So it was Nick Lowe's birthday over the weekend, and I was looking for something appropriate to post from YouTube when I stumbled across this 2004 clip.
I think the appropriate words are Hole. E. Shit.
Seriously, the first time I watched this I had to turn it off half way through because it was so gut-punchingly powerful I couldn't handle it.
I should add that I find it beyond ironic that a guy like Lowe, who made his pop star bones as a sort of cynical wiseguy, wound up writing the most universally beloved and well-known hippie anthem of all time.
I should also add that one of my favorite pop music stories ever involves that song, and this is absolutely true.
As you may recall, a more or less not fabulous cover of said hippie anthem -- by the non-unjustifiably more or less forgotten Curtis Stigers -- was featured on the soundtrack album to the 1992 mega-smash film The Bodyguard. Which sold several gazillion, er, units.
In any case, apparently Lowe was only vaguely aware that said cover was on the album. Until one day in 1993, he went to his mailbox, opened an envelope, and found a royalty check -- made out in his name -- in a seven figure amount.
Which has to be one of the greatest potential heart attack moments of all time.
Meanwhile -- happy birthday, Mr. Lowe. You did good.
Don’t forget Nick co-wrote the song with Ian Gomm! Some how that is always forgotten.
ReplyDeleteCaptain Al
Not bragging, but I was there.
ReplyDeleteOK. Maybe I'm bragging just a little.
Pretty amazing but boy,Dave Matthews is so out of his league it's not even funny.
ReplyDeleteNice, Thanks for sharing.
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Funny that Anonymous mentioned Dave Matthews.
ReplyDeleteI am most definitely not a fan of his band. Springsteen was the headliner on the bill, playing a 90-minute set, IIRC. Matthews was #2 on the bill, which gave him a whopping 40 minutes. It was excruciating. In 40 minutes, he played five "songs," which my friend described as "five drum solos with people playing along." Had Bruce not been the headliner, I would've left. Just horrible.
But, the worst part to me was the fact that the arena was going apeshit over this swill. The entire place was up and dancing. I just don't get it.
great song. great cover...but then, don't think I have ever heard a bad cover (spend a few minutes searching youtube...Chris Cornell did a wonderfully poignant version that was circulated heavily after his death as a commemoration, for instance
ReplyDeleteThanks for the warning. I was able to get through it in one sitting. Pretty great, except the guy who is probably Dave Matthews.
ReplyDeleteExcellent.
ReplyDeleteNice lead solo by Springsteen.
And I love that Goldtop Fogerty is playing.
In a way it makes total sense that Lowe and Gomm wrote it. I read an interview in the early 80's in which Lowe pretty much says that the lyrics are more or less tongue in cheek. He was in fact being a wise guy.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful - where was this?
ReplyDeleteWhen you write a song, how people interpret it is outta yer hands.
ReplyDeleteDG
Agree with the Dave Matthews comments. Who ever told him he can sing?
ReplyDeleteThat was pretty great and I’d never seen it before. One of my all time top 10 songs. I wouldn’t have minded another five or six minutes of it. Bruce’s solo was excellent, Max sounded like he’s been playing the song forever, and I wasn’t annoyed by Dave Matthews nearly as much as some of you.
ReplyDeleteNot to diss Ian Gomm, but "What's So Funny" is Nick alone. Ian co-wrote "Cruel To Be Kind," which is not, as they say, nothing, but still not the same song.
ReplyDeleteI have a friend who is close to Ian Hunter.
ReplyDeleteHe told me, regarding Nicks being astonished, that Ian experienced that same feeling with the release of the Juno soundtrack.
Apparently the check was very "healthy"
rob