Tag Archives: xmas

“Run Rudolph Run” (Chuck Berry Christmas Song Cover)

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Welcome to your Thumpin Thursday©™ edition of the Laptop Sessions with me, Jim Fusco!

Tonight, Chris and I bring you another acoustic-electric tune in Chuck Berry’s classic Christmas hit, “Run Rudolph Run”.  And NO, that’s not “Run Run Rudolph” as many people (including me up to a couple years ago) think.  I’m not sure why Berry titled it the way he did, but if that’s the way it is, you know the Laptop Sessions will stay true to the original.

I like this performance a lot because it gave me a chance to do a guitar solo, which I rarely get to do on these music videos.  And this is a pretty rockin’ solo, too.  It’s always so much fun to play it.  But, to be honest, I’m actually not that huge of a fan of Chuck Berry’s version.  I mean, I love the song, but his version is just so subdued.  It sounds like a song that he just farted out in like two takes, then said, “It’s good.  It’s like playing rock’n’roll into my eighties good,” and then left the studio.

I love his guitar playing style, though.  It always sounds so effortless.  I even have a Chuck Berry influenced guitar, but a string was broken and I was too lazy to play it.  You can search for Masters of the Universe’s live version of this song to see me playing my Chuck Berry guitar!

Actually, I kind of have this “thing” against Chuck Berry for no good reason.  One time, a long time ago, my mother went to Chuck Berry concert.  They waited for HOURS for him to arrive, as he was late for one reason or another.  Well, he came out, played like two songs, and left.  She never forgave him.

I can’t believe it’s another Original Wednesday week for me starting on Sunday, which is when you’ll see me next.  After I’m done with some other freelance work I’ve been doing, I’ll be able to devote a bit more time to promoting the Laptop Sessions and our new site, Cover-Songs.com, in hopes of increasing our site views by 50% by February.  You know what would help the most?  WORD OF MOUTH!  So, tell your friends, blog about us, put a link on MySpace- DO ANYTHING and help us get the word out!  The more excited we are, the more we’ll do for the site.  And the more views we get, the more excited we are.  So, I hope everyone will chip in and tell a friend about the Laptop Sessions.

Have a great night and we’ll all be looking forward to the weekend…not to mention great videos from Chris and Jeff.  It’ll be “like having two weekend nights off before your next cover song music video” good!

“Do They Know It’s Christmas?” (Band-Aid Christmas Song Cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Here again with another Laptop Session for Christmas! This song, originally made famous by the supergroup Band-Aid, has been a favorite of mine since I was little.

I got 4/5 of MoU together and we did this tune in Fusco-Moore Studios a couple days ago. We had a lot of fun with it- a bit too much fun, considering the subject matter of the song. Please note that we don’t take the subject of starvation in third-world countries lightly- we just had a lot of fun getting together and singing Christmas songs!

I hope you’ve enjoyed The Laptop Sessions’ tribute to Christmas over these past few weeks. I’m already looking forward to next year! I hope everyone gets what they’re hoping for this Christmas- and the Laptop Sessions will be back again in a couple days!

To hear MoU’s original music, visit http://jimfusco.com/albums.html. To hear my original music, visit http://jimfusco.com.

“Elf’s Lament” (Barenaked Ladies Christmas cover song)

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By Jim Fusco:

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!

“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