Last month we looked at Michael McDonald’s surprising pop culture ubiquity. Since his tour partners Steely Dan got so much mileage out of that letter to Luke Wilson, the blue-eyed soulman’s found his own Hollywood beef.
In The 40 Year Old Virgin, Paul Rudd’s character is driven nuts by his electronics store’s endless loop of McDonald’s “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.” Last week at his Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino concert in Florida, McDonald dedicated the song to Paul Rudd!
Don’t you love this nonsense of Yacht Rockers and Hollywood stars sending messages to each other? I’m still waiting for Christopher Cross to publicly scold Firecrotch for excessive partying.
As for Rudd, he recently told The AV Club just how hip his music taste is. The actor put his iPod on shuffle (no cheating!) and revealed the contents. “These are all so hip that it sounds like I am skipping some, but I’m really not,” says Rudd. “I promise you.”
“So You’ll Aim Toward The Sky,” Grandaddy
Paul Rudd: I don’t know. You know, I like that record a lot. I just skipped to the next one.
“Camera,” R.E.M.
PR: This is off of Reckoning, which I think is a great record, and a very important record in my development. I would say that Reckoning was the first record that came out that started getting me off of synth-pop and into jangly guitars? which is an important move that everyone has to make.
“I’ve Got New York,” The 6ths
PR: This is one of Stephin Merritt’s offshoot bands?they have two records? Maybe they have three, I don’t know. But I love what they do. The first record that The 6ths made was called [hilariously overpronouncing the "s"] Wasps’ Nests, and the second one is called Hyacinths And Thistles. All those “ths.”
“Norwegian Wood,” The Beatles
PR: I’m glad that some good shit is coming up and it makes me sound cool. [Laughs.] I swear to God I haven’t skipped.
“I Will Bury You In Time,” Jeff Mangum
PR: Live At Jittery Joe’s. Their live record. They are a great band.
“In A Little While,” U2
PR: I think they’re a great band. I always really liked them a lot. I was never like, “Oh my God!” but I was really into Unforgettable Fire and Joshua Tree. I would say that was probably the height of my U2 liking?and actually, Achtung Baby was really brilliant.
“World Where You Live,” Crowded House
PR: Neil Finn is amazing. Great underrated band.
“I Turn Around,” Elvis Costello
PR: These are all so hip that it sounds like I am skipping some, but I’m really not. I promise you.
More here. Paul Rudd = so more scene.
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I dunno, he loses points for the post-Achtung U2 inclusion.
I thought it was “Yammo be there” that drives Paul Rudd crazy in 40 year old virgin. (and yes, I hang on every word Paul Rudd says…. what of it?)
I actually like post-Achtung U2.
Well, Zooropa was pretty good, I’ll give you that.
you know how i know you’re gay? because you listen to post-achtung u2
This ipod shuffle interview style seems sort of outdated. There was a time when a personal record collection might actually reveal something about someone, but on ipods there isn’t really a personal connection to all of the music. There’s no level of commitment to the various songs a person downloads off of Limewire, so why should it tell us anything about them, other than that they appreciate pop music?
Rudd is one hot tamale.
Michael McDonald sounds like a gorilla that can’t stop coughing.
I don’t know if “Yah Mo B There” was in the movie, but “Ain’t No Mountain” definitely was.
I have loved Paul Rudd since he was in “Clueless.” He’s tasty looking.
the pre-achtung vs post-achtung debate is a never-ending one that only ends in tears and/or bruises.
“if i hear yah mo b there one more time i’m going to yah mo burn this store to the ground.”
quote:”There was a time when a personal record collection might actually reveal something about someone, but on ipods there isn’t really a personal connection to all of the music. There’s no level of commitment to the various songs a person downloads off of Limewire, so why should it tell us anything about them, other than that they appreciate pop music?”
Well, that might be true for you (and, judging by the prevalence of one-hit-wonder/15-minutes-of-fame crap on here–Arctic Monkeys, anyone?–many out there in blogland) but I can tell you that pretty much everything on my iPod has resonance to me. I’m really not in the habit of wasting time listening to hipster crap just because everyone else is listening to it. Just a caution – don’t tar everyone with the same brush.
My admiration of Paul rudd just doubled thanks to that Crowded House mention. What a great song.