Flight of the Conchords - what are they parodying?

[Acsenray]

One thing that's so maddening about exquisite parodies like those created by Flight of the Conchords is that the works seem oh, so, familiar, but it's so hard to pin down the exact reference, just out of reach. It leaves you with an ongoing, on-the-tip-of-the-tongue feeling.

So, please, let's get together and figure these out:

"Rock the Party" - this is the song you hear bits of every time they have a gig - I suppose it's supposed to be a generic pop-rock party song
"Most Beautiful Girl in the Room" - the speaking parts are very Barry White-ish. On "Fresh Air," they said this was supposed to be a parody of Prince, but I don't hear it
"Robots" - "In the Year 2525"?
"I'm Not Crying" - something by Roland Gift? Wikipedia notes "I'm Not in Love" by 10CC, "Cry" by Godley and Creme, and "All The Things She Said" by Tatu
"Inner City Pressure" - very obviously "West End Girls" by the Pet Shop Boys
"She's So Hot Boom!" - Well, I can tell it's reggae
"Hip-Hopopotamus vs. The Rhymenoceros" - generic rap braggadocio?
"Think About It. Think, Think About It" - sort of like "What's Going On?" by Marvin Gaye?
"If You're Into It" - ?
"Pencils in the Wind" - Well, the title is obviously referencing "Candle in the Wind," but I'm not sure about the style
"Business Time" - it's definitely a soul-funk type thing
"Song for Sally"
"Bret, You've Got It Going On"
"Bowie" - well, this is easy. This is a parody of Bowie, "Space Oddity," "Ashes to Ashes"
"Albi the Racist Dragon" - "Puff the Magic Dragon," with heavy doses of Barney the Purple Dinosaur
"Mutha Uckas" - Again, I know this is rap parody, but I don't know enough to place it more specifically
"Leggy Blonde" - For some reason, this reminds me of "Wonderful Tonight" by Eric Clapton
"Foux Du Fafa" - some kind of '50s or '60s French pop, but does anyone know more specifically what it could be?
"A Kiss Is Not a Contract" - something by Janet Jackson maybe?
"Mermaid"
"Ladies of the World"
"Prince of Parties" - "Sunshine Superman"?
"Cheer Up, Murray"
"Frodo"
"Bret's Angry Dance" - Well, the dance is straight out of Footloose
"Rejected"
"Angels"
"Sugalumps"
"You Don't Have to Be a Prostitute" - "Roxanne" - they do a reasonably good mimicking of Sting's voice
"The Tough Brets"
"Hurt Feelings"
"Stay Cool" - something from West Side Story
"Like in My Dreams"
"Friends"
"Too Many Dicks On The Dance Floor"
"Carol Brown"
"We're Both In Love With a Sexy Lady"
"Love is a Weapon of Choice"
"Demon Woman"
"Oh, Dance, Baby"

[enalzi]

I don't think they're doing parodies of anyone specifically (outside of Bowie). Various styles yes, various artists no. They're just a comedy band that make references to other groups. But stuff like "Bret, You Got It Going On" is fairly original.

[Hoops]

"Demon Woman" seems like a parody of (or a tribute to) Electric Light Orchestra. Not any specific tune of theirs, but the general feel of the backing vocals, guitars, strings and lyrical style.

[Chefguy]

Foux du FaFa is very similar to the theme song from the movie "Le Mans", which consists primarily of "dadadadada-dadadadada-dadadadaaaa", repeat as necessary. But yeah, French 60s-70s pop music in a nutshell. Isn't "foux" the word for "fuck"?

Tough Brets is West Side Story, as was the face-off between Murray and the Aussie Consulate guys.

Too Many Dicks made me think of current techno-pop ala Cher.

Rejected reminded me of stage musicals with the over-the-top voice.

[pravnik]

I think "She's So Hot Boom" is supposed to be Jamaican dub (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dub_music) with Bret doing the toasting (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toasting).

