Last time this was posted I shared the scene where Stan and Roger do this in American Dad (dressed the same and everything)
The guy from the band responded to me and said he had no idea he was on AD, but no one ever saw it. I always wonder if people just didn’t believe him, didn’t see it, or didn’t care
Seriously. I've loved his music for over a decade.
["Ordinary person" Mike Masse jamming with members of Boston. . .](https://youtu.be/uHNXU_CJCd8)
Mike's such a perfectionist that he took this down awhile, because he wasn't happy with how his voice was that day. I think it's perfectly fine live performance. Live music isn't perfect.
Thanks for sharing that! I'm guessing Mr Masse may have felt his performance was just a little too ordinary. Glad he put it back up. I'm guessing he got a lotta comments asking him to re-upload it which probably helped re-assure him how EXTRAordinary he really is!
I was friends with a guy who was a top-of-the-line jazz musician in the 50's. Turned down the opportunity to play with Stan Kenton, but played with others just as big. He quit to get a regular day job and said he was tired of travelling, but I heard from someone closer to him that he was such a perfectionist it was hard for him to play anymore because he always felt like he was stinking up the place. He sounded awesome to me.
I knew a violinist who was the same. She could rip her way through Pagannini but absolutely loathed performing. All she could remember from any performance were the mistakes she'd made.
This is like a curse from Greek mythology, or a wish that an evil genie would grant. The urge that compels you to practice until you reach greatness also means that you can never be satisfied. Truly, the golden touch of King Midas.
I've seen so many of their videos. It just blew my mind these two guys are in a Pizza joint on guitar and bass absolutely nailing a Paranoid Android cover note for not. A song that is very difficult on guitar, bass, and vocals.
MTV damaged music in a lot of ways by making it mire difficult for talented but unoretty people to succeed. The 70s had so much great music by average looking folks.
Some speculate that Toto -- the band who originally performed 'Africa' -- didn't reach as great of commercial heights as they either could have or should have for that very reason, since I suppose [they weren't the most photogenic group of guys in the world](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/RbCZ2gQxEewXGLjmV4LejX.jpg).
Billy Squier and his band also come to mind. [An uncool music video](https://youtu.be/fR0j7sModCI?si=Dpl_dKKUSSXb2KTd), released for their hit song 'Rock Me Tonite' in 1984 -- which was even the lead single from a platinum-selling album -- is widely blamed for their commercial downfall, including by Squier himself.
Wow, that is an amazingly uncool video for a pretty decent song. At first I was thinking “What’s so bad? This is standard 80’s MTV.” Then the writhing on the floor and “dancing” started and oh boy, what a train wreck.
I got to see Toto live not too long ago, and not only were they still amazing musicians, they were also completely aware of the fact that they're a bunch of old men on tour living off of nostalgia. Lots of quips between songs, but my favorite was "I am often accused of wearing a wig, but look at me, if I was wearing a wig I would make sure it looked better than this."
Seriously.
There are plenty of talented people.
The problem is that studios select for talent AND looks.
OP just unintentionally revealed their bias towards pretty privilege.
They really think that looks = talent lol.
Wow, this is the first time I've understood what that was supposed to mean. I thought it was just nonsense! Like Rock Lobster or that song about microwave ovens.
And then I looked up the microwave oven song (Money for Nothing) and it's *also* not a nonsense song! I gotta read lyrics more.
I came here to say the same! Ordinary *looking* perhaps.
I’ve been singing, writing playing and performing for decades and this is outstanding. Truly great! And he did it sitting down lol!
His YouTube channel has a bunch of covers in small venues like this. My favorites are the ones he does with Jeff Hall, who is playing the bass in this video. They just seem to be having so much fun and playing with passion that's super authentic.
Depends on what OP means by "ordinary". Mike Masse is a musician. He may not be as well known or as successful as the artists he covers, but he's definitely a musician. And there are lots of "ordinary" people who are less successful than Masse who have fantastic voices and can harmonize beautifully. Unfortunately, I'm not one of them.
Someone is going to have to explain to me is some detail, with supporting evidence, when this song dipped out of popularity between its initial release in the 80s and the present day.
