Satchmo Spears

April 20, 2005 11:33 AM

Oops I Did It Again: The Original. "'Oops! I Did It Again' was recorded in April, 1932 in a Chicago studio, most likely Nearlie's or West and Fourth ... The song remained all-but-forgotten until sixty years later when a young Britney Spears sent her interpretation of the Armstrong tune all the way to the top of the charts." (via Stereogum).
posted by adrober (47 comments total)

I feel so very dirty now.

"Supermasterpiece is an independent comedy website that's updated with hilarious, original content every single weekday." (emphasis in original) Please, God, no more.

(I did chuckle though.)
posted by socratic at 11:41 AM on April 20, 2005

If only it were true. Turns out the original song was written by a pair of Swedes.
posted by AlexReynolds at 11:51 AM on April 20, 2005

[this is good]
posted by Galvatron at 11:53 AM on April 20, 2005

Alex, I just downloaded the mp3 from that link and it sounds much closer to Satchmo than Britney to me. It's got to be a cover; if that's not Armstrong it's damn good mimicry. I don't know who orginally wrote it, nor have I found a transcription of what Satchmo sings to point you to, but (assuming you can hear) LISTEN to it. It's a hoot too; I think the "comedy" part refers to the lyrics and how he sings 'em.
posted by davy at 12:05 PM on April 20, 2005

No .. sorry, not my cup of tea. Liked this though ...
posted by TimothyMason at 12:11 PM on April 20, 2005

hmmm ... would have been a little more convincing if it sounded like a real piano ... and if the running time wasn't 3.41, which is awfully long for an old 78 ... that and it doesn't quite swing

had me going for a minute though ...
posted by pyramid termite at 12:16 PM on April 20, 2005

Nice idea, but It sounds more like Cookie Vegetable Monster to me.
posted by Scoo at 12:18 PM on April 20, 2005

I wonder if ol man Louie' got it awwnn with his little school girl outfit for the video?

Perhaps that's why it was forgotten!
posted by channey at 12:22 PM on April 20, 2005

from bottom of page

vocals: Shek Baker, trumpet: Kurt Stockdale
music: Chris Messick, concept & art: Stephen Levinson

Still, had me going for a good :45 seconds. ;)
posted by bullitt 5 at 12:26 PM on April 20, 2005

Okay, okay, why would anybody bother to spoof Satchmo like that? As for the sound quality, it's (supposed to be) OLD -- ever heard George & Gracie radio shows from the 1930s? If it's a fake it's a very good one.

From an applicable Wikipedia article:

"In the 1890s the early recording formats of discs were usually seven inches (18cm) in diameter. By 1910 the 10-inch (25 cm) record was by far the most popular standard, holding about three minutes of music or entertainment on a side. 12-inch records were also commercially sold, mostly of classical music or operatic selections, with five minutes of music per side."

My Dad had 78s that were about four minutes long; too damn bad they got lost years ago.

Oh but on preview, uh, bullitt 5, um ... it'd seem I've been had. Dammit. (See, you CAN troll a troll.) Like I said, it was pretty well done though.
posted by davy at 12:32 PM on April 20, 2005

It's got to be a cover; if that's not Armstrong it's damn good mimicry.

Can't be a cover: the man's dead. Even I can imitate Louis Armstrong — add some fake vinyl noise to the mix and you've got a joke site.
posted by AlexReynolds at 12:35 PM on April 20, 2005

I'm friends with all of these guys, and live across the park from most of them in Brooklyn. I'm proud of these crazy kids for really hitting the blogosphere bigtime (they we all just used to confine ourselves to writing some brilliant fucking comedy on LiveJournal).
posted by incomple at 12:35 PM on April 20, 2005

So fake fake fake fake, from the get-go.
posted by tranquileye at 12:36 PM on April 20, 2005

i like how they use faux-noise to emulate the sound of a vintage record, yet the vocals don't exhibit any defects.
posted by Hankins at 12:36 PM on April 20, 2005

funny.

how did anyone even find this page, given that every piece of text on it is a freakin' picture?
posted by glenwood at 12:43 PM on April 20, 2005

Even I can imitate Louis Armstrong — add some fake vinyl noise to the mix and you've got a joke site.

I eagerly await the launch of http://www.alexreynoldsimitateslouisarmstronginajokingmanner.net.

