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Archive for the ‘Wings’ Category

The Fab Faux with the Hogshead Horns and Creme Tangerine Strings (Wellmont Theater, Montclair, NJ, June 13, 2026)

Posted in John Lennon, Montclair, NJ, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, The Beatles, The Fab Faux with the Hogshead Horns and Creme Tangerine Strings, Wellmont Theater, Wings on June 13, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: June 13, 2026] The Fab Faux

I’ve said many times that I don’t do cover bands.  And yet, here’s another one.  Well, this one was different. There is literally no way to see The Beatles anymore and since my wife is a huge Beatles fan and a friend (who is in a different Beatles cover band) said these guys were great, I got tickets for us.

Recently The Fab Faux (a truly great name) played Abbey Road and a Hard Day’s Night in their entirety.  So I was psyched for an evening of Beatles music.  They even had Hogshead Horns and Creme Tangerine Strings with them, so I imagined a chronological tour through the years of Beatles albums.

They opened with Got to Get You Into My Life and I was pretty impressed.  The vocals were really good and of course the musicianship was top notch.   They followed it with Savoy Truffle (in which they sing “creme tangerine”).  I recognized the music but not the words at all.  (It’s a late cut on the White Album, but I guess I never paid much attention to it.  My wife was pleased to hear it.

Then they played a song that neither of us really knew.  Junior’s Farm is a song by Wings and neither of us are big Wings fans, so…

But then they started playing some familiar songs–Back in the U.S.S.R.–and I was really blown away by how good their voices were–Paul and John were just perfect.  I loved Paperback Writer and Taxman and it was around this time that I noticed that the people in the front row (we were in the middle section) were going nuts.  Like nuts as if this were, not the actual Beatles, not that nuts, but like a super famous band of musicians.

Speaking of the crowd, when we sat down, a guy next to us had brought three inflatable cushions to sit on.  It looked like he had some kind of trouble walking, so I assume it was medical.  But this guy was in the front row and he was going to be easily six inches taller than he was meant to be.  They were in the wrong seat anyhow, and had to move, so I don’t know what happened after that.

They played It Don’t Come Easy (and the drummer sang this Ringo song).  I realized that I didn’t know this was a Ringo Starr song.  Huh.  And then a fantastic cover of I am the Walrus.  And then they played Jet by Wings.  Don’t get me wrong, it was fun hearing this song played live, but, seriously, what was with all of the spinoff songs?  (more…)

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Paul Myers–The Kids in the Hall: One Dumb Guy (2018)

Posted in Bruce McCullogh, Canadian Content, Canadian Music, Cancelled, Coronavirus, Crash Kills Five, Dave Foley, Drifters, Drinking, Flip Wilson, Funny (ha ha), Gender, Kevin McDonald, King of the Hill, LGBTQ, Mark McKinney, Michael McDonald, Mike Myers, Mouth Congress, NPR/PRI/PBS, Paul Bellini, Paul Myers, Quarantine, Saturday Night Live, Scott Thompson, Seth Meyers, Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet, The Doobie Brothers, The Kids in the Hall, The Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy, The Kids in the Hall: Death Comes to Town, The Larry Sanders Show, The X Files, Thundercat, Tiny Desk (Home) Concerts, Tiny Desk Concert, William B. Davis, Wings on April 16, 2020| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: MICHAEL McDONALD-Tiny Desk (Home) Concert #4 (March 26, 2020).

I was never a fan of the Doobie Brothers, although I do like a few of their songs.  To me, especially now, Michael McDonald’s voice has the quintessential mockable tone and style.  If I were to sing in a voice that I thought was funny, it would sound like him.

Now, he sang on the Thundercat album “Drunk” so that gives him some cred for me, but it’s hard for me to listen to this Tiny Desk Home Concert.

Shows what I know, though, since he is hugely popular and is a “five-time Grammy winner and 2020 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee.

After Michael McDonald finished “Matters Of The Heart,” the opening song in his Tiny Desk (home) concert, there was a brief pause. The bewilderment on his face was unmistakable. It’s a look I believe we all can relate to in this moment of uncertainty. He sat in his home studio, complete with an illustration of the Tiny Desk drawn by Mr. McDonald himself. That pause, usually reserved for the anticipated applause, was replaced by complete silence.

“Matters” is slow and ponderous.  It lasts nearly 6 minutes and sounds like a ballad I would have hated in the 90s.

I hate to be so mean to him, because he seems like a nice enough guy.  But my comments surely won’t affect him too much.

He then proceeded to play two 1978 Doobie Brothers classics that showcase his still-golden voice: “Minute By Minute” and “What A Fool Believes.”

He jokes: “If you know the words, sing along with me at home,” he said. “I won’t know if you’re singing well or not because I can’t hear you here.”

I enjoy these two Doobie Brothers songs, although  don’t really know the words–I had no idea that the song was called “What a Fool Believes” until about twenty years after I first heard it.  I much prefer the full band to these rather stripped down versions.

[READ: March 10, 2020] The Kids in the Hall: One Dumb Guy

It’s amusing to me that this book by Paul Myers, has an introduction by Seth Meyers and mentions Mike Myers.

Seth says that he was interning at Comedy Central and was doing a great job.  Then he found The Kids in The Hall (which he had never seen before). He became so obsessed with it that he started slacking off.  His boss at Comedy Central said that initially he was planing on offering Seth a job but after all the slacking off he wouldn’t do it.  When Seth told his boss he had been side-tracked by The Kids in the Hall, his boss sais, “There are worse things to throw an opportunity away for.”

So this is an authorized biography of the five Kids in the Hall.  Myers tells the story in a really compelling way. One where, as you read it, you think, gosh I hope everything works out for these guys.  Even though you know they did because well, this book wouldn’t be written about them if it didn’t and because you’re a huge fan of the Kids and you know it all worked out. (more…)

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