Here's Tiny Tim doing "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy" on the Tonight Show.
I actually remember seeing this when I was a kid. I was totally in awe, because I was really into Tiny Tim back then. I thought he was cool, and I thought this version of the song was really cool. Cool, like, admire the cool kids kind of cool. And seeing this all over again - well, yeah, he certainly was! And now I'm feeling all nostalgic for Johnny Carson, too, dammit. (By the way, did you catch that flash frame of the commercial break right at the end, there? I wish that hadn't cut off.)
You can catch the actual music video for Tim's "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy" here, but the performance isn't as good. The video itself, however? Genius!
Of course there is a ton of Tiny Tim on YouTube, and I don't have time to stumble into that day long click fest right now. Instead, let's take a look at Nick Lucas, "The Crooning Troubadour". His 1929 song "Tip-Toe Through The Tulips" not only became Tiny Tim's signature, but it was also one of the earliest recorded records by a singing guitar player. In 1922 he was also the first solo jazz guitarist recorded, with these two numbers:
MP3: "Pickin' the Guitar"
MP3: "Teasin' the Frets"Those are actually the re-recordings from a year later, but you get the idea. Get more songs from both Lucas and Tim here, and read up on Lucas' guitar pickin' history here. Oh yeah, and let's not forget the whole Gibson guitar thing...
Oh, and hey, it's the 30th anniversary of Star Wars, isn't it? I was going to totally ignore it...but then I remembered The Rebel Force Band!
MP3: "Respirator For Darth Vader"
This mediocre bar band somehow manages to transform themselves into somthing else, something, dare I say, otherworldly. Watever. I downloaded this about a month ago and it keep coming up on my shuffle. And you know what? It has indeed proven irresistible. Damn those Jedis.
MP3 Finds for this week after yon jumping thing.
- Alice Cooper back when he was a band - live in 69.
- Speaking of rarities, how about some demos from that great lost punk act The Screamers.
- Hey, look, it's all songs about Memphis
- Those Goblin tracks are great, but how about all that other music from Dawn of the Dead.
- FEMA's got mad skillz, yo. Just, um, not so much in regards to disaster relief. In related news: Uh uh! That ain't no black man telling me to breast feed!
- Also in medical news, here's the latest in Current Concepts of Estrogen Replacement Therapy.
- Best post title of the week: "All Hail Seitan!" But even that is no match for the all time winner: "Don't Miss the Great Snatch".
- Come on, feet! This is Sweet Sweetback telling you to do your thing!
- Wait, I'm sorry, who did what? Huh? Elton? Nick Drake? Next thing you'll tell me that Drake played on some educational LP. Oh..he did?
In non MP3 news, the stills from Control, the Ian Curtis biopic, look promising. And the epic battle between Tiffany and Debbie Gibson rages on.
And finally, some Music Videos:
- I thought I was way over my high school dorkiness, but proof that this isn't the case is highlighted by the fact that I can't stop watching this Star Trek/Holy Grail mash-up.
- Danish rocker Kim Larsen's "Rock and Roll City", directed by Paul Morrissey in Times Square, 1982. For comparison, here's the Euro version.
- Sure, laugh at the funny Elvis impersonator - but don't miss the raging debate in the comments.
- And to bring this week's post full circle: If you thought Tiny Tim doing "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy" was creepy, well, it's nothing compared to the man himself. Prepare to be skeezed by Rod Stewart's video for "Tonight's the Night".
Is that Letterman on the couch when Tim goes to sit down?
Posted by: El Payo | May 23, 2007 at 05:07 AM
What's weirder than Nick Drake playing on an educational album? Phil Ochs doing an album of campfire songs! See http://pobox.upenn.edu/~lapis/camp.html for info. Don't know a URL for the album, but MP3s _are_ out there.
By the way, top MP3 find for me for the week: The only Super Freego album. For those not familiar with Super Freego, they sound like a mix between Magma and the B-52s. Totally awesome stuff.
Posted by: Norton Zenger | May 23, 2007 at 05:33 AM
When WILL someone do a biopic/documentaruy about Herbert Khaury? What could be more intersting than a fay little boy who never leaves his Manhattan flat because he's too busy amassing an encyclopedic knowledge of vaudvillian rarities and chestnuts, grows up to confab with psychedelic and folkie musicians, becomes the darling/punching bag of variety television, extends his 15 minutes of fame into at least an hour and dies almost forgotten? Ssounds alot like Warhol, minus the end-of-life obscurity! I thow in my casting hat and say Marilyn Manson should have the honors of playing "Youthful -- Bloated Older" Tim.
Posted by: Dale Hazelton | May 23, 2007 at 09:21 AM
Anyone else see Carson say, "What the fuck?!" with the mic turned off? I throw my vote in with D. Hazelton -- Marilyn Manson ought to play T. Tim in the biopic -- but who could dub the voice? Mebbe Brian Wilson?!
Posted by: Listener #109577 | May 23, 2007 at 05:24 PM