As promised, here are the songs you requested in the post below for you to enjoy while you eat your dinner. I stopped after 10, with a few tweaks: as mentioned in the video, I couldn't find Tori Amos's "Hungarian Wedding Song" so sorry Jill! And I didn't know Paul Anka's version of "Eye of the Tiger" so I just went with the original, April. My Liberace flourishes on your song, Mary, are pretty pathetic. And hard as I tried, w, I just couldn't play "Baby Got Back" on the piano--it doesn't have a melody! As for the shmaltzy finale, my dad is obsessed with me and the song "Food Glorious Food." He thinks it should be my cell phone ring.
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Comments (44)
That was totally awesome and unique. You never cease to amaze me. Keep it up!
Posted by meredith | April 16, 2008 9:58 PM
This is absolutely delightful! Aside from the unfortunate flashbacks to an unfortunate high school production of Oliver(!). I think Mandy was my favorite.
Posted by Jaime | April 16, 2008 10:29 PM
This is possibly the coolest thing I have seen. Ever.
Regular series of this, please!?
Posted by Stephanie | April 16, 2008 10:48 PM
That was awesome in so many ways. Bravo!
Posted by Brian | April 16, 2008 10:50 PM
Adam, if there were a virtual tip jar, I would be so stuffing it right now with dollar bills! ;-)
Posted by Single Guy Chef | April 16, 2008 11:00 PM
I have to say this impresses me far more than any of your culinary accomplishments. I guess because I know how hard it is to sit down and play off the top of your head without any sheet music or chord symbols and I know many successful professional musicians who can't do what you just did (don't think I can say that about chefs though and your cooking). Are you sure you're in the right field?
Posted by Craig | April 16, 2008 11:01 PM
I especially enjoyed the grin at 2:05? 2:06? Gold! I went to a restaurant once where we actually had to sit at this weird bar built around the piano and the guy playing the piano would talk to us. I made a request for something classical and he said he only knew show tunes :( Still a nice guy though.
Posted by Angeline | April 16, 2008 11:23 PM
oh god, joanna newsom! i am in awe.
Posted by c | April 16, 2008 11:38 PM
adam!!!! i love you.
Posted by sabrina | April 16, 2008 11:43 PM
This is simply awesome!!! I'm eating this with my freshly baked cinnamon rolls :) Loooove the Karma Police.
Posted by Joy | April 17, 2008 1:48 AM
You are so good! This was terrific to watch.
Posted by Phoebe | April 17, 2008 2:06 AM
*squees*
Oh, Adam, you made my night after a long, hard day. That rendition of Bridges and Balloons was beautiful. Even Mandy was pretty, despite my instinctual aversion to Barry Manilow :p
Thank you so much - and I hope this becomes a regular thing.
Posted by meg | April 17, 2008 2:16 AM
Good god, man, you are talented! I am also on the "make it a regular thing" bandwagon.
Posted by Diane | April 17, 2008 4:40 AM
Love it! You're the coolest, thanks for the breakfast entertainment!
Posted by sarah | April 17, 2008 8:13 AM
I have to agree with Craig's comment above. I am a semi-professional musician, and being able to play off the top of my head like that has always been difficult for me. So, I am impressed with your musical talent (no worries about the botched gliss in "Misty"- heh)-- your segues into each song worked pretty well. Bravo to you for coming up with such a creative and interactive idea!
Posted by yoko | April 17, 2008 9:21 AM
If Herb, by some chance gets stuck back in the "instiutional", you could be an excellent substitute piano player for Kiki!
Posted by anne | April 17, 2008 9:44 AM
I am super impressed! I used to play piano as a child but never excelled to such a level! Great job...and I definitely wouldn't mind if you made this into a series :)
Posted by Hillary | April 17, 2008 10:59 AM
Thanks, Adam!
Keep up the good work!
Posted by Jenni | April 17, 2008 11:53 AM
Thanks, Adam!
What a treat!
Posted by Jenni | April 17, 2008 11:54 AM
Adam,
You are AMAZING! That was, by far, my most favourite thing I've seen on your website!
I'm curious about how long it takes you to learn those songs... and if it's all just learning by ear?
Posted by Sienka | April 17, 2008 12:22 PM
Amazingly impressed!
Hooray for the multi-dimensional!
Posted by Helen Jane | April 17, 2008 12:25 PM
Holy wow, that was awesome!
