Googz Re-Retires
As for that show I played last night, what a good time! Six acts in pretty rapid-fire succession. I guess it's for the best that I went last because of course I closed with "Holiday Rockin'" and the cool thing about "Holiday Rockin'" in the keyboard-free stage of the Googolplexia career is that instead of playing the tunes on the keyboard, I just sing their words, and other people can join in, and it's way more fun. And when I wasn't hearing any requests (or any requests that I thought I could do any justice), I just filled in with whatever carols I had in mind.
I played just seven songs, which isn't many for Googz. I opened with "A Very Paper Ceilings Christmas," a song I wrote around the holidays last year with the intention that Paper Ceilings would write a coupla verses about me and it would be more like "A Very Paper Ceilings/Googolplexia Christmas" but as yet I don't think he's completed his verses, and mine could probably use some touching-up, here a year later. I already altered one lyric in the live version. I had considered not playing that tune as my original plan had been to play all tunes that Matt Harnish originally released on compilations, AND I wasn't sure that anyone there would even get the Paper Ceilings jokes, but luckily Hannah & Delia showed up and of course Andy was there and Jim & Tyler arrived as well, so there was a dece contingent of people who got some or perhaps all of the references in the song. Oh yeah also Curt Oren was supposed to wail on a sax part & solo for the recording but that hasn't happened yet.
Then I did that Beth Bombara Xmas tune which has become a staple of Googolplexia concerts during the holiday season, such as they are. I proceeded to cover three Bunnygrunt tunes in a row--first "5eason's Freaklings" which Mustardfish had played on A VERY BERT DAX CHRISTMAS, VOLUME FIVE; then "I Dated A Zombie," which Googz did at Matt's request on the sole volume of A VERY BERT DAX HALLOWEEN, then "All I Got For Christmas Was This Lousy Boy," which Googz did on that Bunnygrunt tribute I released last year (but which Matt had indeed originally released on A VERY BERT DAX CHRISTMAS, VOLUME TWO). Of course the Googz touch on these things is to put them in a weird time signature and add a verse of my own, so they're all approximately twice as long as their original versions. Then I played the song from the 45 being released, a Googz original called "XLV" that's (sort of) about being 45 years old in ancient Rome, and/but (more so) also just an excuse to rattle off the names of some famous Roman (and German) literary figures (it's also just 45 seconds long and can be heard/downloaded free here)--the live version, as out-of-practice (and when was I ever really IN practice, anyway?) as I was, took much longer than 45 seconds to play. And "Holiday Rockin'" was the closer-outer, as it sorta has to be, ya know? I mean it basically made a 20-minute set into a 35-minute one, probably, or something like that.
I did do most of the tunes on the accordion (with the exception of the Paper Ceilings Xmas, the Beth Bombara song, and the Holiday Rockin') which was fun. I think most people that are as lousy at accordion as me (that is, who can only play a song with both hands if they have practiced a TON, and therefore usually just play with one hand) tend to use just their right hand, to play the half of the accordion that looks like a piano keyboard. Me, if I'm just playing one-handed, I much prefer the left hand, because that's the hand/arm that's controlling the sound of the accordion anyway (the arm you use to push/pull the bellows), and you aren't using as many fingers, and you can't really look at what you're playing to distract yourself, and generally the sound is just a fuller backing-track to whatever is being sung or whatever. Anyway I'm a hack, is what I'm getting at, when it comes to accordion-playing. I barely used my right hand on the thing all night last night.
A few pals (Dave, Laura K., Tyler & Jim) even showed up exclusively because of PancakeMail! Weird!
I could probably be convinced to come out of re-retirement if the price was right, just for the record.
I played just seven songs, which isn't many for Googz. I opened with "A Very Paper Ceilings Christmas," a song I wrote around the holidays last year with the intention that Paper Ceilings would write a coupla verses about me and it would be more like "A Very Paper Ceilings/Googolplexia Christmas" but as yet I don't think he's completed his verses, and mine could probably use some touching-up, here a year later. I already altered one lyric in the live version. I had considered not playing that tune as my original plan had been to play all tunes that Matt Harnish originally released on compilations, AND I wasn't sure that anyone there would even get the Paper Ceilings jokes, but luckily Hannah & Delia showed up and of course Andy was there and Jim & Tyler arrived as well, so there was a dece contingent of people who got some or perhaps all of the references in the song. Oh yeah also Curt Oren was supposed to wail on a sax part & solo for the recording but that hasn't happened yet.
Then I did that Beth Bombara Xmas tune which has become a staple of Googolplexia concerts during the holiday season, such as they are. I proceeded to cover three Bunnygrunt tunes in a row--first "5eason's Freaklings" which Mustardfish had played on A VERY BERT DAX CHRISTMAS, VOLUME FIVE; then "I Dated A Zombie," which Googz did at Matt's request on the sole volume of A VERY BERT DAX HALLOWEEN, then "All I Got For Christmas Was This Lousy Boy," which Googz did on that Bunnygrunt tribute I released last year (but which Matt had indeed originally released on A VERY BERT DAX CHRISTMAS, VOLUME TWO). Of course the Googz touch on these things is to put them in a weird time signature and add a verse of my own, so they're all approximately twice as long as their original versions. Then I played the song from the 45 being released, a Googz original called "XLV" that's (sort of) about being 45 years old in ancient Rome, and/but (more so) also just an excuse to rattle off the names of some famous Roman (and German) literary figures (it's also just 45 seconds long and can be heard/downloaded free here)--the live version, as out-of-practice (and when was I ever really IN practice, anyway?) as I was, took much longer than 45 seconds to play. And "Holiday Rockin'" was the closer-outer, as it sorta has to be, ya know? I mean it basically made a 20-minute set into a 35-minute one, probably, or something like that.
I did do most of the tunes on the accordion (with the exception of the Paper Ceilings Xmas, the Beth Bombara song, and the Holiday Rockin') which was fun. I think most people that are as lousy at accordion as me (that is, who can only play a song with both hands if they have practiced a TON, and therefore usually just play with one hand) tend to use just their right hand, to play the half of the accordion that looks like a piano keyboard. Me, if I'm just playing one-handed, I much prefer the left hand, because that's the hand/arm that's controlling the sound of the accordion anyway (the arm you use to push/pull the bellows), and you aren't using as many fingers, and you can't really look at what you're playing to distract yourself, and generally the sound is just a fuller backing-track to whatever is being sung or whatever. Anyway I'm a hack, is what I'm getting at, when it comes to accordion-playing. I barely used my right hand on the thing all night last night.
A few pals (Dave, Laura K., Tyler & Jim) even showed up exclusively because of PancakeMail! Weird!
I could probably be convinced to come out of re-retirement if the price was right, just for the record.