Music News, Reviews, and Gossip on Idolator.com » Tay Zonday

Barry Manilow: Rickroller

Maura — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 04:30:00 +0000

In the latest mission of his quest to milk the nostalgia of any group that has disposable income, Barry Manilow is releasing an all-covers album of songs from the 1980s next month. Manilow will take on “Careless Whisper,” “Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now),” “Islands In The Stream” (with Reba McEntire), and… “Never Gonna Give You Up.” Yes, that’s right: We’ve evolved as a society in such a way that even Barry Freakin’ Manilow has to pander to those people on the Internet who still think the phenomenon of “Rickrolling”–in which you make yourself laugh by surprising whoever you’re engaged in instant-messenger chatter with a link to a clip of Rick Astley singing his 1987 hit–is funny. You’d think that the man who sang on many a McDonald’s ad would deserve a break today, but I guess this is the time we live in. Anyway, it’s time to figure out how Manilow will fare against other people who have tried to hop on the Rickrolling bandwagon! I’ve placed five other covers of Astley’s signature track after the jump.

First off, here’s the original, which you’ve probably heard at least once in the last year since you’re currently using the Internet.

Now we have the covers.

High School Musical starlet Ashley Tisdale:

Christian pop act MercyMe:

Rosso Barocco (more of a remix than a cover, but it’s better than the Tisdale version for sure):

Deep-voiced Internet sensation Tay Zonday:

Safe-as-milk pop act Kids Incorporated (featuring Stacy “Fergie” Ferguson on backup dancing):

I doubt Manilow’s vocal range will allow him to beat Astley at his own song, but something tells me he’ll be more than able to out-croon any of these Astley-come-latelies. And who knows, maybe he could even best this version:

Greatest Songs Of The Eighties [Amazon]

Maura — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 09:30:05 +0000

Proving once again that TV about the Internet is probably not the best programming direction for executives interested in keeping their jobs, Lily Allen’s MySpace-themed chat show–which featured Cuba Gooding Jr., a segment based around YouTube-sourced clips animals having sex, and Tay Zonday covering Lily’s song “Smile”–tanked in the ratings Tuesday night. Lily Allen And Friends “reduced BBC Three’s average audience for the 10:30pm slot by some 200,000 viewers,” although the BBC is keeping its chin up, saying that it’s really going to find its big numbers on the Web. Which, of course, makes me wonder why ait just didn’t go direct-to-Internet in the first place, if only because of the medium’s generally lowered bars for “high viewership.” [Times Online]

Tay Zonday Is No Longer Something Kinda Polemic

Maura — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 05:45:43 +0000

What more is there to say about the froggy-voiced “Chocolate Rain” singer Tay Zonday, except that his 9/11 tribute from a few days ago was probably inevitable? Well, here are a few selections from the 3,616 (and counting!) YouTube user comments on his Dr Pepper-shilling remix of “Rain,” which was IMed to me by no fewer than eight people on my buddy list this morning:

Wasn’t this song supposed to be something kinda polemic, in the beginning? And now it’s sold as a commercial thing? Hah, what a joke. The part with the stepping away from the mic made me laugh, though.

To all you cats that are hating on Tay, what the hell are you doing but sitting on your fat asses making fun of him. At least he is doing something he likes, all you can do is try to bring him down. So until you can come up with something STFU cuz you aren’t about SHIT. Give the man his respect for trying to do something. Hell he is a lot better than William Hong.

i love it! my cousins that i haven’t seen in like 4 years came to my house for thanksgiving…and randomly i just said ‘chocolate rain….ohio’s agriculture is based on grains’ because i live in ohio…and they started singing the song with me! see! tay brings people together!!!!!!!!!

Keep doing your thing, Tay. Take note that most of those who criticize can barely communicate intelligibly. You’re creative and gutsy. Sell out? I don’t think so. “Do what you love and the money will come.” That’s not selling out, that’s enjoying the gifts you were given. Blessings to you.

[-] Tay sold out
[-] Song is kinda shitty
[+] Kick-ass rap breakdown
[+] Chocolate bukkake

Ah, chocolate bukkake–now there’s a phrase that will light up the YouTubes. Unfortunately, it doesn’t really scan as well as “chocolate rain” does, but we’re sure that the ever-enterprising Zonday will make it all work out in his favor, thus extending his still-ticking 15 minutes by at least a millisecond or two.

“Cherry Chocolate Rain” Original Song by Tay Zonday [YouTube]

This Just In: MP3 Blog Readers As Awful As Shock Jocks

jharv — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 05:00:50 +0000

We all love internet memes. If we didn’t, we wouldn’t devote so much of our waking lives to cataloging lolcats or figuring out whether we’re currently saying “wau” or “waht.” But when one-note Web jokes escape from being trapped behind a laptop screen and into the pop cultural bloodstream, I start cringing. Case in point: atrocious crooner Tay Zonday, another sad case of an “Internet celebrity” who’s at best accepted that polite derision from America might be his only chance at stardom. Which was fine when he was being mocked/celebrated by cultural boils like Opie and Anthony and Jimmy Kimmel, far away from anywhere I’d be forced to pay attention. But now he’s decided to start intersecting with my day job, kicking off his music career by perfoming his first show in Minneapolis with internet faves Girl Talk and Dan Deacon:

So people keep contacting me offering to manage tours in California, Florida, New York, France . . . . and it’s like WHOA. I haven’t performed live for two years . . . when I did it was at crappy open mics. My music has basically not left my own apartment and people are wanting to manage shows in Europe.

It kinda makes you want to cry, don’t it? I suppose going from chilling with morning zoo crews to hanging out with Brooklyn Vegan readers means you’ve just traded one set of assholes for another, but there’s something gross about this ugly car wreck between outright novelty dross and “fun!!” music that’s nonetheless still supposed to be about music and not poking fun at the delusional. As for Zonday’s special guests, while I did (and do) enjoy Girl Talk’s Night Ripper, I’ve always suspected dude was one mash-up away from a guest spot on Dr. Demento. Meanwhile my deep and abiding love for Dan Deacon is part of the public record, so I’d just like to assume that he didn’t have anything to do with the booking on this particular show.

Tay Zonday To Make Concert Debut In Minneapolis With Girl Talk And Dan Deacon [Daily Swarm]