By Mnemosene2
Considering that so many of the stars of the silver screen are renowned for their beauty, I was surprised at how many of the nominations are comedy songs. I thought a whole list of novelty songs would make for wearing listening so I have been sparing in my choice.
The first entry is definitely a tribute to beautiful comedienne, Marilyn Monroe. And a suave performance by Mr Suave himself, Bryan Ferry.
Second comes Patti Smith with Nine, a birthday tribute both to and about Johnny Depp. He might be losing some of his famous good looks but, in his time, he was probably the most beautiful man on the screen. He can act a bit, too.
Lou Reed sings of Andy Warhol's transgender stars in Walk on the Wild Side, with its compulsive chorus of backing singers turning a possibly depressing song into an anthem of joy.
Royal Trux's Jennifer Herrema was apparently fixated on Steven Seagal, a crush that bemuses me. The song for him is one of my all time favourites with its Prince-like guitar and gorgeous melody.
If he didn't look like a giant bear, John Grant would rival Bryan Ferry for suavity. His voice is definitely smoother as he compares himself to Sigourney Weaver in Alien and Winona Ryder in an unnamed vampire movie.
Earthling's First Transmission is as much about the performers heritage, but as nominator severin says, trip-hop rapper Mau drops references to Boris Karloff, Uhura from Star Trek, Harvey Keitel, "33 Degrees in the Morning" (ie Betty Blue) and the one everybody remembers "Oh gosh, oh gosh, I'm Juliette Binoche!"
Now let's have I-Roy with Buck and the Preacher. I love a bit of reggae and this one shows love for Sidney Poitier.
Submarine love Jodie Foster. The opening chords sound almost like Slint. The song stalks Jodie Foster, just her real life stalker did.
Nostalgia next. More Warhol tributes from Readers Wifes (their grammar), who describe themselves as a four-piece beat combo. I normally ignore comments on YouTube but there's a classic here. "What a pair of cheap sluts, just gagging to be thrown roughly over a cheap sofa and have their Pretty Pollys ripped clean off."
The Voodoo Queens sing of the difficult of pronouncing Keanu Reeves's name in Kenuwee Head. With Johnny Depp, he is one of the most beautiful faces ever to be seen on film. Possibly not so good an actor, but he has great charm.
Southpaw Jones sings a sad tribute to Fatty Arbuckle. I'll be calling him Roscoe Arbuckle from now on.
Gomez’s 78 Stone Wobble scrapes into the list because of the final voiceover mentioning Sean Connery and Steve McQueen. It's a very fine song to close the credits too.
A-lister playlister:
Bryan Ferry – Goddess of Love
Patti Smith – Nine
Lou Reed – Walk on the Wild Side
Royal Trux – Stevie
John Grant – Sigourney Weaver
Earthling – First Transmission
I-Roy – Buck and the Preacher
Submarine – Jodie Foster
Readers Wifes – Nostalgia
The Voodoo Queens – Kenuwee Head
Southpaw Jones – Fatty Arbuckle
Gomez – 78 Stone Wobble
B-movie playlister:
Suzanne Vega – Freeze Tag
Gorillaz – Clint Eastwood
Nirvana – Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge On Seattle
Half Man Half Biscuit – Dickie Davis Eyes
The North Sea Scrolls – I’m Not The Man You Think I Am Karen, I'm The Actor Tony Allen
The Jellybottys – Peter Cushing Lives In Whitstable
Jackie Leven – Absolutely Joan Crawford
Eels – Grace Kelly Blues
Julian Cope – Robert Mitchum
Madonna – Vogue
James – Just Like Fred Astaire
The Broken Family Band – John Belushi
Yo La Tengo – Tom Courtenay
Belle & Sebastian – Like Dylan in the Movies
Blue Oyster Cult – Joan Crawford
These playlists were inspired by readers' song nominations from last week's topic: Play that again: songs inspired by movie and TV stars. The next topic will launch on Thursday at 1pm UK time.
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