(note September 2007:  This post gets more spam comments than any other on the site, so I’ve closed it for new comments.  If you have something you want to contribute, please contact me at jason at jasonhare dot com and I’ll post it for you.)

Last week, I saw KT Tunstall at one of WPLJ’s "Up Close and Personal" concerts.  (Thanks for the ticket, Andi.)  As with the previous shows I caught at Mercury Lounge and Bowery Ballroom, KT sounded great, was in great spirits, and the band was tight.  I don’t think I’ll be heading to see her again until she has something new to promote (I imagine she’s contractually obligated to play the entire Eye To The Telescope CD and little else), but if you haven’t seen or heard her, she’s worth a look-see.

I was able to get some pretty good close-up shots as well – check ’em out here.

I posted a couple times on my previous blog about KT and how much I really dig her.  Note my comment in that linked post: "Her music is catchy, she has a tremendous voice, and the tricks she does with her loop pedal (nicknamed "Wee Bastard," which is what she calls it whenever it breaks) are pretty clever. She makes me want to buy one."

My wonderful wife, clearly picking up on this painfully obvious hint, bought me the Akai E2 Headrush pedal for my birthday.  It’s tons of fun, although I feel sorry for my downstairs neighbors, who have to listen to me loop my voice anywhere from 2 – 8 times over.

My only frustration has been that KT is somehow able to loop both her guitar and her voice through that one pedal.  The pedal only has one output, so as far as I can tell, it’s either voice or guitar, not both.  I’ve tried using an adapter to use both, but it hasn’t worked.

I’m about to get all technical and nerdy here, so discussion on the Wee Bastard (as well as a couple of live mp3s) after the jump.
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Via Waxy, a clever mock-instructional video about writing a fugue based on "Oops, I Did It Again."  If the middle doesn’t seem to make much sense, this should help explain.

[youtube]tgDcC2LOJhQ[/youtube]

Oh hell yes!

Courtesy of Muppet News Central, October 24 will see the release of Sesame Street: Old School Volume 1.

# First time ever on DVD – the best of the first 5 years of the ground-breaking show, Sesame Street
# Includes over 7 hours of classic content
# 5 complete hour-long episodes
# Over 45 bonus segments:

    * The original pilot for the show – first time available anywhere!
    * Celebrity appearances from James Earl Jones, Jesse Jackson, Johnny Cash, Jackie Robinson
    * Classic segments every parent will remember: "I Love Trash," "Rubber Duckie," "C is for Cookie"
    * Original animations include Ladybug Picnic, Alligator King, King of Eight, Pinball Number Count

7 hours of content!  While that’s a whole lot of Sesame, that sounds just about perfect to me.  All I know is that it had better have "ABCDEFCookie Monster" on it:

[youtube]WpZ8HY0WukU[/youtube]

I bought the Songs From The Street box set a few years ago.  The more recent stuff is relatively lame (you can almost hear Michael Stipe cringing through "Furry Happy Monsters"), but you can’t beat songs like these:

The Pointer Sisters – Pinball Number Count

Stevie Wonder – 123 Sesame Street

Now that’s funky.

Enjoy and have a great weekend.  Next week will bring a couple of posts on KT Tunstall (saw her at the China Club last night), and perhaps The Beach Boys.

Hurrah, it’s my inaugural mp3 post!  Oh, what to post for you?  What to post…

Seriously, what did you think I was going to post?  (You’re welcome, Ryan.)

I don’t need to get into details as I did on my previous blog back in October.  You can read that post if you’d like.  But again, “What A Fool Believes” is the greatest song ever written.

