Caption:
Suddenly, throwing the festivities into utter confusion, Ujang begins to play “Stardust.”
No alt text
It’s a solid premise undercut by the fact I don’t know what song Larson is referencing. I’m gonna presume it’s not the one by Ayreon. Carly Simon’s wasn’t a single. David Essex’s’s’ was the titular theme to a movie he starred in, but I’ve never heard of him or that. Apparently it did quite well. Does it prominently feature a flute? Just barely.
I’ve been fully David S Pumpkin’d by this comic. Was the Hoagy Carmichael song from 1927 still common? Was it local? It’s all on brass, anyway. But the breakdown is the singer whistling. Was he thinking of the John Coltrane album-- ahhh, it’s named after Coltrane covering the song. Still all brass, by the way, but at least late-60s big-name jazz sounds like a reasonable reference in 1988.
Utter confusion is right. I dunno why he didn’t write “California Dreamin’.”
It’s an old Big Band standard, it’s been recorded thousands of times by thousands of artists since the late 20s.
Another with vocals, Tommy Dorsey, Vocals by Frank Sinatra and the Pied Pipers
Jazzy one with vocals, Don Byas & Thelonius Monk
Ella Fitzgerald, one of my favorite vocal versions
Oh shit, never heard this version before now, Willie Nelson RULES
Bob Dylan’s for some reason feels very Randy Newman
And yeah Coltrane’s is a great version too!
I kinda miss when Big Band and 1940s-1970s(ish) Country used to cover each other’s songs endlessly, I like being able to pick my favorite version of a song to listen to, even if Willie Nelson didn’t write Hello Walls, his version was the best! Faron Young rules too, his If You Ain’t Lovin’ You Ain’t Livin’ is way better than George Strait’s, but still nobody hits a “Hello winduh” like Willie.
Fuck I’m a nerd.
