Random Weird Music Videos - "Whatzupwitu" by Eddie Murphy featuring Michael Jackson

For my next foray in the wonderful, weird world of music videos, it's time to look at one of my favorite comedic actors: Eddie Murphy. Yes, he actually recorded a few music albums. I guess he thought he could also hit it big in this realm. No, he's not the best singer around, but he ain't too bad. I imagine that he'd do well at a church on any given Sunday. Unfortunately, I'm not talking about the One-Hit Wonder known as "Party All the Time" which was produced by Rick James. No, I got "Whazupwithu," a song off his third album that features one of my favorite singers, Michael Jackson. 

I always wondered why I never heard of this song back in the day. I mean, knowing that it was on an Eddie Murphy album definitely didn't help. I saw the video for this a few years ago and was amazed at how horrible it looked. My sister (who's a big MJ fan) sent a reel of it to me on Instagram a while ago. I also saw a reel of the podcast Double Toasted reacting to it, so that's why it's here. I gotta put my piece in on this wholesome horridness.

• "The Elephant is dying!" - Excuse my French, but what the hell was that? I had to do a double take at the beginning!
• "Eddie Mercury" - I saw a comment on Instagram and that just made me LOL. I definitely see it! I guess Eddie thought he could fill the void left by Freddie Mercury or something.
• Why, Michael? Why? - While I could be asking that question to MJ on a plethora of stuff, this is definitely a question that has to be asked. He's featured on stuff for years, but this one is the most baffling to me. Apparently, he liked the wholesome feel of the lyrics, so he agreed to do the song and the video. I can say that at least it looked like they were having fun making the video. Plus, MJ brought his usual A-game to the song.
• PBS Intro - This seriously looks like it could be an intro to a kids' learning show. That's not the vibe you should be going for... unless you're trying to create an intro for a kids learning show. It's like the wholesome version of "Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood" featuring Michael Jackson as the magic imp!
• Disney Channel Feel - All this video made me think of was those Disney Channel drawing bumpers you'd see from the early 2000's.  You'd have someone from those shows come on screen and be like "This is Disney" and pull out some magic wand. I almost thought the song was gonna end with Hilary Duff or Raven showing up with that wand!
• "Whatzzzuppwithuuu" - I don't know what Eddie was thinking adlibbing that in the song. The song itself is okay at best, but hearing him say it like that throughout the song is hilarious!
• The children choir - No comment there. While I got my theories about all that involving Michael, seeing a kids' choir show up here cracked me up. I guess this was shot before all those allegations started.

In the end, this is horrible. The song itself isn't that good, but the video just... dang! I don't know what the heck the creators were thinking about this! At least it's a video you can laugh out loud to. We need some of that these days. It may not be what Eddie Murphy was going for, but he did create one of the worst and funniest music videos ever. Anyway, I'm outta here. Peace, God Bless, and be careful out there.

At least some fun was to be had.

Random Weird Music Videos - "I Can't Remember" by Peter Gabriel

I didn’t realize that I had another one in me. Recently, I’ve been looking at some of Peter Gabriel’s music. You wouldn’t think that a 37 year-old Black dude from the country would be into some Gabriel, but here were are. I mean, I did do a post on Genesis and Phil Collins, alright? I lost my “Awesome Black Dude” card years ago, and I don’t even know how I got it in the first place! I also didn’t realize that did a quick post on his biggest hit “Sledgehammer” years ago. Weird, huh?

Now, I’ve had his greatest hits album for a few years, and for some reason, listening to “Red Rain” for the first time in years sparked something in me. By the way, Stewart Copeland (the drummer from the Police) had a part to play in the song, and I think that’s another reason I kept coming back to it. I was scouring YouTube for some more hits I hadn’t heard before. I ended up looking at some of the early music he did after he left Genesis back in the 70’s and ran into a familiar tune, “I Don’t Remember.” Apparently, Gabriel had more than a few versions of the song out there,  and it does show up on the greatest hits album. The song was ultimately was released on his third solo album in 1980. It got a music video in 1982, and… well, there’s a reason there’s a post for it here.

So, what in the heck is up with this video?

