#operation timebox

So, I launched Operation: Timebox two weeks ago for the purpose of having Hee Jun sing the Timebox version of the Four Seasons classic Beggin' (recently covered by Macdon).  You can imagine my mixed emotions when bromance brother Phillip Phillips had the song selected for him by Steven Tyler.  Still would have been a better if Hee Jun had done it.  But it begs (sorry) the question, does this count as swaggerjacking?  Or does Steven Tyler read my blog?  Or am I just incredibly prescient?  Very upset that Timebox was not mentioned as the most relevant of covers of the song.  They made it danceable.  Macdon did a delightful hip-hop take on it, coming from someone who doesn't like hip-hop.  But it still isn't as good as Timebox, who in 1967 sped up the Four Seasons version, added more strings, and took down Frankie Valli's falsetto with Mike Patto's croon to make a blue-eyed soul dance classic.

Evidence: http://inaheejunstateofmind.tumblr.com/post/22199266708/the-third-installment-of-operation-timebox

The essential mission of Operation: Timebox is as follows.

Above all else, Beggin’ must be done. http://prostopleer.com/#/tracks/287330Vuvs

But as for the others, here are some other choice selections from Funk & Whimsy.

My dream is to hear Hee Jun sing some Turkish psych-folk.  No, I’m not Turkish.  I’m black, of course.  But the Anatolian soul / gypsy / flamenco type of singing is what suits him best – soulful lyrics, heartwrenching authenticity, haunting melodies.  He just doesn’t realize it yet.  But with our help, he soon will understand.

The ideal songs for Hee Jun:

Kukredi Cimenler - by Edip Akbaryam (google it).  Similar structure as Beggin’ but better.  And only hipsters and aging Turkish hippies would know it.  That’s good company.

Anam Aglar Basucumda Oturur - Fikret Kizilok (google it).  It’s a classic piece and fairly traditional.  It would be great on an album, and it means My Mother Sits Beside Me.

Obviously, he’d want to do some r&b, and I’m fine with that, because he can turn straw into gold.  In the category of songs that I dislike but think he could rock are Remember the Time by Michael Jackson, that 90s song that goes “And if I ever fall in love again, I will be sure that the lady is a friend,” and maybe Somewhere Out There from An American Tail.

And anything puro flamenco.  But that won’t fly on the tour.  But an album?  Yes.  I’d suggest Terremoto de Jerez or Tio Gregorio el Borrico.  Maybe a buleria or siguiriya.

Also, please do Poison.  Bel.  Biv.  Devoe.

...In which all is revealed.

Keeping in mind that I need to allow some room in here for his own preferences, I’d like to add one must have song to the tour lineup.  This is the song for which this operation was named. 

Beggin’. 

The Timebox version. 

You can hear it here: http://prostopleer.com/#/tracks/287330Vuvs

Picture Hee Jun milking the opening, luring us into thinking it’s another ballad.  Then a well-choreographed delivery of a danceable song.  Reaching out to the hands waving in an audience going crazy.  He dances in the break.  A hat toss. 

Even ripping off his clothes.  Funk & Whimsy wouldn’t complain.

Think about it.

Now wipe that smile off your face.

We've got work to do.

http://inaheejunstateofmind.tumblr.com/post/22111926992/part-two-operation-timebox

For those of you following along, Funk & Whimsy laid the foundation of its brilliant plan to get Hee Jun Han to sing the songs we want via Part One of Operation: Timebox.

We started off nice and slow.  A little Radiohead.  Because it's the next to last thing you'd expect him to sing, yet so obvious at the same time.  So the American Idol tour has him singing Like Spinning Plates or, if not, Street Spirit.

To be followed with

…Like Dylan in the Movies by Belle and Sebastian.  The lyrics might be tricky, but it’s a little more upbeat.  And again, Hee Jun Han sings much better than the actual recording.  Plus, I’d cry if he sang to me, “You’re worth the trouble and you’re worth the pain.  You’re worth the worry.  I would do the same if we all went back to another time, I would love you over.  I would love you over.  I would love youuuuuuuuuuuuu.”  Listen to it here: http://prostopleer.com/tracks/5349553htpy

But this is just filler for the coup de gras…

http://inaheejunstateofmind.tumblr.com/post/22199266708/the-third-installment-of-operation-timebox

Operation: Timebox

In which the full Funk & Whimsy transformation of Hee Jun Han takes place.

So I’ve been salivating over the following set list for Hee Jun on the Idol tour and/or his first album*. 

* I don’t want an album of covers, but songs like these would be great.  Maybe some funk jazz or just his awesome vocals over something you wouldn’t exactly expect.  Something like an album by Pulp, but with actual singing rather than talking.  Not that I don’t like Pulp.  But something Light in the Attic worthy.  ‘Cause those are the only albums I buy.

Operation: Timebox is the Funk & Whimsy campaign to get him to do these songs sometime in the next 365 days.  Because it would make us all happy.  As a people.  As a species.

With a name like Operation: Timebox, I cannot reveal the whole thing to you.  So I will do it in bite-sized pieces.  Here’s piece 1:

Hee Jun is sitting on a quiet stage wearing a suit with a bowtie.  This is his first solo on the tour.  He sits on a stool, reminiscent of All is Fair in Love, only with a less operatic looking tuxedo.  Then the crazy lions and firework display that he promised us in interviews takes over the stage.  It feels like Circus Circus, but he’s deadpan.

Then the music starts.

Like Spinning Plates (or perhaps Street Spirit) by Radiohead

Listen here: http://prostopleer.com/tracks/4624768ig96

and

http://prostopleer.com/tracks/4624707Yss1

Why?  Because Thom Yorke cannot sing.  Nothing against him.  I like him, I like his lyrics, and I like Radiohead at times.  But the guy isn’t a good singer.  What he’s good at is delivering those held-out whole notes in a mournful way.  Hee Jun would shred it.  The piece would remind everyone of why his voice is so special.  Doing a version better than the reference version is a good way to go.  Plus, getting the big notes out of the way at the beginning of the performance would give him the flexibility to do more upbeat songs later in the show like…

http://inaheejunstateofmind.tumblr.com/post/22111926992/part-two-operation-timebox