by Randy Rainbow (Compact Disc 394 Rai)
Randy Rainbow is a comedian and singer, who first popped up in the pop culture zeitgeist around 2010, doing comedy videos in which he intercuts video of himself with video of various celebrities and/or newsmakers, to make it appear as if they were having phone conversations. His videos got a lot of traction, and then his popularity exploded in 2016 when he turned to making political parody videos set to music. Again, his style was to intercut images of himself with the politicians he was mocking, to make it look like he was interviewing them, but now he created full-fledged musical numbers — liberally borrowing well-known Broadway hit songs but applying his own all-original thematic lyrics. Randy has dozens of these bitingly satirical videos out there, from 2016 to 2021.
In the Winter of 2020, Randy released his first album, this holiday-themed collection of seven songs — Hey Gurl, It’s Christmas! Of the seven, one is a political parody — “Trumps Favorite Things” (set to “My Favorite Things” from “The Sound of Music”). One is a completely original song — the title track. And the other five are well-known Christmas songs, with a Randy Rainbow twist. Randy has guest performers with him on several tracks — Kathy Griffin and Alan Cummings are psychoanalysts helping Randy as he deals with the repercussions of “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus”. Broadway superstar Norm Lewis duets with Randy on a mashup of “Merry Christmas Darling/What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?” And another Broadway diva, Lorna Luft shares the crooning duties on “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” with Randy.
Other than the political parody song, the two tracks that are most Randy-like (sassy, sarcastic, and flamboyant) are the opening number, “Hey Gurl, It’s Christmas”, where he collaborates with Broadway hitmaker Marc Shaiman, and the upbeat “Make Someone Happy” that wraps up the disc. It’s a short collection, and in true Randy Rainbow style, there is quite a bit of…colorful…language, so if you’re easily offended by casual swearing, this isn’t for you. But if you’ve enjoyed Randy’s online video parodies for the past 5+ years, you’ll love this holiday collection!
(If you enjoy this, Randy has a new album, A Little Brains, A Little Talent, which just came out in November 2021, not yet in the libraries’ collection. Or look for his parody videos online, especially on YouTube.)
( official Randy Rainbow web site )
Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service
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