Okay, yours portly is behind the eight-ball a bit with the blog, so here is a super quick edition of Phone it in Friday, in which I sing ABBA to my dog, Murphy, while putting on my shoes. It has some real Mr. Rogers vibes to it.
Happy Friday!
—TPP
Tag: pop music
Open Mic Adventures XCI: “Tu Me Manques”
Yours portly has been composing a ton of instrumental music over the past year (ten releases since 1 September 2023: Spooky Season, Spooky Season II: Rise of the Cryptids, Leftovers, Firefly Dance, Epistemology, Leftovers II, Four Mages, Advanced Funkification, Heptadic Structure, and White Boy Summer), but my songwriting has lain fallow for some years now. As far as I can tell from my records, the last song I wrote to completion was back in 2019. D’oh!
So I finally sat down this past weekend and hammered a new song, “Tu Me Manques”; it translates to “I miss you” in French, but the literal translation is “you are missing from me”—far more poetic. I took that concept and wrote this 1970s-style piano ballad, with liberal use of common French phrases.
Open Mic Adventures XL: “Parada”
I’ve just got a couple of more open mic nights before I get into my school year schedule and become a slave to the grind, but I’m going to do my best to keep pumping out the goods. This time in two weeks, I hope to have a new song uploaded for your delectation; stay tuned.
In the meantime, I’m continuing my deep dive into my obscure deep cuts, songs that I’ve never managed to get recorded in a studio. Some of these songs are very good; some need some polish. Whatever the case, I’m realizing that I have enough material for another EP, and I might need to get back into the studio.
This week’s feature is “Parada.” I wrote “Parada” in 2015 during a particularly fertile period of open mic attendance. The Spanish word “parada” roughly translates to “stop” or “bus stop/station” in English. I wanted to capture the notion of lingering in a moment—stopping a poignant moment in time, trying to freeze it in place as long as possible.
Lazy Sunday CCVIII: Original Music, Part I
Ah, the glorious summer. I can already feel it slipping through my Vienna sausage fingers like the grains of sand in an hour glass, or the metaphorical sandbags I’m desperately stacking up against the inexorable tide of the new school year. I love teaching, but having mornings free to write and the like is glorious.
One perk of summer is that I can actually get out to open mic nights again. I’ve missed playing live, and I want to find sustainable ways to play during the school year. It’s difficult, though: I typically don’t get in from an open mic until 10 PM. That’s doable during the summer months, but during the school year, I’m usually zonked out by 9 or 9:30 PM, not hanging out with hipsters in some coffee shop.
Regardless, here are some recent posts featuring original pieces, two of which are open mic performances:
- “Open Mic Adventures XXXIII: ‘Spore Song (Mushroom Dance)’” – I’d been wanting to compose a piece named “Spore Song” after reading Stacey C. Johnson‘s post “Spore Song” at her blog Breadcrumbs. I came up with this little instrumental piece, based on a derivation of the Db major pentatonic scale. I haven’t put this on YouTube yet, as I’d like to get better performances to upload there, but these two videos should capture the essential spirit of the piece.
- “Open Mic Adventures XXXVI: ‘The Rings of Saturn’ LIVE!” – I’m not usually one to toot my horn (giggity), but this performance of “The Rings of Saturn” is pretty powerful. I didn’t realize what a good songwriter I was!
- “Open Mic Adventures XXXVII: ‘Private Lessons (Goth Chick)’” – A less impressive performance, but this live rendition of “Private Lessons (Goth Chick)“—the cattiest song I’ve ever written—is still pretty fun (albeit an instance of poetic justice against its creator—d’oh!).
Happy Sunday—and Happy Listening!
