Funny / Todd In The Shadows One Hit Wonderland 2017

Main
Pop Song Reviews ( Pre-TGWTG | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 )
One Hit Wonderland ( 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 )
Trainwreckords ( 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 )
Cinemadonna
Specials

Falco - "Rock Me Amadeus" (1985)

• As Todd reveals, despite saying he wouldn't do requests for a while, he actually wound up forgetting some people. This request in particular? It took Todd roughly two years to realize he missed it.
  Todd: ...I'm not good at interacting with people...
• Introducing Falco as "The Austrian superstar of the 80s..." [picture of Arnold Schwarzenegger] "No, the other one."
• Wild Mass Guessing regarding the origin of his name, before finally settling on "I guess he just thought the name was cool"
  FALCO!
• Upon listening to "Der Kommissar", Todd wonders if it sounds familiar...then when it gets to the chorus, he realises this is the original version of After the Fire's English language cover.
  Todd: Don't turn around, indeed.
• After learning that Falco's "Body Next To Body" is a duet with Brigitte Nielsen, he acknowledges that there are worse musicians she could have worked with.
• At the end of the review, when Todd explains how Falco died, he says he hopes he got a better send-off than Mozart did. It then shows the scene at the end of Amadeus where Mozart's body is dumped out of his casket and into a mass grave.

The Buggles - "Video Killed the Radio Star" (1979)

• He starts with their stupid name, and says it sounds like a stupid 80s cartoon, complete with a still picture from The Wuzzles.
• "[Trevor] Horn looks and sounds like Jerry Lewis as the Nutty Professor." [as Julius Kelp] "Video killed the lady!!"
• When the "Did they do anything else?" card comes up, Todd sheepishly hesitates, before revealing that The Buggles, between their first and second albums, joined Yes. The Progressive Rock group. His bewilderment is very much palpable throughout the segment, comparing it to Nasri Atweh from Magic replacing Matt Bellamy in Muse.
  Todd: Yes. Yes.
  • Todd on the fan response to Drama, the album they recorded with Yes: "Hardcore Yes fans widely agree that it was, indeed, an album."
  • In explaining the initial fan backlash to the new lineup, Todd states that "for one, Jon Anderson has range like an opera tenor, and Trevor Horn sounds like Microsoft Sam." He then goes on to say that Yes disbanded shortly after because even they thought the lineup change was too weird for comfort.
• In describing Trevor Horn's departure from the stage, Todd finds his lack of rock star charisma completely unsurprising, comparing him to Al Franken.
• Todd follows up the bizarre story of the Buggles' stint in Yes by revealing that, Downes (along with members of Yes and King Crimson) would wind up putting together "a new little band known as Asia".
• Todd's utter bafflement at the fact that Trevor Horn essentially shaped 80s and 90s pop music, including producing "Kiss from a Rose", "Can't Fight the Moonlight", and most bizarrely, t.A.T.u.'s "All the Things She Said".
  Todd: What else has he produced? Well, everything!
• Todd notes that, while they deserved better, Trevor Horn probably "isn't weeping that the Buggles weren't more successful as he sits on his pile of gold records." Still reeling over the previous segment, he then describes the Buggles as "a strange band that wrote the future" while throwing his hands in the air.

Adina Howard - "Freak Like Me" (1995)

• The titlecard shows Todd imitating the cover of Adina's album, complete with booty shorts and his hoodie.
  • This has the bonus of, as one comment put it, making a thumbnail that can be "succinctly described as 'TITS and ass'."
• Todd makes clear how Adina Howard's raw sexuality makes him feel:
  Todd: This gets the Todd Seal of Approval.
  Note: The Todd Seal of Approval is worthless.
• Todd's reaction to discovering that one of Howard's last songs was written by Jamie Foxx:
  Todd: Who the hell let the In Living Color! guy think he should be involved in music? Stick to your stupid WB sitcom no one watches, because you're never having a music career.
• When Todd learns how Adina quit the music business, went to culinary school, and started her own restaurant, he suggests a few punny entree names based on her songs, like "Freak Like Meatloaf" and "T-Shirt and Paninis".

SR- 71 - "Right Now" (2000)

• Todd is utterly perplexed at what "fake plastic submarine" could mean. Urban Dictionary only responds with a shrug emoji.
• Todd's editors have to interject when he goes on a long anti-Baltimore rant.
• Todd suffering through the wildly misinformed follow-up single, "Politically Correct."
  "Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the 'Accidental Racist' of punk."
  • Just the fact that as soon as he reads the title, an alarm reading THIS IS A BAD IDEA rings should say something.
  If you think people are too sensitive in the year 2-0-0-0... jeez, you're not gonna like the future.
• Some familiar chords are back to haunt him...
• Mitch Allan commenting on how you couldn't make a Mel Brooks movie today (mentioning his previous day's viewing of Blazing Saddles) as a protest against being overly politically correct is enough to make Todd torch the works.
  • And then later he does a Freeze-Frame Bonus caption.
  ATTENTION: You are NOT Mel Brooks
  So you'd better be sure you are exactly as funny as Mel Brooks before you even try to be him I shouldn't have to say this Jesus Christ
• Todd mentions that Allan's Twitter bio says "You know that song on the radio you hate? I probably wrote it." Upon realizing he's the one responsible for Jason Derulo's "Want to Want Me," he agrees.
• Todd getting furious over people calling 'Right Now' a Sum 41 song.
• Since their follow-up 'Tomorrow' was blatantly ripping off Linkin Park, Todd brings back an old gag.
  Todd: ♪ Every word you speak to me / Takes me one motion nearer to the verge! / And I'm to the point of rupturing! ♪

