The Two Albums By Dan

Hi and welcome to another Simpsons on Sundays post. On the birthday front, Al Jean turned another year older on Tuesday. I tweeted him my usual happy birthday tweet and someone named Lisa liked it. Cool!

This week I am going to talk about getting both albums by the voice of Homer Simpson, Barney, Krusty and others. Yup, I had done a post on one of the 2 albums released by Dan Castellaneta, but I hadn’t actually told you how I would come to purchase both of them on iTunes 10 years ago. I had simply decided to do a search for Dan and both albums showed up and I snapped them up, as I had enough money in my iTunes account at the time. I had been putting money in my iTunes account through iTunes gift cards until March 2020 and I had decided to try and connect my debit card with my Apple ID. I would connect my card with both iCloud and iTunes in 2020, which paved the way for me to get more iCloud storage and allowed me to back up my phone, for future iOS updates. If I hadn’t any money in my iTunes account I simply wouldn’t have considered even doing the search on iTunes. In January 2014

During the beginning of January 2014, I had started buying albums and they were mostly jazz, but I would start with rock and comedy soon after and I think the first true rock album I purchased on iTunes was Darkest Days by Stabbing Westward and the first single I had purchased was Piss by Pantera.

Anyway, it was January 16 2014 when I would purchase both albums by Dan and according to my music library, it would be I Am Not Homer first, then Two Lips shortly after that. I had gone through the tracks on both albums so, I will refrain from repeating that here. However, I will tell you that I started using some songs as alarms to wake me up before long. I forget exactly how it had started, but I believe that I just decided to try and see what would happen, if I used a song from one of my purchased albums as an alarm. I knew I couldn’t use any of my music as a ringtone, but I didn’t care because I didn’t have enough that I wanted to even consider it. Besides, I didn’t have my CD collection on my phone yet. I still don’t have everything I had ever bought on CD, but I am certainly close. In the case of The Simpsons, it took the 2021 rerelease of Songs In The Key Of Springfield and Go Simpsonic With The Simpsons to match my CD purchases with digital purchases. Notice that I am not just downloading this stuff and I still believe in purchasing and not just streaming. I love the convenience of streaming, but it doesn’t make the artist all that much money. Anyway, I digress.

My reaction to both albums was that it was okay, in that it was a usual type of album by a celebrity and in this case, a voice actor trying to spread out and do something else relating to their craft. In Dan’s case, it is to make music, because he loves it. After all, Dan has written and has sung songs in character for The Simpsons as well as writing a few episodes so, it would only be a natural progression to decide to make an album or two. What I liked was hearing Dan’s wife for the first time and I like to put a voice to the name and the person so I know what they sound like. I believe that both Dan and his wife Deb Lacusta are probably very nice people and if they knew you, they would do just about anything for you if everyone benefitted from it. The first song I had heard was So Dumb (Homer’s Lament) back in August 2013, by accident when I had done a search for Dan Castellaneta and the song had come up. I listened to it and I liked it, but I didn’t even consider getting both albums on CD, as they were only available for special order. So, I waited and in January 2014, the time had come as I had started purchasing music on iTunes.

The two albums by Dan were only the first in many Simpsons related and Simpsons purchases I would make from 2014 to the present day and I think I had started purchasing the 4 Simpsons albums in early 2015 and when I found Simpsons Sing The Blues in 2019, I got it and the rest is history. By the way, the next Simpsons related album I would purchase in 2014 would be The Simpsons Movie: The Music and then, it would be The Simpsons Theme (From “the Simpsons Movie”) – Single by Green Day during the spring of 2014. I forget if I had used it as an alarm, but I may have for when I would go down to do laundry and set it for when the laundry room will open up in our building.

Anyway, that is another story of my journey through The Simpsons in 2014 and next week, I just might start on my first TV episodes I would purchase. I’m not sure yet, but I’ll think of something.