—TPP
Other Lazy Sunday Installments:
- Lazy Sunday – APR Pieces
- Lazy Sunday II – Lincoln Posts
- Lazy Sunday III – Historical Moments
- Lazy Sunday IV – Christianity
- Lazy Sunday V – Progressivism, Part I
- Lazy Sunday VI – Progressivism, Part II
- Lazy Sunday VII – Deep State
- Lazy Sunday VIII – Conservatism
- Lazy Sunday IX – Economics, Part I
- Lazy Sunday X – Economics, Part II
- Lazy Sunday XI – Walls
- Lazy Sunday XII – Space
- Lazy Sunday XIII – Immigration
- Lazy Sunday XIV – Gay Stuff
- Lazy Sunday XV – Work
- Lazy Sunday XVI – #MAGAWeek2018
- Lazy Sunday XVII – #MAGAWeek2019
- Lazy Sunday XVIII – SubscribeStar Posts
- Lazy Sunday XIX – Music
- Lazy Sunday XX – The Laziest Sunday
- Lazy Sunday XXI – Travel
- Lazy Sunday XXII – Reading
- Lazy Sunday XXIII – Richard Weaver
- Lazy Sunday XXIV – Education
- Lazy Sunday XXV – Techno-Weirdos
- Lazy Sunday XXVI – Small Town Living
- Lazy Sunday XXVII – Bric-a-Brac
- Lazy Sunday XXVIII – World History
- Lazy Sunday XXIX – The New Criterion
- Lazy Sunday XXX – Trump, Part I
- Lazy Sunday XXXI – Trump, Part II
- Lazy Sunday XXXII – Festivals
- Lazy Sunday XXXIII – Virtue Signalling
- Lazy Sunday XXXIV – The Desperate Search for Meaning Series
- Lazy Sunday XXXV – Corporate Grind
- Lazy Sunday XXXVI – Best of the Reblogs, Part I
- Lazy Sunday XXXVII – Best of the Reblogs, Part II
- Lazy Sunday XXXVIII – Best of the Reblogs, Part III
- Lazy Sunday XXXIX – A Very Dokken Christmas Series
- Lazy Sunday XL – Christmas Carols
- Lazy Sunday XLI – Food
- Lazy Sunday XLII – 2019’s Top Five Posts
- Lazy Sunday XLIII – Music, Part II: More Music
- Lazy Sunday XLIV – SubscribeStar Saturday Posts, Part II: The Search for More Money
- Lazy Sunday XLV – Techno-Weirdos II
- Lazy Sunday XLVI – Man Time
- Lazy Sunday XLVII – Winning
- Lazy Sunday XLVIII – Culture
- Lazy Sunday XLIX – Family
- Lazy Sunday L – The Best of Lazy Sunday
- Lazy Sunday LI – Just for Fun
- Lazy Sunday LII – Democratic Candidates, Part I
- Lazy Sunday LIII – Democratic Candidates, Part II
- Lazy Sunday LIV – Coronavirus
- Lazy Sunday LV – Animals
- Lazy Sunday LVI – Movies
- Lazy Sunday LVII – Christianity, Part II
- Lazy Sunday LVIII – Spring Break Short Story Recommendations Recap
- Lazy Sunday LIX – The God Pill Series
- Lazy Sunday LX – Music, Part II: Gigging
- Lazy Sunday LXI – The Tuck
- Lazy Sunday LXII – The South
- Lazy Sunday LXIII – Holidays
- Lazy Sunday LXIV – Grab Bag
- Lazy Sunday LXV – Rioting
- Lazy Sunday LXVI – Video Games
- Lazy Sunday LXVII – Phone it in Fridays, Part I
- Lazy Sunday LXVIII – Phone it in Fridays, Part II
- Lazy Sunday LXIX – Phone it in Fridays, Part III
- Lazy Sunday LXX – Phone it in Friday, Part IV
- Lazy Sunday LXXI – Road Trips
- Lazy Sunday LXXII – Forgotten Posts, Volume I
- Lazy Sunday LXXIII – Forgotten Posts, Volume II
- Lazy Sunday LXXIV – Forgotten Posts, Volume III
- Lazy Sunday LXXV – Forgotten Posts, Volume IV
- Lazy Sunday LXXVI – Forgotten Posts, Volume V
- Lazy Sunday LXXVII – Rural America
- Lazy Sunday LXXVIII – Space, Part II
- Lazy Sunday LXXXIX – SCOTUS
- Lazy Sunday LXXX – Big Ideas
- Lazy Sunday LXXXI – Education, Part II
- Lazy Sunday LXXXII – Universal Studios
- Lazy Sunday LXXXIII – The Mountains
- Lazy Sunday LXXXIV – Halloween Hijinks
- Lazy Sunday LXXXV – Elections
- Lazy Sunday LXXXVI – Questions, Part I
- Lazy Sunday LXXXVII – Questions, Part II
