This song was done on the first take with the help of my bro Big Fusc, which was a lot of fun to do on the fly. I heard this catchy pop song first in the Meriden Mall shopping and it was after I was into BNL, but before I realized “Wow, this song was THEM!” And I cracked up at the line “I could hide out under there… I just made you say underwear”, which, comically enough, Jim JUST got this joke on Sunday night. (how many years??? haha make sure to give him grief over that!) This is from the album Maroon, a great album, and this song captures how I’m feeling right now… Not necessarily bad or down, actually very upbeat.
But, I still feel like I’m walking around in a state of disbelief. (so, Pinch Me!) I hope you enjoy this acoustic cover me and my brother whipped up for the guitarbucketlist.com blog!
Hey HEY! Welcome to your, as Jeff put it, Fantastic Friday edition of the Laptop Sessions here with me, Jim Fusco! Glad to be here today, but I’ve been incredibly sick the past few days. I have the worst head cold… I’ve already lost two nights’ sleep to it. I was actually saving this video because we Mike did a BNL song recently, but I put this one first because I’m not sure how well I’ll be by Monday when we’ll be doing “New Bands Week” here. I have a new band video already recorded and ready to go, so I bought myself until Thursday when I have to record another video. I can only assume I’ll be better by then! Actually, I have literally sixteen or seventeen songs ready to record. I’ve been practicing like mad over the past month and these videos, once recorded, will provide me with almost two full months worth of videos. In that pool of songs, there’s also TEN new bands! So, I’m working hard every day to bring fresh viewers to the music video blog and to keep all the regular viewers excited.
Today, I bring you a song that I really love called “New Kid On The Block”. What perfect timing, too, as the “classic” early 90s band “New Kids on the Block” is in the middle of their “anticipated” reunion. They have a new album out and everything. This song is literally about being a member of the band. Steven Page of Barenaked Ladies wrote this song for their first album, “Gordon”. What a great satire. At the time (1992), the New Kids were both “new” and “kids”…well, not really, as you’ll hear in the lyrics of the song. But, they were popular, nonetheless, and Page must’ve thought it would be funny to write a song from the point of view of one of the band members.
Some of my favorite all-time BNL lines are in this song, including “Well we may not write the songs we sing, but look at Elvis, he sold his soul and you crowned him King.” The New Kids are pretty much everything I hate in a band, and BNL is truly everything I love in a band. That’s why this song is just about perfect in my eyes.
One of the other parts of the song I love is at the end with the inclusion of a few New Kids on the Block songs. I don’t know how I did it, but I managed to incorporate those parts into my solo acoustic cover version here, and all on the first try!
Enjoy today’s video and stay tuned for New Bands Week here on the Laptop Sessions acoustic cover and original songs music video blog starting on Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!
Welcome to your Friday edition of The Laptop Sessions acoustic cover songs music video blog! After two strong Sessions from Chris and Jeff, I’m glad I can follow up with a song that I’ve been playing for a long time now, Barenaked Ladies’ “Brian Wilson”.
This song is very important to me, as it was the song that initially got me into BNL because a friend played it for me thinking I would like the Brian Wilson references. Of course, I did. But, I loved the song, too.
I now own all of BNL’s albums, have met them and got them to sign their latest (and greatest) album, and they are now my second favorite band of all time behind the Beach Boys at a permanent #1 spot.
I love the way Masters of the Universe did this song- I had the privilege of singing lead on their version. We did five part harmonies on the chorus. There’s a live version of it here on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0rBfLk70vU
So, you have a song by my second favorite band ABOUT my favorite ever songwriter! Doesn’t get much better than that.
So, here’s my solo acoustic version- I could play this one with my eyes closed, so the performance is very smooth and comfortable, if I do say so myself! 😉
Let me tell you why I love Barenaked Ladies (the band, of course), the Beach Boys, the Moody Blues, the Byrds, and bands like that so much more than I like the Wallflowers, Ben Folds, and Dylan. I love all of their music, but I gravitate towards the first set of bands. You see, I love bands where every band member gets a chance to contribute. Many bands only have one front man and the rest are just background guys. Take “Matchbox Twenty” for example. Rob Thomas is the lead. Now, someone name another band member. That’s right- Thomas IS the band! Sure, there are other guys that play his music, but he’s the guy who writes the songs and sings them, too. If you take a band like the Beach Boys, you might think the same thing: “Oh yeah, it’s just Brian Wilson and a bunch of other guys.” Sure, that was kind of true before 1967. But after that, Brian faded into the background and the other band members (his brothers, his cousin, and a friend) had to take over. They all began writing songs. The best example was the album “Sunflower”. Every member had a hand in writing and singing on that album- it’s one of my favorites as a result. That way, you get such a great variety.
Enjoy “Brian Wilson” by Barenaked Ladies. It’s such a great song. And even though I couldn’t get the Jim Creegan bass solo in there, I still think this live acoustic version does the song justice. Stay tuned for more great acoustic cover songs from the Laptop Sessions music blog!
Hello everyone! Continuing with our last couple days of Christmas, we give you “Elf’s Lament”, a great song by Barenaked Ladies. We’ve always been happy with the way our live version came out, so I got the guys together to do a special acoustic version for the Laptop Sessions! This song was perfect for the band to do because it features vocal parts for three members of the band. Well, in this version, Mike isn’t sitting behind a large (and loud) drum set, so he got to sing the lead parts with the other three of us. I’ve always been a fan of songs where two or three members of the band get a chance to sing. Songs like “Two of Us” by the Beatles and “Walking On Air” by the Moody Blues (off of their amazing 1999 album, Strange Times) are great examples where you can hear all of the band members. And, my favorite bands are ones where each member gets a chance to shine.
Which brings me to the band that we covered tonight: Barenaked Ladies. Their Christmas album, “Barenaked for the Holidays’ is awesome. Four of the five (at the time) members wrote and sang lead vocals on songs throughout the album. That, to me, is the mark of a truly great band. You get so much variety in an album and that’s probably why I’m such a big fan of the Moody Blues, the Byrds, the Beatles, and the Beach Boys (after 1967). “Barenaked for the Holidays” features such classic songs as “Green Christmas” and Steven Page’s “Hanukkah Blessings”.
“Elf’s Lament” was originally done by Ed Robertson, Steven Page, and Michael Bublé. I’m not a huge fan of Bublé’s voice in this song- it just has an odd sound to it. And, saying his voice sounds odd next to Steven Page’s voice is really saying something. 🙂 So, we stuck Cliff with that part to sing. I got the Steven Page part. This song was so much fun to sing. It was a big hit on our Christmas concert CD and DVD set. For that show, we performed in front of over 60 people, including the mayor of our hometown of Wallingford, CT. It was one of the highlights of my musical career. We just had so much fun playing this song- I wish there were more songs like this that give everyone a chance to shine. I think everyone else in the band would’ve stayed more interested. Knowing you have a starring role makes you pay more attention for sure!
To learn more about our music, please visit http://jimfusco.com/albums.html. You can purchase our Christmas concert on either CD or DVD there. It’s jam-packed with 30 (yes, 30!) original and cover songs. I personally think it’s the best Christmas album you can buy for the money. I hope you enjoy tonight’s Barenaked Ladies cover song and hope you’ll come back for more great Christmas songs from the Laptop Sessions acoustic cover songs music video blog!
