John Deacon, bassist of Queen, is considered the Ringo of the band, the quiet, unassuming one that willfully stepped back so the other members could stand in the spotlight. (In fact, that's the exact reason he got the job; the prior bassists the band auditioned were trying too hard to keep up on-stage with Freddie Mercury and Brian May.) But even though he cheerfully accepted the role of The Boring One (and the nickname "Deeks"), Queen would not be the history-making band it was without him.
In the first place, he brought the funk:
"Another One Bites the Dust" is undisputedly Queen's biggest hit, topping nearly every chart it touched. John Deacon wrote the song (inspired by a visit with 70's dance band Chic) and developed the arrangement for the band. Although the rest of Queen was initially cool about the song, an endorsement from Michael Jackson encouraged the band to release it as a single, and it became one of the most irresistable songs ever.
When Queen started, it had a hard rock sound that had extracted the blues influence out of their songs(hence, songs like "Ogre Battle" and "Bohemian Rhapsody.") But all four band members began exploring every musical genre they could, from Tin Pan Alley to opera. The follow-up single to their operatic "Rhapsody" was "You're My Best Friend," which became Deacon's first hit single songwriting credit:
He's written songs for every Queen album since "Sheer Heart Attack"; other songwriting credits to hit the charts include "Back Chat", "I Want to Break
Free", and "One Year of Love".
Pretty much, his music career begins and ends with Queen. John had graduated with honors from Chelsea College with an electronic degree when he joined the band in 1971(another reason Queen chose him; he built and repaired equipment for the band!) After Freddie's death in 1991, John would play some benefit shows and record the remaining songs Freddie had contributed before retiring from music altogether. In the between, he had done studio work with other members' solo projects, but his highest profile solo gig was The Immortals, who recorded one song for a children's movie soundtrack:
No, he put down his sticks and went home to his wife and six kids and songwriting royalties (in 2009, his estimated worth was reported at about £50 million.)
I can't end this post without mentioning his greatest contribution to civilization: his bassline for "Under Pressure". John Deacon playing the opening seven notes to "Under Pressure" are enough to qualify him for the blog. The song resulted from a jam session, an impromptu visit from David Bowie to one of Queen's recording sessions. John credits Bowie with the riff, but Bowie - and the surviving members of Queen - credit John with its creation. Whatever percentage his participation, he helped create an anthem for our civilized world:
Showing posts with label commercials. Show all posts
Showing posts with label commercials. Show all posts
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Friday, July 16, 2010
July 16
Graham Robertson has been a professional set dresser since 1996. He's the guy (or one of the guys, depending on the size of production) that arranges the props and furniture on the set, and makes sure everything's at their marks, for continuity's sake. He's done this for movies like Rush Hour 2, My Sister's Keeper, and Star Trek. Recently, he's been busy on the television front: Monk, The Closer, Hot in Cleveland, $#*! My Father Says... That's his Hollywood career for the last 15 years...
well, except for this one thing...
In 2000, he cut together a version of the Budweiser "Wassup?" commerical, using clip from the Superfriends cartoon series:
The video clip became a bonafide viral sensation, inspiring a glut of "Wassup?" clip parodies (and this is five years before YouTube made it easy for any 7th grader and grandmother to upload.) There was talk of the co-creators (Robertson worked with Philip Stark, screenwriter of "Dude, Where's My Car" and a producer on "That's 70's Show") turning the clip into a series for Cartoon Network, but Robertson's next move was creating what the Guiness Book of World Records recognizes as the first all-green screen feature film: Able Edwards.
Shot for $30,000, Edwards was filmed with no sets over a two-week period. While in post-production, he received a visitor in the editing suite: Steve Sodebergh. Sodebergh liked what he saw so much, he became an executive producer.
Able Edwards was released in 2004; it won the Robert Rodriguez award at the Hollywood MiniDV Festival, and then...
...nothing. His experience with Able Edwards informed his book, "Desktop Cinema: Feature Filmmaking on the Home Computer." Five years later, he's keeping busy arranging furniture on sitcoms.
This is the part of the story that fascinates me. Why no second movie? Did the film's lack of box office success dissuade him? There's no website, no sign of any current distribution; did things go sour behind the scenes? Did he, after creating an entire movie with no physical sets, being writer/producer/director/editor/one-man studio- did he find more fulfillment on movie sets? Did he tell the story he wanted to tell? Did he, in the story of Able Edwards, tell his own story and fortell his own fate? Or does he have something else in the basement, bubbling under? (and is "Land of Enchantment" that project?)
