Track 11: Flip Over Read Directions / F.O.R.D.

One of our favorite songs to perform was Blue Moon. Blue Moon was a popular doo-wop song, hitting the top of the charts in 1961 by the Marcels. It is a little known fact that before their up-beat version with the "bomp-bomp-bomps" there it was a love ballad, penned by the famous Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart.

We liked to perform it so much that we decided to try different variations of the song. On the CD, there are actually four separate versions of Blue Moon. Ironically enough, the first one that you come to is not the original, but a spinoff penned by us. The tune is called "Flip Over Read Directions" for the simple reason that the acronym for that phrase is "FORD" which is the topic of the tune (Blue Ford). There was no real purpose to creating this version of the song, other than that we wanted to be goofy, and writing a love song about a car definitely qualified as goofy.

Some interesting tidbits you may not have known about F.O.R.D.:

• The introduction, usually sung with Bomps and Dips, were replaced by Cars and Honks in order to better reflect the fact that we were singing about a car.
• We debated between the actual title and a couple other options before we finally decided on "Flip Over Read Directions." Some other favorites included "Found On Roadside, Dead" and "Free Our Random Doohickies." Just kidding.
• Unfortunately, at the end of the song, the Ford gets run over by a semi truck, brilliantly voiced by Jacob Stewart.

Track 12: We are Friends/Passover

This song is a classic from the movie "The Jungle Book." (Quick recap for those who haven't seen the movie recently--4 vultures who look eerily like either the Monkees or the Beatles sing about how they are friends with everybody, including the human Mowgli. Unfortunately at the end, Sher Khan shows up and sings the final line in his basso ultimo obligatto confundio) One interesting fact about this song is that we didn't have a 4-part arrangement; we only had a piano and solo version that we checked out from the Harold B. Lee Library. The music department in there is awesome, just on a side note. So, Eric spearheaded the opportunity to turn this version into a barber-shop version.

Another interesting fact--intermittently throughout the song you will hear a thick British accent in an attempt to imitate the vultures who were imitating the Beatles or Monkees, I'm not quite sure.

Some tidbits about the creation of the piece--we took advantage of Jacob's computer recording/mixing software to create a more pleasing sound. First, near the end of the song when we hold "Didn't Like" followed by Jacob's entrance into "So you can see," we overlapped two separate recordings so you can hear Jacob holding the Like and singing the next line. Second, at the end of the song, it was hard for us to imitate Sher Khan and his low C. So one morning Peter came up and recorded just the phrase "are for" where he goes down to the low C. Then we spliced it into the end of the song.

Why is the song called Passover? I don't remember exactly, but I think that the fact that the song has the lyrics "bitter end" reminded us of "bitter herbs" which are a staple of the Passover meal. Random, I know, but what else would you expect from the Ninety and Nine?!?

Track 13: Rehearsal/Blue Chipmunks

Like we stated a couple tracks ago, one of our favorite songs to perform was Blue Moon.  This variation was different in that we performed it at double speed.  Mostly because the bass line is fast enough as it is, it would be funny to speed it up even further.  And of course, if you speed up the bass line, you have to speed up the melody, making them sound like chipmunks.

Some notes:

• The random babble before the song was a staple before our presentation of this song.  It's different every time, but the basic gist was that we would perform the song like we did "in rehearsal," whatever that means.  Eric, realizing that this would require much extra effort on his part (because he sang the sped-up bass) would put up a fight, not wanting to perform like rehearsal, but he would always lose the fight.  Then we would start singing doubletime.
• Quite possibly our best one-liner of the entire CD:  "Wait a minute.  We rehearse things?"
• Eric picked a note in the beginning of the song because we didn't have a pitch pipe, and he usually was the one to give us a starting note (sometimes pulling it out of thin air, sometimes using someone's tuning fork--was it Kristin's??)
• At the end of the piece, Eric loses control with his fast doo-wops and just keeps going on and on with his skat.  The other three try to get his attention, to no avail.  Jacob even says his name, but he just keeps on going.  So he slaps him in the face.  And then he stops very abruptly with a "Blue Moon."

