Sometimes I wonder, in our quest to make ourselves laugh with the unlikely covers and mash-ups I record for RAW Impressions, do Adelle and I go too far? Specifically, does anybody -want- to hear me play Matchbox 20, Counting Crows and Deep Blue Something songs, really? Among music snobs and competitive musicians like myself circa nineteen-ninety-whatever, this stuff was deeply annoying. But I can’t deny that when I completed my demo and final version for this banger (both available below) I felt like I was doing a service for us all.
For myself, I switched from taking a sarcastic approach to simply appreciating what made the songs appealing and dialing in my performance accordingly. What began as a joke became a sincere tribute to a strain of conversational narrative pop songs from the 90s. These were all chart toppers and now stream in the tens of millions. Does extreme popularity mean something is good? Of course it does.
But my question remains, if no one else finds it as entertaining as Adelle and I, should I do it at all? Is it a waste of time? Should I be concentrating on expanding my own craft, writing my own songs, or, at the very least, finding a new commercial to recreate? The answer is: who fucking cares and studying and recreating these hits -is- honing my skills as a songwriter, probably. Also, following through on an Adelle/Lou brainstorm is satisfying, always.
Anyway, At 3 am Mr. Jones Had Breakfast At Tiffany’s is awesome and you’re welcome. Sit back, count those Vibraslap hits and let us know how many there are, seriously, we want to know.
Oh, what’s a Vibraslap? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vibraslap It’s a secret musical weapon that, with a decent vocal melody, can turn a regular old instrumental into a one-hit-wonder. That’s what happened for the Folk Implosion’s Natural One! Speaking of Natural One, Breakfast At Tiffany’s was charting at the same time so I feel a connection to Deep Blue Something. We’re 90s one-hit-wonder brothers!
Thanks to Donnie Bott for recording At 3 am Mr. Jones Had Breakfast At Tiffany’s (in his BBD Labs in Louisville). He serendipitously handed me his Vibraslap during our impromptu recording sesh not knowing that I was a fellow Vibra-believer!