I Am Not Homer

Hi folks and welcome to another Simpsons Sunday. To start this off, Siegfried Fischbacher, The other half of the duo Siegfried & Roy, passed away on Wednesday, at the age of 81. Roy Horn had died last May of COVID-19 and I did a post back then, on the characters Gunter and Ernst, based on Siegfried & Roy, with both voice actors still alive and with both characters being attacked by one of their tigers. RIP. Now, on the birthday front, we have two of them this week. Michelle Obama turns 57 years old today, as well as Betty White, who is 99 years old. Before 2013, I had no idea who Betty White was and now I know, That she hadguest starred as her self in the season 11 episode Missionary: Impossible, while Michelle Obama was voiced by Angela Bassett in the season 21 episode Stealing First Base. By the way, that is the same episode with Kevin, who is blind like myself. I’ve gone through this before but, I might go through the episode again at some point as it would’ve aired 10 years ago in March.

This week, I thought I would take a look at the album I Am Not Homer, which is a comedy album by Dan Castellaneta & Deb Lacusta and it was released on April 23 2002 through Oglio Records, which I’m guessing is an independent label. According to Wikipedia, “The title of the album is a reference to Leonard Nimoy’s first autobiography, I Am Not Spock, and a majority of the sketches were material that the pair had used before in their careers.”
most importantly, we get to hear Dan’s real speaking voice, I’ll be at disguised in characters throughout the album. However, there is one song on the album which is sung by: Homer, Grandpa Simpson, Groundskeeperer Willy and Barney Gumble, with a few comments from Krusty the Clown in there for good measure. I wrote about this album in this blog back in 2016 and as a review, here is what I wrote back in October 2016 just after Dan’s 59th birthday.

Before getting into the other songs, a bit about that last song on the album. Shall we? The track is called So Dumb (Homer’s Lament) and the lyrics can be read on various Simpson fan websites such as WikiSimpsons or Simpsons Wiki. The rest of it is taken up with comedy sketches by him and his wife Deb Lacusta, as I previously mentioned. Some tracks I recommend checking out are:
AM Therapy
in which a talk radio host voiced by Deb Lacusta is conducting her show and one of the callers has a crush on her. She finds out that her ex husband who is a competing talk radio host encouraged him to call.
Rocks Off
Deb Lacusta interviews a rock star about his unusual use of animals in his music.
Dynamite Sails
In which a perspective sails person is taking a class and he turns out to be rude and over all negative about himself, among other not so positive traits.
Drive Time
A husband and wife team (Al and Arleen) are doing a regular morning talk show where they talk and talk. Al starts making jokes and it annoys Arleen to the point of her walking out of the studio. I missed you at the tracks because, they speak for themselves and one of which I had previously mentioned in the poast, talking about the episode Rosebud.
If you ask me, they really are good together and they are both funny on their own as well. From what I’ve read they had been doing the majority of the sketches for years on the radio in Chicago and in a comedy club in Santa Monica California. The other thing I like is that you get to hear Dan’s real speaking voice on some of the sketches. We all know him as the voice of: Homer, Krusty The Clown and other characters on The Simpsons, but we don’t get to hear his normal speaking voice that often. Unless, you go on Youtube and look for an interview with him. However, his real voice has come through at times on The Simpsons as minor nameless characters or, as himself. For example: Angry Dad and I think he’s a character in the episode Homer Simpson, This is Your Wife, which was written by Ricky Gervais, who also guest stars as Charli (the henpecked husband) who trades places with homer.

Anyway, it’s a great album and if you haven’t heard it yet, here are two links to it, depending on what you use to stream music these days. https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_m7H_yzH3Qii0gsw7JnlRZGtyrsoVcjoUE

By the way, this came up because it had appeared in my memories on Facebook yesterday, that I was listening to the album 7 years ago. I know I had purchased it on iTunes in January 2014 but, had forgotten when I had. Anyway, I have a back up copy of both solo albums on YouTube music, just in case. Anyway, if you haven’t heard the album yet, enjoy and let’s all stay safe and healthy.