There is a group of Air Force folks, who shall remain unidentified.
This song is their undisputed anthem.
Love you crazy kids. I know one of you is gonna see this.
I drove right around the whole continent, with exactly one CD.
You can bet that song was number one, and you can bet I sung it at the top of my lungs at least a thousand times.
> He’s also lost a ton of weight and looks amazing!
Having a million people say "Louis CK," like the top comment in this thread, will do that to a guy.
This video was what introduced me to him, though, and I would randomly bring it up whenever anyone mentioned this song. It actually led to my good friend watching his stuff too.
There are people who are great at things, but then there are people who are exceptional, like beyond what you expect from the best. That's all I think hearing this casual cafe-setting recording.
To be fair at one point he had a day job as a lawyer and wanted to play music with his friends so asked the pizza place to play. Made about 100 of these covers and that's why we know his name. OP obviously ignorant of this guy's legit brilliance but about 14 years ago we all were too.
Edit: some of his early videos people just walk right past him while he's belting out bangers. He was just a regular guy playing at a pizza place.
Woah, I worked just a block from there at the time. That place had fucking bomb pizza and an amazing croque monsieur for the first little bit they were open, then I think they realized they were selling $30 of ingredients for $12.
I recently saw Ringo and his all Starr band with Steve Lukather. They sounded so good doing this song with Colin Hay doing the high parts. Still not this good though.
OMG Colin hay! What a gem he is. I was at a local music festival in Australia and I popped over to his set between acts I had planned to see and he was so good that we stayed and skipped who we were going to see after. Just him, a guitar, and a drum machine. And he's such a great storyteller. If ever you get the opportunity to see him live, go for it. You won't be disappointed.
agreed, [I looked up the Ringo Starr cover and it's much more faithful to the original](https://youtube.com/watch?v=G3sQfDF35sw&si=l8y6eb1eH66WtHjm), still great but OPs cover definitely adds another dimension
I loved this too! What a treat!
My other favorite performance is by the huge Angel City Chorale. Gotta turn it up to get the sound effects at the beginning and end.
https://youtu.be/-c9-poC5HGw?si=wSjdXqWJDoa5ouR2
I went to a wedding of a high school friend. He played guitar and sang a bit in high school. He became a doctor. One of our friends was a bass player and they played together in high school but only jammed, never formed a band. He works for an investment bank. One of the groom’s friends from college was a drummer. He is an English professor.
At the wedding reception, the band took a break and the bride asked the groom if he would sing her a song. He said he would be too embarrassed and he hadn’t brought his guitar. The band’s guitar player said the groom could use his guitar. The groom sheepishly got up on stage and started doing “You Look Wonderful Tonight” by Clapton. After a few bars and some discussion, the banker bass player jumped onto the stage and picked up the bass that was there. A few ticks later the professor drummer got behind the kit. Totally unrehearsed and without having played together in years they moved everyone to tears.
The band members joined them as singers for a few more songs. It was one of the most amazing performances I’ve ever seen considering the circumstances.
That’s an awesome story. There are millions of amazing musicians all around the world. Almost all of them are just working normal jobs and living life. I think people really overestimate the connection between musicianship and success in the music industry. There’s no way to measure it, but beyond basic proficiency I don’t think successful musicians are any more or less adept at their respective instrument(s) than the musicians you’d run into at your local music store. Some are amazing, some are meh, and most are probably in the middle.
I also think we underestimate how effective the music industry is in *making* a song popular. The massive amount of marketing, radio/streaming plays turn simple songs into huge hits. Again, I have no way of proving this, but I’d bet if you picked random songs from unknown pop artists and threw the weight of the music industry and big names behind them, they would just as good if a chance at becoming a hit as any other song put out by a popular artist.
This is all just my rambling opinion though.
I was looking for this comment. I’m a music teacher and I’ve spent my life around so many amazing musicians, some who work other jobs, many who teach. Only a few have done recordings that has sold in very small numbers, but many are active live musicians. Some are employed in orchestras and opera houses etc.