• That Bass – The first thing you hear is the bass from Tony Levin who’s a great bass player. He’s mainly known for being the bass player from King Crimson, another Prog Rock group from the 70’s. Here, he’s playing a special instrument called the Chapman Stick which gives a pretty unique sound.
• A Man in Search of Something – We got Gabriel in the video in search for something. What it is, we don’t know, but my guess is a distant memory. I mean, walking through disheveled places littered with pictures, plasters of his face, and a crazed traveling dance group must mean something.
• WEIRD WHITE FOLK – Yeah, if you’re feeling unsettled by the travelling dance crew from Arkham Asylum, you’re not the only one. This was weird. I don’t know if they’re supposed to be demons, old memories taken form, or what. They kinda remind me of those aliens from Dark City. I know that they do make the video cool and kinda unsettling. It feels like Gabriel played with the box from Hellraiser, and these Cenobite wannabes popped out!
• Random Shamans – Yeah, what were the random shamans who use blowdarts and sit in disheveled apartments gonna do? Apparently transform into those white ghost/demon/alien things which is what happens to Gabriel towards the end. We even get a nod to another music video he did during this time, “Shock the Monkey.”
  

Overall, it’s a weird but good video. It also helps that the song itself is pretty good. Somehow, Peter Gabriel also evoked that weird, unsettling vibe to the album version of the song too. It kinda makes me want to check out the rest of that album. I’ve heard a couple of more songs from it and thought they were pretty good. Heck, since Gabriel’s released another album, I might go on and do a true deep dive. Anywho, I’m outta here. Peace, God Bless, and be careful out there. Also, make sure you don’t invite that traveling dance group from Wherever anytime soon. They'll either have sights to show you or want to whisk you away to their homeworld.

Random Weird Music Videos - Cameo's "Back and Forth"

You know, I haven’t talked about any weird music videos for years, so I might as well try to get back to that. This is called “Random Thoughts,” after all. Besides, some of these need a talking!

In the last few years, I’ve been trying to make my music catalog a little deeper. Thanks to Pandora, I’ve been able to listen to more than just the popular songs from certain groups. One of those groups was the funk/soul group, Cameo. Now, I only really knew about Cameo from their biggest hits like “Word Up” and “Candy”. What I didn’t know was that this group had quite a few hits under their belt. They started in the 70’s with a big booming band akin to most funk groups from that time. The changing music scene of the 80’s whittled that 14-member group to about five guys, but the funk persisted!

Now, the group had some wild music videos. Heck, most artists had some wild music videos in the 80’s. Today’s is no different. “Back and Forth” was a modest hit off from their biggest album, Word Up! I picked this because it goes into Weirdtown in the first second. Here are just some of things you’ll come across here:

• FLOATING CODPIECE – Seriously, the first thing you seen on screen is Larry Blackmon’s red codpiece coming at you on screen! Yeah, it lets you know to not take things seriously, but still, what the heck? It even makes cameos (no pun intended) throughout the video swinging like a pendulum!
• Sexy Dancing – If there’s one thing you’ll run into with Cameo’s videos, it’ll be a bunch of attractive people dancing. Of course, you got the women, but also get the men in on the action.  Even some of the members try to dance… just try. There’s reason they stick to just singing and playing music. If you really want to see the band get down, check out one of their first videos, "Shake Your Pants."
• Romance Troubles – The song’s message is pretty simple: love is a battlefield… wait, wrong artist. Anyway, anyone who’s been in a relationship knows that it can be a lot of “back and forth” between two lovers. You end up seeing two members getting into spats with their pretty nimble ladies and then going to the club for funsies.
• Body builders? – Apparently, someone had a bit of muscle fetish because we get a couple of body building men and women here. Even Larry Blackmon tries to show off his chiseled-ness.
• MILES DAVIS? – So, you’re wondering who the dude decked in black staring deep into your soul is, well that’s the legendary jazz musician, Miles Davis. It’s definitely one of the most random cameos ever. He did some collaborations with the group, so I guess that’s why he’s here. Either way, Random! It also doesn’t help that he looks like he might fight you in the corner of a dark alley!

………………………………..

