Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Spectacle
I've discovered an interesting series on Sundance called Spectacle. It features Elvis Costello interviewing notable musicians/celebrities. This week was Lou Reed, which was fascinating, but produced one of the least noteworthy duets in the history of bad ideas: Perfect Day, with Elvis crooning beautifully and Lou sounding like someone experimenting with methods for ruining a duet. Thankfully, there's no public version available, but this short clip is from the episode. Others available on the Spectacle site.
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2 comments:
I don't have Sundance, but this is featured on a free preview channel on my local cable system. So far there have been two episodes: Elton John and the aforementioned Lou Reed. The show is notable because rather than rehash ancient histories that everyone knows, the guests are encouraged to talk about their influences and artists whom they feel are under-appreciated.
EC is a decent interviewer, but has never been a great duet singer. He is just too loud most of the time. In the Lou Reed episode, he stands about 4 feet back from the mic and still overpowers Lou. I agree that Perfect Day stunk (save for the excellent piano playing).
Next episode is with Bill Clinton (!) and future shows will feautre She and Him, Smokey Robinson, Herbie Hancock, Kris Kristofferson, James Taylor, etc.
You are on top of things as usual, Dave. I saw some highlights from the Elton John episode.
Good point about EC & duets, as well as the piano in Perfect Day.
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