Tag Archives: jim

“Maybe Katie” (Barenaked Ladies Cover)

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Welcome to your Terrific Tuesday edition of the Laptop Sessions!  Tonight, I’m the first person to post using our brand new WordPress 2.6.1 version of the blog.  Of course, on your end, you shouldn’t see any difference, but on our end, the difference is vast…and great.  For one thing, our visual editor won’t mess with our code anymore, so we’ll be able to post chords to our cover songs more often than before.

Okay, on to tonight’s video.  Tonight is a classic one in terms of my live performances.  The “band” of Chris, Jim, and Becky (see Chris’ post a few days ago) was formed in 2004 and we loved to sing this Barenaked Ladies song, “Maybe Katie” in concert.  Then, we didn’t realize we were singing it in the wrong key- a half step below the original key.  Rest assured that for this video, we fixed the error, as all the Laptop Sessions songs are always in the original key- the ONLY way it should be!  Listen up, cover song musicians on YouTube and elsewhere: YOU REALLY STINK IF YOU DO IT IN THE WRONG KEY!!!  There’s no exception to this- if it’s out of your range and you change the key, then you don’t deserve to do the song.  I sang “Baby Please Come Home” by Darlene Love at our Christmas party in the original key and that song is ridiculously high.  You didn’t see me take the easy way out.  And this is why our motto is “Putting an end to bad YouTube covers FOREVER!”  Wow, the tangents tonight…

Moving on, this song is off of one of my favorite albums, “Everything To Everyone”.  I do believe that it’s probably their fourth best album behind “Gordon”, “Barenaked Ladies Are Men” (the almost 30-track version), and “Maroon”.  This album has some input from the other band members, which if you’ve read some of my past rants, means a lot to me in a band.

We do “Maybe Katie” a bit differently than the album’s version in the sense that the BNL version has some heavy electric guitars on the chorus and middle sections.  Our version is completely acoustic and has more of a “folk” feel to it.  That’s what happens when you don’t have a drummer handy…that isn’t already reserved to play the solo like I am.

I hope you enjoy tonight’s Laptop Session.  Thanks again and see you tomorrow!

“Getcha Back” (Beach Boys Cover)

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For chords & lyrics, CLICK HERE!

By Chris Moore:

Hello and welcome, one and all, to my favorite type of acoustic cover song — a collaboration with fellow Fusco-Moore Productions artist Jim Fusco. (I’ll be posting another one soon with Jim and his girlfriend — fiance, to be more precise! — Becky Daly.) Tonight, I’m happy to present our rendition of the Beach Boys’ “Getcha Back” from their 1985 self-titled release.

This is probably their last great record, as such. After this, Dennis’ absence is all the more profound and the overall quality of involvement and projects seems to decline. But this album should not be ignored, even taking into account how much it sounds like “eighties music.”

“Getcha Back” is the first track and sets the tone for the album as a whole. I used to turn this on, set it to repeat, turn off the lights in my room, and lay on the floor listening to it again and again. There’s so much running through Mike Love’s vocal and the instrumental accompaniment is both rocking and sad. It made me want to write and record a song that could be that simple, and yet that good!

Years later, I still love the track, and I feel privileged that Jim would relinquish his claim on a Beach Boys cover — one of my favorites — so that I could record it for the acoustic cover songs music blog. Not only did he let me record it, but he joined in to make it probably one of my favorite Laptop Sessions thus far. I hope you enjoy it too!

Don’t forget to hurry back tomorrow for a new acoustic rock cover by Jeff…

See you next session!

WCJM Free Internet Radio Station: “The Double Meaning Show” – 2001

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By WCJM Free Internet Radio:

How many times can Matt Griffiths say, “Oh my God” in one show?  I don’t think Alberto can count that high!  This show has now taken a seat next to The Comedy Show as one of the funniest things to come out of WCJM free Internet radio.  The format followed this pattern: skit, song, skit, song.  This made for songs with double meanings and too many puns to bear!  And that’s not a Stuffy pun.

Skits like “The Rascal,” two Dr. Keck segments, a Spy Convention skit, and Stuffy D. Bear made this show incredibly hilarious.  There was also a new character called the Food Critic, played by Jim.  This show has great news reports, hilarious sports, and other great reports during the Traffic, News, and Weather segments.

The original cast plus Matt came back for this well rounded show.  The songs had trivia after them and there was even an investigation on the Beatles’ “Paul is Dead” hoax.  Matt also wrote his Minor Pain Christmastime Hits promo (see below).  Jim used his new DJ Machine to provide the music for the skits and the trivia questions, making for a constant beat during the show.

The show started off shaky (as usual), but after a microphone mix up was fixed, the show went off without a hitch.  Dave and Chris were actually funny!  That’s enough to make anyone want to listen to the show.  There was also a pun tournament during the comedy radio show.  Each pun was carefully counted by Alberto, and here is the final list:

1. Mike- 57
2. Jim- 44
3. Matt- 28
4. Dave- 27
5. Stuffy (in four minutes!)- 25
6. Chris- 19
7. Alberto- 17

WCJM Free Internet Radio Station: “The Millennium ‘Mayhem’ Show” – 2000

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By WCJM Free Internet Radio:

After the success of the two Christmas shows, Jim Fusco wanted to do another show, and soon.  He decided to do a show based on the new millennium, which was coming up only a few weeks after the second Christmas show.  The cast reluctantly agreed on a date to hold the show- January 1st, 2000.  The time was set only twelve hours after the millennium would hit, meaning that even though the cast would be tired, they would give another show a chance.
But it wasn’t going to be that easy.  Dave Perrelli, a friend of Jim’s, asked him to join the free Internet radio show.  This ambition came after he listened to the comedy Christmas tape when Jim and Mike went over Dave’s house.  Dave loved the tape and begged Jim to be part of the show.  So Jim agreed, and David became the fifth, and last member of the show.
Everyone was fired up for the start the new show and the new millennium at the same time.  The songs were chosen for their resemblance to the new millennium, including titles from Jim Fusco and Chris Moore’s song libraries.  New equipment was being used for the show, including a new Aiwa stereo with a noise reduction tape recorder, and a mini disc player playing all of Jim songs.  This new technology made the tape come out better than all the rest (sound quality-wise), but Jim packed the first side with so much music, there was hardly any room for leisure talking.  However, on the second side Chris’s songs were played with much more room between them, giving time for each of the hosts to talk.  But Chris had to leave near the end of the second side, leaving the four member cast to finish off the tape.  Dave begged Jim to produce the final minutes of the tape, and Jim reluctantly agreed.  However, this was Dave’s first chance at using the sound mixer, so the levels were off that times, reducing the quality of the final minutes of the tape.

But in the end, this tape showed the spirit of the cast of Moore Hits in the Morning because they, after a long night before, had come together to make this tape.  Even though Jim’s voice was louder that all the rest, using the headset microphone, the content and music of the tape reflected Jim’s main goal- throwing a millennium party Moore 94.2 style.

This is merely the first in a whole new millennium of side-splitting free Internet radio available from WCJM!