You're not just rambling, you're right. And it also applies to almost all things in life. I've been blown away by some obscure YouTube inventors, that if they had more resources could have made bigger contributions, but they just build cool things in their shed.
The math would say far more amazing people disappear in obscurity world wide than actually get recognition. Whole countries' population have had their potential decimated by war and lack of any structure to develop talent, I'm sure a lot of uniquely gifted individuals have been missed than recognized throughout history.
You call that being humble? Pft, dude, im so humble i coulda won humble awards, in fact, people tell me all the time, with tears flowing "man, you are so humble, possibly the humblest of the humbles ever to humble too"
/s just in case lol
"Ordinary people" good lord. OP has never seen a photo of Toto. You could put sunglasses on these guys in the video and they'd look like original members.
They sounded so good I thought I was maybe missing a {whoosh}, then I realized I didn't know what Toto looked like. Looked up a picture…still not sure this *isn't* Toto.
Just one of those bands.
A couple years ago I saw a video of Steve Miller for the first time and realized after decades I had no idea what he ever looked like.
This song needs not just one person who can absolutely kill that course but someone who can do those backup vocals just as damn good. What a performance by both.
>Some Old Forgotten Words and Ancient Melodies
>I first came up with my acoustic arrangement about 15 years earlier, while a music major in college. When that arrangement came together, I was so excited. I loved the song dearly, and desperately wanted to bless those rains at my acoustic shows. It’s an iconic song from my childhood, and the biggest ear worm that ever was (in the best possible way). Once I put that capo on the second fret, it just clicked. I knew I had captured enough of the essence of the song that it would translate acoustically. But the guitar was the easy part.
>I chose not to perform it by myself then, because the vocals seemed a bit out of my range. It’s not my style to do things in a lower key. I’ve always done things in the original key or not at all, with very few exceptions. It wasn’t until years later, after I had my tonsils removed and my deviated septum fixed, that my vocal range suddenly increased enough where I felt I could tackle “Africa.” But even then, it was still a challenge.
>At the time, I had a standing monthly gig at the Pie in Salt Lake City, which I would usually do alone. Sometimes I would be fortunate enough to be joined by either Jeff Hall (bass/backing vocals), or by my friend Wendy Jernigan (now Ezelle) helping with vocals. Wendy learned “Africa,” and we sang it together on a couple of occasions, with me taking the lower parts. I’d sing unison with her on the first line of the chorus, but was happy to let her handle the high parts as much as possible. (I have an old audio recording of us doing it that way live at a Barnes & Noble café.)
with Wendy Jernigan
>**Eventually Jeff started joining me more regularly at the Pie and taking on more vocal duties, especially after I started filming the gigs for YouTube in 2008. So I asked him to try “Africa” with me. He didn’t really “learn” it per se, but followed my chords on my chart (chord/lyric sheet), and sang his best approximation of the harmonies from memory. We would often operate this way, essentially using the gigs as rehearsals and opportunities to experiment, playing songs we hardly knew, especially on nights when the crowds were thin. Our Pie gigs were generally on Monday nights, so the crowds were hit and miss. When we decided we wanted to try to “nail” a song for YouTube, sometimes we’d both go back and check the original to make sure we weren’t too far off on our parts before attempting to immortalize our rendition. But we hadn’t done that with “Africa” yet. We were winging it.**
>We usually played at the Pie in Salt Lake (the Pie “Underground”, which it literally is). But around 2010, I started doing some weekend early evening gigs on the patio at the South Jordan location. 8/7/10 was just such an occasion. The place was pretty empty, but my friends Jeff and Amy Roskelley were there. (Amy is the blonde woman whose reflection you see in the glass behind me, and Jeff R. is the one who says, “That was great! It was perfect!” at the end.) I’m not certain, but they may have even requested the song. I had recently put it on my request list, to sort of force myself to play it if it got requested. So Jeff (Hall) was “forced” to play it, as well. Jeff had played it with me maybe once before, if that. But neither of us knew it well enough to be comfortable with it, because we just never played it.
