Tag Archives: acoustic

“Please Come Home For Christmas” (Eagles Acoustic & Electric Rock Cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Well, my first Eagles cover tonight, aided by one Chris Moore!

This is a landmark Laptop Session, as it’s the first one EVER to feature an electric guitar!  I’m using one of my prized Ibanez guitars for this video.  I can’t believe how great it came out.  I’m not talking about our performance- I’m talking about the fact that we used my one microphone and just sorta placed it there and let it roll.  The amp was on the other side of the room, too.

I got the solo perfect in this take, but Chris wanted to do another one to perfect his part.  After a couple of extra takes, I decided that the solo was more important than a couple of botched chords, so we kept this take.  You may notice a different font used in this video, as that’s a clear sign we used Chris’ computer, as mine was busy burning DVDs.

I like this song, but didn’t really love it until I learned how to play it last year.  It’s got some great chords, including one of my favorites- A major 7th.  It’s my first Eagles song, too, and I’m happy I had Chris to back me up and allow me to play a non-kazoo solo tonight.

It’s really late now, as Mike came over to talk and chill with Dana, Chris, and me.  We had a good time laughing about Dana’s various botched pickup lines and Chris’ general hilarity.

I’ll be back with you on Thursday night, as Jeff will be filling in for me on Monday.  He’s got his work cut out for himself this week, as he’ll be posting Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.  Wow, that’s pretty awful.  But, at least that’ll eat up four of his remaining nine or ten videos for the year!  I’m getting ramped-up for Christmas, as the tree (which is perfect) is up, the lights are on, and the presents are ready for wrapping.  Of course, I’m still busy with video jobs and the like, but we’ll make it.

Okay, have a great week and enjoy your quad-shot of Jeff coming right at ya!

“Runaway” (Del Shannon Cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Okay, picture this- a website with nothing but great songs that feature…the kazoo!  Now picture the name of the site: KazooTube!  It’s perfect- I’ll go trademark it.

Tonight, I bring you yet another song with a kazoo solo (featuring the hand of one Chris Moore).  This tune is none other than Del Shannon’s classic hit, “Runaway”.  Even if you’ve been living under a rock for the past 50 years and don’t know this song, you may yet have heard of it.  Remember the Tom Petty classic song “Runnin’ Down A Dream”?  Well, a line in that song is, “Me and Del were singin’ Little Runaway, I was drivin’.”  I guess Del and Petty were friends during the last few years of Shannon’s life.

I was just reading about Del Shannon- what a sad story!  His biggest hit song was “Runaway” and that went all the way to Number One in 1961.  It was his first single!  Then, he had a few more years of mediocrity before falling off the charts completely.  After that, he produced, etc.  Then, in 1990, after a long battle with alcoholism and prescription drugs, he shot himself.  I couldn’t believe it when I saw it!  I mean, I knew he died relatively young (age 55), but I thought it was from an illness.

So, this video turns into a tribute of sorts.  Even though he died 18 years ago, I just found out about it now, so it feels like a loss.

I don’t know what made me think of doing this song- I haven’t heard it in ages.  But, it’s really a great one for me to do.  It’s from an artist we haven’t done yet, it’s a great song, it allowed me to play a fairly dead-on solo, it’s got a great beat, and it’s got that oh-so catchy falsetto part that I love so dear.  Any chance I get to sing in that register without being embarassed is a chance I want to take!

I hope you enjoy tonight’s video as I pinch-hit for an under-the-weather Jeff.  I’ll be back tomorrow night, and then you won’t see me until next Thursday, as Jeff makes up for lost time.  Tomorrow night, I think I’ll be back on the Christmas song train, as I’ll be recording another video when I get home from work.  I hope to have Chris help me out on the song and his level of consciousness tomorrow night will determine whether you’ll be watching a solo performance or a duet.  Until then, have a great Friday and see you in the evening for another great Laptop Sessions acoustic cover song music video!

“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!