Last week while I was bunkered down in New York City, waiting for Hurricane Sandy to do her worst, my wife’s best-friend Becky bravely sacrificed her iPhone’s battery so that we might have some tunes by candlelight. I love going through people’s iTunes, I find it a nice way to both get to know AND judge the shit out of someone. My iTunes is an atrocious mix of the best and worst of rock, pop, jazz, country, and blues music. There’s things in it that I’m proud of…and a lot that I’d rather you just skip over.
Imagine there’s no Red Rocker.
Becky’s iPhone was filled with a lot of her favorite bands: Green Day and Barenaked Ladies. Not exactly my cup of tea, but I’d say I like both those bands enough. Anyway, as I browsed her iTunes, I noted that she had Van Halen’s “Jump” one her phone twice: once from the album 1984 (GREAT album by the way) and again from a Greatest Hits compilation. I laughed and pointed this out. She had an explantation, but there was no need: “Jump” is great song so why NOT have it on your phone?
Becky loves it when I take pics of her sleeping, that’s why we’re such good friends.
Becky also had a large quantity of The Beatles on her phone, as well as some John Lennon solo stuff. That got me thinking, had Becky heard Mighty Mike’s “Imagine A Jump”? She hadn’t, and it really bummed me out. Mighty Mike is this French DJ that does mind-blowingly awesome mash-ups. Seriously. Before Mighty Mike, I thought DJ’s and mash-ups were lame, but this guy’s Queen/Michael Jackson mash-ups changed my mind.
“Imagine A Jump” is one of Mighty Mike’s best. It’s the acapella/vocals of Van Halen’s “Jump” merged with the hauntingly simple piano of John Lennon’s classic “Imagine.” The best part? The (slowed down) vocals actually work with “Imagine.” The upbeat, devil-may-care Van Halen song is transformed into a downbeat, depressing ode to suicide and desperation. I know that doesn’t sound particularly fun but it’s actually a cheeky bit of fun.
This is amazing. Thank you Mighty Mike:
Defending Axl Rose 
very slick, sacrilegious but slick none the less!
You say “blasphemy” I say a “blast for me.”
I like it! Did I ever play you Devo Dan?
Yeah, it’s one of those “Gee, I wish I’d thought of that” mash-ups.
No, what is Devo Dan?
You should definitely read up on Devo Dan’s history here: https://www.facebook.com/devodansmooth and you can listen here: http://www.myspace.com/devodansmooth/ (I actually recommend listening to the second tune first.).
Oh man, “Hey Homo” is awesome. Devo and Steely Dan? What possessed you to put those cats together?
And Devo Dan? Hilariously rad.