Not being in the loop, the only thing I knew about Gnarls Barkley before “St. Elsewhere” dropped was that their label was doing a full-court marketing press at the last South by Southwest. Had I known that it was a Danger Mouse and Cee-Lo Green project, I probably would have paid closer attention.
When the album blew up, I was in my usual no-commerical-radio, only-buys-old-timey-vinyl bubble. But then I stumbled across the “Smiley Faces” video on YouTube and my friend George Kelly rocked “Crazy,” acoustic-stizz, at a couple of campouts — and hooked isn’t strong enough a word. “Smiley Faces” has got such a timeless groove, I wouldn’t be surprised if someday a 1/4″ reel featuring David Ruffin fronting the Funk Brothers in a Smokey Robinson production turned up.
Just looking at the track timestamps, I could see that some serious pop thought went into this. None of the tracks would be too long to fit on a 7″ 45rpm side. And “Crazy” backed with “Gone, Daddy, Gone” would have practically minted dimes for anyone with a Wurlitzer back in the day. America hasn’t seen a crossover pop hits like these in a long, long time. I can’t wait to play these for my mom, cause she can actually sing in Cee-Lo’s key, and I know she’ll want to.
Permalink
4 Comments
Man, the last time I was at Bumbershoot, Kurt Cobain was not only still alive, but still performing regularly in Seattle all-ages venues. My favorite Bumbershoot story is when a friend of mine in high school orchestra — waiting for an autograph outside the musician’s entrance of the hall where Seattle legend Ray Charles was due to perform — got mistaken for a member of the band, ushered onto stage, and faked it well enough on cello to perform the set live and under the direction of a world-class melodic genius.
This weekend, while all the hippies are getting dirty in the desert, both Blondie and Lady Sov turned in performances. Hott.
Permalink
2 Comments
