two, all through the magic of post-production.

Our second video takes the viewer behind the scenes, with Paul narrating the making of this video, and the identities of those being portrayed. This video is off the bonus disc of the 2011 remaster of McCartney II.

Whether the Beatles ever staged a reunion or not -- it won't happen in this life, obviously -- Paul has always been my favorite Beatle, and not just because he's left-handed or was in the Boy Scouts.

“Vamos Arriba!”
 

“I read the news today, oh boy ...” (Bobbie Gentry Edition)

“It was the third of June, another sleepy, dusty, Delta day ...”

I used to hear this song when I was a kid. It was written and recorded in 1967 by a Mississippi singer-songwriter named Bobbie Gentry. Gentry also had a hit later in the decade with "Fancy (Don't Let Me Down)," which was an even bigger hit for Reba McIntyre.

Gentry has refused to lend any speculation, either to what was thrown off the bridge, or why Billy Joe jumped off it to his death. "She has stated in numerous interviews over the years that the focus of the song was not the suicide itself, but rather the matter-of-fact way that the narrator's family was discussing the tragedy over dinner, unconcerned that Billie Joe had been her boyfriend."

It hasn't stopped others from trying for themselves.

Meanwhile, elsewhere on planet Earth:

• Speaking of love stories, a ninety-year-old woman found her high school sweetheart's diary. She couldn't believe what it said, and neither will you. (viralnova.com)

• We all know penguins don't need much help looking dressed up for a night on the town, unless it's to greet an entourage of African dignitaries, in which case black tie is definitely optional. (Sky News)

• They look so content with their lives; the horse-and-buggy, the straw hats, the plain dresses with bonnets, the tightly-knit families -- we could go on, or we could uncover the ugly truth behind ... Amish fiction. (SolidarityHall.org)

• Skipping out on a class required for graduation is the kind of thing you’d expect from a slumping senior, but not the high school itself. It seems that students in Gothenburg, Sweden, have to go back and take a required religion class to graduate. They can just forget those alumni contributions. (UPI)

• Finally, in another tale of school days gone wild, they're picking on deaf kids now, as the Grand Island (Nebraska) school district is ordering a three-year-old boy to change the way he signs his name because it looks too much like ... hey, rules are rules, kid! (msn.com)

And that's all the news that fits. As the week goes on, stay tuned, and stay in touch.