Mungo Jerry - "In the Summertime" (1970)

• Todd is unwilling to believe that Ray Dorset is entirely white because of his spectacular afro.
• Todd's recreates his exaggerated memory of the song, which contains clown horns and fart noises as percussion.
• Todd takes some offense to the line, “Have a drink have a drive / go out and see what you can find.”
  Todd: No, do one or the other, don’t do both. God, this was so written in 1970. I bet you probably could drink and drive and no one would say anything back then. But, uh, from the future I’m telling you, “No, no, don’t do that. Don’t.”
  • It gets worse when Todd notices the song stops for a motorcycle-driving-away sound effect.
  Todd: Why didn’t someone get his keys?!
• Todd's shock at "I dreamt I was Humbert and she was Lolita!"
• Todd finishes by saying the song is better than anything currently released in the summer of 2017.

D4L - "Laffy Taffy" (2005)

• Todd spends the episode trying to remember why group member Shawty Lo's name was in the news last year, and then realizes it was because he died in a car accident.
  Todd: The one time I try to rush something out and it turns out the guy just died!
  • Due to the above, an episode intended to be done quick forces Todd to research and be respectful.
  • Meta: one commentator took the following away from all of this:
    Mokona Modaky: So when you cut corners people end up dead in traffic accidents.
• Before his death, Shawty Lo was working on a reality show about him and the ten different women he had children with. It never made it to air.
  Todd: Who the hell thought that was a good idea?'

Jordan Knight - "Give It to You" (1999)

• "Yes, late 90's teen-pop. I was there. And it was watching the endless 'Backstreet Boys vs. *NSYNC', 'Britney vs. Christina' wars, where I began to form my own critical opinions. Opinions like: 'Backstreet Boys suck' and 'NSYNC are all gay'. Look, we all gotta start somewhere."
• The New Kids on the Block montage on the Before the Hit section
• Todd notes that after New Kids broke up, Jordan decided to wait a while before his solo move to make sure America was ready for bubblegum pop again:
  Todd: [while "Longview" by Green Day plays in the background, with the screen displaying the year 1994] No..
  [music switches to "Gangsta's Paradise" by Coolio (1995)] No...
  ["Ironic" by Alanis Morissette (1996)] No...
  ["MMM-Bop" by Hanson (1997)] Getting there...
  ["Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" by the Backstreet Boys (1998)] Okay, just make sure it's not a fluke...
  ["I Want It That Way" by the Backstreet Boys (1999)] Okay. Yes. Yes. Let's go.
• When bringing up the name of Jordan's follow-up to "Give It to You", Todd slowly realizes that it's a cover of Prince's "I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man", which happens to be Todd's all-time favorite Prince song; what makes it funny is that you can audibly hear him deflate in disappointment with each word of the title before he outright refuses to finish the sentence.
  • He then gives a This Is Gonna Suck before going ahead and listening to the cover...and immediately erupts into a Rapid-Fire "No!" when he finds it to be a slow jam.
    Todd: God, I miss Prince.
    • Todd reiterates that slowing down a song that employs Lyrical Dissonance doesn't make it more meaningful, it robs it of its power. He points out Calum Scott's melancholy cover of Robyn's "Dancing On My Own" as another example.
• Todd cracking up at "Close My Eyes", which has an obvious sample of "Dust In the Wind".
  Todd: See, now that's a good use of a classic song, I mean that's just funny. I am amused. Never listening to it again or anything but, you know.
• "Did he deserve better?"
  Todd: I can't believe I'm gonna say this, but yes, absolutely.
  • Todd credits New Kids for nudging pop music into the direction it took in the 21st century.
    Todd: I just want to say thank you Jordan, Jonathan, Joey, Danny, and Donnie, for bringing us so much joy and happiness. Minus "The Right Stuff", which still sounds like ass.

