Before Rai Thistlethwayte Was Famous.

June 9, 2007 6:40 PM

Before he was the lead singer of popular* Australian rock band Thirsty Merc, which has produced songs such as 20 Good Reasons and Someday Someday, Rai Thistlethwayte had a short, unsuccessful career as a solo pop artist. The result was the song Give A Smile To The World.**

* Warning: Your-favorite-band-sucks-filter.
**Warning: Whether you love Thirsty Merc or not, this song is awful in countless ways.
posted by Second Account For Making Jokey Comments (18 comments total)

Who put a laxative in your Yoohoo ?
posted by nervousfritz at 7:05 PM on June 9, 2007

It's fairly inoffensive pop. If you want awful in countless ways, try Paul McCartney's non-beatles stuff.
posted by stavrogin at 7:21 PM on June 9, 2007

If you want awful in countless ways, try Paul McCartney's non-beatles stuff.

Say that again. A few months ago I was watching this McCartney interview where he was saying that he felt his new album sounded a lot like the Beatles. He said at first he thought "oh, no, I can't sound like the Beatles," and then he thought "well, I am a Beatle, I have the right to sound like the Beatles."

Unluckily, I think no one has had the guts to tell him, "oh, c'mon, Paul. We've all been waiting decades for you to come up with something that sounds like the Beatles."
posted by micayetoca at 7:30 PM on June 9, 2007 [1 favorite]

I probably would've loved this song when I was 13/14. It's not my cup of tea now, but it's not necessarily awful. If I had a kid, though, I'd probably still send her out to the yard to pick a switch if I caught her listening to similar pop tripe, purely on principle.
posted by katillathehun at 8:18 PM on June 9, 2007

Band on the Run sounded like the Beatles. Unfortunately, that was the last time.
posted by yhbc at 8:21 PM on June 9, 2007

Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey. Ebony and Ivory. Maybe not ebony and ivory.
posted by Sailormom at 8:25 PM on June 9, 2007

Okay, so I check out the Thirsty Merc video and, my god, that guy looks skeezy. His goatee makes him look like a 1970s (American) pimp.

Without the gotee (in his old videos) he looks even more ridiculous. Poor guy.
posted by delmoi at 8:28 PM on June 9, 2007

Why do people dislike Paul McCartney so much?
Just in case people were thinking of re-running that thread, since this one is not likely to wendell.
posted by dhartung at 8:43 PM on June 9, 2007

It's shit, but no more shit than anything else getting radio play.
posted by dobbs at 8:47 PM on June 9, 2007

I have all kinds of pet peeves, luckily most of them don't come up too often, but the "paul sux" thing does. I mean seriously, don't people have any idea how moronic this makes them sound? Saying that you prefer John/George/George/Ringo to Paul is one thing, but acting like a petulant 15 year-old about it is beneath anyone who's left puberty behind.

Having dozens of elaborately constructed lines of reasoning ready to bring to bear on any debate concerning The Beatles, however, is a sign of a cultured and mature person. Right? Right?!
posted by Kattullus at 9:28 PM on June 9, 2007

I've felt worse after being kicked in the head.
posted by davejay at 9:28 PM on June 9, 2007

I know people who went to knox with Rai, they tell me he's become a bit of an asshole*

That song is pretty ordinary (and yes, I like Thirsty Merc).

*yeah, yeah, i know, rock star shuns old school friends, news at 11...
posted by kisch mokusch at 11:22 PM on June 9, 2007

I'm not Australian, but let me guess:

Before he was shit, he was laughable shit in hindsight. Right?

HAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! popculturzsuxxx!
posted by sourwookie at 12:00 AM on June 10, 2007

I love it. Post some music you think is great and you will get trashed and bring out the haters. Post music you think is crap and people will tell you it isn't so bad!
posted by srboisvert at 2:20 AM on June 10, 2007

It's completely forgettable, made-for-mass-market, paint-by-numbers corporate pop sung by some Aussie hipster with a thoroughly ordinary voice? This shit is spoon-fed to dull-witted teenage girls like because it's so inoffensive and toothless that Clear Channel can glom onto it for a month before flushing it away along with last week's turds.

Cha-ching?

Hopefully, that catchy chorus is music industry's death rattle.
posted by chuckdarwin at 6:14 AM on June 10, 2007

The poster pretty much set the stage on this one though, by explicitly mentioning your-band-sucks-filter in the post and posting through a sockpuppet. What other purpose can this have than to watch people bitch about sucky music? This thread serves no useful purpose.
posted by Rhomboid at 6:41 AM on June 10, 2007

When the hell are pop video producers going to get over the driving-the-big-retro-convertible-through-the-desert cliche?
posted by UbuRoivas at 6:16 PM on June 10, 2007

I know people who went to knox with Rai

Knox? Well, at least that explains how he's so hard and street and cool.
posted by UbuRoivas at 6:21 PM on June 10, 2007