Idolator: Stephin Merritt

Is Stephin Merritt Absolutely Cuckoo For Spearmint And Wintergreen?

Jess Harvell — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 15:00:57 EST

A tipster just sent us a YouTube clip for a Wrigley's gum ad that aired during last night's episode of American Idol, wondering if the droll singing voice coming out of the actor's mouth was none other than the Magnetic Fields' Stephin Merritt. It sure sounds like a Magnetic Fields song that just happens to be about the American Dental Association—right down to the plinky (but charming!) piano on the backing track—but the performance is a little too polished to quite convince us it's the man himself. Merritt's obviously cool with selling his distinctively froggy pipes to ad agencies, but clearly we need a second through sixty-ninth opinion here, so decide for yourself after the jump.

Wrigley's "Gum Is Good" [YouTube/HT: James Barber]

Stephin Merritt reads fifth-grade fave Ethan ...

Maura Johnston — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 12:30:45 EST

Stephin Merritt reads fifth-grade fave Ethan Frome on his birthday every year, because "it expresses everything about how horrible New England is." And hey, at only 99 pages, you can read its entire "if you want more out of your horrible existence, you're pretty much screwed" tale and still have time for cake and ice cream! [SF Weekly]

The Magnetic Fields' Next Record: "69 Car Songs"

mjohnston — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 09:30:47 EDT

I caught the above ad for the Volvo XC70 during a Law & Order rerun last night, in which a deep-voiced man reworks the kids' song "The Wheels On The Bus" so that it extols the virtues of the SUV, and I thought to myself, "That sounds like Stephin Merritt, or at least an ad agency-approved soundalike." A little Google research made me realize that, yes, the singer was actually Merritt—although I probably should have been convinced of my hunch when I caught him audibly smirking as he sang "the hill-descent control goes nice and slow." (Nice internal rhyme there, though.)

Stephin Merritt - The Wheels On The Car [YouTube]

Liner Notes: Cannibalism, Lice, and George Michael--Together At Last

mjohnston — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 15:04:14 EDT

- Eurovision winners Lordi want you to know that they draw the line at eating people. And, wait, one of them is a vegetarian? Sellouts. [Daily Record via Blabbermouth]
- An upcoming album about the ten Biblical plagues will include a Stephin Merritt song about lice and a Cody Chestnutt song about boils. [Gigwise]
- Elton John and George Michael have ended their feud. Is it too much to hope for a re-recording of "Wrap Her Up" to come out of this? [AP via CBS News]