I gotta give the full back story to this one:

Last Thursday I had the opportunity to play at Howl at the Moon in Orlando with 3 of the most amazingly talented guys in the dueling piano business.   These guys are true modern day musical vaudevillians.   The two guys in this video combined represent over 25 years of on-stage experience.

It was early in the night…shortly after 8pm..  The 4 of us had already been there since 5:30 for a quick rehearsal, afterwords we ate some Thai food and then came back to an open club with a completely empty room…save for 2 women who said they had tickets to go see the Blue Man Group.

Ken and I sat back as Joe and Brian took the stage and asked the women if they had any requests.

They didn’t.

Then, after some coaxing, one of the women said, timidly, “Do you know Brown Eyed Girl by Bobby McFerrin?”

This what they got: (oh, and they never made it to the Blue Man Group show)

Oh, and in case you can’t make it out, the back of  Joe’s shirt says : (withheldoforpayment)

YouTube – Howl at the Moon Orlando – Joe and Brian Brown Eyed Girl Acapella.

YouTube – BOOBIES & KITTENS.

According to the 1998 Guinness Book of World Records, “Happy Birthday to You” is the most recognized song in the English language.

The melody comes from the song “Good Morning to All” which was written and composed by sisters Patty and Mildred Hill in 1893 and published in Song Stories for the Kindergarten by the Summy Company as a greeting song for teachers to sing to their students.  Mildred wrote the melody, and Patty the lyrics.

“Happy Birthday to You” first appeared in print in 1912 using the melody of “Good Morning to All” with different lyrics. Its popularity continued to grow through the 1930′s, with no author identified for the new lyrics, nor credit given for the melody from “Good Morning to You”.

In 1935 “Happy Birthday to You” was copyrighted as a work for hire by Preston Ware Orem for the Summy Company, the publisher of “Good Morning to All”.

The song’s current owner, Warner Music Group continues to insist that one cannot sing the “Happy Birthday to You” lyrics for profit without paying royalties: in 2008, Warner collected about $5000 per day ($2 million per year) in royalties for the song. This includes use in film, television, radio, anywhere open to the public, or even among a group where a substantial number of those in attendance are not family or friend to whoever is performing the song.

Professor Robert Brauneis cited problems with the song’s authorship and the notice and renewal of the copyright, and concluded “It is almost certainly no longer under copyright.

In European Union (EU) countries the copyright will expire December 31, 2016, while in the United States, the song is currently set to pass in to the public domain in 2030.

Patty and Mildred Hill were posthumously inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame on June 12, 1996.  The Hill Foundation continues to receive royalties on public performances of the song to this day, estimated to be about about $1 million a year.

more: Happy Birthday to You – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

The Recording Industry Association of America has prevailed in its copyright fight against piano players across the country, banning them from specifically performing songs written by singer/songwriter Billy Joel, according to court documents.

In a decision that hands the RIAA an overwhelming victory, U.S. District Judge Harold Baer of the Southern District of New York ruled in favor of the the RIAA all its main theories: that most piano players are guilty of direct, contributory, and vicarious infringement through their repeated performances of Joel’s songs, including hits such as “My Life”, “New York State of Mind”, and “Piano Man”.

In a brief note posted Tuesday to RIAA.com, the trade group for the music industry said: “We’re pleased that the court recognized not just that piano players directly infringe Mr. Joel’s copyrights but also took action against the defendants for their egregiously poor interpretations of Mr. Joel’s music.”

When asked why they specifically targeted Billy Joel songs, and not other popular piano bar songs by artists like Jimmy Buffet,  the RIAA responded by saying, “Cheesburger in Paradise?  Really?  Only drunk flip-flop wearing Parrotheads care about Jimmy Buffet songs.”

Lawyers for Joel could not be reached for comment.

For those of you who just can’t get enough Diggz, here are some upcoming dates you can catch me playing at Howl at the Moon in Orlando:

March
17 Wednesday Happy Hour 6-8pm St. Patrick’s Day!
23 Tuesday 8pm-2am

April
1 Thursday 9pm-2am April Fools Day!
3 Saturday 7:30-2am
5 Monday 8pm-2am My Birthday!

Everything about this just makes me feel icky.

But you gotta love the part where she says, “I think about giving it to my kids, saying, ‘Guys…imagine…imagine there’s no heaven!’”

Good lord lady…you’re one mean bitch!

Watch all the way to the end for another juicy nugget.

YouTube – JOHN LENNON JEWELRY.

I stumbled upon this brilliant flowchart, which diagrams the lyrics of the first verse of  “Making Love out of Nothing at All” by Air Supply.  It’s not 100% accurate…but quite clever nonetheless.

Here’s link to the original author on Flickr:  9 0 0 0′s Photo Stream.  He’s got some other great stuff there too.

Gotta love the Fame logo too!

I’m pretty sure this just became my favorite video ever.

YouTube – OK Go – This Too Shall Pass – RGM version.

Enjoy…

YouTube – Bohemian Polka – Weird Al Yankovic.

Because he’s in love.

YouTube – Captain Kirk is climbing a mountain, why is he climbing a mountain?.