Hello and welcome to your weekend edition of the best video blog in the world! And we’re humble, too!
Seriously, though, we’ve really been putting a lot of effort into this acoustic cover song music blog — practicing and recording acoustic rock covers, writing detailed and interesting blog posts and articles, adding photos to our posts, and so much more. Next year, after the “session-a-day” project is completed, we have so many ideas for expansion that you’ll just have to check back regularly to experience them all. I can’t say too much for now, but you’ll have to trust me that music fans and even fans of other things will not be disappointed!
And now, to be anything but serious, I bring you Loudon Wainwright III’s most famous song, “Dead Skunk.” My father used to play this for me from a seventies acoustic rock tape that he had. It was always a lot of fun, and I still remember not quite believing that “Dead Skunk” was a real song when he sang the chorus to me before I had heard the studio version.
I’ve heard that Wainwright is somewhat bitter about the fact that this song found so much success — and I can’t say I really blame him; it’s quite the legacy! But this is not the only case of this; just think of the fact that Warren Zevon, with his amazing range of work, will probably only be remembered for “Werewolves of London.” Still, success is success.
Okay, that’s it for now, but make sure to hurry back (as Zevon would sing, “Hurry home early, hurry on home…”) — if you’ve made Laptop Sessions your home, then Jeff Copperthite won’t disappoint with his latest music videos…
See you next session!
Editor’s note: this post was originally published before December 2015; the exact original date is uncertain.
Everyone wanted revenge. The Best Song EVER! Show left Chris without a top 5 pick, Dave becoming enraged about not getting to Number 1 with Eye of the Tiger, and Mike and Alberto being robbed with Chris’ lack of taste in music. Jim Fusco, on the other hand, was game for a rematch- and this time, the undisputed, real winner would come out on top.
The voting was done differently for this free Internet radio show. Each member, along with three other guests (including Stuffy D. Bear) ranked each song from 1-15, one being the best. Then, all the numbers for each song were averaged, giving it it’s final average. This made the voting and the results very fair.
There were two guests on the show. Matt Griffiths and Jeff Copperthite both made their second Moore Hits in the Morning appearances, adding very much to this show. But there were only six people present at this show. How could that be? There are five cast members and two guests. The answer was the Alberto was very sick that day, and couldn’t make the show. Yet, he was there in spirit and his songs were still given their much deserved respect.
This show is the “everything” radio show. The usual features: traffic, news, and weather; Stuffy D. Bear, who introduced his new friend, Palumbi (above); Dr. Keck; and Ronco were on the show, but two skits, political commentary with Matt, and Mickey Rooney’s Garden State Life promo gave the show a BIG comic boost. All these along with 15 great songs and two millennium style poems made this an all-around great show.
So sit back, relax, and listen to this great funny radio show. See if you can guess which song is Number 1!
Editor’s note: this post was originally published before December 2015; the exact original date is uncertain.
Welcome back for another installment of “Chris Moore Monday” here at the Laptop Sessions. I’m excited to bring you another installment in my little Wilco project. I decided a couple months ago that I would like to record one song from each of their albums — since there are six, I figured that would be a reasonable goal.
I’ve already recorded from their first album (“Box of Letters” from A.M.), third album (“How to Fight Loneliness” from Summerteeth), fourth album (“I Am Trying To Break Your Heart” from Yankee Hotel Foxtrot), and now I’m happy to present “Wishful Thinking,” a track from their fifth album, A Ghost is Born.
This album took me a little time to get into, but once I did, I really grew to love the songs. There aren’t really any songs on the album that stand out as single-worthy; in fact, I don’t believe they even released a single. But, as you become more and more familiar with the songs, you begin to pick up on the subtle nuances in both the instrumentation and the vocals. Considering the album’s twelve tracks, I thought this one would work best as a solo acoustic number. In addition, I think the vocals are a particularly good match for my range and style, so I’m always excited when that happens…
Although I chose this song, my instant favorite track on the album was “Company In My Back.” I didn’t even know what that meant at first, but I loved the song, so I had to do some research so I could fully understand what I was singing along to! I may yet record that track (coincidentally the song that follows “Wishful Thinking”) for a future “Members Only” video or a surprise non-Monday video. After all, with so many great bands and songs that we haven’t covered, I don’t feel like I can spend too much time on any one artist, even if they’re one of my favorites…
So, I’ll hold myself back from recording my final two Wilco songs of this little “project” at least for a while. I did finally buy the second Wilco studio album today with a Best Buy gift card from Christmas. That was exciting, if a bit sad, since that’s the final gap in my Wilco collection. But, it’s a double album, so it’s a sizeable gap and I’m sure I’ll enjoy it. I’ve only had time to listen to the first disc, and I was distracted for part of it, so I think I’ll put it on as I get ready for bed.