In the end, it’s just another weird music video for Cameo. It’s not their best video or song, but it’s a good one. For me, their best song is either “Word Up” or “Attack Me With Your Love”. Those videos are pretty wild too. They have one that I may talk about one day because it is wild. Anyway, I’m outta here. Peace, God Bless, and be careful out there.

Also, don’t say Miles Davis’ name in a mirror five times in a row, or you’ll be visited by him like he’s Candyman or something.

Random Pictures of the Month - 12 Things Battlestar Galactica Has Taught Me

Well, I'm at the end of my journey of looking at the rebooted Battlestar Galactica. Since I haven't done this section in quite a while, I thought I'd just post some pics and some lessons that BSG taught me. These may or may not be real lessons, but you never know.

1. Sometimes, fan service is good. Seriously, Richard Hatch (RIP) knocked the role of Tom Zarek out of the park.

2. Don't tick off the really nice ones especially when they've gone through some stuff. That Mutiny arc was awesome.

3. If this show and some personal experience has taught me, blondes can sometimes be trouble.

Movie Talk - Bruceploitation Part 6: Return to the Gauntlet of Imitation Movies!

This whole cover is a lie. There are no ninjas, no real Bruce Lee, and no AK-47's!

Well, it’s time for my favorite segment of this month: Bruceploitation! Heck, it was pretty much Bruceploitation week after work. I needed something to watch while exercising since these movies don’t require a lot of attention most of the times. For those who don’t know, Bruceploitation was a phenomenon that occurred after the death of martial arts star, Bruce Lee. Studios were trying to churn out kung-fu movies that had lookalikes in the place of Lee. You had stage names being thrown around like Bruce Li, Bruce Le, Bruce Leong, Dragon Lee, and others. Heck, even Jackie Chan was in one of these movies… and it actually wasn’t bad either.

While it is tacky and sometimes shameless, I kinda like this subgenre. You never know what you’ll find since these movies vary in terms of quality. You got some decent ones out there, and you have ones that make you wonder who got drunk that day. I found one last year (Bruce’s Fist of Vengeance) that took the cake in how laughably bad it was. This time, I got another variety of films. While I don’t have anything as weird as “Bruce Lee Fights Dracula and the Godfather along with Popeye,” I do have one with kung-fu little people, bronze Shaolin monks, and some crappy comedy…. I’m doing that one first, ain’t I?

Movie Talk - Bruceploitation Part 5 - Are We There Yet?

Hmm... so this is either Praying Mantis style, "Flipping the Bird" style, or "I'm Trying Not To Step On These  Full Rat-traps" style. 

Well, it’s time to get back into the weird subgenre known as Bruceploitation. It’s been a thing for years during this month. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, Wikipedia has a good description. If you don’t like clicking on links, here’s a quick summary. Brucesploitation was a phenomenon that occurred in the 1970’s after Bruce Lee’s sudden death. Filmmakers were trying to milk Lee’s death by putting out movies with look-alikes. Even Jackie Chan, who I’ll get to later, was a “clone.” Even if the movie had nothing to do with Bruce Lee, they’d title it with some related to the dude.

When you get to the movies themselves, they tend to vary in quality. You’d get some that are pretty entertaining movies in their own right. While they’re not awesome movies, they are at least decent. Then, you would also get some that are dull, some that  are dreadful, and some that have pretty ridiculous. If you read previous posts, you’ll know which ones I’m talking about. Unfortunately, I don’t have anything like The Dragon Lives Again, but there is one that is somewhat close. Anyway, here are five movies from that weird genre.

Movie Talk - Bruceploitation 3: Rise of the Bruce Lee Knockoffs!

From left: David Cairadine, Bruce Lee, and Robin Williams... at least that is what the movie wants you to believe.

Well, it’s finally time to start off Martial Arts Month with the awesomeness that is Bruceploitation. I’m starting a little late, but that happens when you spend the previous month writing about characters similar to that Gosh-Darn Batman. For those that are new here, Bruceploitation was a phenomenon that occurred in the 1970’s after Bruce Lee died. There were a lot of actors being thrown into that “Next Bruce Lee” title. Movies were even marketed to make it look like Lee was actually in them. Some movies even had footage from Lee’s earlier movies to make it look like he appeared in it. Does anyone remember the 1978 version of Game of Death? I do and man, it was bad especially when you see scenes of Lee from other movies in it.

