I did!
― guess that bundt gettin eaten (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 19 March 2015 15:22 (nine years ago) link
the forbidden dance!
― guess that bundt gettin eaten (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 19 March 2015 15:23 (nine years ago) link
"get lucky" is basically the macarena right
― example (crüt), Thursday, 19 March 2015 15:25 (nine years ago) link
diet coke entertainer
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vc4x9Q3F_ew/T6RtS73Xt-I/AAAAAAAAAY4/N-hKtVYjFiE/s1600/pepsi-michael-jackson.jpg
― Losing swag by the second (Dan Peterson), Thursday, 19 March 2015 15:25 (nine years ago) link
ahah. I had a summer crush on the girl (I was very young !).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyLdoQGBchQ
― AlXTC from Paris, Thursday, 19 March 2015 15:26 (nine years ago) link
"Uptown Funk" sounds like it was written and recorded using the exact process described in KLF's The Manual: How to Have a Number One the Easy Way.
― Mr. Snrub, Thursday, 19 March 2015 15:26 (nine years ago) link
yeah I had that in mind too !
― AlXTC from Paris, Thursday, 19 March 2015 15:27 (nine years ago) link
Ronson's *last* album was great. especially this with Rose ex-Pipette singing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rktagwzW3XQ
and from the new album, Daffodils wipes the floor with Uptown Funk IMO
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OWkLF2HLp0
he's basically something of a genius i think.
― piscesx, Thursday, 19 March 2015 15:54 (nine years ago) link
I love Daffodils (sounds like he's been listening to Mary Jane Girls on that one) but I can see why it's not the ubiquitous smash UF is.
― Losing swag by the second (Dan Peterson), Thursday, 19 March 2015 16:00 (nine years ago) link
― guess that bundt gettin eaten (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, March 19, 2015 11:23 AM (39 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
SHHH jesus fucking christ do you want to get this msg board shut down???
― demonic mnevice (Jon Lewis), Thursday, 19 March 2015 16:19 (nine years ago) link
vive la resistance ! (secret sign is : the forbidden dance)
― AlXTC from Paris, Thursday, 19 March 2015 16:20 (nine years ago) link
*draws lambada symbol in sand, winks, wipes it away*
― demonic mnevice (Jon Lewis), Thursday, 19 March 2015 16:22 (nine years ago) link
remember when Ronson had D'Angelo on his album a few years ago?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOAD0gu18wk
starts of very promising, almost like a Lone track or something, but ends up as a mess. the vocals and the music never mesh, even though D sounds great.
― lil urbane (Jordan), Thursday, 19 March 2015 16:25 (nine years ago) link
"lambada symbol" : 4 legs intertwined ?
― AlXTC from Paris, Thursday, 19 March 2015 16:25 (nine years ago) link
even before clicking i thought 'this must be that thing i hear in every dr's office and supermarket'
― the increasing costive borborygmi (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 19 March 2015 16:28 (nine years ago) link
btw is this the project that has michael chabon guest writing the lyrics?
― demonic mnevice (Jon Lewis), Thursday, 19 March 2015 16:29 (nine years ago) link
nah, ronson feat mars credit aside, it's from the same team that made others mars hits like "locked out of heaven"
― da croupier, Thursday, 19 March 2015 16:51 (nine years ago) link
according to the liner notes on wikipedia, the two tracks featuring a bruno mars credit are the only two not featuring a michael chabon credit
― da croupier, Thursday, 19 March 2015 16:58 (nine years ago) link
Chris Molanphy wrote about this back in January:
This is why, ever since “Uptown” dropped two months ago, I’ve found it ironic to see so many bloggers, critics, and friends of mine calling it a ready-made smash. Sure, it sounds like an instantly familiar chart-topper to us now. But “Uptown Funk!” is to vintage electro-R&B in 2015 what “Smells Like Teen Spirit” or “Basket Case” were in the early ’90s to vintage punk: a catch-up. It’s a penance by America for not making an irresistible style the pop success it deserved to be the first time around.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2015/01/13/uptown_funk_mark_ronson_and_bruno_mars_hit_no_1_on_the_billboard_chart_why.html
― jaymc, Thursday, 19 March 2015 17:00 (nine years ago) link
i think a better comparison point might be "stray cat shuffle"
― da croupier, Thursday, 19 March 2015 17:00 (nine years ago) link
it's not like "living in america" and "you dropped a bomb on me" were pixies/buzzcocks levels obscure
― da croupier, Thursday, 19 March 2015 17:02 (nine years ago) link
strut
― Mark G, Thursday, 19 March 2015 17:05 (nine years ago) link
my apologies to the cats
ironically "basket case" only made it to #26 on the charts as an airplay only single (admittedly way higher than anything by the ramones)
― da croupier, Thursday, 19 March 2015 17:08 (nine years ago) link
Disagree strongly with Chris about grouping "Teen Spirit" and "Basket Case" together--I'd draw a very bright line between those two. (Does he mean that "Teen Spirit" was penance for Husker Du not selling millions of records? I don't know what percentage of the people who bought "Teen Spirit" were familiar with Husker Du, or at least who cared about Husker Du, but I'm guessing it was relatively small, even though it only appeared four years later.) Which has nothing to do with "Uptown Funk." Proceed apace.
