Thursday, September 25, 2003
Is it possible for a song to "jump the shark"? There are some songs that are great and then, for some reason, they are still good but you just can't listen to them anymore.
I propose this. A song can jump the shark, but most top 40 pop song jump the shark when they get played so much nobody can stand to hear it one more freakin' time.
Potential possible signs of a song jumping the shark:
- You can flip through all the radio stations on the dial and hear it on atleast 5 stations on the dial. (I've done this years ago with G'n'R's "Patience and this year with the Rock'n'Crow's "Picture")
- Use in a commercial. ("Lust for Life" used in cruise ship commercial)
- Used in a children or family movie or a commercial for a children or family movie. ("Tubthumper" used in Home Alone 3)
- Sung by a group of nameless kids or any kind of real or animated animals. (Anything sung by the Chipmunks)
And the two signs (and songs) that got me started thinking about all of this.
- Covered by an artist who has no business covering it. ("You shook me all night long" covered by Celine Dion)
- Sung on a tv show by main characters on the show when the show doesn't center around the show. ("Old Time Rock N Roll" on the tv show Growing Pains)
Yeah, what got me thinking about this was hearing the AC/DC and Bob Seger classics back to back one night on the drive home and realizing that these two great songs just haven't had the same effect on me recently. I'd rather prefer to hear other songs by the artists. I love hearing "Back in Black", "Dirty Deeds (done dirt cheap)" or "Turn the Page", "Rock and Roll Never Forgets". And, after thinking about it, "You shook me all night long" hasn't been the same since Celine Dion (along with anastacia) covered the song on one of those vh1's misnamed "Divas" concert. (Aretha Franklin is a diva, but Brandy? Shania? No F**kin' way.) Not even AC/DC performing it with Steven Tyler could cleanse the effects of the Celine performance.
It took a while to figure out the cause of the downfall of the other song. At first I thought maybe it was hearing too many bad wedding bands murder the Bob Seger classic, but I eventually narrowed it down to a episode of Growing Pains where the family got the father's old band back together for his birthday and they concluded the episode with the band playing with Alan Thicke on lead vocals (I think) and Kirk Cameron on keyboard. I haven't seen the episode in about 15 years or so and the image of Thicke walking over to the keyboard mike and singing a chorus sharing the mike with Kirk is still embedded into my memory.
I just thank god that both Bob Seger and AC/DC has enough songs that they all can't be ruined. All though I dread the day Britney or the Olsen Twins cover "Come to Poppa" or some athletic equipment company includes "I've got big balls" in a commercial.
I propose this. A song can jump the shark, but most top 40 pop song jump the shark when they get played so much nobody can stand to hear it one more freakin' time.
Potential possible signs of a song jumping the shark:
- You can flip through all the radio stations on the dial and hear it on atleast 5 stations on the dial. (I've done this years ago with G'n'R's "Patience and this year with the Rock'n'Crow's "Picture")
- Use in a commercial. ("Lust for Life" used in cruise ship commercial)
- Used in a children or family movie or a commercial for a children or family movie. ("Tubthumper" used in Home Alone 3)
- Sung by a group of nameless kids or any kind of real or animated animals. (Anything sung by the Chipmunks)
And the two signs (and songs) that got me started thinking about all of this.
- Covered by an artist who has no business covering it. ("You shook me all night long" covered by Celine Dion)
- Sung on a tv show by main characters on the show when the show doesn't center around the show. ("Old Time Rock N Roll" on the tv show Growing Pains)
Yeah, what got me thinking about this was hearing the AC/DC and Bob Seger classics back to back one night on the drive home and realizing that these two great songs just haven't had the same effect on me recently. I'd rather prefer to hear other songs by the artists. I love hearing "Back in Black", "Dirty Deeds (done dirt cheap)" or "Turn the Page", "Rock and Roll Never Forgets". And, after thinking about it, "You shook me all night long" hasn't been the same since Celine Dion (along with anastacia) covered the song on one of those vh1's misnamed "Divas" concert. (Aretha Franklin is a diva, but Brandy? Shania? No F**kin' way.) Not even AC/DC performing it with Steven Tyler could cleanse the effects of the Celine performance.
It took a while to figure out the cause of the downfall of the other song. At first I thought maybe it was hearing too many bad wedding bands murder the Bob Seger classic, but I eventually narrowed it down to a episode of Growing Pains where the family got the father's old band back together for his birthday and they concluded the episode with the band playing with Alan Thicke on lead vocals (I think) and Kirk Cameron on keyboard. I haven't seen the episode in about 15 years or so and the image of Thicke walking over to the keyboard mike and singing a chorus sharing the mike with Kirk is still embedded into my memory.
I just thank god that both Bob Seger and AC/DC has enough songs that they all can't be ruined. All though I dread the day Britney or the Olsen Twins cover "Come to Poppa" or some athletic equipment company includes "I've got big balls" in a commercial.
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