What the Folk!

hello all you folkers, after many months of lurking on here i finally have a topic to post on, here goes...

so FOTC do many parody/homage type songs, was thinkin the other day that there might be parodies that have passed me by cos i'm not familiar with what they're parodying - same probably applies to other people too. so i got to writing up a list of Conchords songs and what they are (or might be) parodying/mocking/blatantly taking the piss out of. only had the albums to hand so i've used them for the list:


Foux Du Fafa - makes me think of 60s French cinema, but not sure if there's a specific parody goin on there.

Inner City Pressure - obvious Pet Shop Boys takeoff, specifically of "West End Girls". an easy one.

Hiphopapotamus vs. Rhymenoceros - generic bravado-led hip-hop.

Think About It - makes me think of early 70s conscious soul stuff, specifically Marvin Gaye around the "What's Goin On" era.

Ladies Of The World - nothing specific comes to mind, but Bret does a great 'euro-rap' bit in the middle that reminds me of Falco (of "Rock Me Amadeus" fame).

Mutha'uckers - generic gangsta hip-hop.

Prince Of Parties - generic psychedelic folk.

Leggy Blonde - ?

Robots - ?

Boom - generic Jamaican dancehall nonsense.

A Kiss Is Not A Contract - ?

The Most Beautiful Girl (In The Room) - not sure if it's intended as a parody, but definitely reminds me of Prince, title is v similar to "The Most Beautiful Girl In The World" too.

Business Time - ?

Bowie - think this one might be something to do with David Bowie. most of the song is very "Space Oddity"-esque, then there's the "Let's Dance" style bit at the end as well.


Hurt Feelings - an inversion of the generic bravado-led hip-hop.

Sugalumps - must surely be a piss take of Black Eyed Peas "My Humps". musically not terribly similar but it seems to be a male version (ie My Humps was a woman singing about how great her boobs are, this is a man singing about how great his balls are).

We're Both In Love With A Sexy Lady - think this is a takeoff of R Kelly's "Trapped In The Closet" R&B/opera thing. very similar kind of storytelling style, and i think i even remember a "stop the track!" bit in that as well (i only heard a few snippets when it came out a few years ago).

I Told You I Was Freaky - ?

Demon Woman - some kind of 70s rock, no idea if it's a specific band tho.

Rambling Through The Avenues Of Time - generic romantic folk.

Fashion Is Danger - 80s new romantics. reminds me a bit of Visage's "Fade To Grey" or Spandau Ballet or something.

Petrov, Yelyena And Me - Russian folk song.

Too Many Dicks (On The Dance Floor) - generic electro-house.

You Don't Have To Be A Prostitute - presumably this is a homage to "Roxanne" by The Police, musically fairly similar and that was about a prostitute too.

Friends - ?

Carol Brown - reminds me very much of Paul Simon's "50 Ways To Leave Your Lover", it's kind of an inversion of that song. even includes a line about "50 ways my lovers have left me".

Angels - ?


so anyone got any more?

First off, HI

Glad you decided to jump in! I look forward to getting to know you!

Business TIme is a Barry White parody...all the breathy oohs and ahhs

We're both in love with a sexy lady is R Kelly alright but is a direct parody of Same Girl
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HN1SVSH40b4

Sugalumps Ive heard (from a recent Jem interview?) is Kelis' Milkshake, Fergie, and maybe one other? I think he said it was about time men objectified themselves

Most Beautiful Girl....definetly Prince...even the way Jem sings is just sooo close to how Prince sings(the quick changes from high to low), if I close my eyes, I hear Prince sometimes, not Jem! And there IS that song "The most beautiful girl in the world"

There is a video on youtube that put some clips of the parody reference with FOTC clips...the A Kiss is not a contract video is a direct parody of a french pop song video I think...Let me see if I can find it...

Hi there, bitesize. Welcome to the forum! Feel free to introduce yourself in this part of the forum.

