Music that sounds like a parody, but is the real thing

Cafe Society
1

I always have iTunes set on Shuffle, so I never know what’ll play next. It could be Mozart or Sondheim or Zappa. And I have so much music, I just can’t identify each and everything I’m playing.

A while ago I was working in the next room, and I heard a song that sounded like a really exaggerated Elvis impersonation. It was just a little more over the top than the Elvis himself. I didn’t recall an Elvis impersonation in my collection, so I went to the computer to see who it was. It was Elvis, singing “Teddy Bear.” Yeah, himself.

Who else sometimes sounds *so much *like their own stereotype that you think it’s an impersonation?

2

Lady Gaga. I’m still convinced she is winkingly parodying dance pop by doing REALLY good dance pop.

3

“Little Darling,” a 50s song by The Diamonds. It sounds exactly like a Stan Freberg parody of doo-wop.

4

“I’ve Never Been To Me”, recorded by Charlene.

Maybe it just sounds that way from way over here in PostModernVille, though. The spoken bridge is pure Zoolander-style ironic sincerity, no matter which end of the timestream you listen to it from.

5

Funny this should come up now. Like the OP I heard something the other day (from my playlist) that I was familiar with but didn’t recognize right away. I thought who is doing that Bonham like drumming cover? It was Rock and Roll, Zep: YouTube

6

White Wedding by Billy Idol

7

Total Eclipse of the Heart is simultaneously a perfect 80’s song, and a perfect parody of itself.

8

Not a song but I remember something that Johnny Carson once said. He had, of course, met thousands of famous people but he said one of the most disconcerting guests he ever had on his show was Stan Laurel. Because all he could think about as he was talking to Laurel was how much Laurel sounded like somebody doing a really great impression of Stan Laurel.

9

Rap Music. Just any rap music.

About the Diamonds, I worked alternating with them in the 80s, nice guys, good voices, great sense of humor.

How can four white Canadian guys singing doo-wop not really be doing a parody? Even if they don’t admit it?

10

Or her follow-up, “My Boyfriend’s Back, He’s Gonna Save My Reputation.”

11

Madonna’s “Like a Virgin” and “Material Girl” sound like parodies.

12

The singers of both Cake and Say Anything sing in sort of a California-Surfer way that sounds like it has quotes around everything. I thought both of them were being deliberately ironic, mainly because a lot of the time they are being ironic, but they aren’t being a parody of their genre (90s alt and 2000s pop punk respectively), they are just a straight up example of the genre that is not always entirely serious. Which is a fine line, but they claim to not be parodizing anything.

13

Taylor Swift’s ‘We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together’. The first time I heard it, I thought… that CAN’T be a real song.

Unfortunately, it was.

14

I always thought that Wonderful Christmastime was someone’s bad imitation of Paul McCartney and was shocked to find out the truth. (I absolutely despise that song.)

15

Vanilla Ice Ice Baby!
Go Ninja go ninja go!

16

here comes the hotstepper

17

Shonen Knife is a trio from Japan; they’re a cross between Hello Kitty and the Ramones. Whichever of those you’re a fan of, you probably think they’re parodying the other.

18

Material Girl is a parody of Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend.

19

I love the Smashing Pumpkins, but I swear, to me, “The Everlasting Gaze” sounds like bad Pumpkins parody. It’s almost a reasonable song, but when Billy hits that a cappella part, I just can’t take it seriously. For that matter, I kind of think the same for all of Machina. I know some/many may disagree with me, but that whole album sounds like a cheap pastiche of the Pumpkins. Paint-by-Number Smashing Pumpkins I think of it as.

20

Ahh, yes. I agree.

I hear this girl’s songs on the radio and think to myself, “She must be hot”. Because it sure ain’t the singing.