Classics and Originals

You have heard me talk about my love for the classics. From literature to film and art to music, the classics have an enduring quality that lets them shine time and time again. It is that certain magic that will bring a smile to your face and a gladness in your heart when you are reacquainted with it some years down the road.

Some things you will see again that you thought were wildly wonderful in your youth and yet when you see them again now you wonder 'What in the world was I thinking'. I am not referring to those type of things.

I am referring of course to fish heads. I grew up on fish heads, and dead puppies and shaving cream and star trekkin' and assorted other looniness that was and is the wonderful world of Dr. Demento.

What brought this up you ask? I came across a disturbing little music video that I have never seen but one whose music I knew every word for. Fish Heads by Barnes and Barnes is a great example of the zaniness of the era. Sorry but I can't seem to get this to link properly so go to youtube and search for it or use this to copy and paste your way there, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTpUVAcvWfU and you will see what I am talking about.

This of course got me linking to other greats from my Demento days and there are quite a few to choose from. There in lies a problem...well maybe not a problem but an observation.

It wasn't long after I discovered that there was such a thing as remakes that I learned about my preference for the originals in most cases. Pat Boone introduced a lot of new music to a whole new audience but it wasn't until they discovered where that music came from that they could really get a handle on it. It is just too hard to recreate the magic without all the original ingredients (as we will find out yet again if they actually try to remake the Three Stooges). This also applies with the placing of things within the context of time. So while you check out the video keep that in mind.

The other reason for mentioning this is to point out that You Tube is made up of many people that have built some very creative videos by using the building blocks of others as the foundation of their work, in other words adding their photos to another person's popular musical number. In most cases they do give credit to the originators and I am glad for that, it is just that when you come across the originals in all their glory, it is just that much more special.

For example, Tom Lehrer in black and white singing his wonderful classic "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park" is a gem that you will probably never see redone on American Idol. And can you imagine it being done by anyone else anyway?

So in closing I want to leave you with two choices. A quite little video portrayal of Dead Puppies by GoldnWlf and also a live performance by the original Dead Puppies by Ogden Edsl featuring Bill Frenzer. Ain't the internet grand?

Of course that brings up a whole other topic of which is better, live recordings or studio productions?

This is Ed Nef with a view from the Farr West.