Your Sunday night dose of French superhero rap

What's a Sunday evening without some French Superhero Hip-Hop, huh?

"Bienvenue" by 1995, directed by Wahib

Lord almighty, I feel my temperature rising

Johnny Storm! He likes fast cars, pretty girls, and returning from the dead! Also among his interests: music!:


Splash panel from Fantastic Four v.1 #101 (August 1970), script by Stan Lee, pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Joe Sinnott, letters by Artie Simek

After all, he can play guitar, as shown here. (It's Kirby-Canon!) Why don't we see the Torch more often playing a guitar? I dunno, but I bet he goes through three or four of them a month when they burst into flames. He may want to ask Reed to make him a Stratocaster made of unstable molecules. At least there he's strumming the guitar with his fingers. It must be even harder to do it with gloves:


Splash panel from Dazzler #18 (August 1982), script by Danny Fingeroth, pencils by Frank Springer, inks by Vince Colletta, colors by Don Warfield, letters by Janice Chiang

Okay, Johnny playing the guitar may not be surprising, but have we ever before or after seen The Thing playing a saxophone? I'm pretty sure that should be listed among his skills in his Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe entry, and yet there it remains, unknown to the world. As I always have known, folks, Mister Grimm is a true Renaissance Man.

The question remains, however: what kind of music does Johnny Storm enjoy? Well, he likes Jimi Hendrix:






He enjoys the spooky rock rhythms of fellow Marvel comic book star Alice Cooper!


Panel from Fantastic Four #175 (October 1976), script by Roy Thomas, pencils and inks by John Buscema, colors by Janice Cohen, letters by Joe Rosen




Johnny Storm is a big fan of disco! (Please don't hold that against him.)


Splash panel from Marvel Two-in-One #68 (October 1980), script by Mark Gruenwald and Ralph Macchio, breakdowns by Ron Wilson, finishes by Pablo Marcos, colors by Glynis Wein, letters by John Costanza




The Human Torch is a big fan of music from the eighties, whether it be Culture Club...


Panel from Secret Wars #4 (August 1984), script by Jim Shooter, pencils by Bob Layton, inks by John Beatty, colors by Christie Scheele, letters by Joe Rosen




...or another artist who would occasionally flame-on, Michael Jackson!


Panel from Secret Wars #6 (October 1984), script by Jim Shooter, pencils by Mike Zeck, inks by John Beatty, colors by Christie Scheele, letters by Joe Rosen




Yes, Johnny Storm's musical tastes are as up to date as whoever's writing Fantastic Four at the time thinks the kids are into. But he also appreciates the classics, like Doris Day! Seriously, I can picture Sue singing this to him when they were kids. Right? Think about that...so cuuuuute, huh?


Panel from What If? v.1 #1 (February 1977), script by Roy Thomas, pencils by Jim Craig, inks by Pablo Marcos, colors by Janice Cohen, letters by John Costanza




But never let it be said that Johnny doesn't appreciate all kinds of music. Here's one of his favorite R&B/soul songs by Sister Sledge! (He probably dated at least two of the sisters, I bet!)


Panels from Mythos: Fantastic Four one-shot (December 2007), script by Paul Jenkins, painted art by Paolo Rivera, letters by Joe Caramagna




Now, Ben Grimm? His musical tastes seem to be based on those of a tough guy who grew up on Yancy Street in the 1930s. Which, um, once upon a time in Marvel history, he actually wuz. (Spelled the way Ben Grimm would pronounce it even though it sounds the same as the correct spelling.)


Panels from Marvel Two-in-One #65 (July 1980), script by Mark Gruenwald and Ralph Macchiom breakdowns by George Pérez, finishes by Gene Day, colors by Carl Gafford, letters by John Costanza




No, Johnny's not a big fan of that kinda corny music.