Show these bastards how it's really done.
posted by ice_cream_motor at 12:45 PM on April 20, 2005

glenwood, I think Stereogum--another former LiveJournal user and friend of the piece's mastermind Stephen Levinson, and myself, et al--probably reads it daily.

Look at me, I think I'm soooo cool for having the guy whose Britney Spears parody was linked on Metafilter as a friend.
posted by incomple at 12:48 PM on April 20, 2005

They're geniuses. I was screaming for Britney's head on a pike until I realized it was fake.
posted by NickDouglas at 12:50 PM on April 20, 2005

I eagerly await the launch of http://www.alexreynoldsimitateslouisarmstronginajokingmanner.net

Is the .com taken already?
posted by AlexReynolds at 12:52 PM on April 20, 2005

He sounds just like Yoda

And the trumpet playing isn't as good as the genuine article

But I'm glad I listened to it.
posted by iwearredsocks at 12:57 PM on April 20, 2005

lemme spell out all the reasons this is fake for you guys.
posted by Satapher at 1:30 PM on April 20, 2005

And the award for the 'Most-Tounge-In-Cheek Web Site' goes to...
posted by TheStorm at 1:56 PM on April 20, 2005

The last track of Richard Thompson's album 1000 Years of Popular Music (drawn from his live show of the same name, and containing a cover of "Oops!") is called "Marry, Ageyn Hic Hev Donne Yt". It's an old air from Brittany.
posted by kenko at 1:59 PM on April 20, 2005

[this is stupid]
posted by grouse at 2:37 PM on April 20, 2005

Old music sucks.
posted by Joe Monkeyweb at 3:21 PM on April 20, 2005

Good idea, but badly done. You need to be braindead to play the piano like that. And with a sound as bad as that was. Quite good Satchmo, though.
posted by hoskala at 3:36 PM on April 20, 2005

It's got to be a cover; if that's not Armstrong it's damn good mimicry.
why would anybody bother to spoof Satchmo like that?
If it's a fake it's a very good one.

OK, now that's funny.
posted by designbot at 3:46 PM on April 20, 2005

Billie Holliday would have been a better choice--and making it more downbeat and bluesy, but it was cute.
posted by amberglow at 3:48 PM on April 20, 2005

hmmm. Vox=bad, horn=bad, old-timey effects = unconvincing. Did someone really get fooled by this? Or are you having with us the so-called BIT OF FUN?
posted by damehex at 4:30 PM on April 20, 2005

Great idea, piss-poor execution. AKA what damehex said.

Here's a hint, would-be spoofters: Tin Pan Alley music shouldn't actually sound like it was recorded in an alley and played on a tin pan.
posted by George_Spiggott at 6:04 PM on April 20, 2005

Somewhere out there, there's an honest to goodness really good cover of "Oops, I Did It Again" by Richard Thompson. I heard him play it once on Weekend Edition (Sunday); alas, when I went to buy the album he said it was to be on, it appeared to be fictional.

Also, it's apparently written in some fairly exotic mediaeval mode, so Thompson likes to run a gag where he introduces it as a mediaeval ballad and plays it early-music style for five or six bars.
posted by lodurr at 6:50 PM on April 20, 2005

It was the Satchmo mimicry I was referring to; I figured the bad sound quality was an artefact of being an old piece of wax. As for Armstrong's voice, you do realize the man wasn't much of a singer don't you? A "vocal stylist" is more like it.

But anyway, so youse can STFU, I admitted already that I WAS FOOLED. Okay? Got that? If anybody out there is horribly disappointed to learn that davy is sometimes about as fallible as any ordinary human being being, I want what you're smoking.
posted by davy at 6:50 PM on April 20, 2005

Davy is fallible? Damn, I hope I saved my receipt.
posted by DeepFriedTwinkies at 7:02 PM on April 20, 2005

lodurr: "Somewhere out there, there's an honest to goodness really goodcover of "Oops, I Did It Again" by Richard Thompson. I heard him playit once on Weekend Edition (Sunday); alas, when I went to buy the albumhe said it was to be on, it appeared to be fictional.

Also, it's apparently written in some fairly exotic mediaeval mode, soThompson likes to run a gag where he introduces it as a mediaevalballad and plays it early-music style for five or six bars."