Acting Writers

Hi folks and welcome to another Simpsons Sunday post. This week it is all about The Simpsons and the writers in the cast. Let’s be honest, the actors bring the characters to life withwhat they say and the voices they bring to a particular character. For example: if Harry Shearer didn’t voice Mr. Burns using Rex Harrison and Ronald Reagan as the influence, would we have Mr. Burns as we know him? Or, what if Hank Azaria hadn’t thought of guys he knew in college? Would we have Comic Book Guy or Snake?

Before the voices are heard, it is the writers who bring the characters to life, by giving the people who voice them, the lines to say. If we didn’t have such writers as: Al Jean, Mike Reiss, George Meyer, Sam Simon, Bill Oakley, Josh Weinstein, Conan O’Brien and the prolific John Swartzwelder, we wouldn’t have The Simpsons as we would come to love them today. I know I am missing a lot of names but there are so many past and present writers who have given us great episodes throughout the years.

There are also some in the cast, who have also written an episode or more. Dan Castellaneta and his wife Deb Lacusta have written A few episodes since season 11 such as: Days of Wine and D’oh’ses, Gump Roast, The Ziff Who Came to Dinner, Kiss Kiss Bang Bangalore, The Fight Before Christmas, A Midsummer’s Nice Dreams, “The Ten-Per-Cent Solution, Havana Wild Weekend and an episode during Season 30. In the case of Days of Wine and D’oh’ses, it had been kicking around since Season 4, but the episode Duffless was already focussing on Homer kicking the alcoholic habit. In the latter episode, it is Barney who kicks it and becomes addicted to another form of beverage.

Long time voice actor Harry Shearer also wrote an episode for Season 28 called Trust But Clarify, which focusses on Kent Brockman loosing his job, again and getting it back. What I like the most is that Otto actually talks to Bart again and calls him “Bart man” in the episode. Of course, Harry voices both Kent and Otto and I had no problem with the episode.

For Season 30, there is an episode written by Nancy Cartwright called Girls In The Band and if you’ve read her book My Life As A 10-Year-Old Boy, you know that she played trumpet when she was in school. So, will this episode revolve around Lisa and possibly Allison Taylor? Will it rekindle the rivalry which had developed in the episode Lisa’s Rival? Or, will Lisa not be allowed in the band and have to fight to get in? I think it will be interesting and it is said to be really funny.

Will Julie Kavner, Hank Azaria and Yeardley Smith contribute their own scripts in the future? I would be interested in what Yeardley would come up with for Lisa and her constant need to be noticed. After all, she is protective of her and I have a very soft spot for Lisa too, as I have said in past posts. After all, we both love music and in Lisa’s case, she is always having her passions crushed by either reality or uncaring people around her. I can relate to that, because I want to be musician and unfortunately things got in the way of my dream and killed it. So, I resorted to doing this and as I have said before, I most certainly owe Yeardley Smith a great deal of gratitude for inspiring me to do this. I may not be getting payed for blogging about a TV show I love but it does give me something to do, while others around me let their lives revolve around where they live and do nothing, to accomplish things in the world around them, bigger than themselves.