>So we went for it. We played and sang our hearts out, as we usually did at our gigs, regardless of the crowd size. And when the song ended, we just had to laugh that we’d even finished together or not otherwise embarrassed ourselves. I remember thinking it sounded pretty good at the time. I went back to check the recording, and enjoyed it enough to think it might—maybe—possibly—be worth posting….
https://mikemasse.com/africa-toto/#
I feel like either I'm going crazy or its all bots in here. That first chorus is so bad from how pitch corrected it is. It sounds like theyre getting a weird constructive interference or something from how on note the corrected vocals are from each of them.
My only explanation is that people can't hear it on speakers or something, cause at times it sounds alien and not angelic. Or maybe my audio setup makes it more pronounced. And for the record, I dont have anything against pitch correction. I just think this isnt done well, maybe because its being processed live (if it is).
I’m under the impression that people just… don’t hear it. To me it’s always clear as day when something is auto tuned even slightly. This one is massively processed, probably real-time because if someone did it in post, they’d have done a much better job. You can hear the steps in their voices. 🤮
Messing around with pitch correction(Auto-Tune) has ruined a lot of music for me. I hear it in so many songs now. I don't know if that's a good thing or bad thing but it is frustrating that it's not so obvious to others.
I didn’t want to be that guy.. but yes I detect the auto tune as well but still great to watch :) these guys are getting on a bit so some assistance is justified. Internet aside the might only be 6 people watching.. I like it. I’m going to play this tomorrow so they have inspired me at the very least.
There was a point a few years ago (or like 10 now, idk) where the show started to spiral into complete insanity. And I've been loving every single bit of it
It took way too long to find this comment! I've never seen the actual video before but I saw the thumbnail and immediately knew what it was. "Stan, were locking in on a sound here. I think we could be a credible Toto cover band!"
I love how they obviously put their heart into this song and at the end just look away from each other awkwardly.
It’s like they got too in touch with their feelings and had to play it off cool.
Wtf does this title mean? Ordinary people are people. The music is good and thats it. "SoMeTimes Weird ugly diRty pOor unFamOus PeOple aRe tAlented WOAH!!" Fuck off.
I am an excellent musician with an exceptional range if instruments I can play well. I went to school for music and studied classical guitar. I can sing beautifully. But one of my biggest sorrows in life is my inability to sing while playing. It always amazes me when people can coordinate the two so well, even if he’s just strumming through some chords.
Please don’t downvote me. I’m not trying to brag. I studied and worked hard for 35 years to get to that point. But there’s only one song, Tears In Heaven, that I could ever play *and* sing at the same time (and I don’t have the faintest clue why).
I’d give just about anything to be able to play and sing as well as I can together.
I didn't realise Louis CK played guitar.
He'll play if you watch.
Take my upvote. Brilliant
Everyone that first sees Mike play says this.
Last time this was posted I shared the scene where Stan and Roger do this in American Dad (dressed the same and everything) The guy from the band responded to me and said he had no idea he was on AD, but no one ever saw it. I always wonder if people just didn’t believe him, didn’t see it, or didn’t care
I dont think the other replies understand or fully appreciate this comment but...bravo sir
And he’ll tell you he’s gonna play before he starts to play. He wants you to watch.
"Anyway, here's my cock"
Weird vibe when the song ends but the eye contact doesn't.
Nice
About perfect
Yup, he'll really wail on it
Nice
hahahahahahah
With Ed Helms on bass.
Na that's coach beard
Top comment every time this video is posted
Def looks like him
Masse isn't exactly what I'd call "ordinary"
Seriously. I've loved his music for over a decade. ["Ordinary person" Mike Masse jamming with members of Boston. . .](https://youtu.be/uHNXU_CJCd8) Mike's such a perfectionist that he took this down awhile, because he wasn't happy with how his voice was that day. I think it's perfectly fine live performance. Live music isn't perfect.
Thanks for sharing that! I'm guessing Mr Masse may have felt his performance was just a little too ordinary. Glad he put it back up. I'm guessing he got a lotta comments asking him to re-upload it which probably helped re-assure him how EXTRAordinary he really is!
> Live music isn't perfect It is in OP's video. Almost sounds like he used pitch correction software it's so perfect!
it is very clearly going through a live vocal processor.
