Jeff: Well, here’s one more video for you (next week we’ll get back to recording some audio).  This comes to us from 2007, and it was MCQ’s second gig ever.  And Floyd and I wanted to write an introductory rap….but we wanted to mess with each other, too.  So we agreed to write a rap, rhyming “quartet” in each lyric, alternating alphabetically.  And if THAT isn’t confusing enough, we wrote the lyrics for each other, so neither one of us had any idea beforehand what was on the cards we were reading.  It turned out to be a lot of fun and, if I knew all the lyrics, I’d write them up for you.  But I don’t, so just enjoy the video.  Next week, more new songs!

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Words and Beats:  The Mathematically Challenged Quartet

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Jeff: Um, yeah.  There’s not a whole lot to say about this one.  Just enjoy.

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Lyrics:

Hey there girl let’s go out and get naughty
I’ll take you out to a nice chicken sauté
Just you and me girl and a waiter who’s snotty
Forget him let’s have a nice sexy party

After a bottle of wine and some potatoes au gratin
Maybe you’ll want some desert, maybe some flan
Maybe I’ll even pay the bill, a free meal you’ve gotten
Or if we’re out at Chinese you’ll have a sexy won ton

You and me and a jar of peanut butter
You and me there could be no other

You and me and a bottle of Nutella
You and me and 5 or 6 other fellas

Hey there girl let’s go back to my barbecue
I’ll make you a hot and juicy curry vindaloo
If you want you can bring your stinky sister, too
She’ll eat the best meal she’s had since she got back from picachu

After I clean up the pinot noir that you’ll spill
I’ll take your wine glass and yes, I’ll refill
You’ll fall for me as I clean up your mess, yes you will
And I’ll take off all my clothes as I finish up at the grill

You and me and a box of nutter butters
You and me and my two older brothers

You and me and a big ol’ renaissance fair turkey leg
You and me, c’mon baby don’t make me beg

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Words and Music:  Jeff C.

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Jeff: Here’s another video of a song from the MCQ gig at the Boulder Fringe Festival last month.  This is “Big Dog,” which, if you recall, is song #29 in our countdown of the year’s best 52 songs  (All of a sudden, I feel like Kasey Kasem!).  Anyway, we took that song and turned it into our 1980s themed song for the show, so any resemblances to Devo, living or dead, are purely on purpose.  Actually, it sounds more like a Kraftwerk song, but it looks like a Devo song.  And yes, we are wearing bathrobes and showing our Big Dogs to the audience.  See what you miss when you skip an MCQ show?  Enjoy.  Next week, you’ll learn how to properly use Nutella.

Lyrics:

When it’s Friday and you’re lonely and confused
You’re walking the city streets bemused
All you’re wearing is a trench coat London Fog
What you gonna do? You’re gonna show ‘em the Big Dog

When it’s Saturday night and it’s very late
You walking through the mall looking for a date
All you’re wearing is a trench coat London Fog
What you gonna do? You’re gonna show ‘em the Big Dog

Woof woof, woof woof

Keep the Big Dog inside until you see a pretty girl
Then it’s the Big Dog that you should unfurl
I got a feeling she’ll take the Big Dog for a stroll
As long as she doesn’t call animal control

When you’re out with a girl, somebody you just met
You think she might be looking for something to pet
All you’re wearing is a trench coat London Fog
What you gonna do? You’re gonna show her the Big Dog

When you’re at your job and your boss is being a dick
He’s hanging with the guy he promoted over you, he made the wrong pick
All you’re wearing is a trench coat London Fog
What you gonna do? You’re gonna show ‘em the Big Dog

Keep the Dog inside until you see a pretty girl
Then it’s the Big Dog that you should unfurl
I got a feeling she’ll take the Big Dog for a stroll
As long as she doesn’t call animal control

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Words and music:  Jeff C.

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Jeff: Here’s another video from the MCQ Boulder Fringe Festival; it’s Floyd’s song, and we’ve played it several times, but usually with instruments.  For this show, however, we decided to try it acapella.  I guess I should explain something:  Our shtick for this show was that we are the “Unluckiest Band In The World,” and that every song we put out was immediately eclipsed by a better, more well known song by some other artist.  And so we arranged our songs in a chronological order (and changed some of them to fit) so that MCQ played a song from the 1950s, a couple from the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and our last song was a techno jam from the early 21st century.  So in last week’s video for “Pirate,” we were dressed like Simon and Garfunkel because that was our 1960s folksy song.  This video, as you’ll see, has us as a boy band, which is why we did it acapella.  Think ‘NSync meets Backstreet Boys.  MCQ Style.  If there is such a thing.  Enjoy.

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Words and Music:  Floyd J.

