As a bonus, here are two inferior cover versions of the CRAAB Anthem Tarzan Boy:
bluz et bongo – tarzan boy
Asculta mai multe audio Muzica
Ian Lex – Tarzan boy
Asculta mai multe audio Muzica
Archive for the ‘Native Beat’ Category
Give Me the Almond – Part 6: Fan Art & Cover Versions
Friday, August 20th, 2010You were the Kid
Thursday, May 27th, 2010You were the kid who infiltrated my house and left cryptic messages.
You were the kid who spent an hour of Hockey time looking for batteries so we could play to Tarzan Boy.
You were the kid who laid in bed, excitement barely containable and completely wide awake, just because he thought of an idea for the next CraabQuinoX.
You were the kid who couldn’t skate fast enough until he got to where the rest of Craab was hanging out, and then was content to sit around for the rest of the night, laughing, and drinking milk shakes.
You were the kid who believed that the pain of MotorBall is a blessing of liberation.
You were the kid who, bathed in star light, analyzed dates on a trampoline in the backyard.
You were the kid who felt life burning along his spine as he crouched, hidden from those who hunted him.
You were the kid who was the CRAAB of yester-year.
And, deep down, you still are.
Adapted from “I am the Kid” written 08/13/2002
Photo of CRAAB taken 10/03/1995
The CRAAB CD
Friday, April 2nd, 2010
1. Tarzan Boy – Baltimora
2. The Touch – Stan Bush
3. Going the Distance – Cake
4. Ame Ga Furu – The Boom
5. Get Out of My Way – D Rok
6. Yoda – Weird Al Yankovic
7. Mission Impossible – U2
8. Mummer’s Dance – Loreena McKennitt
9. Spider – They Might be Giants
10. Mortal Kombat – Immortals
11. Cricket – Mannheim Steamroller
12. Renegade – D Rok
13. Kung Fu Fighting – Carl Douglas
14. Transformers – Lion
15. The Mighty Quinn (Freedom Rock/Bij Version) – Manfred Mann
16. Tubthumping – Chumbawumba
17. Shima Utau – The Boom
44. The Last Unicorn – Kenny Loggins
Give Me the Almond – Part 5: Arrows
Saturday, December 12th, 2009After posting Give Me the Almond – Part 2: The Cassette (where I wrote, “As of this writing, Listerine “Arrows” is not available anywhere on-line.”), an angel known only as “Gina” left a comment pointing out that “Arrows” was indeed available on Youtube as part of a longer collection of 90′s commercials.
So . . . Kickyoutube>Download>Final Cut>Chop Chop>Export>Upload to Youtube . . . and the CRAABest convergence of AWESOME in a single commercial is now available on-line for the good of all Mankind.
Thank You, Gina!
Give Me the Almond – Part 4: The Speeder Bike Sequence
Friday, September 4th, 2009The essence of Tarzan Boy is, in many ways, velocity. The rhythm alone suggests a smooth accelerated moment around, over, and through a myriad of stationary obstacles. So it was not a huge leap when it was proposed within CRAAB that Tarzan Boy would be the perfect soundtrack for riding an Imperial Speeder Bike . . . anywhere.
One night, not long after, but still long long ago, CRAAB assembled at Steve’s house where the living room was reconfigured to accommodate, what Tim has dubbed, the “VLSA” or an array of very large speakers all connected to a central media source.
At that point:
The Return of the Jedi VHS was inserted in the VCR and queued up to the Speeder Bike Sequence.
The audio on the TV was turned almost all the way down.
The Tarzan Boy cassette was inserted into the stereo with the volume turned up to eleven.
And then . . .
“Play” was simultaneously pushed on both contraptions.
It was a definitive moment, one that will remain a milestone in CRAAB history forever. Watching Speeder Bikes race through the forests of Endor to the strains of Tarzan Boy was pure exhilaration, but the pure exultation came when both the Speeder Bike Sequence and the song ended at the same time.
Or in other words the Speeder Bike Sequence in Return of the Jedi and Tarzan Boy are EXACTLY THE SAME LENGTH!
The discovery both thrilled and awed. It was unanimously believed among the members of CRAAB that this could not, in any way, be a mere coincidence. George Lucas, Baltimora, God, or all three conspired to bring about this epitome of gestalt.
It has been many years since the power of that night and the joy of that discovery and time has faded the memory of it . . . but no more.
It is with a great sense of nostalgic awesomeness and near-debilitating CRAAB pride that I am honored to present to you now:
Give Me the Almond – Part 3: The Almond
Friday, August 28th, 2009As a fore mentioned, the advent of Tarzan Boy in CRAAB history preceded the boon of the Internets in everyday American life. Thus, at the time, we were sorely limited to whatever information we randomly stumbled upon, especially in regards to this song.