[TWDuke]

Foux du FaFa is very similar to the theme song from the movie "Le Mans", which consists primarily of "dadadadada-dadadadada-dadadadaaaa", repeat as necessary. But yeah, French 60s-70s pop music in a nutshell. Isn't "foux" the word for "fuck"?All this time I thought it was "Foofoo Fafa." I feel such a fool.

Babelfish translates "fuck" as "baise," which it re-translates as "kiss." There must be a lot of delightful misunderstandings in France.

I think the genius of Flight of the Conchords is that their songs parody entire genres in one original song, rather than the (to me) far less-interesting Yankovic model of taking an existing song and inserting food references.

[spoike]

Sugalumps: Blackeyed Peas (mostly Fergie); My Humps
Love is a Weapon of Choice: The video is definitely parodying the video for Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart", so I'm going to assume the song is, too.

Mostly, though, I would agree that their works parody genres, rather than specific songs.

[Morbo]

Time for me to ruin Carol Brown: Sing "Don't Worry, Be Happy" to yourself while listening.

[interface2x]

We're Both in Love with a Sexy Lady (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beQ9yChEcHw) = R Kelly ft Usher - Same Girl (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beQ9yChEcHw).

[Acsenray]

Wow, these are great!

Enalzi, I agree that they are parodying styles generally, but I think each piece also parodies particular artists, songs, and videos. Those are the references I'm trying to discover.

[Bob Ducca]

One thing about their music in the TV series that makes me laugh is that most of the songs are sort of taking place in little fantasy worlds/music videos. These songs are great, catchy, well written, etc...

As opposed to the only song I think you ever hear them actually play in "Real Life" on the show, which is Rock the Party, which isn't very good at all.

No wonder they're struggling.

(I hope Mel doesn't read this and flame me for it! Take it to the Pit, Mel!!! :))

[mr. jp]

They also sometimes play Robots. And Epileptic Dogs was good.

[Lamia]

"Robots" - "In the Year 2525"?I don't think so, they really have nothing in common other than being about the "future".

On the show the Conchords say they wanted their robot costumes to look like those worn by Daft Punk, so I think that's a more likely inspiration. Daft Punk has a lot of songs about robots (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBbasXXtrXw) and technology (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8K90hX4PrE&), like the Conchords they're a two-man group, and in particular their "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGECJP3phyY&)" features robotic voices and seems to be a boast about how robots are superior to humans.

[panamajack]

"Demon Woman" seems like a parody of (or a tribute to) Electric Light Orchestra. Not any specific tune of theirs, but the general feel of the backing vocals, guitars, strings and lyrical style.

The title at least is a clear reference to ELO's "Evil Woman", though it's not in the style of that song.

The West Side Story song for "Stay Cool" is just titled "Cool".

I think there's a little Queen in "Love is Your Weapon of Choice" as well.

"Bret You've Got it Going On" might be Jason Mraz. "Song for a Friend" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0lz06iPWTo) is a love song "from a man to another man ... but in a good way"[?!]. Mraz has other songs that have the same quick flow of words and rhymes as the song for Bret.

[Acsenray]

This week's was brilliant -- the song at the beginning was a fantastic parody of "Where Do You Go to, My Lovely?" I wish I had the lyrics for it.

And Dave: "I thought you said you were from Never-Never Land ... You said you flew here"

[magynorr]

If I'm remembering this one, it's when Bret has a new girlfriend, Coco, and Jemaine is jamming out a bass riff while singing some witty lyrics. I'm of the opinion that this is paying homage to Spinal Tap. It just reminds me of them.

[Kamino Neko]

Carol Brown is 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover - only, you know, inverted, with a bunch of different ways Jemaine's lovers have left him.

[Le Ministre de l'au-delà]

Foux du FaFa is very similar to the theme song from the movie "Le Mans", which consists primarily of "dadadadada-dadadadada-dadadadaaaa", repeat as necessary. But yeah, French 60s-70s pop music in a nutshell. Isn't "foux" the word for "fuck"?