Panels from Marvel Adventures #25 (August 2007), script by Fred van Lente, lyrics by Crystal Skillman, pencils and inks by Cory Hamscher, colors by Lee Loughridge, letters by Dave Sharpe


But whatever the period, wherever he is, you can count on Johnny Storm to be up on and into the finest pop music of his time:

Two-page spread from Amazing Spider-Man #680 (April 2012), script by Dan Slott and Christopher Yost, pencils by Giuseppe Camuncoli, inks by Klaus Janson, colors by Frank G. D'Armata, letters by Joe Caramagna
Click image to worst-song-ever-size!




Ha ha ha! Spidey got you good there, Torch! I only wish I could have found canonical appreciation by Johnny Storm for this song:



But I think we can all be thankful he's never burst into a rendition of this song:



(Got any other ideas for Johnny's personal music playlist? Leave 'em in the comments!)

And he strikes like Thunderball

For some the music of the movies is defined best by the work of John Williams: that iconic Star Wars theme, the dark and mysterious Harry Potter, the Indiana Jones adventure march. Randy Newman has become a cinema score standout with his work on Seabiscuit, Ragtime, many of the Pixar films. Or you might favor Howard Shore and his work on A History of Violence, Gangs of New York, and the Academy Award-winning Lord of the Rings films.

But for me, the master of music of the movies has always been John Barry. From trying to keep in my head the theme to On Her Majesty's Secret Service by humming it into a tape recorder, to seeing the movie Enigma pretty much solely because it was scored by Barry—his last film score, in fact—I've seen the world of the movies set to a swinging Barry beat.



Beat Girl (1959)



The Ipcress File (1965)



Midnight Cowboy (1969)



The Persuaders (1971)



Out of Africa (1985)



Dances with Wolves "The John Dunbar Theme" (1990)



Thunderball (1965), sung by Tom Jones



Goldfinger "Into Miami" (1964)



Diamonds Are Forever (1971), sung by Shirley Bassey



On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)


Play on, John. Play on.

John Barry
1933-2011
Rest in peace

Gail Ann Dorsey.

Gail Ann Dorsey. I'd never heard of her before today, when Lucy-Anne played me an Indigo Girls live cover of "Midnight Train to Georgia" featuring Gail Ann. The liner notes read "One of my favorite songs of all time. We only perform it when Gail Ann Dorsey is with us."

Googling her turned up, in the first few results, her collaboration with David Bowie on his Reality tour: a live version of one of my favorite songs of all time. The original is tough to beat, but this version just fills me with awe and wonder:



I'm definitely picking up her stuff, tout sweet. There's something wonderful about discovering a new talent you've never known before. It's even more wonderful when that talent absolutely blows you away.

I like you. So I made you a Muxtape.

Click pic to hear mine:



Click to make your own.

Via Kevin.

The Soundtrack to My Life (needs more Max Geldray)

Not started by him, but I saw this first on BeaucoupKevin.com: The Soundtrack to Your Life meme. (Here's another good one from Bitter Andrew over at Armagideon Time.)

The rules: write down the following categories, start up your MP3 player on shuffle play, and write down the songs that pop up under the categories in order. No changing the sequence! I cheated only slightly as I have a large number of radio plays and radio station jingles on the BullyPod, but I wrote down the next specific song after each of those.



Are you seated comfortably? Then let's begin:


Opening Credits:
"Walk a Straight Line" by Squeeze. Quiet and not quite thematically right for a little stuffed bull, oddly apt for the big guy whose iPod it really is.


Waking Up:
"Sailing By" by Royal Ballet Sinfonia. Absolutely positively almost diametrically the wrong song: "Sailing By" is the song I use to put me to sleep. (I discuss my obsession with "Sailing By" and the BBC Shipping Forecast here.)


First Day At School:
"She" by Edie Brickell and New Bohemians. The words don't fit but the tune has a playfulness that works perfectly.


Falling In Love:
"Latin Snowfall" by Henry Mancini. I don't care what anyone says, Mancini can score my entire freakin' life.


