The FuMP
2010-12-21
Artist
Moneyshot Cosmonauts
Title
The North Side of the Pole, Parts 5 and 6
THE NORTH SIDE OF THE POLE
A parody of Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon
Part 5: "Chimney Damage" (to "Brain Damage")
Part 6: "All That and a Bag of Gifts" (to "Eclipse")
M. Spaff Sumsion: Concept and lyrics
Chris Mezzolesta: Lead and backing vocals and Santasm
Jean "Kickie" Taylor: Backing vocals a go go
Tim "ShoEboX" Crist: Anonymous uncredited cameo
Bob Emmet: All instruments, production, and mixing
Once upon a time known as 2004, Spaff accepted a challenge from the denizens of music humor site Amiright.com to write a full-album parody of The Dark Side of the Moon. It was September - AKA Christmas shopping season - so he decided to impose holiday themes on all of the songs and call the project The North Side of the Pole. He figured his lyrics would remain just lyrics forever, assuming that no one in their right mind would record the thing.
He assumed correctly; in 2009, no one in their right mind - namely, Beefy Al and Stoopid - did, in fact, record the whole album, and surprised Spaff with a CD of their opus. Spaff was tickled Pink (cough, cough) and it inspired him to coerce his fellow Moneyshot Cosmonauts into recording their own version of The North Side of the Pole, which they quickly* completed.** And they lived happily ever after.***
The end.
*Bob began work on the music for these two parts in February and finished the final mix in late December.
**Still a work in progress as of 2021.
***Until Roger Waters crushed them with a flying 40-foot pig. Pulling a sleigh.
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Comments
weirdojace - Dec 21, 2010
Oh, and replacing the laughter with "ho ho ho" was especially clever. I liked the way the insane talking was handled, too. Very clever work.
devospice - Dec 21, 2010
Once again Spaff And Co. make the rest of us sound like amateur chumps. Thanks, Spaff!
ProjectSisyphus - Dec 21, 2010
I have to admit, when Spaff told me his idea for this I thought he'd been hitting the eggnog again. But it's an amazing parody. Spaff is amazing at finding every hidden detail of a song
Insane Ian - Dec 21, 2010
Wow. That's really all I can say. Well done, all.
weirdojace - Dec 21, 2010
So you're gonna do the whole album right? ;)
oddaustin - Dec 21, 2010
Agreed on the lack of impactfulness in the Eclipse instrumentation. Great in every other way.
mrwompy - Dec 21, 2010
This is absolutely AWESOME!!!
Balder - Dec 21, 2010
Let me be the first to say...wow. WOW!! This was beautifully done from every possible standpoint. I'm in awe.
Spaff.com - Dec 22, 2010
Thanks for your comments! Please indulge me in a few "I love you, man"s:
Bob Emmet started taking my calls and emails about this last December, began laying down tracks in February, and put countless hours into getting all the instruments, production, and mixing just right. Pink Floyd had Roger Waters, David Gilmour, Nick Mason, and Richard Wright, plus Alan Parsons to engineer the album (which he won a Grammy for). We had Bob. Smoke THAT.
Chris Mezzolesta was the obvious choice for vocals and, like Bob, he accepted the assignment early in 2010. I don't want to know how many hours he spent listening to the original and channeling Roger Waters behind the mic. (Plus all the retakes to get the harmonies down.) Because then I'll feel even more indebted to him than I already do.
Kickie Taylor jumped on board at the eleventh hour to replace a woman who unexpectedly bailed. Kickie took this on - making multiple trips to the studio to perfect her parts - for nothing other than her love of comedy music and her respect for her friend Chris. What a find. I will definitely be calling her again.
ShoEboX contributed not only the "Mommy, I'm scared!" but also a freaking hilarious monologue that he wrote and recorded, which regrettably didn't get squeezed in. I'm tempted to do the rest of the album for no other reason than to feature that bit.
As for the climax, I found it impactful.
That's what she said.
And now, Dear Reader (if anyone is actually still reading), help me decide the future of Moneyshot Cosmonauts. Do we: (A) Complete "The North Side of the Pole"? (B) Leave well enough alone and work on other songs instead? (C) Do neither and get a life?
oddaustin - Dec 22, 2010
On the future of Moneyshot Cosmonauts: 1. Complete "The North Side of the Moon" album 2. Release a debut album of your previous releases with a few new things. Spaff needs to make a living out of doing this so he can start being more prolific.
stevegoodie - Dec 22, 2010
I was stunned. Cause it was, well, stunning. I especially enjoyed the vocals... Chris's lead was great, and those background singers were PERFECT. Beautiful pipes, all! Nice job everyone! Sincerely, Amateur Chump #248.
Adam - Dec 23, 2010
Spaff, you are amazing. As a (minor) contributer to Beefy Al & Stoopid (basically, I make suggestions, then stay (mostly) out of the way while Timm does all the work), I feel honored that you liked what we (okay, HE) did enough to give us (him) a plug here at the FuMP. I have talked Timm into uploading his stuff to the Sideshow here, which he will be doing soon. In addition to his version of your stuff, he has some original stuff, and even a couple that I gave him the idea for. As for deciding the future of your band of too-talented geniuses, yes, please, finish the album! The quality of the tracks above is nothing short of phenomenal! Timm and I count ourselves as both fervent fans and ardent admirers of yours. Your gift for finding the absolute funniest take on almost any song is stunning% (sorry, that percent sign was supposed to be an exclamation mark, but it seems I used my quota for the day already). You are the best.
dice1342 - Dec 23, 2010
Bloody Brilliant! I want to hear more!
madmanOTL - Dec 24, 2010
Love how it sounds. Awesome job.
scifantasy - Dec 27, 2010
I vote for "Complete 'The North Side of the Pole,'" but among others I'm a huge fan of classic rock. So--yeah, please, _please_ do the rest!
batlrar - Jan 5, 2011
I, of course, also vote for finishing the album! I'd suggest you take your time with it as well, to make sure it's as good as this one!
djseamus - Jan 10, 2011
Yes, yes, yes, definately finish "North Side of The Pole". Awesome!
wildcard9 - Dec 16, 2011
In listening to this song again today, I noticed that I never commented on how much I love it!! Now we have parts 4, 5, and 6. When will we get the rest of the NSotP?!!
dlunas - Oct 28, 2013
Wow, these are still fanfuckingtastic. You get this comment on both of the Floydian Christmas songs.
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weirdojace - Dec 21, 2010
Aw snap, I thought my band would have the first Pink Floyd parody up here. :)
This is some really nice work. As a big fan of Pink Floyd, I applaud this. The only real complaint I have is that the "Eclipse" segment didn't feel as epic as it needs to be. That's the big climax of the album, it needs some extra oomph.