No, 'fou' is the word for 'crazy'. There's no 'x' required. 'Tu me rends fou' is a French equivalent for 'you drive me crazy'.

[Frostillicus]

God, I love this show. Is it cancelled or are we eventually going to see more episodes?

[Acsenray]

They said the second season was the last, because they didn't have enough ideas to keep going.

[enalzi]

I kinda wish they would just keep going without the music. They had all the music from their career for season one, but they had to write all new stuff for season two. The music wasn't as good, but I would say the dialogue was twice as funny.

[Zeldar]

Whenever the subject of defunct series comes up, it's easy to overlook the genius of their show and so I rarely include them in my responses, favoring shows like Terriers and Deadwood and other such high water marks. But if I had the choice of which shows to bring back, FotC would be among the top two or three. We never missed an episode and often watched the same one a second or third time to pick up all the neat things going on in the background. Like MAD Magazine's Marginal Marvin or Pogo.

I miss those guys a lot.

[Biffy the Elephant Shrew]

Babelfish translates "fuck" as "baise," which it re-translates as "kiss."

Yes, baiser can mean both to fuck and to kiss, but the word Chefguy was thinking of is foutre.

[blondebear]

I miss the FoTC gang, but I think they were wise to call it a day after two seasons. I read somewhere that Bret and Jermaine were completely overwhelmed by the workload of doing the show.

[Intergalactic Gladiator]

I miss the FoTC gang, but I think they were wise to call it a day after two seasons. I read somewhere that Bret and Jermaine were completely overwhelmed by the workload of doing the show.

I heard that Bret was so overwhelmed at one point that he threatened to quite the band. ;)

[GargoyleWB]

"If You're Into It" - ?

This one seems like it's directly riffing Ben Lee's music (such as "Catch My Disease"), with the playful beat and toy piano solo.

[irishgirl]

Demon Woman-
Cliff Richard's Devil Woman (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTp_Yy9QHBw) is in there as well as ELO.

Ladies of the World is clearly a Back in the USSR/California Girls riff.

[Farmer Jane]

Oh, now I'm having a chuckle. It's business time!

[Acsenray]

Ladies of the World is clearly a Back in the USSR/California Girls riff.

In theme, perhaps, but not musically. It has a much more soul/smooth jazz/R&B feel to it.

[Rachellelogram]

It's time for business, that's why they're called business socks, ooh!

Great show, but they've moved on to other projects. Jemaine has done a couple cult-ish movies since then, and really doesn't seem the type to break into Hollywood celebrity. Like some people might thrive on that, and most would at least be able to tolerate it, but he's too introverted for that.

[lisiate]

I agree that ending after two seasons was the right choice. While the storyline and characters might have sustained some more episodes I think it would have been more likely that a third season would have limped along with weak songs and ruined the reputation they'd built up.

[interface2x]

I heard that Bret was so overwhelmed at one point that he threatened to quite the band. ;)Actually, it's a little known fact that he did quit the band for a while. Unfortunately, the tape broke so Jemaine had to ask him to return.

Bret and Jemaine both maintain these days that it was a bad idea to use their real names for their characters in the show. Apparently some people think that's what they're really like.

[Frostillicus]

They said the second season was the last, because they didn't have enough ideas to keep going.

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!! :(

[wayward]

Bret has apparently written the songs for the new Muppets movie...

[Acsenray]

Wow, now I'm feeling bad about breaking the news to you.

(I didn't think it would be that shocking since they said it back in 2008, before the second season even premiered.)

Actually, what I miss most is Murray. It would be great if Rhys Darby could find a context in which he could keep playing that character.

[Zeldar]

Wow, now I'm feeling bad about breaking the news to you.

(I didn't think it would be that shocking since they said it back in 2008, before the second season even premiered.)

Actually, what I miss most is Murray. It would be great if Rhys Darby could find a context in which he could keep playing that character.

