“Last Christmas” (Wham! cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Welcome to your Tuesday edition of the Laptop Sessions!  I love feeling productive, and even though I have a TON of work to do over the next few days (that is, AFTER a full day of work, in addition) I’ve been getting a lot done, so I’m in a good mood.  I hope to completely clear my “after-work” schedule after this week so I can focus on having some Christmas fun!

Tonight, I kick off my Christmas song selection for this year with “Last Christmas” by the band Wham!  No, I wasn’t excited there at the end of that sentence- the band’s name actually has an exclamation point in it!  (For the record, in that last sentence, I really DID want to use an exclaimation point! 🙂 )

I heard this song on XM Radio a couple years ago and remembered this tune.  Of course, you’ll hear the terrible 80s sound that goes along with it, but I kinda like that sound…probably because it’s the sounds that were popular when I was very young.

Keeping with my success of the Beach Boys’ “I’m So Lonely” video, I think this video may become pretty popular.  Why?  Because the Laptop Sessions has three goals: to do songs in the RIGHT KEY, to put an end to bad YouTube videos forever, and to strip down songs to their core and turn them into acoustic performances.  In cases like this and “I’m So Lonely”, I took out the cheesy, dated production and performed the song in its purest form.  I think people that have previously written this song off will come to like it after my performance!

This is the first in a series of Christmas songs to come this year, mixed in with my normal acoustic covers.  I can’t believe we’re in the last month of our “session a day” project.  I sincerely hope that Chris can contact some sort of news outlet (or the Guinness book) to report on this amazing accomplishment.  I’m certain that it’s unprecedented!

Enjoy tonight’s video, as Christmas time is in full swing.  Again, I hope I can start enjoying it more in a few days, and I’m sure my post length will reflect that when things slow down and I have more time to myself.  Okay, off to bed now.  Stay tuned for a great Chris Moore original song tomorrow and I’ll see you back here on Friday!

“Live Let Live” (Brian Wilson Cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

This post will be a shorter one, as Ace Ventura 2 is on in the background.  Any time Jim Carrey’s on screen, my attention is pulled towards the television.  Today was a fun day, as the original seven cast members of WCJM Radio got together to do our first Moore Hits in the Morning show that was actually in the morning!  The 10th Anniversary Show went off without a hitch, except for the producing mistakes I made.  Those will be edited out LONG before you hear it online!  I’ll be working on the show soon and I hope everyone will go online and listen to it!

Tonight, I bring you a great song off of Brian Wilson’s new album “That Lucky Old Sun”.  I love this album and it proves how great this guy still is.  His singing voice just seems to get better and better.  It has such a full sound now that it didn’t have back in the late 80s.

This song I chose not for its lyrics, which are a bit on the unexpected side, but for its incredible tune.  I just love when the music kicks in after the first vocals-only part.  The chords are great and Brian’s voice is even better.  The lyrics provided by Van Dyke Parks are still very witty.  That man says things in song a way no one else ever has before.  It’s funny to me that probably my favorite song on the album was written by the classic duo of Wilson/Parks and not the new duo of Wilson/Bennett.

This is a short song, but I think it captures the essence of Brian’s efforts to speak out against pollution, etc.  When you think of California, you think of sunshine, beautiful views, and wildlife.  Brian sang about the other two things throughout the rest of the album, so this song covers the last topic and brings the album full-circle.

Enjoy this song tonight as I go off for a LONG winter’s nap and finish off my big weekend!

“What An Outsider Sees” (Jim Fusco Original Acoustic Rock Song)

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By Jim Fusco:

Welcome to your Original Wednesday video tonight with me, Jim Fusco!

Tonight, I bring you a tune I wrote back in senior year of high school in 2001-2002.  A friend of mine at the time was having some troubles because the person he liked always decided to go out with the jerkier guys so she could keep up appearances with the cool crowd.  But, she always acted so natural and comfortable around him, so it made it even harder to live with, especially because the decision was out of his hands.

I took a few lines that he wrote (the cornier lines and the ones with the clichés) and wrote this tune around it.  I love the tune, but it was written after all of the songs for my album, “My Other Half”, that I was recording at the time, so I relegated this song to the bonus tracks.

Even though I always tease Chris for his use of the major to minor chord switch in his songs, I thought my usage of the E to E minor chords before the chorus gave the song a nice feel.  In fact, I didn’t plan it at all- it’s just what the tune called for.

You’ll notice that this video looks a bit different, in that I have my microphone right up to my mouth.  This song is sung in a lower register.  If you’ve watched my videos before, you know I have no problems belting out songs in many different styles and tempos.  But, something about this song- one that I wrote, mind you- is very difficult for me to sing with any loudness in my voice.  I mean, I could sing it louder, but then you’d lose that feeling and my voice wouldn’t be as bassy as I’d like it.

So, I tried this new technique for this video.  I’ll be back to my old technique next time around.

I’m very much looking forward to Thanksgiving tomorrow, coupled with the early start on Friday.  I’m just as excited about the upcoming WCJM “10th Anniversary Show” on Saturday morning- our first real “morning show” in a long, long, long time.  It’ll be nice to gather the guys once more for a show.  You know it’ll be online as soon as possible!

Enjoy tonight’s video.  I’d write even more, but we just finished watching “North By Northwest” and I won yet another Trivial Pursuit game against Dana and Chris.  I hope you all have an amazing holiday weekend (mine started when my work let us out two hours early with pay!) and I’ll be back with you on Saturday night after everything calms back down.  Until then, go stuff yourself silly! 🙂

Jim Fusco Reaches 140,000 YouTube Video Views!

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I love when these milestones are so close together, as Jeff posted yesterday about his latest YouTube count.  I thought I would follow suit with a similar, albeit shorter, list describing my Top 5 highest viewed Laptop Sessions videos.  I do have a couple of my “How To” videos topping my overall list- the Top 5 Laptop Sessions cover songs videos are as follows:

“I’m So Lonely” (The Beach Boys) – 5968 views

This is exactly what the Laptop Sessions is all about: taking a song that everyone wrote off previously and turning it into an acoustic song.  This way, you get to hear the actual song and, in this case, not the cheesy mid-80s production.

“Do You Want To Know A Secret” (The Beatles) – 4541 views

Can’t explain this one.  I don’t even truly love this song- it’s just one that was a nice song that I thought would translate well on my nylon string guitar.  But, this is one of my oldest videos, so I can only hope that it’s a trend- the longer my videos are online, the faster they’ll get more views!

“Wouldn’t It Be Nice” (The Beach Boys) – 4075 views

You know why this song is in the top three?  Because I can hit the notes.  I don’t mean to sound pretentious, but honestly, that’s what separates my video from every other so-called “cover” on YouTube.  But, then again, that’s what we all try to accomplish on a daily basis here!

“You May Be Right” (Billy Joel) – 3948 views

I can’t believe this one.  I honestly did it because I love the song, but didn’t think it would end up in my top 5!  I think it’s because I turned an electric song acoustic…and that I have a ton of energy in this one.

“Let It Ride” (Bachman Turner Overdrive) – 3968 views

This one’s the most surprising of them all.  The other videos were added six months or more ago.  This one?  Three months.  I think this video’s popularity follows the same logic of “You May Be Right”, as I took an electric song, used an acoustic, and let it ride!

Of course, I look forward to the next milestone, as it’ll be a big one: 150,000!  Congrats to Jeff and we’re both looking forward to Chris’ next YouTube view round number!