Peter Serafinowicz "Ringo Remembers Christmas 1979"

Here's another "I Looked At The Internet Today So You Don't Have To" feature.

I mentioned previously that "Wonderful Christmastime" by Paul McCartney is "one of my least favorite Christmas songs."  But this comedy piece does a much better job of reflecting my true distaste for that song, by mocking it.

I have to say, this guy has one of the best McCartney impressions, in terms of getting his mannerisms down, that I've ever seen . . .


See the video on Youtube.

Taj Mahal "She Caught The Katy"

It's going to be weird, when my kid grows up. At some point, hopefully, she's going to hear "She Caught The Katy" and say, "Hey, that's the guy that sings the Peep theme song!"

What a strange thing, to come into an artists career, late, when they've delved into the world of kids music.

Dr. John won't be the "Right Place Wrong Time" hoodoo voodoo New Orleans man. He'll be the guy who sings the "Curious George" theme song.

A generation before, little kids around the country knew him as the Narrator to Thomas The Tank Engine, without any clue that he was part of some important band. And parents would turn on the TV and wonder "Why is Ringo in a conductor's cap?"

And a decade before that, I, yes I, knew Dr. Teeth, before I'd ever heard to Dr. John.

By the way, while they may not be as hip as their hits, the two theme songs are pretty damn good, and having these veterans sing the openings, beats the Hell out of having Barney do it, any day of the week.

Ringo Starr “Liverpool 8”

My daughter was squirming at the dinner table. Not unusual for a two-year old, but my wife recognized the body language.

“Honey, do you have to go in your cage?”

I don’t know where my daughter got this phrase, but she started saying it very early on. When she had to poop, she’d say, “I’m going in my cage,” and she’d get behind a chair, or cram into a corner, and grunt.

So my wife let her down, and she toddled off to her bedroom.

A minute or two later, there was shrieking from that end of the hall.

“A BUG A BUG!!!” She was standing on her bed, pointing down at the space where “her cage” is.

I honestly didn’t see anything, but my wife got down on her hands and knees, and said “Awww . . . “

She stood back up and with her gentlest voice, said to my daughter, “Look. It’s a little beetle.”

This was certainly the tiniest beetle I’d ever seen. Smaller than the tip of a ballpoint pen, and just as black.

The girls spent the next few minutes examining the beetle, my wife working her magic to make the tiny creature a thing of wonder, not of worry.

“Isn’t he cute? We’ll name him Beetle Paul. The Cute Beetle.”

We’ve played Beatles songs for my daughter, from Day One. They’re a big part of our lives. We even have a fish named “Mr. Kite.” So she got the Beetle Paul reference.

The smell in my daughter’s pull-ups was getting ripe, so my wife said, “Okay, I’m going to put Beetle Paul outside, because that’s where he should live. You and Daddy should go to the bathroom and dump your dirty britches.”

As an early stage of potty training, when she goes poop we make a bit of a spectacle of it, showing her how poop goes in the big potty, and you get to flush---this as an incentive to one day not just “go in her cage.”

So she and I are in the bathroom and I’ve pulled off her Pull-ups, to reveal a fairly small effort on her part.

“Okay, let’s dump this cute little poop in the potty!”

And before she does, she looks at it and said, “We’ll name him Ringo.”

Flush.


For a better appreciation of Ringo, check out Ray Whitaker's Just Four Guys show on the Starr drummer.

Ringo Starr “Walk With You”

It’s easy to dismiss Ringo. But give him some credit. Can you name another non-songwriting musician, who, in the wake of his band’s breakup, has put out 15 solo records?

He only wrote 2 Beatles songs. He was not a composer. He certainly doesn’t need the money. But he presses on, writing songs, making records and touring.

I’m not saying that you should consider that he’s this amazing songwriter that we’re all over-looking. I’m just saying, Give The Man Credit For Trying, especially since he doesn’t have to.

Check out his new song, with Paul McCartney guesting.