When I first was brainstorming for a name for this blog, the most logical choice was a nickname that a college buddy gave me back in the day, Scooter McGavin. Now I have hated the nickname Scooter for the longest time but since this name was a take on a character from one of our favorite movies, Shooter McGavin from Happy Gilmore, I actually didn’t hate this moniker. Taking my love of the movie one step further, I added an obscure reference to make the blog’s name more unique with the 9th Green referring to where Shooter sent Happy on his first day on tour and ended with Happy getting soaked by the sprinklers.
Due to my unofficial 10 year waiting period for inductions into the Scooter Hall of Fame, Happy Gilmore hasn’t been eligible until now since the movie was released back in 1996, but if there were ever a first ballot inductee, it is this movie. (Granted 1996 was a great year for entertainment which I will go deeper into later this month including a Best of 1996 Lyrics Quiz on the 15th, so look out, and study up, for that). I still remember seeing the trailer to the movie for the first time with the classic line “The price is wrong, Bob” (of course they changed the line in the movie, which was much more funnier) followed by Happy punching the ancient Bob Barker. From that I knew I had to I would be in line I had to see the movie. The full page ad from the newspaper quickly made it up on my wall and was later replaced by the official movie poster that I got for Christmas that year.
And when I finally saw he movie, it didn’t disappoint. Adam Sandler
was at his best as the failed hockey player turned reluctant golfer. Julie Bowen, in her first prominent role before becoming Carol Vessey on the brilliant Ed and more recently guest shots on Lost as Jack's (possibly) ex-wife, was solid as the love interest that helps Happy compete. Then there is my namesake Shooter McGavin as portrayed by the always reliable Christopher McDonald who plays the corny joke spewing adversary of Happy perfectly. Even all the bit players were on point the most memorable being Donald, the dude who Shooter paid to annoy Happy that led to the Bob Barker beating. It was because of him that “jackass” became the most used term of endearment, so to speak, among my college buddies. On top of all that there were great cameos from Ben Stiller, Kevin Nealon, and Lee Travino.
Rarely do long stretches of time go by without me quoting the movie or emulating a scene. Since I’ve seen the movie, there hasn’t been a time when with a female when Endless Love comes on I haven’t turned to her and say, “Friends can hold hands while listening to Endless Love in the dark.” Sadly, though, I have yet to master the running drive. Maybe one day.
One of the coolest musical innovations in recent memory is the mash-up. For those that may not be familiar with the term, it is when you take the vocals from one song and place them over the instrumental from a different song. This technique was popularized last year when a DJ by the name of Danger Mouse took Jay-Z’s The Black Album and mashed it up with the Beatles White Album to create the Grey Album. Since then the art form has exploded with DJ getting more creative and sometimes mashing up five or more different song at the same time. So to honor the brilliance of this new art form I decided to list the best mash-up I have heard for the first time this past year. I tried to give credit to the creator of the mash-up, but due to some poor labeling, some have gotten lost and I even had to create a name for a few mash-ups that I discovered nameless. Please do not ask for me to send you any of these songs because for legal reasons I cannot confirm or deny that any of these songs actually exist not that I would illegally download copyrighted material even though that material has been altered from any version that could be bought. If you want the unaltered album version, I will list some of the songs featured in the mash-ups in parentheses.
1. Boulevard of Broken Songs - Dean Gray (Green Day - Boulevard of Broken Dream; Oasis – Wonderwall)
2. Spending One of These Nights with Kelly - Aggro1 (The Eagles – One of these Nights; Kelly Clarkson – Since U Been Gone)
3. You're The One I Want in the Next Episode - Artist Unknown (Songs from Grease; Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg – The Next Episode - 2001)
4. Behind These Immigrant Eyes - Aggro1 (Led Zeppelin – Immigrant Song; Kelly Clarkson – Behind These Hazel Eyes)
5. Karmastition - Artist Unknown (Alicia Keys – Karma; Stevie Wonder – Superstition)
6. It Takes a New Sensation - Big Ruckus (INXS – New Sensation; Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock – It Takes Two)
7. We Will Rock and Roll You - DJ Matt Hite (Joan Jett – I Love Rock and Roll; Queen – We Will Rock You; 50 Cent – In da Club)
8. Yoshimi Battles Snoop Dogg - DJ BC (Snoop Dogg – Song Unknown; The Flaming Lips – Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots)
9. Make Love in Ohio F*** War - Aggro1 (Public Enemy – Make Love F*** War; Crosby Stills Nash and Young – Ohio)
10. Somebody Rock Me - Party Ben (The Clash – Rock the Kasbah; The Killers – Somebody Told Me)
11. Rock wit Hurt - Aggro1 (Johnny Cash – Hurt; Ashanti – Rock wit You)
12. Behind This Summer Madness - Aggro1 (Kelly Clarkson – Behind These Hazel Eyes; Kool and the Gang – Summer Madness)
13. Drop When The World Ends Freak - Aggro1 (Snoop Dogg – Drop it Like it’s Hot; Dave Matthews Band – When the World Ends; Missy Elliott – Get Ur Freak On)
14. Feel Like Making La-Di-Da - FiDELSKi – (Bad Company – Feel Like Making Love; Slick Rick – La-Di-Da-Di)
15. Left You a Closing Lullaby - BigBadBaz (Avalanches – Song Unknown; Semisonic – Closing Time; Shawn Mullins – Lullaby)
16. Oblateeth - bass 211 (Obie Trice – Got Some Teeth; The Beatles - Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da)
17. Nothing In It's Right Place - DJ BC (The Roots – Don’t Say Nothin'; Radiohead – Song Unknown)
18. How We Do Cocaine - DJ Spenny (Eric Clapton – Cocaine; 50 Cent – How We Do)
19. Tipsy Bros - Artist Unknown (J-Kwon – Tispy; The Blues Brothers)
20. Thundertrain - DJ Over-EZ (AC/DC – Thunderstruck; Quad City DJ's – C’mon ‘N’ Ride It)
21. Somebody Told Me to Feel Good - Aggro1 (Gorillaz – Feel Good Inc.; The Killers – Somebody Told Me)
22. What I Got is Two Turntables – Artist Unknown (Beck – Where it’s At; Sublime – What I Got)
23. Dope Man Stew - Listen up! (N.W.A. – Dope Man; Green Day – Brain Stew)
24. Hey Ladies Night - DJ BC (Beastie Boys – Hey Ladies; Kool and the Gang – Ladies Night; Cyndi Lauper – Girls Just Want to Have Fun)
25. I Ain't Got Daughters - c.h.a.o.s productions – (Alicia Keys – If I Ain’t Got You; John Mayer – Daughters)