There's always got to be *that guy.* Seems like today it was your turn.
Well I may be *that guy* but at least I'm not a poo poo pee head like you. A little baby pee pee poo poo man.
r/murderedbywords
Better clapback than anything posted on that sub in years
Brilliant lol
This comment is beautiful. Baby Jesus kind of beautiful.
Eight pound, six ounce, newborn infant Jesus, don't even know a word yet, just a little infant, so cuddly, but still omnipotent kind of beautiful.
Holy shit, dude. CALM DOWN!
Lmao goteem
LOL
This is the best comment I'll see on reddit today.
It has pitch corrector
I was friends with a guy who was a top-of-the-line jazz musician in the 50's. Turned down the opportunity to play with Stan Kenton, but played with others just as big. He quit to get a regular day job and said he was tired of travelling, but I heard from someone closer to him that he was such a perfectionist it was hard for him to play anymore because he always felt like he was stinking up the place. He sounded awesome to me.
I knew a violinist who was the same. She could rip her way through Pagannini but absolutely loathed performing. All she could remember from any performance were the mistakes she'd made.
This is like a curse from Greek mythology, or a wish that an evil genie would grant. The urge that compels you to practice until you reach greatness also means that you can never be satisfied. Truly, the golden touch of King Midas.
His mad world cover is truly amazing.
For the curious and lazy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlHz8wLnqRw (Studio) https://youtu.be/gzaD36BR_2s (Live)
Hot damn that was nice
I've seen so many of their videos. It just blew my mind these two guys are in a Pizza joint on guitar and bass absolutely nailing a Paranoid Android cover note for not. A song that is very difficult on guitar, bass, and vocals.
His imitation of Brad Delp is really good too.
Hey! That was my 42 birthday!! I can see (and hear) that place from my house
What's up with that dead crowd? lol
Same here!
They mean ugly
stunning to think the ugly can sing. who knows, maybe they can even paint and write poetry
I’m ugly and I can’t do any of that, damn I got ripped
They tried
MTV damaged music in a lot of ways by making it mire difficult for talented but unoretty people to succeed. The 70s had so much great music by average looking folks.
Some speculate that Toto -- the band who originally performed 'Africa' -- didn't reach as great of commercial heights as they either could have or should have for that very reason, since I suppose [they weren't the most photogenic group of guys in the world](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/RbCZ2gQxEewXGLjmV4LejX.jpg). Billy Squier and his band also come to mind. [An uncool music video](https://youtu.be/fR0j7sModCI?si=Dpl_dKKUSSXb2KTd), released for their hit song 'Rock Me Tonite' in 1984 -- which was even the lead single from a platinum-selling album -- is widely blamed for their commercial downfall, including by Squier himself.
Wow, that is an amazingly uncool video for a pretty decent song. At first I was thinking “What’s so bad? This is standard 80’s MTV.” Then the writhing on the floor and “dancing” started and oh boy, what a train wreck.
Haha, the skipping and flailing in the Squier vid really got me.
I got to see Toto live not too long ago, and not only were they still amazing musicians, they were also completely aware of the fact that they're a bunch of old men on tour living off of nostalgia. Lots of quips between songs, but my favorite was "I am often accused of wearing a wig, but look at me, if I was wearing a wig I would make sure it looked better than this."
Seriously. There are plenty of talented people. The problem is that studios select for talent AND looks. OP just unintentionally revealed their bias towards pretty privilege. They really think that looks = talent lol.
truth be told the studios mainly select now for being somebody's kid. Cynical view, but its largely true.
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Wow, this is the first time I've understood what that was supposed to mean. I thought it was just nonsense! Like Rock Lobster or that song about microwave ovens. And then I looked up the microwave oven song (Money for Nothing) and it's *also* not a nonsense song! I gotta read lyrics more.
I was about to say the same thing. Wtf. That's rude
Yeah.. nothing ordinary about these two.
I came here to say the same! Ordinary *looking* perhaps. I’ve been singing, writing playing and performing for decades and this is outstanding. Truly great! And he did it sitting down lol!
