Everyone Write In The Curly Shuffle!

[Guest AG/DC]

I don't know, but all threads are leading to that verse.

[Frayed Knot]

The funniest thing about that passage from the Nick Lowe song is that he puts the same sort of echo-overdub on the 3rd line of that verse that Astley used throughout his song.

What struck everyone who first saw that Astley video back when the song was new was how much the person didn't visually match the voice they had been hearing.
I think it's safe to say that studio magic had something to do with that.

[metirish]

Frayed Knot wrote: What struck everyone who first saw that Astley video back when the song was new was how much the person didn't visually match the voice they had been hearing. I think it's safe to say that studio magic had something to do with that.

I remember at the time that was a controversy with a whole slew of singers like Astley who all came from the same producer, studio techniques were rumored to be involved.

[Guest Triple Dee]

And the same songwriters.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stock_Aitken_Waterman

[metirish]

Triple Dee wrote: And the same songwriters. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stock_Aitken_Waterman

Bingo.

[bmfc1]

Astley wins, but... from Adam Rubin's blog:


Runoff to determine Mets' new 8th inning song

The Mets will have a runoff to determine their new eighth-inning sing-along tune.

The organization received 5 million votes on its Web site after inviting fans to choose from among 10 selections to potentially replace Sweet Caroline. An issue arose, however, when FARK.com readers bombarded the Mets with gag votes for a write-in candidate: Rick Astley�s Never Gonna Give You Up.

The Astley tune actually won.

Rather than commit to that as the new eighth-inning tune since it probably doesn�t reflect the fan base�s wishes, the Mets will play the top six selections once apiece during the first six games of their home stand. The one that draws the largest crowd response will stick.

The other songs that made the cut, in descending order: Livin� on a Prayer, Bon Jovi; I�m a Believer, The Monkees; Movin� Out, Billy Joel; Sweet Caroline, Neil Diamond; and Build Me Up Buttercup, The Foundations.

The Mets suggested the Fark tune winning didn�t necessarily result in the runoff, saying the contest rules stipulated Internet voters would �help decide� the outcome.

[stevejrogers]

]Livin� on a Prayer, Bon Jovi; I�m a Believer, The Monkees; Movin� Out, Billy Joel; Sweet Caroline, Neil Diamond; and Build Me Up Buttercup, The Foundations.

UGH, UGH, UGH, UGH, UGH!

I'm shocked that the internet voting, other than the Astley prank going to the extremes, was so predictable.

Even the song that they are TRYING to replace made it! Who the hell are voting in these polls? Corn ball tourists from the mid-west who don't know any better because of the spoonfed mass pop culture?

[Guest AG/DC]

How did the Mets miss the point?

[metirish]

Song getting played today at Shea was on youtube, not anymore....

]This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by MLB Advanced Media

[Guest themetfairy]

The selection was heartily booed by the fans in attendance.

[HahnSolo]

Why isn't None of the Above an option? where is the voice for the fan who doesn't want to sing along like sheep being led to the slaughter?

And lest we forget about Rick Astley, wasn't Together Forever a Shea staple in the late 80s, with video highlight montages on the Diamond Vision?

[Guest AG/DC]

Do sheep being led to the slaughter sing? I'd like to hear that, though it's probably not a very happy song.

[Benjamin Grimm]

The day that taser-bearing thugs start forcing the fans to sing along is the day that I start caring about this issue.

There is so much noise at Shea, and so many distractions, that I find it hard to get worked up about one or another.

Why is the song that they play in the 8th inning any more important than what the Mets do during all of the other inning breaks?

[soupcan]

AG/DC wrote: Do sheep being led to the slaughter sing? I'd like to hear that, though it's probably not a very happy song.

Do you fear the silence of the lambs Clarice?

[Gwreck]

I'm proud to report that when they played Sweet Caroline today there was a good amount of booing as well.

Looks like it's gonna be Bon Jovi. I guess I can live with that over Neil Diamond.

[seawolf17]

For love, we'll give it a shot.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Maybe when the season's over we can leave Shea where it is and implode Bon Jovi.

[HahnSolo]

I was there yesterday. I was shocked how many people around me knew the lyrics to Buttercup without looking at the scoreboard.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I was there too. The Buttercup sing-along was fun, but some people hated it so much they booed throughout.

The "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" sing-along was a flop, though. Previous versions were fun, but now they have kids singing it. It's cute and all, but the pace is all wrong and it's very difficult to sing along to.