I saw a couple of them when I was younger but decided to dip into this weird pool a couple of years ago. I have to say I was quite surprised. These movies actually tend to range from decent to “what in God’s name did I watch” pretty frequently. You might have “biographies,” original stuff, sequels/remakes, or really weird stuff. There is one I’ll talk about today that definitely fits in that last segment. I have five movies for today, so let’s start with Bruce’s trip to Purgatory… oh yes.

Movie Talk - The Last Dragon and No Retreat, No Surrender

Well, I’m in the last week of Martial Arts Month. I have one more post after this and I’ll be done. Today’s post is going to center on a couple of martial arts movies from the 1980’s: The Last Dragon and No Retreat, No Surrender.  I had originally planned this on be a match-up between the two, but I decided against it. I was going to match them up for four reasons: they’re tributes to Bruce Lee, they’re pretty cheesy, they have breakdancing, and they have ridiculous villains. In the end, I realized I couldn’t pair these two up for two reasons: one of them is really bad while the other is somewhat decent. Still, I wanted to talk about them together, so here it is.

I don’t remember when I first saw The Last Dragon, but I know I was pretty young. I remember a lot from it. It just has enough elements that make it a memorable movie. No Retreat, No Surrender is more of a recent watch. I do remember seeing a small bit of it on this video that talked about martial arts actors. In this case, it was talking about Jean-Claude Van Damme and I always wondered what movie those excerpts came from. Internet reviewer Obscurus Lupa (great name) reviewed NRNS a few years ago and that’s how I found out about the movie. I watched this movie a few weeks ago.

Random Videos of the Week - Worst Fight Scene and Best Fight Scene

Well, it's a cold day in Tennessee. It's in the 20's right now, but I know it'll get lower tonight. When I left work this morning, it was about 7 or 8 degrees. So, I might as well leave ya'll with one of the worst fight scenes ever and one of the best fight scenes ever.

Worst:
This is from a 80's movie called Undefeatable. While it looks quite bad, it's also pretty hilarious.


Highlights:
Yelling and grunting
A useless slo-motion scene
Yelling and Grunting
Horrible dialogue
Yelling and Grunting


Best:
This is from The Protector staring Tony Jaa. While that movie has its fair share of good fight scenes, this one is my favorite from that movie. Here's a little trivia. The Capeoria fighter and sword fighter were both in the live action Tekken movie.


Highlights:
Great choreography
The hero gets his butt kicked at the end
Nice variety of fighting styles
Eddy Gordo!


Well, that's all I got for today. I'll be back with something that involves those green ninjas everyone loves.

Tales from the 50 Cent Bin! - All-Star Superman

All-Star Superman: a 12-issue series that took 3 years to come out. Yeah, if the All-Star line of books is remembered for anything, it’s going to be for lateness. At least the story ended! I know there are people still waiting for Frank Miller’s and Jim Lee’s “Magnum Opus” to end.

For those who don’t know, All-Star Superman was the second (and really the last) book to come out of the All-Star imprint in 2005. It was supposed to be a lot like Marvel’s Ultimate Universe where a creative team would take a character and do what they want to do with them. I believe the book started out bi-monthly, so it would have taken a couple of years to end anyway. I was just starting to get back into reading comics at the time, but this series wasn’t one I wanted to pick up. Maybe it was the Silver Age feel of it or maybe my wallet wasn’t interested. Instead of the trades, I only have the single issues. I was able to find them for cheap and it took me a while to get the whole story.

Grant Morrison is the writer and Frank Quietly is the artist. These two have also worked on books like We3, New X-Men, Flex Mentallo, The Invisibles, and JLA: Earth 2. Quitely has also worked on books such as The Authority, Sandman, and Jupiter’s Legacy. The series has gotten a lot of accolades over the years. It’s been well-received and a lot of people say it’s one of the best Superman stories ever. So, does it deserve that praise? Find out… after this quick synopsis!

TV Talk - Batman: The Brave and the Bold

If one ever has qualms over knocking out a woman who’s trying to kill you, just remember that Batman says that “the hammer of justice is unisex.”

