OK, this totally has nothing to do with Photoshop or Photography, but my buddy Scott Diussa sent me a link to the band Rock Sugar, and they are a band of middle-aged rockers who fuse (mash-up) classic rock songs from the 80s with pop songs from the 80s, but the way they do it absolutely kicks butt!
The band is really talented (the lead singer is off the hook), so it’s not just how how cleverly they blended the two songs, but their performance is on the money, and now everybody at NAPP HQ is listening to Rock Sugar all day (a tremendous productivity killer).
I put their video below, which is a mash-up of Metallica’s Enter Sandman mixed with Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing,” which they call “Don’t Stop the Sandman” You just gotta hear it for yourself. Great video, great guitar work, great harmonies, great stuff all around. I promise you’ll be smiling. Here’s the video (the song actually starts 38 seconds in):
That is friggin epic
That is Great! It makes this middle-aged rock drummer feel much better.
Great laugh too.
Thanks Scott.
Follow-Up Comment. I listened to more of their songs and they’re all MIND-BLASTING! It’s like a choir of rock demon-angels serenading Ronnie Dio’s soul in a cocoon of hybrid hair metal glory-shred
I love Rock Sugar! I’m glad your sharing them with your audience Scott. I predict they will get mainstream exposure before to long. (Although in the “Aren’t the Quirky” kinda way and not in the “They are Rock Gods” kinda way.) ;->
I’m a bit of a mashup nut (I have over 1,000), so when Rock Sugar released their album at the end of last year I had to get it. For those who care, here is the list of tracks along with the songs that they ‘mashup’ to make their track:
1.“Don’t Stop the Sandman”: “Enter Sandman” (Metallica) and “Don’t Stop Believin’” (Journey)
2.“We Will Kickstart Your Rhapsody”: “We Will Rock You” & “Bohemian Rhapsody” (Queen) + “Kickstart My Heart” (Mötley Crüe)
3.“Crazy Girl”: “Crazy Train” (Ozzy Osbourne) + “Jessie’s Girl” (Rick Springfield)
4.“Voices in the Jungle”: “Voices Carry” (‘Til Tuesday) + “Welcome to the Jungle” (Guns N’ Roses)
5.“Here Comes the Fool You Wanted”: “Wanted Dead or Alive” (Bon Jovi) + “Here Comes the Rain Again” & “Sweet Dreams…Are Made of This” (Eurythmics) + “Nobody’s Fool” (Cinderella)
6.“Shook Me Like a Prayer”: “You Shook Me All Night Long” & “Hell’s Bells” (AC/DC) + “Like a Prayer” (Madonna)
7.“Straight to Rock City”: “Detroit Rock City” (KISS) + “Straight Up” (Paula Abdul)
8.“Prayin’ for a Sweet Weekend”: “Livin’ on a Prayer” (Bon Jovi) + “Working for the Weekend” (Loverboy) + “Sweet Child o’ Mine” (Guns N’ Roses)
9.“Heaven and Heaven”: “Heaven” (Warrant) + “Heaven” (Bryan Adams)
10.“Breakin’ the Love”: “Breakin’ the Law” (Judas Priest) + “I’m Not in Love” (10cc)
11.“I Love Sugar on Me”: “Pour Some Sugar on Me” (Def Leppard) + “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll” (Arrows)
12.“Round and Separated”: “Round and Round” (Ratt) + “Separate Ways…Worlds Apart” (Journey)
13. “Dreaming of a Whole Lotta Breakfast”: “Dream On” (Aerosmith) + “Breakfast in America” (Supertramp) + “Whole Lotta Love” (Led Zeppelin)
BTW, the reason I think the lead singer is so good… he’s a professional voice over artist! If you’ve ever seen the cartoon show “Animaniacs” the lead singer is the voice of Wakko Warner. No offense to rock stars, but they rarely have the training to imitate dozens of vocal stylings. Especially the voice of someone like Steve Perry from Journey!
You can check out the bands’ other songs at their website http://www.rocksugarband.com (although you can’t buy the album because the store is down). Also, for some reason they’re not available on iTunes or Amazon yet.
Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!!! Rock on Scott!
Michael Diehl from Ruskin?
I had a terrible day today but that has made me smile… they really kick a$$
I’ve been without my home computer for over a week now, so to get my computer back this morning and first thing i see is Rock Sugar !
Life is good
That guy does a better Steve Perry than Steve Perry does! ?_?
I can’t believe that’s not Perry’s voice.
Hilarious – and so well done as well. Thanks!!!
Love this kind of mash-up stuff. As much of a fan as I’ve been of Linkin Park over the years my favorite album was the mash-up with Jay-Z. One of the funniest takes on mash-up I’ve seen was Ben Folds doing some old school NWA (thug rap) on piano. This made my day.
OMG, Great find for the Scotts! I have to get their album as I was rocking the whole morning with this tune!!!