Does Graham Robertson have a second act?
well, except for this one thing...
In 2000, he cut together a version of the Budweiser "Wassup?" commerical, using clip from the Superfriends cartoon series:
The video clip became a bonafide viral sensation, inspiring a glut of "Wassup?" clip parodies (and this is five years before YouTube made it easy for any 7th grader and grandmother to upload.) There was talk of the co-creators (Robertson worked with Philip Stark, screenwriter of "Dude, Where's My Car" and a producer on "That's 70's Show") turning the clip into a series for Cartoon Network, but Robertson's next move was creating what the Guiness Book of World Records recognizes as the first all-green screen feature film: Able Edwards.
Shot for $30,000, Edwards was filmed with no sets over a two-week period. While in post-production, he received a visitor in the editing suite: Steve Sodebergh. Sodebergh liked what he saw so much, he became an executive producer.
Able Edwards was released in 2004; it won the Robert Rodriguez award at the Hollywood MiniDV Festival, and then...
...nothing. His experience with Able Edwards informed his book, "Desktop Cinema: Feature Filmmaking on the Home Computer." Five years later, he's keeping busy arranging furniture on sitcoms.
This is the part of the story that fascinates me. Why no second movie? Did the film's lack of box office success dissuade him? There's no website, no sign of any current distribution; did things go sour behind the scenes? Did he, after creating an entire movie with no physical sets, being writer/producer/director/editor/one-man studio- did he find more fulfillment on movie sets? Did he tell the story he wanted to tell? Did he, in the story of Able Edwards, tell his own story and fortell his own fate? Or does he have something else in the basement, bubbling under? (and is "Land of Enchantment" that project?)
Does Graham Robertson have a second act?
Friday, June 25, 2010
June 25
If you've read the entries earlier this week, you might have noticed the pattern: everyone I wrote about was a birthday girl. I was wondering if I hadn't featured enough females in the blog (considering the planet's about 50/50 gender-wise, why wouldn't a random sampling of undercelebrated celebrities be the same? Discuss...) so I intentionally searched for females to write about. I made it to 6 in a row; why did I stop?
Because I can't let by the birthday of Peyo, Belgian cartoonist and the father of the Smurfs. Smurfs were a major toy phenomenon in the decade of major toy phenomenons, the 80's. But before that, they were a spin-off from a comic strip that Peyo created after World War II, called Johan et Pirlouit (in the 80's cartoon, that's Johan and Peewee[or Peewit?]) About ten years into Johan's comic strip adventures, he meets the Smurfs. They were immediately popular, and received their own newspaper strip. The plastic figurines also started in the 50's, and hasn't stopped production since.
The most fascinating aspect about the Smurfs, to me, is how one of the most popular children's shows in the Reagan administration could look so... communist. I mean, what are Smurfs? A bunch of little blue men barely distinguishable from each other, most of them named by their role in the community(Brainy, Jokey, Hefty, Handy, etc.) Replace "smurf" with "comrade", and see how well it fits.
Also consider: Papa Smurf, the leader dressed in Red, with the Karl Marx beard and the French revolution hat.
Also consider: Gargamel, the wanna-be wizard that keeps trying to capture Smurfs so he can melt them into gold. In the Smurf world, he's a greedy giant, a Capitalist. Think that's a stretch? The producers actually changed his motivation in the last two seasons: apparently, it was more acceptable for the kids to think that he wanted to eat them! There's even umblings that Gargamel's design is consistent with anti-Semetic caricatures(bald, big nose, greedy), which would make the Smurfs Stalinists, I guess...
Anyway, they're about to experience a resurgence; they're a tentpole movie for the 2011 summer season, and that song will be in my head for another decade. But then, I can always turn to that Unicef ad they did a few years ago, to bring attention to the inscription of children in partisan fighting throughout several African nations.
