For no other reason than to amuse myself, I'm posting a track from those wholesome, clean cut, God-fearing bastions of civility, the Mentors.

Hear "Heterosexuals Have the Right to Rock" on YouTube.  In case you have a hard time detecting sarcasm, profanity and bad taste abound within.

AAAAAAAAAAGGGGHHHHHH MAKE IT STOOOOOOP!!!!!!

Watch a fanvid for "Popcorn" on YouTube.

Even though he's widely known for his comedic talents, too few people realize what a good musician Eric Idle is.

Hear "Money Song" on YouTube.

Watch the TV show sketch.

This is part of a week-long series on songs about money.

Well, whaddya know?  The money theme has given me an excuse to post yet another song from Avenue Q.

Forget this business about playing people's emotions to try to extract money from them.  You really wanna get people to pony up for a cause?  Threaten to shoot some puppets.

Hear "The Money Song" on YouTube.

This is part of a week-long series on songs about money.

This 1959 Barrett Strong hit has been covered a cubic crapload of times, most notably by the Beatles.  The Stones took a crack at it too.  So did the Doors.  And Zeppelin.  And Pearl Jam.  And... ah hell, I'm not going through the whole list.  The Wiki linky is right down there.

Being the late 70s/early 80s new wave wonk that I am, I was always most familiar with the Flying Lizards version.  Except, uh, I never really liked the Flying Lizards version.  So if I'm gonna post it at all, I gotta go with the original.

Hear "Money (That's What I Want)" on YouTube.

Wiki linky

This is part of a week-long series on songs about money.

If you haven't seen the rockumockery film This Is Spinal Tap, you really need to.

No, I mean it.  Go do it.  Now.

Seriously.  I don't care if you're at your job - fake an illness and leave.  I don't care if you're visiting grandparents - tie them to the couch and make them watch it with you.  I don't care if you're at the airport or in some coffee house - duh, you're on the Internet already, go download some illegal torrent and watch it from where you are.  You people live for that s**t.

Anyway, the band depicted in the film was apparently a Beatles clone group at some point, and recorded "Gimme Some Money" during that time.  So here it is.

Watch the "Gimme Some Money" movie segment on YouTube before it gets yanked.  Yes, that's Ed Begley Jr. in the band.

This is part of a week-long series on songs about money.

Much like how I don't need an excuse to post a Vandals song, it's not like I need a specific reason to post a Rush song.  But I'm doing it anyway.  Ultimately there's just one prevailing theme around here - "crap I dig."

Power Windows (1985) was the first new release of a Rush album I got to experience as a committed fan of the band, and I was in hog heaven.  Holy crap, Rush is actually getting radio airplay ("classic rock" radio didn't really exist then).  Holy crap, Rush is showing up in the bowels of the album and singles charts.  Holy crap, Rush is getting moderate MTV rotation.  Really, the "Big Money" video got some pretty significant airtime when it was first released.  Then when MTV did their year-end Top 100 countdown, I anxiously waited to see if it would show up on the list.  It did, at #60.  I couldn't believe it.  To see Rush achieve even a modicum of commercial success was a pretty big deal to me at the time.

I kinda miss the days when MTV mattered.

Watch the aforementioned video for "The Big Money" on YouTube.  Geddy and Alex kinda look like dorks in it.  They never were very good posers.

Watch a live performance.

This is part of a week-long series on songs about money.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm not trying anymore.  So, like what's your point?  Yes, this is the 8th Vandals song I've posted, which seems like a lot especially considering I've never done a weekly Vandals theme.  But that's just it, their stuff always seems appropriate when I do themes not directly related to music, be it animals, Christmas, or in this case, cashola.

The song's protagonist, a self-professed "broke-ass loser", finds $20 in his couch and promises to lavish his girlfriend as a result.  Yeah, I know, as a serious premise it doesn't make much sense.  But this kind of sarcastic humor is one reason I'm so fond of the band.  That, and the fact that they combine said humor with a tangible musicality, not to mention fantastic playing.

Someone on the Songfight forums once said "You don't have to play like f**king crap to be indie."  That guy was totally right.

Hear "Money's Not an Issue" on YouTube.

This is part of a week-long series on songs about money.