Posted by Jose | April 17, 2008 12:48 PM
That was *classic*. You come up with some of the *funniest* stuff for your blog... great job!
Posted by thebigfunk | April 17, 2008 1:33 PM
You just had to do it didn't you, Adam -- I've been a long time reader of your blog (like your work on SEats, too) but I've never felt compelled to comment -- but with this, I can no longer resist...
Amazing!
Posted by goober | April 17, 2008 2:04 PM
You are possibly the most awesome person alive. Just thought you should know. Still waiting for a meetup in Houston! I've even got a keyboard waiting when you arrive.
Posted by Amber | April 17, 2008 2:14 PM
Just when I thought it wasn't possible to heart you anymore...
Sometime you need a blog post about 10 things Adam CAN'T do, 'cause, dude, you amaze me. :)
Posted by Amity | April 17, 2008 3:09 PM
Pretty neat! Yeah, weekly would be nice! Very unique idea! You're right... what other blogger does that?! I sure couldn't, people would cringe at my clashing chords. :)
Posted by Kitchen Scrapbook | April 17, 2008 3:52 PM
Encore encore!!
Posted by zeep | April 17, 2008 5:01 PM
Wonderful! Sure put me in a good mood after a really crappy day!
Hope you can do it again sometime.
Posted by Amy | April 17, 2008 5:59 PM
Oh my! I'm a frequent visitor, rare poster, but I had to comment on this. As an Australian exchange student who has been studying in the US for almost a year now, I couldn't believe my ears (and eyes!) when Land Down Under came up. Add to that the fact that my clarinet choir played Misty for years (well, we weren't sitting there with our instruments for years. You know what I mean), and that I'm a piano player myself who hasn't touched any keys in a year, and this was just a great big whopping hit of nostalgia. Thank you!
Posted by Hannah | April 17, 2008 6:32 PM
You are so amazingly talented! That may just be the coolest thing I've seen in a while. You are a talented man!!! Maybe something Latin for the next one?
Posted by Sandicita | April 17, 2008 10:11 PM
For some reason, I was waiting on the Charlie Brown intro...I guess it was the keyboard. If you do this again, can that be your first new request? The Charlie Brown intro. (I don't know the name of the song) It always makes me think of Christmas.
Posted by Hungry_Teacher | April 17, 2008 10:53 PM
Adam:
PLEASE make this a weekly feature!!!! I almost teared up when you started in with "Mandy". I suppose partly because I didn't read the requests so I didn't know what was coming beforehand, but still, this was so much awesome!
Jules
House of Jules
Posted by HouseofJules | April 17, 2008 11:23 PM
Amazing! That was fun.
Posted by cpr | April 18, 2008 4:35 AM
Wow this is pretty awesome.
Posted by mike | April 18, 2008 9:07 AM
[enthusiastic applause]
Posted by LondonM | April 18, 2008 9:43 AM
That was f*cking AWESOME!!! I'm a sucker for medleys and I have to say that the segue from Sound and Vision into Eye of The Tiger was totally unexpected, silky smooth and laugh-out-loud hilarious!
You play the hell out of a piano! I took lessons forever but simply lacked the natural talent for it.
You are one talented dude!
Posted by missbhavens | April 19, 2008 3:15 AM
I'd like to put in a request for the official reintroduction of the Thursday Night Dinner Song. C'mon... we all like your music. Pretty pretty please?
Posted by Lauren | April 19, 2008 12:03 PM
My 6 month old twin nephews asked me to put in a request (although a bit untimely) for Donna Summer's She Works Hard For The Money. It helps them get the burps out after a big bottle. Think you could include that in your next medley?
Posted by Lauren | April 19, 2008 12:10 PM
Adam you are a genius! This was so much fun to watch!
Posted by Kristin | April 19, 2008 12:24 PM
That was insanely charming. Well done.
Posted by Katie | April 19, 2008 4:15 PM
ok, so you pretty much ROCK.
that was great!
Posted by chanelle | April 19, 2008 5:17 PM
awesome. and on the next one, can you move the camera so we can see your facial expressions? there are parts where it looks like you're totally about to bust up laughing.
Posted by sarah | April 20, 2008 4:31 PM
What a creative, fun thing to do! I'm a professional musician (classical though), and I really enjoyed your renditions of these. More Ben Folds next time!
Posted by sarah marie | April 22, 2008 5:37 PM