I'm sorry; I can't end this article on such a low; here's a full episode of the Smurfs, which you can find at thewb.com:
T
Because I can't let by the birthday of Peyo, Belgian cartoonist and the father of the Smurfs. Smurfs were a major toy phenomenon in the decade of major toy phenomenons, the 80's. But before that, they were a spin-off from a comic strip that Peyo created after World War II, called Johan et Pirlouit (in the 80's cartoon, that's Johan and Peewee[or Peewit?]) About ten years into Johan's comic strip adventures, he meets the Smurfs. They were immediately popular, and received their own newspaper strip. The plastic figurines also started in the 50's, and hasn't stopped production since.
The most fascinating aspect about the Smurfs, to me, is how one of the most popular children's shows in the Reagan administration could look so... communist. I mean, what are Smurfs? A bunch of little blue men barely distinguishable from each other, most of them named by their role in the community(Brainy, Jokey, Hefty, Handy, etc.) Replace "smurf" with "comrade", and see how well it fits.
Also consider: Papa Smurf, the leader dressed in Red, with the Karl Marx beard and the French revolution hat.
Also consider: Gargamel, the wanna-be wizard that keeps trying to capture Smurfs so he can melt them into gold. In the Smurf world, he's a greedy giant, a Capitalist. Think that's a stretch? The producers actually changed his motivation in the last two seasons: apparently, it was more acceptable for the kids to think that he wanted to eat them! There's even umblings that Gargamel's design is consistent with anti-Semetic caricatures(bald, big nose, greedy), which would make the Smurfs Stalinists, I guess...
Anyway, they're about to experience a resurgence; they're a tentpole movie for the 2011 summer season, and that song will be in my head for another decade. But then, I can always turn to that Unicef ad they did a few years ago, to bring attention to the inscription of children in partisan fighting throughout several African nations.
I'm sorry; I can't end this article on such a low; here's a full episode of the Smurfs, which you can find at thewb.com:
T
Friday, May 21, 2010
May 21
Today's Laurence Tureaud's birthday, but you can call him Mr T. He is the closest thing we have to a living American myth, but I can share some historical tidbits with you: He created the Mr T persona while working as a bouncer. While working the door at some club, he would wear the gold chains, rings and other jewelry that got left behind after some fight in the establishment, so whoever lost their items could get them back without re-entering the club. He wears the Mohawk in the style of a Mandinka warrior, an ethnic group of the African continent; he discovered the hairstyle while reading National Geographic.
His combination of radiating strength and public saavy made him a natural as a celebrity bodyguard, in every sense of the phrase. He parlayed that into an acting career, then into cartoons and pro wrestling, then merchandising. Matter of fact, I started a cereal box collection a few years ago, just to have an excuse to buy a box of Mr T cereal again.
Never mind that the box was empty. Never mind that the cereal tasted like tart packing material, even back in the day. Ebay had that box, and I went for it.
A new generation's discovering Mr T: besides his current status as a pitchman and reality TV star, he's been doing impressive work in cartoons like The Proud Family and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. In 2010, he has a CGI "Mr T" movie in development, and he's got his own video game forthcoming, as well. That's not so surprising, considering what he did to World of Warcraft.
That's enough jibba jabba for today. Stay in school!
His combination of radiating strength and public saavy made him a natural as a celebrity bodyguard, in every sense of the phrase. He parlayed that into an acting career, then into cartoons and pro wrestling, then merchandising. Matter of fact, I started a cereal box collection a few years ago, just to have an excuse to buy a box of Mr T cereal again.
Never mind that the box was empty. Never mind that the cereal tasted like tart packing material, even back in the day. Ebay had that box, and I went for it.
A new generation's discovering Mr T: besides his current status as a pitchman and reality TV star, he's been doing impressive work in cartoons like The Proud Family and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. In 2010, he has a CGI "Mr T" movie in development, and he's got his own video game forthcoming, as well. That's not so surprising, considering what he did to World of Warcraft.
That's enough jibba jabba for today. Stay in school!
Friday, August 28, 2009
august 28
I try not to write about big stars for a couple of reasons. First of all, there’s enough birthday notices for sufficiently famous people on celebrity TV shows and magazines, never mind the Internet. I’m trying not to compete with them. I’m interested in the folks that don’t have paparazzi chasing them, because they have stories I haven’t heard yet. But if I want people to eat the steak, I have to throw some sizzle in.
Shania Twain is interesting to me from an anthropological standpoint. I mean, she’s one of the most successful artists even in the country music genre, but you’d have a hard time finding her on my local country radio stations today. She’s indicative of the Madison Avenue country sound: less southern-fried but more palatable to the rest of the world. Guess that’s what happens when you’re married to Def Lepard’s record producer.
