SALON

Tuesday, May 10, 2011 4:01 PM UTC

How Michael Bolton saved Lonely Island from itself

The singer's "SNL" collaboration marks a new high point for the comedy trio, and it's not so bad for him, either

By

Topics: Music, Going Viral, Johnny Depp, Saturday Night Live, Viral Video, Television,

How Michael Bolton saved Lonely Island from itselfA mystical quest to the Isle of Tortuga...

Lonely Island’s second album, “Turtleneck and Chain,” drops today, and I’m actually thinking about buying it. I’ve always been a fan of the “Saturday Night Live” trio, because who among us was able to watch “Jizz in My Pants” or “I’m on a Boat” without cracking up? But parody groups — whether done by Weird Al or sexy hipster Andy Samberg — are by definition a novelty act, and when Lonely Island’s “Incredibad” came out in 2009, I was content to just watch the videos the group had released.

This might change with “Turtleneck and Chain,” especially after this weekend’s mind-blowing performance with Michael Bolton for the “SNL” digital short “Jack Sparrow.” I’ve been singing this song nonstop for the past 48 hours straight. It’s some of the group’s best work, and I’m pretty sure it’s the best thing to happen to Michael Bolton’s name since “Office Space.” If you haven’t seen the video, you need to fix that immediately:

Note: This song is best watched on a continual loop after first viewing so that you’re able to get all the background interstitial dialogue. (Jorma, Andy and Aviva’s reactions are the best, even when they’re just shaking they’re head and going “What?” Although, again, Bolton wins with his pirate’s hat when he pops up singing, “Now back to the good part!”)

Despite pulling huge names like Beck, Snoop Dogg and Rihanna (“Shy Ronnie” runs a close second for best video these guys have come up with since their last album) for “Turtleneck,” there is a reason that “Jack Sparrow” premiered the weekend before the CD release. Bolton is far and away the best guest track in the lot, and he succeeds specifically because he’s not what Lonely Island fans think of as cool. Sure, Justin Timberlake singing “Dick in a Box” is funny, and Akon lending a verse to “I Just Had Sex” gives the song a much-needed shot in the arm, but “Jack Sparrow” works because it’s so far outside these guys’ comfort range. This really is a Michael Bolton song, carried entirely on the strength of his voice and not, like most of the other numbers on the album, by auto-tune. If the mashup of hip-hop and a Michael Bolton hook wasn’t funny enough by itself, the song’s numerous blockbuster references make it an instant classic.

And I’m not alone in feeling that way: The video has been viewed over 2.5 million times on YouTube since Saturday. Michael Bolton himself isn’t ruling out a tour with Samberg and company, telling Entertainment Weekly that he would gladly reprise the role of himself. One character Bolton doesn’t want to do again, though? Erin Brockovich in drag:

“I was terrified to look in the mirror. I tried to avoid it. I noticed when they were finishing me up as Erin that the crew started reacting in this really uncomfortable way. As I walked past, people were clearly uncomfortable. At one point I was breast-feeding the baby … With Erin, I just kind of wanted to get those clothes off and take a shower.”

Drew Grant is a staff writer for Salon. Follow her on Twitter at @videodrew. More Drew Grant.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 10 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

vote
Who is "Company Doe"? Corporations accused of wrongdoing win battle to keep identities secret
42 points43 points | 1 comment
vote
"Slave descendants seek equal rights from Cherokee Nation": long, detailed narrative of legal and historical complications in red-white-black relations
29 points30 points | 1 comment
vote
Who is "Company Doe"? Corporations accused of wrongdoing win battle to keep identities secret
5 points6 points | comment
vote
Steven Soderbergh's Liberace biopic shows the famously flamboyant entertainer as a person, not a stereotype
6 points7 points | comment
vote
Experts: Fox News spying scandal a game-changer - I think that crackdown is ideologically driven and I think it’s hard to come to a different conclusion given the vigor with which this justice department has gone after people. So I think it is about a method of control that is badly misplaced.
1 point2 points | 6 comments

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: So long, Sookie Stackhouse

Recommendations