- Lazy Sunday LXXXVIII – Questions, Part III
- Lazy Sunday LXXXIX – 100 Week Review
- Lazy Sunday XC – Questions, Part IV
- Lazy Sunday XCI – Questions, Part V
- Lazy Sunday XCII – Christmas
- Lazy Sunday XCIII – 2020’s Top Five Posts
- Lazy Sunday XCIV – My Favorite Things
- Lazy Sunday XCV – The Best of Lazy Sunday
- Lazy Sunday XCVI – More Movies: Movie Reviews, Part I
- Lazy Sunday XCVII – More Movies II: Movie Reviews, Part II
- Lazy Sunday XCVIII – More Movies III: Movie Reviews, Part III
- Lazy Sunday XCIX – Romantic Music
- Lazy Sunday C – Valentine’s Day
- Lazy Sunday CI – Obituaries, Part I
- Lazy Sunday CII – Obituaries, Part II
- Lazy Sunday CIII – Begging
- Lazy Sunday CIV – Time
- Lazy Sunday CV – Grab Bag II
- Lazy Sunday CVI – Adventures
- Lazy Sunday CVII – Easter
- Lazy Sunday CVIII – Spring Break Short Story Recommendations 2021 Recap
- Lazy Sunday CIX – Pillow Talk
- Lazy Sunday CX – Inspector Gerard Reviews
- Lazy Sunday CXI – Bric-a-Brac II
- Lazy Sunday CXII – Responsibility
- Lazy Sunday CXIII – Short Stories
- Lazy Sunday CXIV – More Movies IV: Movie Reviews, Part IV
- Lazy Sunday CXV – Memorable Mondays
- Lazy Sunday CXVI – Delays
- Lazy Sunday CXVII – More Movies V – Movie Reviews, Part V
- Lazy Sunday CXVIII – More Movies VI – Movie Reviews, Part VI
- Lazy Sunday CXIX – Summer Camps
- Lazy Sunday CXX – Animals, Part II
- Lazy Sunday CXXI – MAGAWeek2021 Posts
- Lazy Sunday CXXII – MAGAWeek2020 Posts
- Lazy Sunday CXXIII – Murphy
- Lazy Sunday CXXIV – Bible Posts
- Lazy Sunday CXXV – More Movies VII – Movie Reviews, Part VII
- Lazy Sunday CXXVI – Joy, Part I
- Lazy Sunday CXXVII – Joy, Part II – Music
- Lazy Sunday CXXVIII – Civilization
- Lazy Sunday CXXIX – Friends, Part I
- Lazy Sunday CXXX – Friends, Part II
- Lazy Sunday CXXXI – Friends, Part III
- Lazy Sunday CXXXII – Milestones
- Lazy Sunday CXXXIII – Inspector Gerard
- Lazy Sunday CXXXIV – Friends, Part IV
- Lazy Sunday CXXXV – More Movies VIII – Movie Reviews, Part VIII
- Lazy Sunday CXXXVI – More Movies IX – Movie Reviews, Part IX
- Lazy Sunday CXXXVII – More Halloween Hijinks
- Lazy Sunday CXXXVIII – Friends, Part V
- Lazy Sunday CXXXIX – More Movies, Part X – Movie Reviews, Part X
- Lazy Sunday CXL – More Movies, Part XI – Movie Reviews, Part XI
- Lazy Sunday CXLI – Thanksgiving Stuff(ing)
- Lazy Sunday CXLII – More Movies, Part XII – Movie Reviews, Part XII
- Lazy Sunday CXLIII – More Movies, Part XIII – Movie Reviews, Part XIII
- Lazy Sunday CXLIV – More Christmas Carols
- Lazy Sunday CXLV – Christmas Cheer
- Lazy Sunday CXLVI – 2021’s Top Five Posts
- Lazy Sunday CXLVII – More Movies, Part XIV – Movie Reviews, Part XIV
- Lazy Sunday CXLVIII – The Gemini Sonnets #1 and #2
- Lazy Sunday CXLIX – The Gemini Sonnets #3 and #4
- Lazy Sunday CL – The Gemini Sonnets #5 and #6
- Lazy Sunday CLI – More Movies, Part XV – Movies Reviews, Part XV
- Lazy Sunday CLII – Romance
- Lazy Sunday CLIII – Behind the Songs, Part I
- Lazy Sunday CLIV – Behind the Songs, Part II
- Lazy Sunday CLV – Péchés d’âge moyen Posts
- Lazy Sunday CLVI – More Son of Sonnet
- Lazy Sunday CLVII – Ponty’s Posts, Part I
- Lazy Sunday CLVIII – Ponty’s Posts, Part II
- Lazy Sunday CLIX – Scrambie Eggs
- Lazy Sunday CLX: Fine Arts Festival
- Lazy Sunday CLXI: Easter II
- Lazy Sunday CLXII: Spring Break Short Story Recommendations Recap 2022