Exhibit A: the “Up!” album. With over 11 million copies in the US alone, it’s the biggest selling record of this decade. “Up!” actually had three versions: the red CD version was more pop-tinged than the green “country” version, while the blue “international” version was remixed by two Bollywood music gurus.
You can hear some of the Indian sound in the production of “Gonna Get You Good,” one of the chart-toppers from “Up!” Or you can turn down the sound (I know you will…) just watch the video and try to figure out what country music fans thought of this:
Two quirks about her that I dig: She’s a Revlon cover girl, but her secret to smooth skin is Bag Balm, an ointment for protecting cow udders in the winter. Also, her cameo in I Heart Huckabees is worth a look, especially if you can’t stand Jude Law.
Jack Black is on my babymomma’s List. If you don’t know what The List is, now is not the time to talk about it. Now is time to talk about Jack Black.
Without Jack Black, there would not be “Heat Vision and Jack,” a craptastic show that never saw the light of day, and inspired its producers to create the bizzarely funny Channel101.com. There’s so much great stuff he’s done, all the way back to “High Fidelity” and “Mr Show.” But I’ll narrow it down to a Tenacious D skit called “Tribute”. I tried to find the original HBO broadcast bit, before Led Zeppelin’s lawyers got involved.
David Fincher – I can write about this guy! Seven, Fight Club, Zodiac – he’s made creepy awesome movies (and kept Brad Pitt from becoming, say, Paul Walker.) Showing two minutes clips of his greatest films seems cheap… But he built his resume and developed his cinematic style with a catalog of stunning, award-winning music videos! Like this:
Wait a minute…
Dagnabit…
How about a public service message?
Now THAT’s David Fincher.
***
Here’s a cause a bit closer to my mission. Birthday boy Jess Margera is the drummer for CKY, which gives him something to talk about besides being Bam’s brother. I was prepared not to like CKY, but it’s the right kind of harsh.
Mission accomplished. Rock on…
Shania Twain is interesting to me from an anthropological standpoint. I mean, she’s one of the most successful artists even in the country music genre, but you’d have a hard time finding her on my local country radio stations today. She’s indicative of the Madison Avenue country sound: less southern-fried but more palatable to the rest of the world. Guess that’s what happens when you’re married to Def Lepard’s record producer.
Exhibit A: the “Up!” album. With over 11 million copies in the US alone, it’s the biggest selling record of this decade. “Up!” actually had three versions: the red CD version was more pop-tinged than the green “country” version, while the blue “international” version was remixed by two Bollywood music gurus.
You can hear some of the Indian sound in the production of “Gonna Get You Good,” one of the chart-toppers from “Up!” Or you can turn down the sound (I know you will…) just watch the video and try to figure out what country music fans thought of this:
Two quirks about her that I dig: She’s a Revlon cover girl, but her secret to smooth skin is Bag Balm, an ointment for protecting cow udders in the winter. Also, her cameo in I Heart Huckabees is worth a look, especially if you can’t stand Jude Law.
Jack Black is on my babymomma’s List. If you don’t know what The List is, now is not the time to talk about it. Now is time to talk about Jack Black.
Without Jack Black, there would not be “Heat Vision and Jack,” a craptastic show that never saw the light of day, and inspired its producers to create the bizzarely funny Channel101.com. There’s so much great stuff he’s done, all the way back to “High Fidelity” and “Mr Show.” But I’ll narrow it down to a Tenacious D skit called “Tribute”. I tried to find the original HBO broadcast bit, before Led Zeppelin’s lawyers got involved.
David Fincher – I can write about this guy! Seven, Fight Club, Zodiac – he’s made creepy awesome movies (and kept Brad Pitt from becoming, say, Paul Walker.) Showing two minutes clips of his greatest films seems cheap… But he built his resume and developed his cinematic style with a catalog of stunning, award-winning music videos! Like this:
Wait a minute…
Dagnabit…
How about a public service message?
Now THAT’s David Fincher.
***
Here’s a cause a bit closer to my mission. Birthday boy Jess Margera is the drummer for CKY, which gives him something to talk about besides being Bam’s brother. I was prepared not to like CKY, but it’s the right kind of harsh.
Mission accomplished. Rock on…
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