― clemenza, Thursday, 19 March 2015 17:10 (nine years ago) link
yeah it's not the best comparison. people weren't buying Nirvana for nostalgic reasons.
― why dont u say something or like just die (dog latin), Thursday, 19 March 2015 17:11 (nine years ago) link
also nirvana and green day represented cross-over breakthroughs from indie-based scenes - while it has a distinct sonic template, this is just the latest big hit from an established classicist Top 40 act who's already big enough to headline the superbowl
― da croupier, Thursday, 19 March 2015 17:12 (nine years ago) link
us chart nerds aside, how many people think of this as a Mark Ronson song rather than a Bruno Mars song?
so actually, forget "stray cat strut," this is more like "Crocodile rock"
― da croupier, Thursday, 19 March 2015 17:13 (nine years ago) link
The song also appears to have been strongly influenced by songs from the late 50s-early 60s ("when Rock was young"), including Del Shannon's 1962 "Cry Myself to Sleep", and "Little Darlin'" (recorded in 1957 by The Diamonds and The Gladiolas). The chorus resembles "Speedy Gonzales" by Pat Boone. While there was no actual "Crocodile Rock", there was a dance called The Alligator.
― da croupier, Thursday, 19 March 2015 17:15 (nine years ago) link
I remember when funk was youngMe and Bruno had so much fun
― clemenza, Thursday, 19 March 2015 17:18 (nine years ago) link
hard times befallin'the funk survivorsshe thinks i'm crazybut i'm just growin' old
― demonic mnevice (Jon Lewis), Thursday, 19 March 2015 17:21 (nine years ago) link
re this being a bruno or a mick ronson song, i should admit the song's profile is undoubtedly different in the UK, where Ronson's first Top 20 lead credit was over a decade ago and he's had four since. Meanwhile in the US, this remains his first and only Top 100. bruno's big in both countries, though.
― da croupier, Thursday, 19 March 2015 17:23 (nine years ago) link
lol MARK ronson, sorry.
― da croupier, Thursday, 19 March 2015 17:24 (nine years ago) link
crocodile rock otm
― example (crüt), Thursday, 19 March 2015 17:30 (nine years ago) link
Big Mark strikes again
― jaymc, Thursday, 19 March 2015 17:32 (nine years ago) link
Haha I thought I was making a very clever reference to a previous Ronson hit, but I guess the Smiths cover was "Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before," not "Bigmouth Strikes Again."
― jaymc, Thursday, 19 March 2015 17:33 (nine years ago) link
― clemenza, Thursday, March 19, 2015 1:18 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
clearly "me and bruno and the smeezingtons" or i guess "me and smeezy and the mark ronson"
― Doctor Casino, Thursday, 19 March 2015 17:45 (nine years ago) link
I love how k-pop this song is. It's all the edm.
― Frederik B, Thursday, 19 March 2015 22:35 (nine years ago) link
i hear no EDM or k-Pop in Uptown Funk?
― why dont u say something or like just die (dog latin), Thursday, 19 March 2015 22:44 (nine years ago) link
Ambitious, clocking in at 4:30.
― with HD lyrics (Eazy), Thursday, 19 March 2015 22:46 (nine years ago) link
It has a million hooks per minute and it mixes old school styles with new school dynamics. The drop into the horns are straight out of the skrillex-schoolbook. Or like Airplane by f(x).
― Frederik B, Thursday, 19 March 2015 23:41 (nine years ago) link
It's basically engineered to make middle-aged people dance and has enough hooks for the kids.
― raih dednelb (The Reverend), Friday, 20 March 2015 00:01 (nine years ago) link
Totally "Crocodile Rock". Crossed with "Groove Is In The Heart".
― Frederik B, Thursday, March 19, 2015 11:41 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Is EDM's greatest success the fact that people now assume there was no such thing as a drop before 2007?
― Tim F, Friday, 20 March 2015 00:09 (nine years ago) link
Yes. By saying basically 'the drop is edm-like' I clearly stated that no other music uses drops. That is what my sentence means.
― Frederik B, Friday, 20 March 2015 00:12 (nine years ago) link
I was thinking "Let's Dance" crossed with "Nasty."
― with HD lyrics (Eazy), Friday, 20 March 2015 00:23 (nine years ago) link
But it also doesn't remotely resemble the way the drop typically works in EDM tunes.
― Tim F, Friday, 20 March 2015 00:30 (nine years ago) link
No, but it uses those sounds. The rising siren and the quickening of drums. Come on, you've heard that sound a million times these last few years, but not in a number one hit like this, I don't think.
― Frederik B, Friday, 20 March 2015 00:45 (nine years ago) link
I see the resemblance in the build-up, but the trumpet drop itself doesn't work in the same way because EDM (and brostep) both use the drop as the effective chorus and pinnacle of the tune.