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Jeff: As many of you know, I’m trying to sell a duplex I designed and built here in Denver, Colorado….yeah, looks like I picked a good time to become a property developer.  Anyhoo, in an effort to drum up interest of any kind, I’ve taken to social media marketing(among other things)  for the building, and, along with some friends, have been writing jokes and song parodies for its Facebook page and twitter accounts.  Which seems to attract a little bit of attention and is quite fun to do.  Up to this point it’s only been words, but last night I sat down and recorded some lyrics (by my friend Anthony) to Bon Jovi’s “Dead Or Alive,” and here they are!  Enjoy.  And if you have any friends looking for a great place to buy, please send them to:

http://elevation33.com

http://tiny.cc/e33 (facebook)

http://twitter.com/elevation33

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Lyrics:

It’s such a shame
Only the faces change
Every day
It seems I’m wastin’ away

I’m the place
Where the prices are so low
It’s just not right
That I’m not your home

I’m a duplex
With an elevator inside
I want you
To get out and buy
Want you
To get out and buy

Sometimes I think
There might be better days
If this unit next to me
We could both go our own ways

But ya know I’d have to say
As my fellow duplex he
Is not such a bad guy
And we’re both just oh so sexy

We’re a duplex
In the middle of LoHi
I want you (waaaant you)
To get out and buy
Want you (WAAAAAANT YOU-OU-OU)
To get out and buy

Oh, gotta buy…

Oooooh, I’m a duplex
C’mon in and don’t be shy
You want me (waaant meeee)
So get out and buy

And you’ll walk these streets
But you won’t have far to go
Everything you need
Is within a good stone’s throw

You’ll walk everywhere (ohhh yeah)
Cuz it’s all right here
Restaurants, shops, and bars
So go have a beer

I’m a duplex
My doors are open wide
I need you (neeeeed you)
To get out and buy

I’m a duplex
There’s brochures right inside
I want you (waaant you)
To get out and buy

You won’t cry (you won’t cry)
If you get out and buy
Get out and buy-uy-uy
Get out and buy
Get out and buy-uy-uy
Get out and buy-uy-uy-uy-uy
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Words:  Anthony Reynoso

Music:  Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora

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Jeff: Because Saturday is International Talk Like A Pirate Day, we (The Mathematically Challenged Quartet) give you our 1960s almost-mega-hit, “Talk Like A Pirate,” as performed at the 2009 Boulder Fringe Festival.  There are some dirty words in it, so keep the kids and co-workers away.  Enjoy.

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Words and Music:  MCQ

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Jeff: Well, here’s a newer version of last week’s song – as you can tell, when we get a song idea we like, we tend to work on it for a while.  And we like this one.  So enjoy.  Next week, Pirates!

Anthony: The lyrics weren’t actually written in commemoration of anyone’s birthday. It’s more about going through life and, essentially, reaping what you sow. Everyone’s familiar with the phrase “circle of life”; well, this more like the “circle of karma”. Groovy, man.

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Lyrics:

I was twenty
Life was good
And plenty
But I told one lie too many
She left me wondering when she’d
Come around

I was thirty
Love was fun
And dirty
But too many girls were “purty”
And too many of them heard me
Sneaking ‘round

There ain’t no bars
But I’m doing time
In solitary
For my crimes
Crimes of passion
Crimes of excess
All in fashion
Signs of success
Have given way to
Signs of my crimes

Now I’m forty
Life’s a very
Different story
Less of someone else and more me
Like a revolving door she’s
Finally come around

When I’m fifty life will be nifty.
I won’t be cheap I’ll be thrifty
When I’m dying
Who’ll be smiling?
Who’ll be crying?
Don’t wanna still be tryin’
Just wanna know that I have
Come around

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A Chacon/Reynoso Thing

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Jeff: Well, it’s Anthony’s birthday week (everybody wish him a happy 29th birthday!) and he wanted to work on this song, so here it is, in progress.  Basically, so far, I’ve outlined just the melody lines and music with my acoustic guitar and my voice, based on Anthony’s words.  Eventually, within the next couple of days, it’s going to turn into a Dwight Yoakum meet Lynyrd Skynyrd kinda thing.   So come back for that.  And enjoy this regularly scheduled program, already in progress.