There was a lot of speculation among CRAAB as to what exactly were the lyrics Baltimora was singing. After much discussion, group concusses landed somewhere around here:
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Jungle life
I’m following from nowhere
On my own like Tarzan Boy
Hide and seek
I play alone the rash across the florist
Monkey business on a sunny afternoon
Jungle life
I’m leaving the open
Native beat that carries on
Burning bright
I fighter bloods the signal to the sky
I see the water dosemessagat to you
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Not tonight
Gimme the Almond, gimme the Almond
Change tonight
Gimme the Almond, gimme the Almond
Not tonight
Gimme the Almond, gimme the Almond
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Jungle life
You’re far away from laughing
It’s all right
You won’t be sold
Take a chance
Leave everything behind you
Come and join me
Montessori
It’s easy to survive
Jungle life
We’re leaving the open
All along like Tarzan Boy
Hide and seek
We play alone the rash across the florist
Monkey business on a sunny afternoon
Not tonight
Gimme the Almond, gimme the Almond
Change tonight
Not tonight
Gimme the Almond, gimme the Almond
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh…
These misquoted lyrics became part of the CRAAB vernacular and even inspired this CraabQuinoX article:
It wasn’t until sometime in the very very late 1990′s that it dawned on me that I could use the World Wide Web to find out what the lyrics to Tarzan Boy really were. I was both disappointed and awed at the truth. Here are the real lyrics.
Give Me the Almond – Part 2: The Cassette
Monday, August 24th, 2009It was the days of American flag speedos, florescent blue cummerbunds and inordinate amounts of non-special edition Star Wars VHS. As an employee at Harkins Tri-City Dollar Theater, my all-time favorite movie to sweep up after was Teenage Mutant Turtles III because it featured “that one song from the Listernine commercials”. This was before the Internet granted unto us access to unlimited knowledge and power, so until Tarzan Boy appeared during the closing credit of TMNT III we had no way of knowing the title of the song or who performed it, or even how to get a copy. As it turned out, “Tarzan Boy performed by Baltimora” was released as a cassette single in conjunction with the film.
Best $1.99 I ever spent.
Around this time Listerine/Pixar did something that would have otherwise been thought impossible. They made a follow up Cool Mint Listerine commercial that was even more awesome than “Jungle”. Shifting from Tarzan to Robin Hood, this commercial, titled “Arrows”, began with a series of arrows missing a row archery targets. Suddenly the last target is hit dead center of the bulls eye. A whip pan reveals a Robin Hood like Listerine bottle leaping onto a tree branch. The rest of the commercial is the bottle landing bulls eye after bulls eye while flipping twisting and bounding through the trees . . . all set to Tarzan Boy. It was the pinnacle of Listerine advertising and of commercial production in general.
Jake captured “Arrows” on VHS (the format of choice back then) while recording Navy Seals off the TV. We watched that commercial, shared it, re-watched it, passed it around and watched it again and again and again . . . almost as many times as we played the cassette.
As of this writing, Listerine “Arrows” is not available anywhere on-line.
Give Me the Almond! – Part 1: The Listerine Commercial
Saturday, August 15th, 2009In the beginning there was Listerine, and in the early 90′s there were commercials for Listerine produced by the then unheard of Pixar Animation. These commercials featured nascent computer animations of Listerine bottles battling unseen forces of bad breath and gingivitis. These commercials were awesome.
Then Listerine/Pixar went and turned up the awesome by about 87% with the Cool Mint Listerine “Jungle” commercial, which not only featured an super cool Listerine bottle swinging through the jungle on vines, but it also introduced a little song called “Tarzan Boy” to the US in general and CRAAB in specific.
Ultimately “Tarzan Boy” (performed by Baltimora) became the official CRAAB national anthem, and we owe to all to this amazing commercial.
Now for a little “Tarzan Boy” history: “Tarzan Boy” is a 1985 Italo disco song recorded by Italy-based act Baltimora. It was the group’s debut single, released in April 1985, from its first album Living in the Background, on which it features as first track. ” Baltimora is often considered a one-hit wonder due to the success they experienced with their first single “Tarzan Boy” only. The song is best known in the United States for the use of its refrain in early 1990s Pixar produced commercials for Cool Mint Listerine which caused it to bounce back into the Billboard Hot 100 chart in March 1993, climbing to #51. The song also appeared in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993) and Beverly Hills Ninja (1997).
