A.V. Club: Best of the Decade

Blog Five great YouTube rebirths

Like a Phoenix rising from the ashes, then set to Soulja Boy

The Rocka-fire Explosion Rock-afire's Rolfe gets his second wind, readies "Werewolves Of London."

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YouTube is like CPR for forgotten pop culture. Take the sudden fame accorded to The Rock-afire Explosion, animatronic animal house band for the long-defunct Showbiz Pizza Place chain. After 31-year-old Alabama car salesman Chris Thrash saved up for years just so he could rescue Beach Bear et al. from '80s obscurity, he reprogrammed its members to sing and play contemporary tunes like Usher's  "Love in This Club," MGMT's "Electric Feel," and more, posting the eerie/awesome results on YouTube. Millions of hits later, Thrash and the reinvigorated band are the subject of The Rock-afire Explosion, premiering this Sunday at the downtown Alamo Drafthouse with an all-you-can-eat pizza party. Now even serious film critics are unleashing their inner children, jumping up and down in anticipation like 10-year-olds itching to get in the ball pit. Could such a kitschy, esoteric subject ever have generated such a cultural frenzy before the YouTube Age? Assuredly not. No, it's YouTube who has given us the power to take all of the once-forgotten remainders of our culture, rescue and redub them, and share them with the rest of the world. Here are some of the other great "rebirths" in YouTube's history.

1. "Fosse Walk it Out"
If you can watch this video without subconsciously tapping your toes, you officially have no soul. The moment Gwen Verdon & Co. start bobbing their heads in time with Unk's "Walk it Out," we have officially struck YouTube gold. While everyone might have their own favorite bit of Bob Fosse choreography on this video, in our opinion the highlight happens at roughly 1:08, when the ladies give the "Oh no you didn't!" head shake while the song proclaims, "You can't be the king of the parkin' lot." For realz!


2. "G.I. Joe PSA - Reggae"
Remember those preachy PSAs at the end of G.I. Joe cartoons reminding us to do things like turn off the oven and not talk to strangers? Through the magic of dubbing, Ebaum' s World flushes all those good intentions right down the toilet by taking an anti-drug message and turning it into a trippy collage promoting the surefire combination of reggae and cough syrup abuse. Now you know (and knowing is half the battle).


3. "Crank That Santa Claus"
Soulja Boy's "Crank Dat" was seemingly created solely to soundtrack YouTube tributes, but of all the bajillion lazy efforts out there, this Rankin/Bass remix might be the best. While it's a little disturbing to hear Mrs. Claus referred to as a "ho," you have to appreciate lyrics like, "Watch me lean and watch me rock / Then I'll put some goodies in yo sock." It's almost enough to be grateful this song exists. Almost.


4. "Saved By The Bell: Brokeback Style"
Everyone knows Bayside High was mad homoerotic. Slater and Zack shared an elaborate handshake, a love of spandex tights, and even cute little pet names ("Hey preppie!"). Zack never called Slater a "sexist pig." Hell, Zack didn't even really love Kelly, and that was long before that bitch Stacey Carosi stole his affections for a whole summer. No, his heart belonged to a different brunette altogether. Here's the forbidden love deemed too hot for Saturday morning TV.


5. "bushsong - by henry hey"
It's only been around a couple of weeks, but Henry Hey's jazzy, interpretive piano accompaniment of Bush's final press conference has already garnered over 30,000 hits. It deserves a million more. Those playful Thelonious Monk-style runs, the pensive key tickles in between 0:32-0:40 as Bush searches for the right obfuscations to cover up his many, many mistakes... It's music for the soul, man, made for a man who had no soul. Now if only we could get a Dick Cheney version on the bassoon. 

 

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