Well, it’s another day and another Batman TV show. We’ve had a lot of these in the last 20 years, haven’t we? This one is no different, I think. Batman: The Brave and the Bold is a show where Batman teams up with another hero from the DC Universe. Instead of being dark and grim, the show is pretty lighthearted and campy. It premiered in 2008 and had 65 episodes in its three seasons.

I was pretty off and on with the show during its run. I did watch some episodes on TV, but I usually missed some since I was in college. I also missed it when I was out of college and when I started to work during the week. I was able to see its finale though. When I found out that Netflix had the whole show, I waited until they included the final season. I took a while, but I was able to watch them all with an exception or two. That being said, I liked it a lot.

Favorites - Top 15 Funny Moments from Star Trek Movies

Drunk Deanna didn’t make the list. Sorry.

Humor is often hard to pull off in most sci-fi movies unless they’re made for it. The Star Trek movies have some of the most glaring examples. At times, the humor comes off beautifully. Other times, the humor is either forced or comes off flatter than a dead bug. You even have some unintentionally funny moments in the movies. So, here are my 15 funniest moments from the Trek movies. I chose 15 because it seems like a nice number that you could spend the rest of your life with. Also, it’s possible that a certain movie will show up on the list at least a couple of times. I’ll also try to provide links to these moments. With all of that said, Engage!

15. Run, Run, Run!!! – One thing that’s noticeable about the new movies is the constant running Kirk and the crew do. There is actually one time where I just had to chuckle at it. In Star Trek: Into Darkness, Scotty sneaks aboard Section 31’s ship in order to help the Enterprise out. In this big space, we see him run, and run, and run, and run… you get picture. When the next movie comes, hopefully, there won’t be so much running going on. Since I can't find that clip, I'll just link one that has a lot of running in it.

14. Picard has hair (sort of)! – While Star Trek: Insurrection wasn’t a really good movie, it had a couple of funny moments. This was one of them. During a meeting with aliens in the Goren system, their leader makes Picard wear some weird headpiece. Let’s just say it doesn’t really suit him.  Even the rest of the crew thought so. Yes, I thought this was funny. I mean, it’s basically the “bald guy sporting a bad toupee” gag.

13. Scotty’s trip in Engineering – In Star Trek (2009), this moment occurs when Kirk and Scotty transport to the Enterprise while it’s in Warp… Eh? Anyway, Kirk lands fine on the Enterprise while Scotty is transported into the workings of engineering. It may be a dumb moment, but it’s a little funny. I think this is the first time a transporter malfunction being used to somewhat hilarious effect. At least wasn’t like it was in the first movie where those two Vulcans get turned into something that came out of a Clive Barker movie.

12. “I am preparing a marsh-melon.” – Man, it’s hard to find something genuinely funny in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. The humor’s so forced in it. The only good thing about the movie in general is the rapport between Kirk, Spock, and McCoy. Their first camp scene is a nice example of that and provides a few chuckles. McCoy’s secret ingredient, the marshmelon (?), and the singing are some examples.

11. A British Tar? – This is another funny moment from Insurrection. Data’s circuits get fried and he goes rogue on the planet of the Bak’u. Picard and Worf take a shuttle down to the planet to find Data. Data, in another ship, attacks their shuttle. Picard thinks he can get through to Data by singing “A British Tar” to him. It’s ludicrous, but it is funny at the same time. Even Worf chimes in with that baritone voice of his. Then, Data starts to sing. As I said, it’s ludicrous and funny.

  

Tales from the 50 Cent Bin! - Superman #186

This installment of Tales from the 50 Cent Bin is brought to you by Leonard Nimoy.

"If I had a hammer, I'd hammer in the morning."

Great words, I guess. So, I've got two (or three!?!?) stories/issues left to look at, and this issue comes from the hip, peace-loving, war-making 60's. Today's issue is Superman #186. I was trying to find an issue from this decade and that's hard because most issues cost a lot. Luckily, I was able to find this one for 7 bucks, which is kind of a shock. Most issues from this decade run up a lot especially if they're in good condition. Anyway, I've got two stories for this post because the book usually ran with two stories at this time. Well, enough of the preambles! On to the issue!