I should share that the second CD I bought with the gift card today is Warren Zevon’s 1991 album Mr. Bad Example. Apparently, this is the “Encore: Back in Print Imprint” version. If I recall properly, this album was such a flop when it came out that it went out of print until recently. I couldn’t be more excited, as my second favorite Zevon album of all time is The Envoy, his eighties album that was so poorly received that his record label dropped him. And I love that one! What a shame.
On a personal note, outside of my DVD player temporarily going haywire last night, I had a really relaxing weekend. For those of you who don’t teach and/or have work that you bring home, that’s also code for “I didn’t really get much work done.” Oh, well. The week will begin soon enough, and as good ole T.S. Eliot wrote, “There will be time. There will be time.” I hope so, because I’m going into midterms with a slightly larger pile of work than I hoped for and my BEST portfolio on the horizon…
Oh, and I almost forgot. If you haven’t already, you should check out my review of Meade Skelton’s new single “My Loudoun County Home,” which I posted yesterday. Jim and I are quite excited to have our music reviews section expanding, so go ahead and read them all! Or, if you don’t have time for that, then browse the archive for another awesome “Jim Fusco Tuesday.”
See you next session!
Editor’s note: this post was originally published before December 2015; the exact original date is uncertain.
It wouldn’t be WCJM free Internet radio without a Christmas show. The first show with Alberto Distefano was a Christmas show, and since then, the growing cast had done two other Christmas Morning Shows until the “Best Original Christmas Song” Show in late 2003.
The cast of Chris, Jim, Mike, Alberto, Matt, Jeff, and Becky (the same cast from the Complaining Show) came together on December 23, 2003 to do an exciting Christmas show. Dave couldn’t be at the show- he was spending Christmas in Florida! However, he did have input towards the show and approved of the content after he came back.
Jim wanted to do a show that was different from all the other Christmas shows. After all, pretty much every decent Christmas song ever made was played on the previous three shows! So, there needed to be a theme that would still keep the show interesting. So, Jim decided to make a contest. What is the best original Christmas song ever written and recorded? Why did he specify original? Well, taking classics like “White Christmas” and “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” are in another class by themselves, so to even the playing field, the list was narrowed down to just “rock’n’roll” Christmas songs.
Twenty songs were chosen out of a possible hundred or so, making the final candidates list. Just like the Song for the New Millennium voting, each cast member (plus Stuffy) ranked each song from 1-20. The averages were then taken for each song’s ranking and the songs were placed in order- the lowest (closest to #1) average would become the Best Original Christmas Song!
The show also finally gave Matt and Jeff a chance to vote on the songs, as they were left out of the voting for the Song for the New Millennium Show. Scheduling conflicts almost prevented this show from happening. Each member of the WCJM cast began going his own way, so finding a time everyone could meet for over two hours in a row would be a difficult task. But, Jim was persistent and with the help of the rest of the cast, everyone made it. However, Alberto had to work and didn’t arrive until halfway through the show- hey, at least he got to hear which song won!
The show also featured every cast member in their elements. Alberto and John Daley worked out a segment before the show, making it seem that Alberto was actually there for the time he missed! Also, since Dave’s voted were calculated into the voting, his valuable input made his presence felt. Chris was a superb host for this show- on top of the schedule at every turn. Jim came up with his best comedy segments to date, and Matt and Jeff lived up to their high standards of comedy, as well. Stuffy D. Bear was back with even more to say on this show, completing a well-rounded comedy lineup.
However, the biggest surprise on the show was the long (watch it!) segment with Dr. K. His segment on this show completely overshadows (Another one! Giddy up Keckster!) his appearance on the Complaining Show and makes this show a true Moore Hits in the Morning Classic. The excitement throughout the show makes you always wanting more, whether it’s comedy you love, which song will be #1, or both! I guess this show accomplished what it set out to do: to have another WCJM Christmas get-together and to have a great, exciting WCJM Morning Show!
So sit back, relax, and get in the Christmas spirit with this comedy radio show. See if you can guess which song is Number 1!
Editor’s note: this post was originally published before December 2015; the exact original date is uncertain.
