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January 15, 2008

events

MW08: Randy Newman sure beats John Mayer as a closing act

Posted Jan. 15, ’08, 2:42 PM PT by Derik DeLong
Category | Apple » Events

To be honest, I still don’t quite know what to make or say about Randy Newman’s performance which marked the end of the keynote. He performed two songs with a bit of dialoguing in the middle. The latter song was the timeless “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” used in the Toy Story movies.

The former is a bit more controversial. It certainly played well to the keynote audience. And because I know you want to find out the joy or pain that it is for yourself, I’ve YouTubed it up (lyrics for those inclined to sing along).

Flamewar in the comments.


19 Comments

wesg Author Profile Page said:

Toy Story FTW.

January 15, 2008 2:46 PM
fletcher Author Profile Page said:

As bad as it is, it could be worse. That's a motto for out time if I ever heard one.

Short people got no reason to live!

January 15, 2008 2:55 PM
Anonymous said:

Randy Newman better than John Mayer? Ok, grandpa.

January 15, 2008 3:20 PM
Anonymous said:

Mayer >> Newman

January 15, 2008 3:25 PM
Derik DeLong Author Profile Page said:

If you enjoy John Mayer at all, I rest my case.

January 15, 2008 3:26 PM
Anonymous said:

Derik, c'mon, that's no premise upon which to rest your case. That most of the objections have come from anonymous posters could qualify, or perhaps your secret crush on John Mayer that compels you to slag him off at the first chance you get. ;) As an unapologetic fan of "Your body is a wonderland," I'd implore you to restate your case.

January 15, 2008 4:41 PM
Pat Nakajima said:

[I accidentally double commented]

Derik, c'mon, that's no premise upon which to rest your case. That most of the objections have come from anonymous posters could qualify, or perhaps your secret crush on John Mayer that compels you to slag him off at the first chance you get. ;) As an unapologetic fan of "Your body is a wonderland," I'd implore you to restate your case.

January 15, 2008 4:42 PM
Anonymous said:

Are you serious?

...actually does make sense reading it here. out of my bookmarks - off you go ..."booom"

January 15, 2008 4:51 PM
Hip-Hop fan said:

Don't forget Kanye West's suckilicious suckfest a couple of years back. Now, hip-hop is great stuff, but I can't remember anything worse at a Jobsfest than Kanye's performance that day. No ... Wait ... Maybe what's worse was all those pasty white guys trying to "raise the roof" during his execrable performance. An embarrassment all around.

January 16, 2008 12:22 AM
Anonymous said:

All of your stupid makes me sad...

That was one of, if not the, greatest musical act ever to perform at MacWorld.

His first song had approximately 250 times more meaning than any Mayer song ever will.

Plus, he called the audience smart. Who doesn't like being called smart.

January 16, 2008 5:04 AM
lar3ry said:

Randy Newman's "A Few Words in Defense of our Country" is a brilliant commentary by a great musician, but I can see people who disagree with him could take offense to it.

Then again, no matter WHO was brought in as entertainment, SOMEBODY would find some reason to object.

At least Randy has continuity with Jobs from the Pixar movies he's scored...

January 16, 2008 10:42 AM
Anonymous said:

Randy Newman's "A Few Words in Defense of our Country" was the poor choice at a keynote event. It sells well with the San Francisco liberal crowd (including the press) - but it’s an inappropriate forum to express political views when you are trying to sell “Air”. We stock holders and customers think Mr. Steve should stick to business only. There are several other venues for Mr. Newman to perform.

January 17, 2008 6:04 AM
jeff said:

When he first showed up I thought "wow he's not aging well and this is going to be a train wreck", but I was totally wrong. Other acts at Macworld have seemed forced, but this was a real treat. The guy is funny as hell and real talent. I loved every minute of it. Sticking to business only has never been an Apple thing. Get the stick out of your ass...

January 17, 2008 10:27 AM
David Valentine said:

Mayer was to demonstrate a product-Garage Band and was not a political statement. Who cares if one hit wonder Randy (I thought he was dead) Newman spews his lefty venom? I don't unless it's at a Apple Keynote address. The liberals can rant all they want at the right time and place; hell, they have lost several elections doing this, keep it up!
I will never ever again lead my friends in hand to the Apple Store...NEVER!
What a stupid unforgivable moronic prank, maturity level of a 7th grader.
Apple, you lost a longtime friend!

January 17, 2008 12:38 PM
BillTheCat said:

Anonymous: good thing he performed "In Defense of Our Country" in front of a liberal San Francisco crowd then (it wasn't exactly a shareholder meeting) ;->

Seriously, who better than Apple to cap off a Steve-note with an act of political free speech? Regardless of the message. Of course I loved the message - I heard Mr Newman to say that even the worst people ever to fill the oval office are better than many of Europe's infamous leaders.

The brashness of that message just reinforces what a great country the US of A is [no offense to anyone else except those repressive communist and socialist regimes that imprison their own citizens for speaking out against their leaders and policies]

January 17, 2008 1:34 PM
bubbahotep Author Profile Page said:

Yeah, I've come to see the Keynotes as celebrations. I didn't like Newman's first song and I thought it brought the wow level down a lot...I don't think he was any more thrilled singing it than I was listening to it. Depressing, not a celebration.

January 17, 2008 3:31 PM
Chris Myers said:

I could care less who Apple hires to close the keynote out with song. Mayer, Newman, it doesn't matter.

However, any political message in a business environment is totally inappropriate.

Apple should know better.


January 18, 2008 9:00 AM
Dave-O said:

@David Valentine

Classic inferiority complex. Just text book.

January 18, 2008 3:12 PM
Don said:

Huh. I'm a pretty conservative Republican and I didn't take offense at Randy's "In Defense of Our Country" -- I actually thought it was pretty good, if maybe a little out of place.

What made me cringe, though, was his rambling between the two songs he performed. I kept wondering when someone was going to come on stage to escort him off.

January 25, 2008 8:57 AM

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