Right Said Fred - "I'm Too Sexy" (1991)

• The existence of the video at all is one, really, given how it followed up his "Look What You Made Me Do" review.
• Todd naturally touches upon the act's namesake, a novelty song performed by Bernard Cribbins, and how it's a good indicator of the band they turned out to be.
  Todd: [Cockney accent] Good ol' British comedy! [...] Think of them as shirtless, 90s Benny Hills.
• Todd referring to Gerardo as Rico Suave.
• "The brothers have said since that they didn't realize people would just assume that they actually were a couple of gym queens. And for the record, he is allowed to say that, Richard came out as bisexual early on... [cut to Richard dancing in a glittery tank top] ...to the shock of no one."
• Todd makes this aside over "too sexy for my shirt":
  Todd: And for what it's worth, the guys that are so buff that they're always going shirtless? Everyone hates you. Go away.
• "The failed follow-up:"
  Todd: Well, the reason the follow-up failed is obvious: Too sexy.
• This gem about one of their singles, "Wonderman"
  Todd: Now, you may be asking yourself, "Hey, who is "Wonderman" they're singing about?" You'll never guess.
  [The title screen for Sonic the Hedgehog appears]
  Todd: Yes, Sonic the Hedgehog.
• The duo's most recent notables: "I'm Too Smurfy", a repurposed version of "I'm Too Sexy" to promote The Smurfs 2 ("Don't know if it's Right Said Fred demeaning The Smurfs, or The Smurfs demeaning Right Said Fred") and "the worst song they've ever done". "Look What You Made Me Do", of course.
• "Did they deserve better?"
  Todd: No, no, they didn't deserve better. They were just too sexy to deserve better.
  • He ends the episode by saying they're "just too sexy to continue".
• Todd demonstrating how the "I'm too sexy" meme worked back in the day: by being applicable to everything. He demonstrates by applying it to himself.
  "I'm... too sexy for my face! Too sexy for my face! Go faceless all over the place! I'm... too sexy for a job! Too sexy for a real job, I make Youtube videos!"

The Crazy World of Arthur Brown - "Fire" (1968)

• Todd enthusiastically shouting the song's opening, after a deceptively calm build-up.
  Todd: A-one, and a-two, and a-one, two three...
  Arthur Brown: I AM THE GOD OF HELLFIRE!
  Todd: AND I BRING YOOUUU-
  Arthur Brown: Fire!
• After looking at their first single, a joke song called "Give Him A Flower" Todd notes Arthur Brown didn't want to be a joke band, and instead wanted to be a serious band. He then cuts to a video of Brown jumping back and forth wearing a mask and robe, screaming like a lunatic.
  Todd: ...For a certain definition of serious.
• "Hey, jump out of this plane." "Yes sir, Mr. Hendrix!"
• Todd notices some similarities between Arthur Brown's convoluted mythos and the Dayman.

Rick Derringer - "Rock And Roll, Hoochie Koo" (1973)

• The title card, rather than referencing the single, references Rick Derringer's other song, "Real American". Complete with Todd in a "Todd-a-Mania" T-shirt.
• Todd mentions that Derringer was in a band called The McCoys, who were best known for having a one-hit wonder of their own, making Derringer a double one-hit wonder...but decides not to do a two-parter because that's too much work.
• "Hoochie Koo" isn't the only odd phrasing mocked in this review: Turns out The McCoys's one hit wonder is titled "Hang On Sloopy", about a girl named Sloopy.
  The McCoys: Sloopy, I don't care what your daddy do...
  Todd: I do care, though, that he named you Sloopy.
• While we're still on the subject of "Hang On Sloopy", Todd had this to say after demonstrating Derringer's guitar abilities:
  Todd: Geez, slow down Satriani. That is some serious shred for a pre-Clapton, pre-Hendrix garage song. Most of these bands could barely play at all. If you got the guys who played "Wild Thing" to try and play this, their fingers would fall off.
• His repeated revulsion at the cover◊ of Derringer's debut solo album All-American Boy, usually with a droning scare chord underneath the image. He later puts the blame on the full LP not doing well on the unappealing art alone.
• The Call-Back when he learns that two of the chorus's soul singers were cast members from The Wiz.
  Todd: I mean the good Wiz, on Broadway, not the movie.
  Nipsey Russell: TEE-NY TEE-NY...
• Todd pressing the "Not a Rhyme" button in sync with the guitar riff.
• And of course, the payoff to the title card comes with the "Did he do anything else?" segment.
  Todd: Oh, yes. In fact, I bet a bunch of you do know one Rick Derringer song, and it isn't the hit... and you've just been waiting for it this entire time. Well, let's kick it! ARE YOU READY, BROTHER?!
  • After that, Todd notes Derringer's impact in rock, including his friendship with Patti Smith and his work with Steely Dan. He was also connected to tons of acts from The '80s, from Air Supply to Bonnie Tyler to Cyndi Lauper to "Weird Al" Yankovic. He played the guitar on both "Making Love Out of Nothing At All" and "Eat It". In fact, he won two Grammys just with Weird Al.
    Todd: I swear to God, I am not making this up.
  • It then takes a downturn when he reveals he "found Jesus", and got tied up with conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. This puts a damper on Todd's thoughts for the last segment.
• In his final judgment, Todd eventually lets the Alex Jones thing slide, and concedes Derringer is one of the better side men in rock history. But he comes to the judgment that the title to "Hoochie Koo" sounds dumb.