EXTREME - Play With Me
Added 2025-04-13 15:00:16 +0000 UTCMozart was an amazing composer but a really funny and rude man. It was said that Mozart never really grew up and acted like a child even into his adult age.
The reason I bring this up is it seems so appropriate for EXTREME to use Mozart's "Rondo," alla Turka to introduce a song that seems like a playful song indeed. It's like it was supposed to happen this way.
The style of the guitar playing by Nuno seems to really encapsulates a classical style while bringing in the new age sound of the time. It's contrasting and interesting to listen to. I am dying to reach out to my Mozart history teacher and talk to him about this!
Comments
Aesthetically Extreme fitted into hair metal particularly in their early days, but musically it's less straightforward. Their primary combined influences were a mixture of Queen, Aerosmith and DLR-era Van Halen. Nuno also grew up listening to a bunch of the 70s jazz fusion guitarists like John McLaughlin from Mahavishnu Orchestra (who also played with Miles Davis in the late 60s/early 70s) and Al DiMeola from Return to Forever. The 'Pac-Man sound' might be sampled but I've a feeling it's a guitar overdub, need to listen to it a bunch more times to confirm the technique being utilised however. Here's a slightly more contemporary live performance of the song from 2009, complete with extended intro jam, with Nuno and the band in fine form (including latter day drummer Kevin Figueiredo): https://youtu.be/-WNbzufFkEM?si=DruaVNDs3IryWi6J Always down for music history lessons/lectures to improve my education; though I must admit every time you say Bach I want you to preface it with JS, cos too many non-classical musicians forget about the existence of JC, Friedemann and especially CPE Bach. As I'm sure you already know the family was pretty much a musical dynasty for quite some time. Been somewhat rusty in recent years with improving my classical music history knowledge; on the JS front specifically I've still got John Eliot Gardiner's biography on my shelf that I need to get round to reading.
Andrew Hellebrand
2025-04-14 02:02:35 +0000 UTCYES … Extreme would definitely be considered hair metal … it also falls under the genre of glam metal and funk metal. … it would not surprise me if that “Pac-Man sound” was actually from Pac-Man … if you remember I told you looking for deep meaning in any early Extreme songs (first 2 albums) was a fools errand. I also told you that early lyrics were pretty sophomoric … but they cleverly escaped that here. ALL the lyrics except the line “Do you wanna play with me” are childrens games and activities. Find the lyric video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=475g0fZNywU I think this would remind most of us of childhood. This song was used in the “mall court scene” … remember malls? … in the movie Bill and Ted’s excellent adventure. Even if you don’t see the movie (a ton of fun if you are in the mood to watch a stupid hilarious comedy) just search the cast! At the time it was considered a low budget effort and Keanu Reeves first big role. RIP George Carlin among others. As I am sure you are now able to surmise, THIS is the type of music Extreme and Nuno are known for. When we get to Mr. BIG (more hair metal) you will see the exact same pattern. The American music industry insisting a hard rock band make a sappy ballad. I think production costs in the Mtv era were high and every promotion was seen as a risk. While not all paid off unfortunately many great bands were killed off in the process sadly. In 1986 Peter Gabriel released the iconic Sledgehammer video and the race was on with bands and production companies all trying to outdo (and out spend) each other Anyway, if you do have the chance, watch the movie … if for nothing else to see how young everyone looks. Nuno was only 23 when this was released. Shout out to the Lollipop Kids for backing vocals. A lot has been written about him and there are reels and reels of interviews with him. He seems to be pretty open about anything you want to ask. If you want to see how the song is actually played I would recommend the cover by Nili Brosh, who is becoming a great and known guitarist in her own right and has covered a lot of Nuno and others: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGsEVSziI1o Be excellent to each other ~Ted … and party on dudes ~Bill
PANIC
2025-04-13 16:35:41 +0000 UTCMy first exposure to this song was an abbreviated version of it that was used in a montage for “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure”. It’s quite the scene in the mall that you should check out (the whole movie is “Most Excellent” but the scene is hilarious).
Bret Lowe
2025-04-13 15:49:14 +0000 UTC