Calvin Harris has perfected (or "perfected") this: see "We Found Love" or "Sweet Nothing", the way that the drop into the synths (whether instrumental or with vocals over the top) goes into an extended repeat-arpeggio for at least 8 bars. In EDM (and increasingly, pop generally), the structure could almost be extrapolated from filter-house, the chorus/drop being the section of the tune where the key riff snaps into clear focus.
Whereas in "Uptown Funk" the trumpet drop lasts for 4 bars and then you get the call and response between Bruno and the trumpets/drums before plunging back into the verse.
On computer screen, the above may seem like a trivial distinction ("four bars, eight bars, what's the difference?") but it totally changes the dynamic of the track.
Brostep and EDM are structured around the drop as the focal-point of the tune. In "Uptown Funk" that build-up to the drop and the drop itself are one (or arguably two) dynamic moment(s) amongst many, several of which are of equal prominence - the "i'm too hot / (hot damn)" call and responses in the first pre-chorus, the first "girls hit your hallelujah" which sounds like it's bringing in a breakdown before you realise it's actually presaging a build-up, the actual breakdown with the "Uptown Funk you up" section, etc.
It's that relative equality of peaktime moments that make the tune's use of dynamism (not surprisingly!) resemble Wild Cherry much more than EDM, notwithstanding the presence of a drum build-up into a drop.
― Tim F, Friday, 20 March 2015 01:37 (nine years ago) link
Has this thread made it this far without mentioning Kool and the Gang? Because I can't hear this without thinking hearing "Ladies Night," at least a bit.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 20 March 2015 02:00 (nine years ago) link
Reaching back, but in what universe did "vintage electro R&B" not generate a bunch of major hits?
Plus go Tim.
― 2-chords, a farfisa organ and peons to the lord (contenderizer), Friday, 20 March 2015 02:07 (nine years ago) link
this might be the most baffling bit of trivia in that article for me
Flo Rida's "Right Round" holds the record for most weekly downloads sold: 636,000 (Feb. 28, 2009).
― da croupier, Wednesday, 15 April 2015 17:22 (nine years ago) link
i know they have no motivation to do it but i do wish the streaming songs chart could distinguish between people on spotify yearning to hear wiz khalifa rap about brotherhood and people on youtube yearning to see paul walker's beautiful eyes one more time
― da croupier, Wednesday, 15 April 2015 17:26 (nine years ago) link
though I guess the "On-Demand Songs" chart somewhat gets that distinction across as its strictly songs played and requested on streaming radio, and wiz is #1 there too
― da croupier, Wednesday, 15 April 2015 17:29 (nine years ago) link
I should solve the problem by creating an "Uptown Funk" fan video with scenes from Paul Walker's beach movie.
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 15 April 2015 17:38 (nine years ago) link
"How To Explain the Popularity of "See You Again"?"
― thom yorke state of mind (voodoo chili), Wednesday, 15 April 2015 19:01 (nine years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQE9Bi0-Ra0
― example (crüt), Wednesday, 15 April 2015 19:07 (nine years ago) link
Alfred how dare you compare "I'll Be Missing You" to this Wiz garbage.
― The Reverend, Thursday, 16 April 2015 02:03 (nine years ago) link
finally figured out what uptown funk really reminded me of:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KI9uJbczhiI
leon haywood - don't push it, don't force it
― feargal czukay (NickB), Monday, 14 September 2015 22:12 (eight years ago) link
good find! basis for a lawsuit I suppose
― niels, Tuesday, 15 September 2015 12:10 (eight years ago) link
Write Haywood's lawyer.
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 15 September 2015 12:14 (eight years ago) link
well, I wouldn't wanna push it
― niels, Tuesday, 15 September 2015 12:24 (eight years ago) link
basis for a lawsuit I suppose
only when Haywood gets out of court with Blood Sweat & Tears
― Dominique, Tuesday, 15 September 2015 16:43 (eight years ago) link
This song is so many other songs it could single handedly clog the courts. Reminds me of the DJ Shadow frustration/surrender that you can only split a song's royalties 50/50 once.
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 15 September 2015 17:13 (eight years ago) link
MJ's "Jam" more than anything else imo... same hook.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbHI1yI1Ndk
And anyone defending it hasn't had enough James Brown in their lives to recognize utter vanillatude when it's staring them square in the face.
― Adam J Duncan, Wednesday, 16 September 2015 17:06 (eight years ago) link
(sorry, combined... nickB's otm for overall structure)
― Adam J Duncan, Wednesday, 16 September 2015 17:16 (eight years ago) link
It's a better song than "Living in America"
― best beloved george benson (The Reverend), Wednesday, 16 September 2015 19:42 (eight years ago) link
what became of that whole "suing songs for being vague soundalikes" thing? I wasn't really following. Was the decision upheld? Have loads of people followed suit? Could massive attack sue over this?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhc7Gqr1SwM
― the siteban for the hilarious 'lbzc' dom ips (wins), Wednesday, 16 September 2015 20:13 (eight years ago) link