Tom Q
That is awesome! They need to do a “Rainbow in the Dark” mash-up as a tribute to Dio! R.I.P.
Glad I could kill the productivity at the office! I photographed these guys two weeks ago. They were awesome live. I’ll post some pics on my blog later today. I’ve never shot a band and laughed the whole time while doing so! Their “Crazy Girl” song was one of my favorites as well.
Rock On! \m/\m/
I just posted a blog entry with some images of Rock Sugar…
http://www.scottdiussa.com/Scott_Diussa/Scott_Diussas_Blog/Entries/2010/5/17_Rock_Sugar.html
Scott, your concert photography is the best!
FANTASTIC work! Love the action, and the feeling you conveyed of the band.
Thanks! Much appreciated!
Ohhh Yeaaaa!! What a great vocal range! Thanks for the share!
Are these guys using their voices? This guy sounds just like Perry. Hevsounds better than the new guy. I got to see Journey in 81 (sound like my grandpa did) and they really need to get Steve back. Great video, have never heard of this group but I will buy the album! Long live Rock!! :)
Mike…..send me an email at fishcamp@charter.net about Texas race in October.
Hey Ken,
It’s in your in box. I agree with your comment above. He really does sound like Steve Perry. I like the guitars better though.
Mike
AWESOME! Just had a wicked flash back! Bring back Rock and Roll!
Rock On!
Another cool 80’s Hair Metal Band you guys might want to check out is Steel Panther. Their sound is right on!!!! It is a little more profane and adult oriented….but funny.
Was anyone else waiting on the drummer to spontaneously combust in the middle of that video?? ;)
There was like a little green globule on his drum stool… :-)
Ive been loving these guys for a long time, I will be covering them when they coming to Memphis in a few weeks.
Thanks for giving them the pub Kelby, its awesome stuff!
I know a guy who will likely go nuts over this band, if he doesn’t already know of them. Thanks for sharing.
ive gotta say i havent heard the rest of this stuff but this was a little wierd maybe i have to listen a little more and sorry i have to be the one to just point this stuff out but enter sandman wasnt 80’s it was 90’s 91 to be exact ok everyone go ahead and kill me now haha
Thanks Scott,
I am rocking out with RockSugar on http://www.Grooveshark.com while I sort through my 200 emails from the weekend. It takes me right back to high school.
Rob… Thanks for that link to Grooveshark. That’s awesome!
Okay… Dreamin of a Whole Lot of Breakfast is incredible! ;-)
Man, oh, man – this is awesome!!!! Thanks, Scott ;-)
This thread would be remiss without a nod to the album that started the mashup craze, Danger Mouse’s Grey Album.
Here’s a great vid mashup of one of the tunes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbXLp2z6xL4
These guys are nothing short of awesome! I love the video!
I was actually in my local comic shop a couple of weeks ago while a couple of the guys were playing this song on their laptop and talking about it. But I didn’t get to ask the name of the band before they took off. (Plus my wife gets funny looks when she comes to the comic shop with me, so I try to keep it quick. :-D ).
Thanks for answering my wonderings!
I was just shuttled back 20 years.
That was great. Very witty – very well done. I’m hooked.
Awesome! And they are playing my home town in September. May have to see the show!
Absolutely superb!!! What a great find!!! Question is…where can i get hold of some of their music cos there’s only so long I can stay infront of this screen pressing ‘Play’ :)
Mind you, the iPhone has a YouTube icon so maybe all is not lost.
Cheers Scott and thanks for posting.
All the best to you,
Glyn
It’s bizarre. Not sure if I like it or not. They are obviously talented. Not sure if I like it or not. Mnnn. :-)
Jeff… I sort of get what you mean. It kinda messes with you a bit the first time you hear it (or any of their songs) since you are thinking of one melody and another is competing at the same time. Give it another listen and do what I did… don’t try to think too much about how they did it. I makes you want to think about songs that you would do this to as well. Could be a cool contest or something!
By middle-aged, you mean like younger than the Stones?
I like this version better than Glee!
Scott, I had 800 slides scanned at Scan Cafe that were my dads from the 20 years he was in Air Force. I found one of me when I was 11 (1966) and I am holding my first camera! Click on my name, it’s the new photo on my blog.
I know that this question is totaly off the topic of this post but I need help!!!!
When numbering images in LR, can I change the default “–” into a “_” my lab does not accept the “-” and for the life of me, I can’t get rid of it. Ihave to go into another renaming program to change it? Please help!!!
Great stuff. Would be an instant buy if it was on iTunes or Amazon. Thanks for sharing!
It’s on Amazon, I just orderd it, $11.95 :)
http://www.amazon.com/Reimaginator-Rock-Sugar/dp/B003IRDJC8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1274529077&sr=8-1
That was awesome :) I would love to hear a mash up of Paradise City and Rock You Like a Hurricane :)