Monday, July 06, 2009

Now Hear This: You Have Wasted Your Life - Vol II

-Merton Sussex, Wanderer of the Waste

A number of weeks ago, I brought you a video featuring Yuto Miyazawa, a nine-year-old Japanese kid who tore up some "Crazy Train" on a Randy Rhoads guitar. I watched that video, and my jaw hit the linoleum.

Today, I saw a video that made the motherfucker drop clean off, and roll into a storm drain.

The following video features a young man named Jon Baglo. Jon Baglo has what ya call "talent." See, Jon wasn't content to just attain mastery of ONE instrument. Heavens, no. He decided to learn EVERY LAST MOTHERFUCKING ONE OF THEM. And then, once he knew them, he used use those talents to go into the studio, and play a song. EVERY PART of the song. And he filmed himself doing it, then cut the video together in four-way split-screen.

And the song he chose? "Mary Had a Little Lamb!" I'm kidding, of course...Because a dude with this much raw skill doesn't fuck around. no, he instead chose to play Boston's 1976 hit, "Foreplay / Long Time," a song which has given players in classic-rock cover bands spastic conniption fits for over thirty years, so soaring is the arrangement, and so precise are the parts. And he plays them all, every one, note-for-note, and perfectly.

"So what?" some will scoff. "He plays someone else's song. Big deal!" These are undoubtedly the same people who think playing Guitar Hero makes them 'cool.' "Okay, FINE," they'll counter. "But he's not SINGING it. Nyeeh." And they'd be right. Because the guy who IS singing lead is David Steele...Former bassist and backup vocalist for Fine Young Cannibals, and The English Beat, who also performs his part absolutely perfectly (as does Jon's school chum Spencer on backups). In short, if you know anything about playing a real instrument, this will blow your socks right into the laundry hamper.

Did I mention that Jon Bagwell just turned 18 years old this past April? Because that happened. Yeah, really. At the age where most kids are just trying to get to graduation with their skin intact, Jon here is spending his weekends doing shit like THIS.

Normally, we're all about the snark and satire around here, but some things are above reproach. Here's one of those things. Enjoy.

4 comments:

Tajmccall said...

Certainly talented, but its boston. So i turned it off after 40 seconds.

Signed,

Everyone.

Reno Gruber said...

Dude.

Come on.

Its fucking Boston. They aren't bad. But they aren't good either.

They fall in the realm of Vanilla Ice Cream, Dry Hand Jobs and Ben Stiller movies.

Merton Sussex said...

Look, Boston is like Journey. Sure...nobody owns UP to liking them, but they sure seem to be awfully fucking popular. And you KNOW you don't turn that shit off when it comes up on the radio.

Not to mention that I think we can all agree that dry hand jobs and vanilla ice cream are decidedly better than ZERO dessert or manual stimulation at ALL.

About Ben Stiller, we shall not speak.

blaine_fridley said...

i'll say it right here, right now:

i love boston.

happiest band ever.

if credibility means not liking boston, well, then, so long, credibility! it's been a nice ride, but you just ain't worth it.

i close my eyes and she slipped awaaaayyy!!!