At least Mel is cruising right along in her comedy career: Kristen Schaal (Flight of the Concords) at the Ball (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_E451Nx2Wyk) and other clips nearby, not to mention Comedy Central.

(I miss Murray as well. I miss the whole concept!)

[jjimm]

Am I alone in finding Kristen Schaal quite attractive?

[Zeldar]

Am I alone in finding Kristen Schaal quite attractive?

No you're not, and I'm even tempted to go mention her name in that current thread about such things. I just hadn't thought of her as I was running through those "repellant people" that I'm actually attracted to. I'm just not quite sure how attracted I am. :)

The sense of humor and weirdness offset some things about her looks that can't really be fixed. But she is for sure capitalizing on her persona.

[Acsenray]

I find her attractive in a lot of ways, but something about her expression reminds me of a Cabbage Patch doll, which kind of kills the mood.

[Zeldar]

I find her attractive in a lot of ways, but something about her expression reminds me of a Cabbage Patch doll, which kind of kills the mood.

I can see that. :)

[FOTCfan1979]

"Friends" reminds me of the Flying Pickets video of "Only You."
"Demon Woman" bears some resemblance to the Rolling Stones song "Sympathy for the Devil" - this can be seen in the line "Nice to Meet You!" and in copying the moves of Mick Jagger.
On a side note, just thought I'd mention that the rapping part of "Frodo, Don't Wear the Ring" is similar to Busta Rhymes.

[Chefguy]

Sort of a zombie thread, but I like these guys. Bret's Angry Dance was lifted directly from Footloose. And of course Bowie in Space is a hilarious send-up of Bowie's music.

[ijustwannasaysomething]

I heard a song on the radio this morning that sounded strikingly like "Business Time"
It is "Somewhere Down The Crazy River" by Robbie Robertson. If Business time is not modeled at least partially after this song then it would be a really crazy coincidence.

[Skammer]

Since this zombie has already been raised, I'll just say I was delighted to discover this week while taking my kids to the movies that "I'm Not Crying" is on the soundtrack for Pirates! Band of Misfits.

[Zeldar]

Fresh Air regular listeners will probably already have heard Bret McKenzie: A Very Manly Muppet [Extended Cut] (http://www.npr.org/2012/02/20/146997464/bret-mckenzie-a-very-manly-muppet-extended-cut) from this past February.

To go directly to the audio, try this link. (http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=146997464&m=146997486)

[Chefguy]

Conchords revival! I saw this morning that Jemaine Clement is in Men in Black III as the villain. We rewatched the Flight series while on the road this past month, and it struck me as very funny and appropriate that the series would end because the guys were out of ideas. Reality meets fantasy sort of thing.

[lisiate]

Thy're touring New Zealand next month. I'm not sure whether it's with new material or just redoing the established songs though.

[drbs]

I think that many times they are parodying several things mixed together, and that is what makes it so hard to put your finger on exactly what they are doing.

Hurt feelings definitely has things in the video that remind me of the video for bizmark, I can't remember the song, it was either you've got what i need or she says shes just a friend

sugar lumps seems to mix several parodies. I think that in the pawn shop, dave is imitating the beasty boys style

in love with a sexy lady I recognized instantly as imitating those awful r kelly videos

[Push You Down]

"Most Beautiful Girl in the Room" - the speaking parts are very Barry White-ish. On "Fresh Air," they said this was supposed to be a parody of Prince, but I don't hear it


Prince had a hit with "Most Beautiful Girl in the World." I think it's not a musical paraody but a concept parody.

[Ichbin Dubist]

And since it wasn't already mentioned in this thread (which I just reread for some reason), last year they did a charity song in New Zealand, Feel Inside (And Stuff Like That) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=py_30jZGUYk). The video is long but worth it.

[Chefguy]

And since it wasn't already mentioned in this thread (which I just reread for some reason), last year they did a charity song in New Zealand, Feel Inside (And Stuff Like That) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=py_30jZGUYk). The video is long but worth it.

Classic FOTC writing.