17 August 2022 - Aly & AJ - Potential Breakup Song

"So, I guess you're gonna want to post another song with that funny o-e combo woman today?  I mean, gotta keep a streak going or something?"

"Nah, But you make a point.  I should tie yesterday into today.  Didn't Aly & AJ have some huge autotuned hit breakup song a few years back?"

"Oh, that's right! They did!  Acutally, now that you mention it, they kinda disappeared after that."

"Well, as we said yesterday, iZombie and all that."  

"You know AJ is on The Goldbergs, right?"

"Oh, really?"

"Sorry that didn't fit into your Aly fetish, but yeah, AJ Michalka is at least as accomplished an actress as her sister."

"To be fair, I didn't mention Hellcats. They both appeared on there."

"That really wouldn't have helped your case."

"Can we PLEASE get back to the music."

"Sure, I guess so."

"I need to write something actually pertaining to this song."

"I suppose you're gonna want to say something technical about the song, like how their other stuff was actually guitar-based rock and this was synth-filled Radio Disney-targeted pop stuff, right?"

"Yeah, that sounds like me."

"Hey, I know you love posting live stuff in a second video.  Might I make a recommendation?"

"Sure, fire away."

"I seem to recall that Aly & AJ rerecorded the song with dirty words on some live performance on New Year's Eve in 2020.  That would be cool, right?"

"Actually, yes.  That would be cool."

16 August 2022 - Arkells ft. Cœur de Pirate & Aly & AJ - Dance With You

"Hey, WGP has been on kind of a long hiatus.   Don't you think it's time for a new post?"

"OK, but we've got to do something different and unusual that we don't usually post."

"Well, Arkells did a collaboration with Peyton from iZombie and her sister."

"Oh, I remember her from that Disney show - Phil of the Future, maybe?"

"Yeah, that's her!!!"

"Well, this sounds different.  There's nothing we typically post there!  Is there anything else I need to know about this?"

"Yeah, one of the verses is in French!"

"Wait, are you sure Cœur de Pirate isn't involved?"

"Oh, yeah, I think I saw that funny o-e thing in the title!  Who are they?"

"Not a "they" - a she, and we've posted about her once or twice."

"Well, the song still slaps!"

"Yeah, yeah it does.  OK, we'll do it."

28 July 2022 - Lush - Nothing Natural

You know how we like themes.

Let's keep up the shoegaze stuff with the band that literally defined the genre - Lush.  I think Miki Berenyi and Emma Anderson are literally gazing at their shoes in this video.  

At 2:13.  I don't just say stuff to be funny.

Written by Anderson, and produced by Robin Guthrie of the Cocteau Twins, this song is one of the noisiest from their 1992 Spooky album - but even this noise doesn't cancel out the dreamlike music and beautiful harmonies of Anderson and Berenyi on dual lead vocal.

27 July 2022 - Ned's Atomic Dustbin - Kill Your Television

I know, I know.  We've been AWOL for a while.  It's been a busy summer.  But we're back.  And we aren't leaving for a long time.  

The opening track to the 1991 debut album (God Fodder) by Ned's Atomic Dustbin originally started life as a song that had nothing to do with television.... until Alex Griffin saw a sticker in Mystic, Connecticut.  Why he was in Mystic, I'm not sure - but that changed his album and his song for good.  

The shoegaze genre, which was so damned popular among the kids whose parents just didn't understand them, was set on its ear with this album, which took the genre and turned up the amps.  This song - and in fact the whole album - was somewhat groundbreaking.

By the way, they're still around, still touring, and still killing televisions.

1 July 2022 - A "Blame Canada" Special

Wishing all our Canadian readers a happy Canada Day with this South Park Oscar-nominated classic.

Don't worry, we're not really going to declare war on y'all.   And, to the American readers, they are a real country.

If you are so inclined, here is the Academy Awards show performance of this song, featuring Robin Williams.

30 June 2022 - Weird Al Yankovic - Amish Paradise

Are song parodies covers or originals?

In the case of Mr. Yankovic, it's elevated to an art form. This particular song did piss Coolio off, but it's biting and clever, like so much of his other music.  

It would not have been a novelty music week without including Weird Al, either, so I couldn't relegate him to the Covers blog.

29 June 2022 - Rick Dees - Disco Duck

In 1976, disco was everywhere.  So, Memphis, TN DJ Rick Dees wrote a parody of disco featuring a vaguely Donald-sounding duck.  

Surprisingly, and despite initial resistance from his bosses in Memphis, it became a Number One hit and set up Rick Dees for a career that ended up being a whole lot bigger than Memphis - he was quickly moved to the Los Angeles market soon after.