- Lazy Sunday CLXIII: Friends, Part VI
- Lazy Sunday CLXIV: Friends, Part VII
- Lazy Sunday CLXV: Friends, Part VIII
- Lazy Sunday CLXVI: Friends, Part IX
- Lazy Sunday CLXVII: Friends, Part X
- Lazy Sunday CLXVIII: More Movies, Part XVI: Movie Reviews, Part XVI
- Lazy Sunday CLXIX: More Movies, Part XVII: Movie Reviews, Part XVII
- Lazy Sunday CL: More Movies, Part XVIII: Movie Reviews, Part XVIII
- Lazy Sunday CLI: Frederick Ingram, Part I
- Lazy Sunday CLII: Frederick Ingram, Part II
- Lazy Sunday CLIII: MAGAWeek2022
- Lazy Sunday CLIV: More Movies, Part XIX: Movie Reviews, Part XIX
- Lazy Sunday CLV: More Movies, Part XX: Movie Reviews, Part XX
- Lazy Sunday CLVI: More Movies, Part XXI: Movie Reviews, Part XXI
- Lazy Sunday CLVII: School, Part I
- Lazy Sunday CLVIII: School, Part II
- Lazy Sunday CLIX: More Movies, Part XXII: Ponty’s Worst Films, Part I
- Lazy Sunday CLX: More Movies, Part XXIII: Portly’s Worst Films, Part I
- Lazy Sunday CLXI: More Movies, Part XXIV: Ponty’s Worst Films, Part II
- Lazy Sunday CLXII: More Movies, Part XXV: Portly’s Worst Films, Part II
- Lazy Sunday CLXIII: More Movies, Part XXVII: Ponty’s Worst Films, Part III
- Lazy Sunday CLXIV: More Movies, Part XXVIII: Portly’s Worst Films, Part III
- Lazy Sunday CLXV: More Movies, Part XXIX: Ponty and Portly’s #1 Worst Films
- Lazy Sunday CLXVI: More Movies, Part XXX: Midweek Myers Movie Reviews, Part I
- Lazy Sunday CLXVII: More Movies, Part XXXI: Midweek Myers Movie Reviews, Part II
- Lazy Sunday CLXVIII: Video Games II: Ponty’s Picks
- Lazy Sunday CLXIX: Even More Halloween Hijinks: The Musical
- Lazy Sunday CLXX: Cozy Time
- Lazy Sunday CLXXI: Veterans Day Posts
- Lazy Sunday CLXXII: Myersvision, Part I
- Lazy Sunday CLXXIII: Thanksgiving Week Posts
- Lazy Sunday CLXXIV: Solo Cover EP, Part I
- Lazy Sunday CLXXV: Solo Cover EP, Part II
- Lazy Sunday CLXXVI: 2022’s Top Three
- Lazy Sunday CLXXVII: Review[s] of A Christmas Carol (1951)
- Lazy Sunday CLXXVIII: The Worst of 2022
- Lazy Sunday CLXXIX: More Movies XXXII: Portly’s Best Films, Part I
- Lazy Sunday CLXXX: More Movies XXXIII: Ponty’s Best Films, Part I
- Lazy Sunday CLXXXI: More Movies XXXIV: Portly’s Best Films, Part II
- Lazy Sunday CLXXXII: More Movies XXXV: Ponty’s Best Films, Part II
- Lazy Sunday CLXXXIII: Péchés d’âge moyen Picks
- Lazy Sunday CLXXXIX: Arizonan Sojourn, Part I
- Lazy Sunday CXC: Portly’s Best Films, Part III
- Lazy Sunday CXCI: Ponty’s Best Films, Part III
- Lazy Sunday CXCII: The Beach
- Lazy Sunday CXCIII: Walks
- Lazy Sunday CXCIV: Paintings
- Lazy Sunday CXCV: Arizonan Sojourn, Part II
- Lazy Sunday CXCVI: Hono[u]rable Mentions
- Lazy Sunday CXCVII: Easter III
- Lazy Sunday CXCVIII: Spring Break Short Story Recommendations 2023
- Lazy Sunday CXCIX: Ponty and Portly’s #1 Picks
- Lazy Sunday CC: Myersvision, Part II
- Lazy Sunday CCI: Myersvision, Part III
- Lazy Sunday CCII: Myersvision, Part IV
- Lazy Sunday CCIII: Myersvision, Part V
- Lazy Sunday CCIV: Myersvision, Part VI
- Lazy Sunday CCV: Myersvision, Part VII
- Lazy Sunday CCVI: Intergalactic Nonsense
- Lazy Sunday CCVII: Stories
Open Mic Adventures VIII: Simon & Garfunkel’s “The Sound of Silence”
It’s been quite awhile since I’ve managed to get out to open mic night, but I’m hoping to get back out there tonight for the first time in awhile. If so, readers can expect some fresh videos in the coming weeks.
