Friday, March 09, 2007

Eartha Kitt - I Want to Be Evil / Cha Cha Heels

"Aaron, come here!" Chris says, as I walk in the door from work, barely able to undo my clip-on tie. "You gotta see this!"

It's another YouTube video, usually I fear these because, well, it's YouTube. But then I noticed the title, "Eartha Kitt - I Want to Be Evil". She's soo cute and young.



Of course thanks to the related items list on YouTube there is more Eartha to be enjoyed. I see a link for the song "Cha Cha Heels" featuring Eartha and including Bronski Beat. Goosebumps surge over the flesh on my neck before I muster the bravery to play the clip for fear of 80s-liciousness overdose.



Now this is pretty terrible, even for someone who loves the 80s for it's over-the-top costumes, hair and song stylings. Those poor backup dancers, and what's with the so-so-soo-gay backup singer that seems to be a cross between Michael Bolton and Boy George. Freaky.

So nothing is different from a light Earworm attack, I think of the song here and there, it just pops into my head. On my way out of work one day, I go to the break room to grab my jacket, a commercial on TV shows a drag-queen singing "Wanna be baaad." Oh lord.

So when I get home, I search on YouTube for "Kinky Boots" and quickly find a video. It's the right drag queen, but it's the wrong song. Oh god, she's singing Cha Cha Heels!! Still, better than the cheeze-fest in Eartha's video.



After scouring YouTube, I finally give up finding the "Want to be bad" version from Kinky Boots, so throw together a Google search out of desperation... and what do I find? MSN and Yahoo both have movie clips. Hooray! For your viewing pleasure...

"Kinky Boots - I Want to Be Bad" Mirror

Naturally I had to watch each video a few times, while watching the video montage from Kinky Boots, I realized I had seen the drag queen before somewhere. I recognized her, but could not place her. Hrmm.

Oh my god, of course! Chiwetel Ejiofor. The Bad-Ass Operative from Firefly. Boy he really looks terrible as a woman. Well, maybe not that bad. Have to give him credit for having such a wide range of acting ability, but not enough credit to encourage him to sing more.

Saturday, March 03, 2007

Psycho le Cemu - Gekiai Merry Go Round

Playing around with homebrew on my PSP taught me about streaming music, so I decided to try out streaming video. I download WinAmp because it has whipped the Llama's ass for years and begin to browse the channel listing. What's this? Jpopsuki? ooh, J-Pop videos! I begin watching and am amused by all the tacky, pretty, and over the top productions for, mostly people who can't sing. A few catchy songs, of course. Then, the tackiest, most visually assaulting of them all!

Psycho le Cemu.



Wow. So original, and so... not, all at the same time! Looks like Cthulu, Sorceress Edea and Samus all got together with a Power Ranger and Sailor Chibimoon to start their new age garage band!

So I go to watch this video again lately, because I've been craving a hear. Afterall, that is how EarWorms work. I find the video I graciously left you above, and in the suggestion list is a video of similar title, "Para Para Psycho le Cemu".

Para para, as in... Para para paradise? Oh dear lord.

Frightened into curiosity, I watch the video. oh my lord! Who is that woman! It looks like Donnatella Versace but Japanese! She's invited Chibimoon again, but she's wearing a jumpsuit. Yeesh, she's really letting herself go.



So I immediately have to show Chris this frightening thing, he shrieks at the blond-ambition vampire but continues watching. Then, he has a thought and rushes to Wikipedia to find an answer. He's right!

"Psycho le Cému is an all-male Japanese Visual rock band."

Yes. That's right, "All-male"

Friday, February 16, 2007

Katamari Damacy - Katamari on the Funk

Ah, Katamari Damacy. Love fills my heart with the mention of the name.

Okay it's a freaky, pointless, time-wasting video game from Japan. Where Acid is legal, mind you. Neverless, the game is awesome. You're the son of the King of All Cosmos, and you have to fix your father's screw ups by rolling up items onto a ball, called the Katamari. Check the video below, you'll be glad you did. The song in the video isn't the one this post is about, but I've had that stuck in my head a number of times as well.



The first game in this series I bought is titled "Me & My Katamari." The EarWorm in question plays during the intro to the game, which I have conveniently found for you on YouTube. Enjoy.