Fight Song:
"Strange Currencies" by R.E.M. Slowwwwwwest... fiiiiiiiight... sceeeeeeeene... evvvvvvver.


Breaking Up:
"The Folks Who Live on the Hill" by Dakota Staton. Oh, my, this so totally works on an entirely ironic sad level. One of the most wistful and poignant love songs I know, and one of my favorite covers of it. Like "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square," I have an entire playlist just of versions of this song.


Prom:
"Hello Stranger" by Queen Latifah. Holy cow, do I wanna go to that prom. Instead of the one with the endless Billy Joel and Queen covers.


Life:
"Living It Up" by Rickie Lee Jones. An odd but apt juxtaposition despite the appearance of the word "living" in the title.

Well, you know
It's more trouble than it's worth
it's more trouble than it's worth
Oh Wild and the Only ones
Tell him where you are—
Oh Wild and the Only ones
Tell him where you are
Tell him where you are


Mental Breakdown:
"That's What I Like About the South" by Phil Harris. Gosh, I love Phil. This, like "Roly Poly," is one of those great Bob Wills songs about eating...about stuffing as much as possible into your mouth:

Won't you come with me to Alabamy
Let's go see my dear old Mammy
She's fryin' eggs and boiling hammy
That's what I like about the South

Now there you can make no mistakey
Where those nerves are never shaky
Ought to taste her layer cakey
That's what I like about the South

She's got baked ribs and candied yams
Those sugar-cured Virginia hams
Basement full of those berry jams
An' that's what I like about the South

Hot corn bread, black-eyed peas
You can eat as much as you please
'Cause it's never out of season
That's what I like about the South

Aahhh, don't take one, have two
There's dark brown and chocolate too
Suits me, they must suit you
'Cause that's what I like about the South

That said, I can totally picture this being a psychedelic freak-out scene, possible directed by Bob Clampett, in which I messily stuff as many pies into my mouth as possible and then collapse in a giggling fit before they haul me away to the lovely hospital on the grassy hill.


Driving:
"Back to Tupelo" by Mark Knopfler. Slow and sad. Not what I had expected for my driving song, but here you go:

When you're young and beautiful
Your dreams are all ideals
Later on it's not the same
Lord, everything is real
Sixteen hundred miles of highway
Roll back to the truth
And a song to give your mother
In your first recording booth


Flashback:
"Moon River" by The Innocence Mission. Remember what I said about Mancini? Double here, baby. Especially apt for a reason I won't explain now but will in (I hope) a month or so.


Getting Back Together:
"Breathe Me" by Sia. You know, this might have worked at one point for me, until a certain TV show fixed it in my head so whenever I hear this song now I think about Every. Body. Dying.


Wedding:
"If I Had You" by Tracey Ullman. I copied this meme, as I mentioned, from Kevin. Kevin's wedding song started out with an organ. Mine does too, and a slow building orchestral procession. Huh.


Birth of Child:
"Atlantis" by Donovan. This will be the coolest kid ever. Hey, why's he got wings on his ankles?


Final Battle:
"Bluebird" by Paul McCartney and Wings. Uh, no, there's no way I can make a battle sequence work to this.


Death Scene:
"Rant 'n' Roll" by John Trudell. Whoa, this shoulda been my Final Battle song. Not spot-on for a death scene, but not out of the question.


Funeral Song:
"Unravel" by Bobby Birdman. Accordion-heavy cover of a Björk song. That said, picture perfect. I actually have my funeral playlist on iTunes (heavy on the Pogues, including "If I Should Fall from Grace with God" and "I'm a Man You Don't Meet Every Day") and I'm putting this one on right with the rest of them. Please remove your hats.


End Credits:
"Chinese Whispers/Stereotomy II" by The Alan Parsons Project. Gotta love the Alan Parsons, the perfect soundtrack to reading comic books of the 1980s. This, the final track from Stereotomy, would make a dandy end title.

Please exit the theatre by the nearest available exit and toss your garbage into the provided bins. Thank you for coming to BullyPlex 25.