Pop Will Mash Itself: Five Top Mashups

If you haven’t come across music mashups before, you could do worse than begin with DJ BC’s The Beastles – a mash up of the Beatles with the Beasties Boys. When I first heard it in 2005, I loved the sacriledge. I dug the fresh twist it gave. And I appreciated the editing artistry. Another early mash up album worth listening too (it’s still free online) is The Who Boys Tales of Townshend and Wilson – a mashup of the Beach Boys and The Who.  There is something of the gargoyle about music mashups – grotesque and ugly things that protect us from the tyranny of music company copyright straitjacketing.  Like anything else in life, getting the music mashup right is a bit of an art. Here’s five of the top music video mashups that I think make the grade on YouTube:

#5:Queen vs Outclast (Hey We Will Rock You)

We Will Rock You has been used and abused over and over, and this is just another reincarnation. But there is some neat production here.

#4: The Cure vs Justin Timberlake (Lullabye Love)

This is subtle. Just the Cure’s Lullabye melody under the Timberlake track.  But it brings a completely different element to the track.

#3 The Jackson Five vs Fat Boy Slim

This could arguably be called a remix. But it’s not.  Its a mash up of two tracks. The dance routine of the business man takes the story level of this mash up to the next level. It’s easy to see him dancing to the Jackson Five in his youth.

#2: Guns n Roses vs Pink (Sweet Child of Mine/Get this Party Started)

The production on this is awesome. I love the way the story starts as if Pink is at home dancing to Guns n Roses.  The narrative of the Pink video drives the mashup, but its the Sweet Child Riff that comes so nicely together with Pink’s vocal.  It puts a whole different spin on the Pink record.

#1: Nirvana vs Rick Astley (Never Gonna Give Your Teen Spirit Up)

This takes the cake for its sheer gargoyle nature.  If you don’t feel that there is just something WRONG with this mashup, then you’ve missed out on the last few decades of music history.  This is so audacious, so good and so wrong at the same time.  But both Kurt and Rick were teen spirit in their day.