It’s kind of crazy to hear this take in 2023. New-Jack-Swing beats were on EVERYTHING in 1992, the year this one dropped. At least is slowed down a bit so as to be more tolerable.
The melody is all Sting. He naturally received a writing credit on this track. It’s not quite a parody and not quite a cover. Le’ts call it a reinterpretation. It charted in several countries reaching #30 in the USA and #5 in New Zealand.
For your reference, here is the original version by Sting.
Here we have a goofy mash-up/parody of “Tom’s Diner” with the I Dream of Jeanie TV Show Theme.
The DNA remix, rather than the original, became a big hit in 1990. Remixes were relatively new as a concept in pop music at the time. They sometimes charted along side, or even instead of, the album version.
Reruns of the 1960s classic TV sitcom, I Dream of Jeanie, were airing daily in the USA at the time.
It’s seems that the Jeanie parody actually samples the DNA remix. So in that way this is a mashup. While never officially released as a single but word got around about the parody and It was released on a compilation called Tom’s Album the following year.
The video included here contains scenes from the television series as well the promotional spots for the show that aired on Nickelodeon in the 1990s. It’s not an official video but it seems to have been created by the same guy who first created the mashup.
The Last Polka is a mockumentary film. It was written by and starred John Candy and Eugene Levy. It was produced for and first broadcast on the HBO cable TV network in 1985. A limited number of VHS copies were produced as well.
In a similar fashion to VH1 Behind The Music, The Last Polka follows the life, careers, and then the final concert of Yosh and Stan Shmenge, brothers from the fictional country of Leutonia. Somehow they become the biggest polka duo in the world at the time.
One scene has The Shmenges performing an outdoor stadium Michael Jackson salute concert, complete with glitter outfits, sequin glove, and a polka version of “Beat It”.
The Shmenges were originally created as characters for the television series Second City TV. SCTV performers including Rick Moranis, Catherine O’Hara, and Robin Duke appear in the film.
It’s January. Have you backed up your data lately? It’s probably time. We are doing it here at FunHouse Radio. Don’t wait. You will thank us later.
Our parody song here, in my opinion is better than the original. Let this be your inspiration and don’t half-ass it.
The Christmas Tree’s on fire
It’s burning down the house
Flames are getting higher
And I’m try’na put it out
I’m beatin’ it back with a tube sock
And a cushion off the couch
The Christmas Tree’s on fire
And it’s burning down the house
Those are some of the lyrics to “Christmas Tree’s On Fire” by Holly Golightly The events of the song actually take place shortly after Valentine’s day, but we’re calling it a Christmas song anyway.
I discovered this catchy track surfing YouTube about 9 years ago. At first I thought this was a recording from the 60s. It tunes out it actually came out in 2006. There’s something about the drum sounds in this recording that makes it sound retro to me.
This is the kind of wacky holiday music we are playing right now on FunHouseRadio.com so if you liked this, tune in to the live stream for more!
Sometimes you stumble upon things while doing research. Here is a little gem I discovered in the process of researching Johnny Cash. It was performed live to video and uploaded 12 years ago. As the moment it’s gotten 9,000 views. Maybe this is the year it goes viral.
Keith Coleman is a Johnny Cash impersonator and he got creative with one of Cash’s biggest hits to create this track. We love it. In the video he claims that the Christmas lyrics were the original lyrics, but we think that’s a big fat fib.
The real Johnny Cash also recorded Christmas music but there are no holiday parodies of his hit songs to be found. His version of “Blue Christmas” is humorous in how much unalike it is compared to the Elvis Presley version.
Thanksgiving doesn’t have enough songs to mark the occasion. We’ve decided this year that Weird Al’s “Eat It” should be officially canonized as an unofficial Thanksgiving song.
Here we have a stunning 4K scan and remaster. The audio, on the other hand, suffers from some destructive remastering. We’ll take the first press of the LP over that any day.
The owner of the video has disabled third-party embedding but you can watch it on youtube. It’s 4K so put it on full screen! The levels seem off though. You might need to adjust brightness.
That thing about “Beat It” was just a joke. It’s a reference to the Al’s new movie Weird. If you haven’t seen it, it’s free on the Roku Channel. Go see it!
Today is Micky Mouse’s Birthday. He turns 94. We’ve got a crazy tune here to celebrate. It’s ironically called “Can’t Botch This”. It’s the only good track on an otherwise cringey kid’s album called Mickey Unrapped, released in 1994 back when he was still in his 60s.
As far as the album goes, they botched it. They really really botched it.
Unlike the rest of the album however, The Disney cartoon gang actually sounds believable performing this song. It cracked me up and I bet you will enjoy it too.
Happy Birthday Mickey!
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