Dan Castellaneta, The Voice Actor And Musician

Hi friends and welcome to another Simpsons Sunday post. On the birthday front, the subject of this weeks post (Dan Castellaneta) turned another year older yesterday. This weeks post is mainly about Dan Castellaneta the musician. As well as his work voicing characters on The Simpsons and elsewhere, he has also found the time to release 2 solo albums. They both have memorable moments for me, for various reasons. But, the one that stands out for me is his second outing entitled I Am Not Homer, which ironically has a song sung by: Homer, Grandpa Simpson, Groundskeeperer Willy and Barney Gumble, with a few comments from Krusty the Clown in there for good measure. The track is called So Dumb (Homer’s Lament) and the lyrics can be read on various Simpson fan websites such as WikiSimpsons or Simpsons Wiki. The rest of it is taken up with comedy sketches by him and his wife Deb Lacusta. Some tracks I recommend checking out are:
AM Therapy
in which a talk radio host voiced by Deb Lacusta is conducting her show and one of the callers has a crush on her. She finds out that her ex husband who is a competing talk radio host encouraged him to call.
Rocks Off
Deb Lacusta interviews a rock star about his unusual use of animals in his music.
Dynamite Sails
In which a perspective sails person is taking a class and he turns out to be rude and over all negative about himself, among other not so positive traits.
Drive Time
A husband and wife team (Al and Arleen) are doing a regular morning talk show where they talk and talk. Al starts making jokes and it annoys Arleen to the point of her walking out of the studio.
If you ask me, they really are good together and they are both funny on their own as well. From what I’ve read they had been doing the majority of the sketches for years on the radio in Chicago and in a comedy club in Santa Monica California. The other thing I like is that you get to hear Dan’s real speaking voice on some of the sketches. We all know him as the voice of: Homer, Krusty The Clown and other characters on The Simpsons, but we don’t get to hear his normal speaking voice that often. Unless, you go on Youtube and look for an interview with him. However, his real voice has come through at times on The Simpsons as minor nameless characters. For example: in the episode New Kid On The Block Dan voices a nameless character saying “please, don’t take the steam tray! Sir!” Then we Cut to the scene where Bart is dancing with Laura powers. Then we see Homer eat as much as he can, before being removed  from The Frying Dutchman. Then of course he takes the restaurant to court and wins, miraculously.
Dan’s name was even mispronounced by Homer as Castenalleta at the end of the Season 9 episode Bart Star. From what he sounds like in interviews and from what Nancy Cartwright says about him in her book My Life As A 10-Year-Old Boy, he sounds like a very nice guy too.

His other album Two Lips is actually a rock album, in the style of The Beatles. He even does a pretty good Ringo Star on the song Feat On The Ground and it is mainly a pop album. If you have watched the Season 27 premier Every Mans Dream, you will hear a clip from a song called Through It All There Is Love, from this album, during the couch gag portion of the opening sequence. If you have the album, just listen to the first line of the first verse of the song and that is what we hear in the episode.

Dan has also sang on The Simpsons and he has written a few episodes with Deb Lacusta too. One of them is Gump Roast, which is actually a clip show and he sings a song called They’ll Never Stop The Simpsons. It is in the style of Billy Joel’s We Didn’t Start The Fire and appears on The Simpsons Testify album. The two of them also have written a future episode for Season 28 Havana Wild Weekend. I imagine it will live up to its name and will be one to watch from this season, even in its early stage. We will get to hear Deb Lacusta guest star in the episode and I will be listening for her voice.
I have said a few times that it is almost shocking to me how different Dan sounds in his normal speaking voice, from the majority of his characters. Homer is certainly no indication of what we hear when he talks normally. I am very thankful that we are able to enjoy him and the other cast members of The Simpsons and their many sounds they make, with their voices. The fact that Dan can also write and sing is a real plus. Not all of the cast members are great singers and Nancy Cartwright has admitted to that in her book, while talking about recording vocals for episodes which require singing. Finally, I hope that Dan can keep up the great work for a long time to come, whether it is on The Simpsons or elsewhere.
Well, that’s about it for this weeks Post. In the mean time, I recommend checking out my other blog, which has older posts relating to The Simpsons, along with a lot more interesting stuff about my favourite bands and other things. http://blindgordieblog.wordpress.com
Also, check out Chris Ladesma’s blog. He is the Music Editor for The Simpsons and has been since day 1.

http://simpsonsmusic500.wordpress.com/author/simpsonsmusic500/

Also, check out Yeardley Smith’s blog at http://gobbingoff.tumblr.com

Don’t forget about Marchez Vous, which is her women’s shoe designer company, which she started earlier in the decade. You can check out their website at

http://www.marchesvous.com

Additionally, for more news on The Simpsons, you can go to http://news.simpsonswiki.com/

You can also comment here or you can email me at blindgordie@gmail.com and I will reply as soon as I can to all messages I receive. If you follow me on Twitter or are my friend on Facebook you can comment directly to me that way too.

You can follow Simpsons Executive Producer Al Jean on Twitter and his Twitter handle is @AlJean.

He has ran the show since Season 13 and has ran it during Seasons 3 and 4.

Anyway, 

I’ll talk to you again next Sunday.