Tag Archives: acoustic

“Winning You Over” (Original Post-Election Jim Fusco Acoustic Song)

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By Jim Fusco:

What a happy day it is here at the Fusco-Moore Experience (home of FMP Studios).  We were both (along with all of my friends and family) pulling for Barack Obama to win the Presidential election.  We watched every minute of it and I didn’t stop watching until about 2 am.

It was a great night for the country because it was actually a decisive victory- a true electoral landslide.  Yes, the popular vote was closer, but as the Republicans proved in 2000, the country-wide popular vote means nothing in a presidential election.

So, tonight, my Laptop Sessions Original Wednesday video had to be something extra-special.  I actually sat down and wrote a new song just for the occasion- talk about a turnaround!  I had the tune to the verse of this song for a few weeks now, but never did anything with it.  I’m not going to explain the words of the song or what it’s about.  You’ll have to deduce that answer on your own.  Oh, and one tidbit- this actually ISN’T going to be a track off of my upcoming album, “Halfway There” that’s already been mixed and mastered.  So, you get an extra-special bonus with this song tonight!

I will say that I’m pretty proud of this video.  It took me many takes to get right, mostly because I didn’t know all the words yet!  But, the song’s structure is cool- the “chorus” is actually more of a “tag” to the song, making the bridge more of the chorus, if that makes sense.  I wanted to write a topical song that wasn’t overtly so.  I think, given the day on which it’s being posted, that the song fits into the political landscape well.  But, I hope that people can listen to it at different times of the year (without knowing what day I wrote it) and still understand the sentiments I’m trying to get across.

I’ll say this: one of my big hopes for America is UNITY.  It’s about time after so many years of being truly divided.  Say what you will about political views, etc, but Barack Obama is the first president in over 20 years to get elected by a true MAJORITY of American voters (over 50%).  That says something very powerful to me, and I hope he can bring this country together and help to heal the divides of politics, racism, and religion.  Good night, America- I hope you’ll join me in rejoicing as we usher in a new era for the United States.

“Just Once In My Life” (Righteous Brothers & Beach Boys Cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Welcome to your Sunday, Sunday, Sunday edition of the Laptop Sessions here with me, Jim Fusco!

Onto tonight’s video.  Tonight, I bring you yet ANOTHER “new” band to the Laptop Sessions.  I know this song mostly because of the Beach Boys’ superb version on their popular album, “15 Big Ones”.  That album isn’t great and I really hate those synthesizers in this song, but the vocal power of Carl Wilson (along with the wonderfully strained sound of Brian’s voice on the bridge) make this a standout track.  Plus, it’s a great ending song to the album.  I LOVE the harmonies on the middle 8, too.  It seems like they channelled vocals from the early 60s on that section of the song- something you really don’t get on the rest of the album.  By that time, the Beach Boys’ voices had “manned-up” quite a bit.  But in that section of the song, you’d think they were all 20 again.

It’s funny that the Righteous Brothers aren’t even brothers.  But how many people really do have the last name “Righteous”?

You might notice that this video both looks and sounds a bit different than my others.  The audio sync is off and the quality isn’t great.  Just do me a favor: DO NOT upgrade to iMovie 2008.  It cripples the program and truly ruined this video for me.  It took me an hour just to figure out the technical aspect.  But, the sound is great and the audio is nice and loud.  That’s the one thing the new version of the program did right.  So, I hope you can suffer through the video quality and just LISTEN for this video, as I think it’s one of my better performances.

Enjoy and I’ll see you on Original Wednesday for the first post-election song here on the Laptop Sessions acoustic cover songs music video blog!

“Come See About Me” (Diana Ross & the Supremes Cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Welcome to your “Thumpin’ Thursday ™®©” video with me, the “special character using” Jim Fusco!

Tonight, I continue Chris’ trend of female vocalists with a song from yet another “new” artist to the series: Diana Ross and the Sumpremes!  I hope Jeff will follow with another woman-sung song this weekend.  Will he come through?  Hey, I’m sure he never thought I’d actually use the special symbols for Thumpin’ Thursday!

Diana Ross and the Sumpremes had so many hits- and listening back to them, there were quite a few that I really loved growing up.  She had such a great voice in the 60s.  I usually find something I don’t like about women’s voices (ie, the INCREDIBLY annoying voices of Tegan and Sarah), but Diana Ross actually sits in the very exclusive category of women singers I like, which also incudes Brian Wilson’s daughters, Carnie and Wendy.

And, yes, I’m keeping the streak alive: not only have I done every single Laptop Sessions video in the original key, I’ve also done each video in the original OCTAVE, too!  For this reason, I think this video came out especially great- one take, and a chance to really falsetto-it-up.  I think it’s a really natural performance, too, which helps.  That makes two videos in a row that I’m especially proud of.

I never thought I would do a song from Diana Ross, but I’ve always found that the best videos (and the ones that get us the most YouTube hits) are the ones where we take a song and really make it our own.  No one would ever expect me to bust out a Motown hit from a 60s female singer.  But, I did it and I’m proud of it!

Now, as a final note- I’ll be posting on Sunday for the start of the week, but my Original Wednesday song will be the first one after the big presidential election Tuesday night.  I’m so anxious/nervous/hopeful and I’m looking forward to posting a video knowing who our next President will be.  So, we’ll see what happens.  I hope you have a good night and a great Halloween.  Maybe Chris will sing a Cher song or something truly scary to match his equally scary choice of a Tegan and Sarah song two days ago! 🙂

“America” (Simon & Garfunkel Cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Welcome, welcome to yet another edition of the Laptop Sessions here with me, Jim Fusco!

Oh, yeah, keeping the dream alive tonight with yet ANOTHER “new” band to the Laptop Sessions.  This one is probably the biggest shame left that we haven’t covered because…they’re ACOUSTIC!  Simon and Garfunkel stand as one of the most influential and popular acts of all time.  I was just talking to my father about them the other day.  He pointed out that they’re the best of friends, but just can’t seem to work together.  That’s the way it’s always been with my brother Mike and I.  We get along so well…as long as we’re not working on anything together.  I ‘m always so steadfast in realizing this fact, but Mike tends to either forget or just disregard it.  Thus, we end up working together again and the whole cycle begins.

Anyway, even though Paul Simon went on to some more, let’s say, interesting works in his later career (still waiting for his big rock comeback album), he did some pop classics with Art Garfunkel, also known as the luckiest man in the music business.  I mean, the man not only didn’t write any of S&G’s songs, he didn’t even play the guitar in the band!

I heard this song again while listening the WCJM Free Internet Radio show, “The All-American Show”.  I realized how great this tune really is.  And, especially because we’re on the brink of the most important presidential election in many years, this song is all the more important to play now.  “America” takes us on a journey of a couple going on a cross-country trip to “find” the real America.  I think the man realizes that everyone is out on their own trips, finding America…even on the bleak New Jersey Turnpike.

I think this video stands as one of my favorites now because it just works so well with one person and a guitar.  The tune is great.  The guitar part is cool (I love that walking down C chord), too.  I hope you’ll enjoy it and come back for more.  I’ll be back on Thumpin’ Thursday (didn’t Jeff say something about using special characters?) and I hope you’ll be back tomorrow and Wednesday for great cover songs and original music from Chris and Jeff!