All done? Good. WASN'T THAT GREAT!? It's a strange scene with red pandas, a King in a skintight purple suit and black girls singing! You should hear the version on the soundtrack! I'm so obsessed, I made a clip of it and it is set as my ringtone on my cell phone! Yippie!

And yes, you should buy these games. 1 for PSP and 2 for PS2. Right. Friggen. now.

Sunday, January 14, 2007

Panic! at the Disco / Cobra Starship Mashup

Panic! at the Disco
I write sins not tragedies

My first reaction to I Write Sins Not Tragedies was simple. Hate. Well, hate with an acknowledgment of a catchy chorus. I had half-heard the song on the radio and made a mental note that it was bad, but something still drew me in. After avoiding the song for a while, I accidentally catch the rather interesting video on TV, and I am again reminded of the stickiness of that chorus. Oh, and the lead singer is cute. Soon after I feel the urge to see the video again, so I hop on my trusted Internet and head to YouTube.com.



I realize, the video makes almost no sense for the song. But still, there I find myself, mesmerized. The song lyrics tell a story about the Groom overhearing someone calling his Bride-to-be a whore, so obviously the wedding is off. "Technically our marriage is saved, so pour the champagne." On the other hand, the video shows a wedding party where the Bride's side of the church is full of boring looking people and the Groom's side is empty. Then a circus party enters and begins filling the church and the empty pews. The bride grows frustrated. One of the circus folk, obviously skilled in Voodoo animates the close-to-dead friends and family of the Bride and the Bride throws a fit and runs out. The Groom is apologizing and runs after her, only to find her playing tonsil hockey with one of the circus party outside. Whore. See, he doesn't find out at the beginning, he finds out at the end of the wedding. The weird family members are not in the song and there's certainly nothing about possessing anybody into dancing. For a month or so after, the song doesn't have much power over me. I return to YouTube a few times to play the song. Not a very strong earworm at all.

But the seed had only barely been planted.

In a fashion very similar to 6 degrees of separation the earworms worked against me to spawn a new seed in me, to help the other grow. You may have heard of a little movie called Snakes on a Plane. At the end of the movie, a video by Cobra Starship played. Obviously from the name, this band was formed specifically for the soundtrack of this movie. Immediately after getting home from the already late showing of the movie, I again break out the YouTube.com. This earworm got me good.



Oh man. That's the cheesiest, most Saccharin and addicting song of all time. It's actually what I expected the movie to be. Campy, trashy and not to mention, cute boys ;) The lead singer has a lovely voice, curses in the song (gotta love that) and sings part of a wonderfully-catchy chorus. The other part is sung by one of the hoochiest, most ghetto chicks I have ever seen. Her raunch is so high, it could touch the sky. "Oh, I'm ready for it. Come on bring it. Oh, I'm ready for it. Come on bring it! So kiss me goodbye, I don't know if I'll make it out alive." I sing along. One of the strongest earworms I've ever encountered, in my (top ten) for sure. My love for the song controls me, I buy the album. (read:download) I listen to "Snakes on a Plane (Bring It)" 6 times before letting the rest of the album play.

The second track finally plays. "Sit tight I'm gonna need you to keep count, come on just snap, snap, snap your fingers for me." The beat is very nice, good lyrics and chorus. Good to sing to. Some dance beats and keeps my scattered brain interested. It's Panic!. I should have known by the rediculously-long song title. "The Only Difference Between Martyrdom And Suicide Is Press Coverage (Tommie Sunshine Brooklyn Fire Remix)"

I take the Snakes on a Plane album to work, and play it while working. A coworker hears the album as the Panic! at the Disco song is playing. His comment, "Hrm, this is a remix of Panic!, and it's way slower." "What?" I ask, thinking, since when is a remix slower? and this is at a normal singing speed.. how could it possibly be faster? Curiousity killed that cat. I buy their album, "A Fever You Can't Sweat Out".

He's right! The album track is faster! It's almost difficult to listen to, let alone sing along with. Still, the music is erratic enough to keep the focus of my hummingbird attention span. It's fun to sing along with because the speed presents a slight challenge and it easily catches in between the holes of your daily, productive thoughts.