Track 14: Comet / Duke of Earl

This song was actually fairly straight, with not much going on in the way of goofiness. It was one of the last songs that we learned during the semester. We didn't have any printed music, so we put it together by ear, which was a fun experience.

Near the end, Peter repeated his spoken line, "Nothing can stop me now." It was recorded in cathedral setting and then spliced into the song. Jacob Broderick, for no apparent reason, ended the song with "Pocahontas" in the upper line.

As for the code name, "Comet." It refers to an old commercial for the cleaner "Comet" that my mom occasionally sang. It goes something like this, to the tune of Colonel Bogey March: "Comet, it makes your mouth turn green! Comet, it smells like gasoline! Comet, it makes you vomit! So get your Comet and vomit today!" In the spirit of blogs, here's a link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_(song))

What does that have to do with the Duke of Earl, you may ask? Well, one day we started writing a different lyric to the tune, entitled "Puke and Hurl." It didn't go anywhere, but the idea of losing one's lunch over this song led to the Comet song, and hence the name Comet as a veiled reference to puking, or "yawning in Technicolor."

Track 15: Intermission, part 1

OK, this song requires a lot of explanation. First off, because it's not even a song. It consists of two main dialogues, both of which will be described in detail.

So, as the story goes, Jacob Stewart was off looking for Eric to join Jacob Broderick and Peter in the recording studio. Hah, you remember our recording studio was Jacob Broderick's dorm room? Anyways, While Jacob and Peter were waiting, they decided to record their true feelings for Jacob and Eric. The easiest way to describe their feelings is to transcribe the conversation. Here goes:

Jacob Broderick (JB): Eric and Jacob are lazy blokes. (apparently since we hadn't shown up yet)
JB (after realizing that he needs to clarify that it's not him): Eric and Jacob STEWART are lazy blokes.
Peter (P): They're bludgers. (australian insult)
JB: Drongos. (another australian insult)
P: Morons.
JB: And lazy and blokey.
P: (laughter)
JB: And slow and pokey.
JB: And they're not even in here so I can say WHATEVER I WANT and they'll never know.
P: That's funny because we don't even really like them anyway. I mean, we're going to replace them soon.
JB: We use them for their pants! *disclaimer: I have no idea where this came from*
JB & P: (evil laughter)

At this time, Jacob and Eric walk in. Jacob hears laughter and wants to join in. So he begins to sing.
Jacob Stewart (JS): I love to laugh! (from Mary Poppins)
JS & Eric: (laughter)
JB: (obviously trying to keep us from realizing what they just recorded) Yes yes, we love to laugh, ha ha, ha ha, let's sing it.
JS: (grabbing the microphone and getting REALLY close) (evil laugh)

Of course, this was all in good fun. More goofiness by the Ninety and Nine.

The first half ends with a not-so-subliminal subliminal message from Eric: "Pi is exactly 3." This is a quote from the one Simpson's episode he had sat down and watched during his freshman year. Apparently Lisa went to some sort of smart person/mathematician type convention to give her presentation. When she went on stage however, no one in the audience paid her any heed. So, to get their attention, Lisa went up to the mike and yelled "Pi is exactly 3!" and of course all the mathematicians shut up in astonishment and she went on to make her presentation.

Track 15: Intermission, Part 2

"That's sophistry."

Sophistry: (noun) a subtle, tricky, superficially plausible, but generally fallacious method of reasoning.

This is how the second half of intermission begins. Not sure what this refers to.

The second half of this track was unintentionally recorded. We were together, getting ready to record another track during finals week. As mentioned in the conversation, we were going to sing the "Missionary Variation" of the song Dream (track 30 on the CD). The lyrics were written by Peter and hence had some funny parts to them. :) What we didn't realize that someone had pushed the record button way before we expected it to. So this was a behind-the-scenes look at what we really talked about when no one was looking.

By the way, Jacob really did the drum solo, and we really did the "Whoa" with the Cathedral reverb. Clearly that was our favorite special effect, as it appeared numerous times throughout the CD.