Doobies Do Duffy? The Magic of Mash!
As I recounted on this page a few days back, the fab Eclectic Method audio/video mash-up set at the most recent Bootie left me marveling at the sheer audacity and craft of the DJ/VJ team responsible. Without going into specifics, I'll simply say that it's amazing what otherwise questionable (even detestable) music I'll tolerate if properly or creatively mashed with something that elevates, informs or makes fun of it.
Case in point: The Doobie Brothers, the Northern California-spawned '70s rock and roll band that first made its name with a hippie-biker look/attitude and a big guitar sound. Although I don't detest the Doobies, I never thought much of them, despite the catchiness of their best-known material.
After a handful of hits in a proletariat hard-rock style, they willingly wussed out and brought lite-rock/faux-soul singer-songwriter-keyboardist Michael McDonald into the group. He gave them a second wind and their biggest chartbusters, including the clockwork piano-driven pop of "What a Fool Believes," which was so far away from the roadhouse bluster of the earlier Doobies numbers "Long Train Runnin'" and "China Grove" that it seemed like the work of an entirely different outfit.
So the Doobies' commerce-over-art attitude - let's call it crass commercial expedience - undermined any respect I might have had for their radio-friendly recordings. I figured they'd do whatever it took to sell product, even completely recast their sound to reach a more middle-of-the-road audience. When you like your rock bands to be a little more rebellious and in-your-face, something like the Doobie Brothers won't do.
Yet, here in 2008, I rather like hearing the Michael McDoobie tunes "What a Fool Believes" and "Minute by Minute" - to the point of involuntarily singing along with them. What was once sneered at is now a guilty pleasure.
And I was completely taken by a mash-up of the 1973 Doobies blast "Long Train Runnin'" and "Mercy," this year's unapologetic and successful stab at the Top of the Pops by fledgling Welsh soul diva Duffy. The work of Munich, Germany's almost-too-clever DJ Y alias JY, "Duffy Train Running" - with original Doobies singer-guitarist Tom Johnston's macho vocal chugging over the insistent "Mercy" electro-keyboard hook while Duffy's supple lament darts in and out of the mix - transcends guilty-pleasure status. At least, as I hear it.
Locating MOG account...
Comments (18)
The Doobie Brothers never really made it on this side of the Atlantic, so the fact that they only had one riff from 1972 till 1974 was a bit less annoying. To be honest, I didn't "get" Michael McDonald - a bog standard blue-eyed "Soul" performer with an unremarkable voice as far as I recall.
The mash-up you posted? Sorry, but I thought it was bloody horrible, but each to his own, eh?
I LOVE Duffy! Saw her at Coachella & she is so tiny & adorable yet could belt it out in amazing fashion. So anything mixed w/a Duffy song is perfectly alright w/me.
I always enjoyed The Doobies when I heard them on the radio back in the day but never bought any of their music. Great mash Saint Knifey!
Baudolino: Bloody horrible? Ha! Mash-up-wise, it's right in the pocket. But, as you said, to each his own. In any event, you don't ever have to apologize for your opinion to me. It's an opinion. Everyone has one, so enjoy yours. ;-) BTW, as I said in the post, I have little respect for the Doobies, regardless of the line-up, but catchy is catchy.
August: You bet! Duffy's a belter, all right, and the Doobies are, well, the Doobies.
Brother Knife: Deep in the pocket... no doubt, and yeah, the Doobies were middle of the road Adult Contemporary at best, and not really the best of it even, but lots of fun these days... I don't seek them out either, but like you, will be singing along to them at a fevered pitch if they hit classic radio (and I happen to be scanning for _anything - and then, like um, Tom Cruise singing Free Falling in Jerry Maquire or something, I'm belting out What a Fool Believes in Falsetto and everything... LOL!!!
Wow. It's like I have a twin.
:)
I want to listen but the button will not let me hear
Rawkkiddoh, if the button is gray, click the Reload button up top, or if that doesn't work, quit your browser and try again.
Mike, "Duffy Train Running" works for me. I never heard the Doobie Brothers' original. Were they really as cynical as you paint them, for hiring Michael McDonald? I like a couple of their big hits with him; they had an innovative sound, and he had a great voice IMHO.
You know I hate my computer and this time around it worked. Not sure why but when ever I go to web sites that require loading this thing starts then times out.
Spike: Can one ever know the heart of another, whether craven or true? They did what they did, and it turned out to be a good and profitable move for all involved. And, yeah, in retrospect, I grudgingly like their hits.
Rawkkiddoh: Sorry about the tech-wreck on the tracks. Glad you got to it eventually.
I will have to remember to listen while I'm at work... I have a lot of catching up to do with your posts!!!!
My computer at home does have speakers attached at the moment - but I have moments at work where I can listen...
Cheeeeeers!
Lib-A: If it lightens your work load a little, I'll have done my job...
You got me begging...you got me begging you for mercy!
Stop posting earworms aaaaahhhh!
(and I'm using "stop" in the cliched female manner of "don't stop")
Anna: I'm sorry. The boy can't help it. And I know when to say "when." ;-)
In our house we're quite tired of the shock-horror-Brit-artist-uses-60s-as-inspiration malarkey, but I thought this was pretty smart mash-up work.
Flux: True dat. The '60s refuse to die, but then again, the same is true of the '70s, '80s and '90s. Welcome to Po-mo World, where everything old is new again - and again.
Yeah, I file the Doobies under the "guilty pleasure" folder...but not entirely thrilled with this mash. Vocal isn't mixed quite right in the beginning; it needs all of the groovin' that happens later in the track to hide the fact that it's a mash.
Picky, I know. Picky picky picky.
nicki: You're well within your rights to be as picky as you like. But the vocal mix at the top sounds right to this mash-up aficionado. And there's no intent to hide the fact that it's a mash-up. I'd venture to say, like the rest of its bootlegged brethren, it's loud and proud to be mashed.