[Guest themetfairy]

No offense to soup's cute kids, but I agree with Grimm - it was hard singing along with the kids.

I do love Buttercup, though. But that's an all-time favorite of mine (and even one of my song parody choices a few years ago). The thing about Buttercup is, lyrically, it describes the relationships of Mets fans who love a team that consistently treats us so badly -

]Why do you build me up (Build me up) Buttercup baby just to let me down (Let me down) And mess me around And then worst of all (Worst of all) You never call baby When you say you will (Say you will) But I love you still I need you (I need you) More than anyone darlin' You know that I have from the start So build me up (Build me up) Buttercup Don't break my heart I'll be over at ten You tell me time and again But you're late I wait around and then I went to the door I can't take any more It's not you You let me down again Baby Baby Try to find a little time And I'll make you happy I'll be home I'll be waiting beside the phone Waiting for you. Why do you build me up.... To you I'm a toy But I could be the boy You adore If you'd just let me know Although you're untrue I'm attracted to you All the more Why do I need you so Baby Baby..... ooh ooh ooh Why do build me up .....

[metirish]

Why do we need a song for the eighth inning , the whole process is the pits.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Why? Because on any given day, there are thousands of people in the crowd who don't give a damn about the game, and these other attractions (or distractions) help them have a good time, and make them more likely to return in the future.

I see nothing offensive at all about a sing-along, as long as it happens between innings. Same is true of dugout dance competitions, trivia games, Professor Reyes, t-shirt cannons, etc.

[Guest AG/DC]

Some of them can detract from the experience for more folks than those for whom the experience is added to.

I just want the Mets to be (a) different and ( clever. Most all those things say the Mets and their culture are just like those of every other team. Professor Reyes is an exception, but that fails the clever test tremendously, absurdly suggesting that Mets baseball fandom exists in a cocoon where Spanish in America is still novel and a Spanish-as-a-first-language-speaking shortstop is still exotic. That shit embarasses me to the point of blushing.

David Newman, senior vice president, marketing & communications, we need to talk.

[soupcan]

BUT-TER CUP! BUT-TER CUP! BUT-TER CUP! BUT-TER CUP!

[Guest themetfairy]

LOL soup

Grimm's points are valid. The between inning stuff may be lame, but it's harmless. It's less irritating than the things that go on during innings, such as encouraging the wave or telling people to make noise, etc.

[Benjamin Grimm]

="AG/DC"]Most all those things say the Mets and their culture are just like those of every other team.

I see what you're saying, but how exceptional are the Mets, really? Or is the main distinction that they're the team we love and all the other teams are not?

But following up on your point, there's really only one good candidate for an 8th-inning sing-along song: Meet the Mets. Does any other team have such a beloved anthem? It's fun, it's singable, it evokes great memories, and it's all ours.

There are 29 other ballparks where they can sing Build Me Up Buttercup but there's only one where they can sing Meet the Mets.

[Guest AG/DC]

="Benjamin Grimm"]I see what you're saying, but how exceptional are the Mets, really? Or is the main distinction that they're the team we love and all the other teams are not?

Less every day, apparently. I wish folks cared more.

="Benjamin Grimm"]But following up on your point, there's really only one good candidate for an 8th-inning sing-along song: Meet the Mets. Does any other team have such a beloved anthem? It's fun, it's singable, it evokes great memories, and it's all ours. There are 29 other ballparks where they can sing Build Me Up Buttercup but there's only one where they can sing Meet the Mets.

What I'm sayin'! You can have can play different versions. You can have different artists come in and sing it. It'd be bigger than Lego.

[Frayed Knot]

"I do love Buttercup, though ... an all-time favorite of mine "

Haven't met a female yet who doesn't like that song.



I think they should try out 81 different songs in the 8th inning.
Then next year they can try out 81 more.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I wonder if MLB issues directives saying what the between-innings features should be, in some misguided belief that uniformity is desirable. (It is, after all, the approach they took with the team websites.)

"Thou Shalt Have a Kiss-Cam"

"Thou Shalt Have a Dugout Dance Contest"

"Thou Shalt Have a T-Shirt Cannon"

In the last 15 seasons, I've only attended games at Shea or in Philadelphia's two ballparks, so I don't have much sense of how much entertainment diversity is out there. I do know that the stuff they do at Phillies games seems a lot like the stuff they do at Mets games.

[Guest themetfairy]

They're big into uniformity. Remember when every team's website was separate and distinct from each other.

Thou Shalt All Be Homogeneous!