Golly, lodurr, I can't conceive of where you might find that.
posted by kenko at 7:29 PM on April 20, 2005

And what about Fountains of Wayne's cover of "Hit Me Baby One More Time"?
posted by dmo at 7:39 PM on April 20, 2005

Er, well, Kenko, I missed yours on the first read-through. I knew the name of the disc, but hadn't bothered to look anywhere but mainstream retailers, it's true; couldn't get it from Amazon or Django, either one.

It does appear to be available through Thompson's website, though. I had put a reminder on it at Django, but their listing doesn't even have proper catalog info so I think it was probably just created by some wishful Django employee who didn't want to drop $25. I'd come to the tentative conclusion that it was kind of a conceptual joke on Thompson's part.
posted by lodurr at 8:09 PM on April 20, 2005

Nonsense, this wasn't recorded in Chitown in the thirties by El Statch. It was fiist cut in 1928 Berlin, by Max Raabe, hoping to break into the US market about 80 years ahead of schedule. Raabe, in fact, had a surprising, and forgotten, influence on alternative music and dance pop in the US and Britain in the period 1988-2002.
posted by mwhybark at 8:23 PM on April 20, 2005

He sounds just like Yoda

Hah, I was going to say the same thing. I was waiting for some light saber effects and a growl from Chewbacca. lol.

"Oops, Again, I did it..."
posted by buggie at 9:07 PM on April 20, 2005

Thompson covers the song in his 1000 years of popular music touring show, which I attended in San Francisco a month or so ago. Very good show if you get a chance to see it. There is a CD of an earlier tour of the show available through Thompson's website Beesweb . Aparently the San Francisco shows were recorded for a DVD project that will be released next year (and probably also available through the website or at concerts only). The idea of the show is a survey of the last century of greatest hits - starting with a round from 1200 or so and ending with "1985" of recent pop music fame. Brittney's number is next to last and he does play a few bars of it in 1200's style which is highly amusing - the point being I suppose that not a lot of music structure has changed in 1000 years. Its all still mappable.
posted by sirvesa at 9:40 PM on April 20, 2005

Done well enough to get a laugh from me. But as said above, the vocal is the same Louis Armstrong impression everyone does. I especially liked the little Louis Jordan-esque bit near the end with Lindbergh baby. Hopefully they're already working on a lost Cab Calloway recording of "We Built This City".
posted by Slack-a-gogo at 10:10 PM on April 20, 2005

If had been shorter, sounded like a really old recording, had someone who sounded more like Satchmo, and a better trumpet, I might have bought it.

Actually, probably not.
posted by Poagao at 11:39 PM on April 20, 2005

... Cab Calloway recording of "We Built This City".

Cab sang the call and response from "Minnie the Moocher" at my college graduation. It was a moment.
posted by lodurr at 4:52 AM on April 21, 2005

Oh my.. It sounds like a goddamn funeral march by Casio. Granted, it would take a bit of skill to pull it off.. but oh wow. A+ for the idea, but maybe it's all that's important anyway..

oh, and the text says it was remastered from a wax cylinder, but the picture shows a Decca 78.
posted by Jack Karaoke at 6:01 AM on April 21, 2005

C'mon, folks that was funny. Stop being so fussy about the production values. Did you all hate Airplane! because Robert Hayes wasn't a convincing-enough fighter pilot? Sheesh.
posted by mkultra at 7:22 AM on April 21, 2005

Billie Holliday would have been a better choice

And they could have gotten David Sedaris to do it flawlessly.
posted by apis mellifera at 10:11 AM on April 21, 2005

I laughed out loud. Excellent! Very well-done and funny, but it ain't gonna fool anybody who's ever really listened to Louis. They aren't really trying to fool anybody anyway.
posted by wsg at 10:52 AM on April 21, 2005

Cute. It would have been funnier if someone who really knew the idiom worked out a Hot Five sound and used a good trumpeter and pianist. Louis's wife Lil could have done better than that -- never mind Fatha. At least, it would have been funnier for those of us who actually own Louis Armstrong recordings and listen to them. If Louis is irrelevant to you, it's probably close enough.

Pity. It could have been a viral mp3 for jazz people, and we don't get many of those.

Mkultra, the Airplane! analogy isn't quite right - it's more akin to using papier-maché airplanes instead of real ones in the film.
posted by QuietDesperation at 12:58 PM on April 21, 2005