https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGtUvvkjdUY
Weezer recently released the Teal album full of covers and yesterday they performed one of those songs on The Tonight Show. Not, like they normally do but with Jimmy Fallon, The Roots and classroom instruments. Wait, there is more, they got their ’80s on from head to toe.
That means the song of choice was a-ha’s Take On Me, so of course, they added in the comic book effect. Which makes this performance like even more totally rad.
BTW is it just me or does Rivers Cuomo look like Corey Feldman circa License to Drive?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoH7HeAVg5E
Jimmy Fallon and the Ragdoll Girls were back on The Tonight Show yesterday and they decided to sing Buddy Holly. Which was perfect timing because Weezer was on the NBC late night show. Therefore, the band joined in and sang their first hit in the style of the barbershop quartet.
You know, the same way singing Africa gave them, the Teal album full of covers. Maybe this will give us the Straw album filled with their songs being done like this. How swell would that be?
I don’t think there is any debate that a-ha’s Take On Me is one of the greatest music videos ever made. Right up there with Michael Jackson’s Thriller.
Now that we got that out of the way, let’s talk about Weezer. The band recently released the Teal (you know they have released too many color albums when they are up to ugly sounding colors) Album which is a CD full of covers. One of them is that song and they shot a music video of it. Now, no one can recreate the original brilliance. Family Guy came close, but there was still not an a-ha moment. A-hahahahahah!
Sorry, got distracted. Anyways, Weezer wanted to capture part of that spirit but they had to make it their own. For Buddy Holly, they took it back to Happy Days, and for this one they went back to the year 1985. That was the year when everyone was singing the song and hoping that their comic books would come alive. For Rivers Cuomo, it meant jamming with his friends and belting out the song all the teens were singing.
While some of the frames were animated, most were just retro and what it looked like when music was at its prime. Yeah, the ’80s were like totally awesome. Although as the band reminded us, the hair was so not like cool. What was Flock of Seagulls thinking?
Forgetting about all of that, this video is like a totally tubular video that is like one Weezer’s best!
Weezer recently released Toto’s 1983 hit Africa and took it #1 on the Billboard Alternative charts this week. In turn, Toto is releasing Weezer’s 2001 hit Hash Pipe tomorrow. Got it?
Here is another update to the musical story. Yesterday, while Weezer was playing Los Angeles, Weird Al Yankovic and his accordion joined the band on stage to sing Africa along with Rivers Cuomo. Who knew you could do a thrashing rock solo with accordion, but turns out you can.
This update on the update is so bitchin’, I think they should release it. Then at some point, Weird Al needs to meet up with Toto on tour and do Hash Pipe with them. Especially, since Toto gave this review the Weirdzer cover, “Nicely done Al!”
Two months ago, Weezer released a cover of Toto’s 1982 hit Africa, and now that band is doing a cover of Hash Pipe.
On Monday, Toto began their 40th-anniversary tour in Vancouver, and they debuted their take on the 2001 song. Why this one out of all of Weezer’s hits? Guitarist Steve Lukather explained, “We figured since we were smoking hash since before they were born, that’s the one we should do.” But then again, three out of four of them were alive at the same time as Buddy Holly, so they could have gone with that too.
Either way both covers are totally bitchin’! Time for Jimmy Kimmel to have them on the show and do a Rock Battle with both tunes to see whose take is better. How awesome would that be?
If you missed Weezer’s version of Africa, then click here!