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Lyrics:

I was twenty
Life was good
And plenty
But I told one lie too many
She left me wondering when she’d
Come around

I was thirty
Love was fun
And dirty
But too many girls were “purty”
And too many of them heard me
Sneaking ‘round

There ain’t no bars
But I’m doing time
In solitary
For my crimes
Crimes of passion
Crimes of excess
All in fashion
Signs of success
Have given way to
Signs of my crimes

Now I’m forty
Life’s a very
Different story
Less of someone else and more me
Like a revolving door she’s
Finally come around

When I’m fifty life will be nifty.
I won’t be cheap I’ll be thrifty
When I’m dying
Who’ll be smiling?
Who’ll be crying?
Don’t wanna still be tryin’
Just wanna know that I have
Come around

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A Chacon/Reynoso Thing

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Jeff: Well, MCQ played a great gig in Boulder two weeks ago (I’ll have some videos from that up soon) and I took last week off….because you got two songs the week before….and then I tuned my oldest guitar to an open ‘G’ tuning.  Yeah, I took a guitar that I bought for a girlfriend in 1988 (with strings nearly that old!) that I subsequently took back when she dumped me for her boss and I tuned it to an open ‘G’.  For a change, because most of my life I’ve played guitar in standard tuning.  And I think I’m gonna permanently leave it in open ‘G’, because it’s fun to experiment with that.

Once in ‘G’, I came up with this.  It’s an ambient sort of thing, positive in mood, hopeful in atmosphere.  Because, really, that’s how I roll.  Or, psychologically, that’s how I like to escape my demons.  By killing them with hope and positivity.  Enjoy.

Next week:  A very special tune for a very special birthday.  Look for it.

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Music:  Jeff C.

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Jeff: Well, it’s MCQ week around here….which means MCQ has our one gig of the year Thursday night!  Yeah, we don’t play much, but we’re always worth it when we do play.  Why?  Well, because we always write new songs for our gigs  (In fact, I think we’re playing all of 3 songs we’ve ever played before at this gig).   And we’re always silly.  And this year, we have CHOREOGRAPHY.  That’s right, when was the last time you saw three 30-40 year old men take on Frankie Valli-type choreography?  Never?  Neither have we.  But we’re gonna attempt it.  So please, if you have any opportunity to do so, come to the Laughing Goat Coffee House in Boulder, Colorado, Thursday night, August 13, at 8:30.  It’s only $5.00, and it’ll be totally worth it.  You’ll laugh your ass off, we’ll make asses of ourselves so you can do that, and it’ll be a good night.  And, if all goes well, MCQ MIGHT just be playing Red Rocks next summer.  That’s where we’re headed, folks.  So please come out and support the band and have a good time.  And, for you lushes out there – you KNOW who you are – the Laughing Goat now serves alcohol.

Anyway, since it’s MCQ week, I’m hard at work in the Vegas Bound studios, putting together the new songs, and this week’s HYHTO submission is a peak into a creative process.  You see, these two songs are brand new; so new, I don’t even know how they quite go, yet.  In fact, I just sat down at the piano today and figured out how “Big Dog” goes, and then, because I couldn’t remember the vocal line (I recorded it into my Blackberry as I was at the piano), I needed to record it on computer so I could listen to it a few times and be able to rehearse it with the band on Wednesday, when they come here for an all day rehearsal.  So I recorded it, mostly for my own good.  And “Creamy Filling” is a tune we’re going to do, where each guy writes his own bit, introducing himself.   So I needed to record that so my bandmates can hear how it goes and write some words accordingly.  So all you’ll hear here is about 1/3 of the whole song, but you’ll get the flavor of how it goes.  If you want to hear all of it, you’ll have to show up Thursday night.  Enjoy.

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Lyrics:

Creamy Filling:

Leo and I’m Jeff
I like welding and moldy cheese
British comedy and lampshades
Ticks and lice but definitely not fleas

If you tell me you like me
I’ll respond indifferently
But ignore that ‘cuz deep inside
I got something I don’t wanna hide

It’s my creamy filling baby
My yummy insides that
Make you feel good when you try
My warm delicious nougat

Big Dog:

When it’s Friday and you’re lonely and confused
You’re walking the city streets bemused
All you’re wearing is a trench coat London Fog
What you gonna do? You’re gonna show ‘em the Big Dog

When it’s Saturday night and it’s very late
You walking through the mall looking for a date
All you’re wearing is a trench coat London Fog
What you gonna do? You’re gonna show ‘em the Big Dog

Woof woof, woof woof

Keep the Dog inside until you see a pretty girl
Then it’s the Big Dog that you should unfurl
I got a feeling she’ll take the Big Dog for a stroll
As long as she doesn’t call animal control

When you’re out with a girl, somebody you just met
You think she might be looking for something to pet
All you’re wearing is a trench coat London Fog
What you gonna do? You’re gonna show her the Big Dog

When you’re at your job and your boss is being a dick
He’s hanging with the guy he promoted over you, he made the wrong pick
All you’re wearing is a trench coat London Fog
What you gonna do? You’re gonna show ‘em the Big Dog

Keep the Dog inside until you see a pretty girl
Then it’s the Big Dog that you should unfurl
I got a feeling she’ll take the Big Dog for a stroll
As long as she doesn’t call animal control

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Words and Music:  Jeff C.

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