This week, however, I’m going back to an unposted classic from 19 July 2022. It’s a duet with my buddy John Pickett on guitar and vocals, and I’m singing the harmonies. If I had curly red hair, our cover of Simon & Garfunkel’s “The Sound of Silence” would be even better!
Supporting Friends Friday: Frederick Ingram’s “Ephemery”
My phone has twelve tracks downloaded to it, which auto-play in alphabetic order every time I get into the car. Six of them are the tracks from my album, Contest Winner EP; four are from Frederick Ingram’s Elements; one is Frederick’s single “Fish Bowl“; and one—oddly—is Ozzy’s “Shot in the Dark” from The Ultimate Sin album.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crltUo_ZFbU
This Friday, I’m diving back into Frederick’s exquisite EP Elements, one of my favorite indie releases of the past decade. Because I listen to this EP multiple times each week, I’ve gotten to know these tunes very well. Indeed, I wrote about another song from the EP, “Yesterday’s Weather,” back in January.
Today, I’d like to examine the other standout track from Elements, the shimmering “Ephemery.”
The Inexorable Forward March of Bandcamp Friday
Yes, poor readers, here it is again: another Bandcamp Friday. Other than one of the earliest times I posted about this glorious monthly holiday—during which Bandcamp waives its usual commission on sales through its site—I don’t know that I’ve ever made a sale hawking my musical wares via the blog.
Well, if at first you do not succeed, pester, pester again (alternatively, doing the same thing and expecting different results is the definition of insanity, but all musicians are a bit crazy… right?). Also, with my lovely new readers from the British Isles, it’s never been a better time to bilk them out of their hard-earned pounds sterling.
Fortunately for them—and you, my fellow countrymen!—my entire discography (seven albums!) is just $19.98, a whopping 35% discount (just £14.50 as of 1 September 2021, according to Bing). That’s $2.85 (£2.07) per release, the kind of deal you only get on cassette tapes at the gas station (or from yours portly!).
The Return of Bandcamp Friday
After taking off during the long summer months, Bandcamp is bringing back Bandcamp Friday today, and continuing it the first Friday of every month through the end of 2021.
For those that have forgotten—or steadfastly ignored my many, many, many, many, many posts about it—Bandcamp Friday is when Bandcamp waives the 15% commission they usually take on sales through the site. So, if you buy, say, Electrock EP: The Four Unicorns of the Apocalypse for $4, I get almost the full $4 (PayPal takes a small cut still), instead of $4 minus $0.60 to Bandcamp.
Another, more dramatic example: if you buy my full discography at $19.98, Bandcamp doesn’t take their $3 cut, so most of that goes directly to me (again, minus the transaction fee PayPal assesses).
Bandcamp began doing Bandcamp Fridays during The Age of The Virus, when most musicians (myself included) witnessed a catastrophic drop in their revenue. Venues closed or stopped live music; parents withdrew students from one-on-one lessons; and private parties were cancelled, meaning fewer of those lucrative gigs. Also, fewer live performances meant fewer royalties for songwriters.
Fortunately, that situation is improving, and people are eager to get out and hear live music again. Still, pitching in a few bucks helps immensely—and you get some good music in the process, too!
So, on with the sales pitch! Here are my seven releases, in chronological order:
- Electrock Music (2006, $5) – Twelve tracks from my senior year of college, all instrumental MIDI tunes. I gave physical copies to my Fiction Writing Workshop class; I wonder if they still have those little homemade copies.
- Electrock II: Space Rock (2007, $7) – I’m obsessed with the idea of the sci-fi rock opera (I actually tried to write one for piano and vocals back in 2012-2013, but never finished it)—it’s the most decadent, self-indulgent form of musical expression. That was the driving spirit behind this rockin’ collection of out-of-this-world jams.
- Electrock EP: The Four Unicorns of the Apocalypse (2012, $4) – My younger brother introduced me to a song call “Biomachinery” by some melodic death metal band, and the rhythm of that word inspired the lead-off track of this four-song cycle, “Cyborg Unicorn.” Of course, the instrumental chorus of that track is basically Joan Jett’s “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll,” so it’s true what they say: composers swipe from each other all the time.
