History Music / ScatmanJohn

Discography:

!!Scatman John and his work provide examples of:

* CoolOldGuy: He was already 52 when "Scatman" was released, and 53 when it eventually became a hit in 1995. He died only four years later at age 57, proving that you don't have to be young to make it to stardom.

Eurodance, when you get right down to it, wasn't necessarily a style of music that made for long careers (hello, Rednex!), but the Scatman has definitely not been forgotten. He still has considerable respect from the disability community, and his story continues to inspire people from all over the world. To the surprise of many, Lou Bega (yes, the "Mambo No. 5" guy) released a song in mid-2019 called [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bV7_lOPvkac "Scatman & Hatman"]], which heavily samples "Scatman."

* ClothesMakeTheLegend: His NiceHat, which he wore in most of his music videos. His pinstripe suit and PornStache may also qualify.

* NiceHat: As mentioned above, Scatman was rarely seen without his trademark hat.

* SharpDressedMan: Along with his trademark NiceHat, part of his IconicOutfit was his black pinstripe three piece suit.

* SomethingCompletelyDifferent: ''Listen To The Scatman'', the posthumous album from 2001. Only one song, the TitleTrack, is a dance-pop song, and the rest sees the Scatman tackling more traditional jazz standards, such as "Makin' Whoopee", "Lady Bird" and "Ain't Misbehavin'."

* SecretlyDying: Most people didn't know he had advanced lung cancer until it took his life, as he continued to record and play after his diagnosis. Few even knew he was sick until the week before, when he collapsed on stage during a tour.

Scatman John (real name: John Paul Larkin, March 13, 1942 – December 3, 1999) was a singer and jazz/pop pianist, famous for singing despite having a SpeechImpediment which made him stutter. As it turned out, that stutter translated into a truly impressive talent for {{Scatting}}, and in an improbable crossover (for the mid-1990s, that is), he applied that scatting ability not to his traditional jazz music which he devoted much of his life to, but to [[{{Europop}} Europop/Eurodance]] music. Although born and raised in California, [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff he was much more popular in Europe and Japan than he ever was in the United Stares.]] He is best known for the somewhat self-titled song "Scatman (Ski-Ba-Bop-Ba-Dop-Bop)".