Video Coverage: Phillip Phillips’ Rendition of Beggin’ on American Idol!
May 16th, 2012What do you guys think of Phillip Phillips’ rendition of “Beggin’” on tonight’s American Idol?
Some trivia about “Beggn’”: The song, co-written by Bob Gaudio and The Angels’ Peggy Farina, peaked at #16 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1967 for The Four Seasons. Of course, that wasn’t the end of the road for this amazing song! In 2007, French disk jockey Pilooski re-edited and released his version of the Four Seasons’ song that reached #32 in the UK and #1 on the UK Dance Chart. Also in 2007, the Norwegian hip-hop group Madcon recorded and released a new rendition of the song that became very popular in Norway, reaching #1 on the charts and was a huge hit all over Europe! This song appeared in the live finale of season 3 of America’s Best Dance Crew in which finalists Beat Freaks and Quest Crew performed together. It was also used in the episode “Battle Scars” of season 6 of CSI: NY, in the “Meet the Top 20″ episode of So You Think You Can Dance, and it was featured in the Season 2 promo for AMC’s Mad Men! And, how many of you guys remember “Beggin’” in the Adidas commercial in 2008?!
Did we forget something? How ’bout one of the greatest moments on the stage in Act 2 of JERSEY BOYS–and the #14 track on the certified platinum JB OBCR! To quote Barry Belson, “I love this record!”
I’ve listened to this several times and I really am not fond of the arrangement. I prefer Madcon over this and prefer Frankie and/or the Jersey boys over Madcon.
Comment by Kay Fellows — May 17, 2012 @ 1:42 am
I agree with Kay. Can someone with a Twitter account please ask Steve Tyler to acknowledge Bob Gaudio and or FV4S on tonight’s show?
Comment by George O'Brien — May 17, 2012 @ 10:29 am
“Beggin’”, the Madcon version, was also sampled on a piece on The Tonight Show recently.
Francis Stephen Castelluccio and Steven Victor Tallarico, their very different images, singing styles and fan bases aside, share some interesting coincidences, George. Both have used the stage name “Tyler”. They also recorded two very different songs, both named “Rag Doll”. And then there’s the Stephen/Steven coincidence, which just now caught my attention. Here’s the link to a youtube video of “If You Care”, by FRANKIE TYLER(aka Frankie Valli), the “other” Tyler.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sEzrMYFAIA
Comment by Ted Hammond — May 17, 2012 @ 12:46 pm
Ted-
Those are interesting coincidences I never thought of.
As to American idol, thankfully, Jimmy Iovine made up for Tyler’s dis by properly crediting the song to the Four Seasons on last night’s show.
Comment by George O'Brien — May 18, 2012 @ 9:50 am
American Idol seems to “idolize” oddly different arrangements of songs at the expense of the original. I strongly agree with both Kay and George about the arrangement, especially at the beginning of the song. Did Steve Tyler credit Madcon for the song like the clueless commenters on YouTube? Or just ignore it?
Steve Tyler seems to be hiding from his father’s Classical Music legacy, and perhaps the legacy of more mellow and commercially appealing Italian American pop groups, from the Four Seasons to the (Young) Rascals to the Buckinghams.
Comment by Ted Hammond — May 18, 2012 @ 5:49 pm
Steven Tyler attributed the song to Madcon.
Comment by George O'Brien — May 18, 2012 @ 8:13 pm
I don’t watch American Idol, but I’m happy that someone got the credit right for Beggin’. I did sort of watch the Voice this season but I really don’t like the put downs and nastiness of AI. Same with the little bit I watched of the X-Factor. I quickly changed channels.
Comment by Kay Fellows — May 19, 2012 @ 12:08 am