That's a great list you've got there. The videos which CJ may be referring to are the following:
Season 1 Songs & Parodies
Season 2 Songs & Parodies

I agree with pretty much all of the references stated in those video. Although, I would have put 'My Humps' by the Black Eyed Peas or 'Milkshake' by Kelis for Sugalumps since Jemaine even said so himself in an interview.

Thanks, Venus! Yis that what I was refering to!
I somehow always hear/think of Meatloaf in regards to love is your weapon of choice...maybe that's just me

I'm too lazy to go searching for what song parodies what other song/s, but I appreciate when others do and enjoy reading about it! So thanks, bitesize- and !



Thanks for those links, Venus. I've seen them and again- glad someone would take the time to do it!

He's the first person I thought of.

Welcome, bitesize! Thanks for this list. Fantastic!

The video clip to I Told You I Was Freaky is similar to High Voltage by Electric Six, which incidentally is a pretty freaky video clip in its own right.

Rambling through the Avenues of Time feels very Billy Joel, "Piano Man" to me.

Fashion is Danger is definitely influenced by "Fade to Grey", with bits of David Bowie's "Fame" and "Fashion" thrown into the mix.

A Kiss Is Not a Contract is a take-off of Serge Gainsbourg. Their musical knowledge is boundless.

The photocopying in Leggy Blonde reminds me of the video clip in "War Over Water", but that's shown in the above links provided by Venus.

I think someone once mentioned the similarities between Rambling Through the Avenues of Time and Peter Sarstedt's Where Do You Go To My Lovely. I think they nailed it.

hey, thanks everyone for the welcomes! nice friendly forum you got here...

so it seems i missed a few blatantly obvious ones, but i guess that was the purpose of the thread in the first place. can't believe i missed the "Business Time"/Barry White connection, i guess cos Jemaine doesn't do The Voice - but all the oohs + aw yeahs, plus the whole sexy-speak verse/singy chorus structure, definitely Barry White there.

hadn't heard that R Kelly/Usher tune before, but that's definitely where "Both In Love..." comes from - did i imagine the "stop the track!" bit in "Trapped In The Closet" then? did look it up on youtube but there's 22 parts to it so for my own sanity's sake i couldn't endure it all (hilarious as it is). i'm sure i've heard someone saying "stop the track!" like that somewhere before anyway...

those Youtube comparisons vids were ace, would have saved me a bit of thinking time if i'd seen them before (original list was just of the top of my head - maybe a small amount of research would have helped )! seem to tally mostly with what i got - don't necessarily agree with all of them mind, some seem to be more like the video is the parody rather than the song (eg, "Hurt Feelings" doesn't sound like Biz Markie at all, but the bit where they're at the harpsichord with the powdered wigs is obviously inspired by the bit in the "Just A Friend" vid). and as people have said, "Love Is A Weapon Of Choice" (why is that not on the new album??) sounds much more Meatloaf than Bonnie Tyler, but i guess the video does look a bit like "Total Eclipse..." i don't really think "Boom" is inspired by that Black Eyed Peas song either, rather they're both just doing a take on Jamaican dancehall. "Demon Woman" / "Devil Woman" - i really should have spotted that one...

also, on a very geeky tip, for "H vs R", they said "early 90s hip-hop" while playing Beastie Boys "Intergalactic" which came out in 1998 - slight fail!

VMH, that's great! they did nail it!

Perhaps a Bob Dylan-esque feel to "Sally I Love You"? Brett's voice in particular (expecially in the chorus - 1:08 in link below)... similar rhythm / melody to "Just Like A Woman"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9a0nREbuoJA

Sorry to be a pedant but I'd have to say I think most (but not all!) of these are not actually parodies but rather, homages. A parody is an imitation with deliberate exaggeration for comedic effect, and a homage is more an imitation as a publicly given mark of respect. Though Sugalumps, Same Girl & Hurt Feelings, I reckon, do fall squarely in the parody camp to my mind! LOVE 'em!

Yeah but saying they're a folk HOMAGE duo just doesn't have the same ring to it.