"The Two Ghosts of Superman!"
Writer: Otto Binder
Artist: Al Plastino

The story starts out as reformed mobster, Flashy Fisher, comes to Clark Kent with an offer to dig up some lost treasure. He claims that he was told about the location by the ghost of Captain Kidd. Clark considers Flashy has had a little too much of "The Jack Daniels," but checks out his claim as Superman. The claim turns out to be true and Superman donates the treasure to charity. Clark then traces this claim and another claim that involves the ghost of Jesse James to Sir Seer, a psychic with the power to pull ghosts from the spirit world. Think "Ghost Whisperer" without the fine-looking Jenifer Love-Hewitt. To find out the truth, Clark, Lois, and Lana go to check this guy out.

Random Video of the Month - Eddie Izzard: Star Trek

And here is  the random video of the (week, month). I actually found this a few years ago. After I saw Izzard's "Star Wars Cantina" bit, I found this. It's pretty funny. I especially love his somewhat exaggerated impression of McCoy. I have to say there is a little vulgarity, so I'm warning you now.



Favorite bits:
The McCoy Bit
The phaser bit
The "Red Shirt" Bit

Weird Music Videos - Sledgehammer

This is a weird video. It's not a bad song though.



Things to look out for:
A bunch of weird *^$%!!!!!
claymation
A dancing chicken
a choir
a white guy trying to dance.

Horrible Music Videos - Anything Can Happen On Halloween

I know, I know. Halloween is over, but this has to be seen to be believed. Apparently it's from some cheap hour-long tv movie from the 80's called " The Worst Witch." How do I know this? Simple: Nostalgia Chick. Anyway, feast your eyes on this weird, hilariously bad music number from the man himself: TIM CURRY!!

Some stuff to look out for:
Lot's of lip syncing
Tim Curry
a tambourine
a sardine
horrible green screen effects
a cat turning into a bat
a heart
a skeleton
fast cape action!
and ......
 
HALLOWWEEEEEEEENN...AAAA!!!!!!!!

Random Pic of the Month - October

And here are the random pics of the month of September October.

Etrigan: DC's Original MC!!!

Here's another from my archive of many pics. It's from a Halloween party (2008), and the dude making th the funny face is Chet, a real cool dude.

I guess I was V's cousin, Vic, from America.  Apparently, I go around quoting Bible verses and sound a lot like Samuel L. Jackson. 

Horrible Music Videos...or Musical - Superman The Musical

Three words....Superman: the Musical. That's all I have to say.



Some things to notice:
...WTH?????
No, really, WTH????
Who thought this was a good idea? Bono should have watched this and said to himself: "Hmm...maybe a Spider-Man musical isn't such a good idea." 

Horrible Music Videos - Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)

Journey - probably one of the greatest bands of the 80's.

Separate Ways (song) - most definitely one of the most awesome, fist pumping songs I have heard in my life. Yes, Tron Legacy helped me in finding this song.

Separate Ways (music video) - most definitely one of the most hilariously bad music videos I have seen. You might just agree when you see this.



Some stuff to look out for:
MANY CLOSE-UPS
LOT OF LIP-SYNCING
Air Playing
0:54 to 0:57 - What's the keyboard player doing?
Random fine woman...who walks a lot

and last but not least...

Steve Perry (the lead singer) is getting into the spirit, ain't he?

Horrible Music Videos - White Horse (not the Taylor Swift song)

Laid Back - Never heard of them.

White Horse? Definitely have heard this song. I vaguely remember listening to this random song on the radio with my dad a long time ago. We didn't get it then, and I still don't get it now. The song is alright.  The music is catchy. It brings to mind 3 questions:

1. What is the White Horse and why should you not ride it?
2. Do you really have to be a b---- to be rich?
3. What is the White Pony and why should I ride it instead?


The music video doesn't answer these questions unfortunately. It's not bad bad, but it is hilariously bad.



Some stuff to watch out for:

a real nice beat
a Random white man jig

A Man that walks a lot

a cross-eyed woman (of the night?)

a pony

a David Hasselhoff look-a-like

old idiot spying on shady deals

And that's all I have for today. Peace.

0:46 - David Hasselhoff??