I have always wondered, in fact, why there haven’t been more blog posts dedicated to this magnificent song, in all its glory.  Seems like it’s just me and Stereogum.  Either way, here are seven " ((¹Believe it or not, I have at least three more versions of this song: the Kenny/Michael duet mentioned elsewhere in this post (as stated, no balls), a live bootleg version from ’91 by George Michael (brings nothing to the table), and a version from Australian Idol 2 (ditto).  I am still looking for versions by Peter Cox (former lead singer of Go West), and Shane Richie.  If you find the Claressa Monteiro version, you can keep it.  I heard a 30 second sample on one of the European iTunes stores and that was enough.))" different versions of "What A Fool Believes," in the order that I dig ’em.  This post is dedicated to my wife, who now hates this song more than anything else in the entire world.

The Doobie Brothers – What A Fool Believes

From Minute By Minute  Amazon iTunes

Can’t beat the original. 

I saw an interview with Michael McDonald recently where he mentioned he’d been fooling around with the riff for ages, without a song to attach it to.  Ted Templeman, who was producing the Doobies at the time, kept encouraging McDonald to use it somewhere, often exclaiiming "that’s a hit!"  Now, I don’t know much about Ted Templeman.  But I do believe that Ted Templeman is a frickin’ genius.

Kenny Loggins – What A Fool Believes (Live)

From Alive  Amazon iTunes

I don’t know if you can necessarily call this a cover, considering that Kenny Loggins co-wrote the song.  But after the original, this is my favorite version: it retains some of the original’s flavor, but gives it a completely different spin by adding horns, a few chord changes, and some nice ad-libs.  BTW, I saw Kenny Loggins in concert recently, and while he did play all of his greatest hits, he did not play this one.  I hate you, Kenny.

NOTE: There is also a Loggins/Mcdonald duet version of this song from Kenny Loggins’ Outside: From the Redwoods album.  I did not include it here and I do not recommend listening to it, as it has been stripped of its balls.

Self – What A Fool Believes

From Gizmodgery (available on expensive import at Amazon)

Scott at Stereogum coined this his favorite cover song of all time.  I don’t think it’s my favorite, but it’s up there.  This song, like all the others on Gizmodgery, is performed entirely on toy instruments.

Aretha Franklin – What A Fool Believes

From Aretha Franklin Greatest Hits Amazon

As always, Aretha takes a song and makes it her own.  It’s not my favorite version, but what was I going to do – NOT put Aretha on here?  Plus, it has that double-clap thing.  Clap clap!

The M People – What A Fool Believes

From Best of M People Amazon

I’m lukewarm on this version.  But it’s a dance version, so dance up if you’re into that sort of thing.  Dancing.

Matt Bianco – What A Fool Believes

From Samba In Your Casa (currently unavailable)

Great opening.  The rest of the song is fairly typical, but those horns are a welcome addition.

The Doobie Brothers – What A Fool Believes (live)

From Rockin’ Down The Highway: The Wildlife Concert Amazon

This is a fairly tame version of the song – the kind that most bands do when they reunite for a nostalgia tour – but you gotta give Mike McD props for hitting most of those notes almost 20 years later.  Didn’t even change the key like some people we know.

There you have it: seven different versions of one of the biggest (and best) earworms of all time.  Enjoy.

Thanks for checking out my shiny new website! 

This site is terribly easy to navigate, and if you’re ever lost, the about jasonhare.com page will point you in the right direction.  Of note:

• Performance Page:  On the left.  You’ll find my headshots and resumé, as well as photos from previous shows.  This is a work-in-progress.  I swear I’ve been in more than 5 or 6 shows.
  
• Photo Albums:  I love my camera.  If only I could learn how to use it.  Photos are now hosted at Smugmug and are accessible on the left.
• Links:  All my favorite links are also on the left.
• Forum:  For discussion.  Please consider joining and talking about whatever.
• Jason’s Top Five:  On the right.  These are links that don’t really warrant posts, but pique my interest.
• Media Links and Beyond: On the right.  This is the stuff I’m currently, uh, ingesting.  If you’re buying anything from Amazon, feel free to use my search box; I get money when you do.
  

Enjoy, and please feel free to participate.

First mp3 post goes up tomorrow.  You’re going to either love me or hate me.  You’ll see.