Willie Simpson

Tag: willie simpson

  • The Hey Jude Rehearsal Videos

    I should have reversed these posts, but after I was surfing “Hey Jude” yesterday on youtube, I found some more choice clips of the legendary song, so consider this an unofficial part 2.  These are rehearsal videos of the lads in the studio learning the song.  You get John doing some funny antics, Ringo singing,…

  • The Beatles, Hey Jude

    I woke up this morning knowing I wanted to post something by the Beatles.  For whatever reason I put on “Hey Jude,” their 1968 9 week #1 smash hit.  By this point, “Hey Jude” is rather rote and overplayed, but this morning, to me at least, the song sounded fresh.  It’s kind of strange how…

  • Apollo 13, Walter Cronkite's Complete CBS Coverage

    Most of us have seen Ron Howard’s incredible 1995 movie, Apollo 13.  I remember that my father took me to see it in the theaters, and it was one of the most incredible movies I’d ever witnessed.  Every time the film is on television, I find myself glued to the screen in rapt awe and…

  • They Might Be Giants, Particle Man

    I only know two songs by They Might Be Giants (not counting the Daily Show theme).  I posted the “Istanbul” song yesterday, so today I’m posting “Particle Man.”  This song was also famously featured on Tiny Tunes, but due to the dreadfully horrible and arbitrary copywrite laws enforced by youtube, I can’t post that original…

  • They Might Be Giants, The Four Lads, Istanbul (Not Constantinople)

    I had no idea that They Might Be Giants didn’t write this song!  It turns out that the Four Lads, in 1953, came up with this incredibly catchy and insane song.  It was a top ten hit and a certified gold record.  Imagine that!  I learned all this from hearing a tape of Bob Dylan’s…

  • Bob Marley, Duppy Conqueror, Rare Studio Take

    We’re back in the 1974 Catch a Fire sessions as Bob Marley and the Wailers cut a fifth version of “Duppy Conqueror.”  What is a “duppy,” and why is Bob conquering them?  Interesting question.  Well, in Jamaica, duppy is slang for ghost, and Bob was thinking about opening up a Jamaican branch of the Ghostbusters. …

  • Bob Marley, Get Up Stand Up, Rare Studio Take

    Some very generous youtube benefactors recently uploaded over 30 videos of Bob Marley in the studio recording tracks for his Catch a Fire record.  The video below is a priceless take from the sessions of “Get Up Stand Up,” Bob’s most righteous moment in his career.  This version is a hard slow funky jam of…

  • Harvey Danger, Flagpole Sitta, Sad Sweetheart of the Radio, Cream and Bastards Rise

    I remember being in marching band in high school hearing “Flagpole Sitta” on the cheerleaders mix tape across the field.  The days were hot and long and the girls had at least a 15 song mix, and I got to hear this song blast out at least 3 times, a respite of cool indie pop…

  • Seinfeld, Michael Jackson, and Montages

    Youtube is kind of awful.  I found some absolutely golden clips from “Seinfeld” that I’d love to post and do intensive analysis of, but nearly all of the clips are disabled for embedding.  Luckily, I have found a few killer scenes that have escaped the clutches of the youtube machine for now.  They’ll probably be…

  • The Zombies, She's Not There, This Will Be Our Year

    The Zombies were an underrated band.  In the 1960s, the Brits invaded America.  Leading the charge were the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, The Who, and the Kinks.  Right in the thick of that mess of ungodly talent was the Zombies.  A piano/keyboard based pop group armed with their own mix of catchy singles and sentimental…