- Electrock Retrospective, Volume I: Dance Party (2013, $3.60) – I had a number of tracks stored up for a never-completed Electrock III, so I thought I would begin dribbling them out as part of repackaged “retrospectives.” This first one, Dance Party, features “Robobop,” which is also a perk for $5 subscribers to my SubscribeStar page.
- Electrock Retrospective, Volume II: Technological Romance (2013, $2.14) – Technological Romance features “Pwrblld (Ballad II)“—with apologies to Chicago’s “You’re the Inspiration.”
- Contest Winner EP (2015, $5) – This album is my tour de force. I recorded it in a real-life studio, overdubbing my vocals with my piano part. It was an amazing experience, and these tunes are staples of my live shows (especially fan favorites “Hipster Girl Next Door” and “Greek Fair“).
- The Lo-Fi Hymnal (2020, $4) – I started playing piano at my little Free Will Baptist Church a couple of years ago, and I began taking little recordings of offertory, invitational, etc. I compiled the four very lo-fi recordings into a short compilation. I’m hoping to record a second volume at some point.
An easy (and free) way to support me is to “follow” my Bandcamp page and my Amazon author page. I post updates about new merchandise, new music, and other interesting offers about once a month to the Bandcamp page, and new books will pop up on my Amazon page as they’re published. It’s a good way to keep up with the latest news on my musical adventures.
Another free way to support me is to turn off your ad-blocker. The site delivers several thousand ad impressions monthly, but most of those are blocked, which means they don’t pay out. You can usually find the ad-blocker as a little widget or icon in the upper-right-hand side of your browser; click on it and it will usually give you the option to “pause” or stop the blocker from running on this site. I know ads are annoying, but seeing a few DuckDuckGo ads helps out in an incremental way.
Even if none of that entices you, no worries! I’m just glad to have you here, reading my self-indulgent garbage and my lengthy advertisement posts.
Happy Friday!
—TPP
TBT: My Musical Philosophy in Song: “Delilah”
Later this month I’m hosting another front porch concert, following the success of my Spooktacular event in October. I’m quite excited to do another front porch concert, and I’m interested to see how the May date will stack up compared to Halloween. I’ve also ordered some great t-shirts, which I will have available on my Bandcamp merch page soon.
In preparing for the concert, I thought it might be a good time to look back at a post I wrote one year ago today, about the Tom Jones song “Delilah.” The first time I truly heard the song was when I heard Bruce Dickinson’s version. The Iron Maiden singer nailed the performance, and I immediately set about learning the song.
Of course, I wrote all of this a year ago, so I’ll let the original speak for itself. Here is 6 May 2020’s “My Musical Philosophy in Song: ‘Delilah’“:
My Musical Philosophy in Song: “Delilah”
On Sunday (my first day back playing piano in church!—everyone else was in their cars listening over a short-range broadcast)—I posted a video to my Facebook artist page of Iron Maiden vocalist Bruce Dickinson singing Tom Jones’s 1968 classic “Delilah”:
I’ve received a handful queries about my statement that “this video sums up my entire musical philosophy.” Naturally, there’s a bit of cheek in that statement. My short answer is similar to the jazz musician’s (Louis Armstrong? Dizzy Gillespie?) when a lady asked him how to swing: “if you have to ask, you’ll never know.” The video should speak for itself:
But I began digging into this video a bit more. What is this bizarre game show? When was it aired? How did Bruce Dickinson end up singing “Delilah”? It reminds me another video that “sums up my entire musical philosophy”—Jack Black’s appearance on American Idol singing Seal’s “Kiss from a Rose”:
Fortunately, there are some scant details out there. The show was Last Chance Lotter with Patrick Kielty, an Irish game show that ran for ten episodes in 1997. The gimmick was that the show took losers from other game shows, gave them a lottery ticket, and anyone who had a ticket worth ten pounds or more could compete in the main game. Some of the money won would go into a pot for one random audience member to win.
I haven’t quite worked out how the musical numbers figured in, but the musical guest would essentially sing a song to add even more cash to the pot by spinning a wheel (that was transparently rigged—the audience knew the wheel was controlled, from what I can gather). That’s why Bruce Dickinson was on the show, and his performance of “Delilah” is one of the most spectacular musical renditions I’ve ever heard: mariachi horns, bouncing bassists, leopard-print suits, and Dickinson’s soaring vocals.
The Portly Politico 