Tag Archives: holiday

“The Man With All the Toys” (Beach Boys Christmas cover song)

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By MoU:

Back again for another edition of the Laptop Sessions, this time a first: with a band! Here with me are Chris Moore, Mike Fusco, and Cliff Huizenga- all members of the band Masters of the Universe (or MoU, as we call it). You can check out all of our original music on our website at http://jimfusco.com/albums.html!  There, you’ll find everything we’ve ever recorded.  And, it’s all free to listen to online before you buy.  I can personally guarantee that the original songs you hear on MoU’s website are top-notch.  There’s just something magical that happens when five creative people get together and make music.  It’s like when the Traveling Wilburys were formed.  They just all wanted to make music together and had a good time doing it.

Speaking of “good times”, you can clearly tell we’re having a ball singing “The Man With All The Toys”, originally played by the Beach Boys.  MoU did a great live version in concert last year, so we wanted to reprise that with this live acoustic version in my basement studio.  Cliff normally plays bass, but decided to provide only vocals for these sessions. But, you’ll hear his great bass playing abilities (plus Mike’s full drum set and guitar work) on MoU’s normal studio and live efforts.  One interesting thing is that the live version MoU did of “The Man with All the Toys” for our Christmas album was actually in the wrong key!  I didn’t realize it at the time, but we were actually singing the song a half-step higher than the Beach Boys did in 1964.  We rectified that problem for this music video.

I’ve said it a million times before, but the Beach Boys Christmas Album is one of my favorite albums (Christmas or otherwise) of all time.  It’s got such a great style and charm to it.  The members of the Beach Boys sound so young and happy- it’s just a great album if you want to put a smile on your face.  And, for the first side of the album, the Beach Boys themselves play all the instruments.  So, you get a really special sound.  The original songs, with the likes of “The Little Saint Nick” and “Santa’s Beard” have become hits, and “The Man With All The Toys” is no exception.  It’s such a short song- it wasn’t until about 40 years later when Brian Wilson re-recorded this song (I guess a self-cover song of sorts) for his solo Christmas album, “What I Really Want for Christmas”, that he extended the tune by adding a rocking instrumental break.  But, I’m happy with the sub-two minute original version, as well.  It’s a little slice of musical heaven.  Their voices were perfect on the vocal breaks and it’s really just a great holiday song.

I hope you enjoy tonight’s Beach Boys cover song and over the years, we’ll be bringing you many more Christmas songs here on the Laptop Sessions acoustic cover songs music video blog!

“Same Old Lang Syne” (Dan Fogelberg cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Hello everyone. A somber Laptop Session today, as I pay tribute to Dan Fogelberg, who wrote one of the best songs of all time in “Same Old Lang Syne”. No matter what generation you’re from, I’m sure you can relate to this song. Meeting up with someone from your past that evokes such strong memories is one of those experiences that just seems like part of life.  I can’t explain how much I enjoy “Same Old Lang Syne”.  The song is really the anti-Christmas song because of how somber the tone/mood is.  Honestly, it isn’t really even a Christmas song.  It’s just a song about Mr. Fogelberg was out one Christmas Eve and how he ran into an old girlfriend.  The reminisced about the old times they had together and even though they had a good time, they both knew that they’d moved on in life.

When the woman leaves, Dan’s left with “that old familiar pain” that he felt back when he had relationships in his school years.  I remember that pain.  It’s a pain I never want to feel again.  Though, as I said in my song, “The Game” from Masters of the Universe’s “Homestead’s Revenge” album, “Don’t you tell me you don’t miss the game.”  You should really listen to that album- click here!  There’s a certain thrill about the “game” of it all- it’s exciting, but most times it leaves you heartbroken.  Of course, Dan Fogelberg talked about that sentiment perfectly in “Same Old Lang Syne” when he said, “The snow turned into rain.”

This song always made my brother and I think of Christmas being over.  And I guess that’s the realization Dan Fogelberg came to when he wrote this song, too.  He realized that his old flame had died.  Of course, growing up, our take on the song was this: all the presents have been opened and now we have to clean up!  Doesn’t exactly have the same sentiment, right? 🙂

Of course, Dan wrote many other great songs, but his passing makes the song even more poignant now.

The one funny thing is that I was planning on doing this music video the day BEFORE he died anyway because it’s always been one of my favorite Christmas-time songs. Instead, I make this acoustic cover song music video a tribute.

To all Dan Fogelberg fans- I’m sorry for your loss and I hope, as I do with all the Laptop Sessions cover song videos, that I’ve done the song justice here.

~Jim

“I’ll Be Home For Christmas” (Christmas song cover)

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Part 3 of this four part Laptop Sessions extravaganza comes to you with a Christmas song. I’ve always loved the way the Beach Boys did this tune, so I’m doing it in the key they sang it in. Like I’ve mentioned before, Christmas music just makes me excited about this time of year, and this tune always kind of sets that mood for me.

It’s an interesting song because there’s really no pattern. It’s just like one long musical sentence. That makes it pretty difficult to play, but now that I’ve got the hang of it, I’ll be able to play it every year. I hope you enjoy and I hope this helps make your season great, if only in your dreams. 😉

“Christmas Morning” (Original Christmas Song by Jim Fusco)

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By Jim Fusco:

The second half of my “Original Wednesday” kicks off the holiday season with an original Christmas song!

I wrote this song at least five or six years ago, probably more.

I could never play it right on the piano, so when I learned guitar, I switched the main instrument. I’ve always been proud of the repeating chorus at the end. You HAVE to hear the version I did with MoU bandmates Chris Moore, Mike Fusco, and Becky Daly on our album, “Our Christmas Gift To You”. You’ll love it- we all sing on the chorus at the end and it sounds great! Check it out at http://jimfusco.com

Anyway, I’ll be adding many more Christmas songs over the next few weeks, so if you have any holiday favorites, please drop me a line or leave a comment and I’ll be glad to fulfill the request!

Christmas time is my favorite part of the year. This week of Thanksgiving is so exciting, and it seems like every day there’s something to do. For instance, tomorrow, I’m having “the guys” over late at night. Then it’s Thanksgiving. Then I’m waking up incredibly early to go Black Friday shopping with friends. Then my cousin Sarah is sleeping over at my condo on Saturday, ready to watch multiple Christmas/Jim Carrey movies. Then after that, I’m finally free to listen to all my favorite Christmas radio shows I’ve done with my best friends of all time on WCJM.com Free Internet Radio.

Well, enough of my Christmas rant- I’m just looking forward to everything!