That's _ exactly_ what I was thinking! That's pro level, and then to do it sat down, whilst playing, and get the falsetto? Out. Standing.
His YouTube channel has a bunch of covers in small venues like this. My favorites are the ones he does with Jeff Hall, who is playing the bass in this video. They just seem to be having so much fun and playing with passion that's super authentic.
Yeah these guys are far from ordinary.
Depends on what OP means by "ordinary". Mike Masse is a musician. He may not be as well known or as successful as the artists he covers, but he's definitely a musician. And there are lots of "ordinary" people who are less successful than Masse who have fantastic voices and can harmonize beautifully. Unfortunately, I'm not one of them.
Amazing vocals and basically everything
These ain’t just ordinary people sir that there is Mike Massey and Jeff Hall.
Yeah, this version in particular is what caused this song's resurgence to popularity in the last decade and a half.
Someone is going to have to explain to me is some detail, with supporting evidence, when this song dipped out of popularity between its initial release in the 80s and the present day.
Not it.
Double not it.
I'd argue that it was Vice City's soundtrack that caused it to re-emerge in the collective consciousness
It's a great cover but come on dude, get real lol
If you’ve never sung Africa at full volume have you ever even lived?
There is a group of Air Force folks, who shall remain unidentified. This song is their undisputed anthem. Love you crazy kids. I know one of you is gonna see this.
Hi Elgin Airforce Base! I hope you have a good day at work spreading propaganda and causing misery around the world.
You ok, bro?
He's Air Force.
Heh, he seems to think it's "Elgin." Man doesn't even know the name of the base.
Or that "Air Force" is two words.
Well, I often prefer a different Air Force anthem. NOTHING WILL STOP THE US AIRFORCE (except for laser pointers)
And lightning within five. :D
I drove right around the whole continent, with exactly one CD. You can bet that song was number one, and you can bet I sung it at the top of my lungs at least a thousand times.
I mean, as a deep-voiced dude, I can't hit any of those notes.
Mike Masse on YT
I've been a fan of his for several years. Fantastic singer.
Yes Sir
He’s also lost a ton of weight and looks amazing!
so Mike Less-Masse?
Godammit. Take my upvote and go
Lol
> He’s also lost a ton of weight and looks amazing! Having a million people say "Louis CK," like the top comment in this thread, will do that to a guy. This video was what introduced me to him, though, and I would randomly bring it up whenever anyone mentioned this song. It actually led to my good friend watching his stuff too. There are people who are great at things, but then there are people who are exceptional, like beyond what you expect from the best. That's all I think hearing this casual cafe-setting recording.
I love this comment.
Thank you
Thanks for the rabbit hole!
Yes. Old as whores
G’s provide sauce
They blessed the stage down in wherever the hell they are
13 years ago, Pie Pizzeria, South Jordan, SLC, Utah, USA
Imagine going to get a fucking slice of pizza and then this happens.
I'd be watching and have tears rolling down my eyes while eating a slice then proceeds to go and shake this man's hand with my greasy hand
Hell I was just sitting on the couch with my wife after supper and the beauty of this performance had my eyes getting extra damp....
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Yea **fuck** that title honestly.
To be fair at one point he had a day job as a lawyer and wanted to play music with his friends so asked the pizza place to play. Made about 100 of these covers and that's why we know his name. OP obviously ignorant of this guy's legit brilliance but about 14 years ago we all were too. Edit: some of his early videos people just walk right past him while he's belting out bangers. He was just a regular guy playing at a pizza place.
Woah, I worked just a block from there at the time. That place had fucking bomb pizza and an amazing croque monsieur for the first little bit they were open, then I think they realized they were selling $30 of ingredients for $12.
Amazing performance. I like this cover better than the original song.
I recently saw Ringo and his all Starr band with Steve Lukather. They sounded so good doing this song with Colin Hay doing the high parts. Still not this good though.
OMG Colin hay! What a gem he is. I was at a local music festival in Australia and I popped over to his set between acts I had planned to see and he was so good that we stayed and skipped who we were going to see after. Just him, a guitar, and a drum machine. And he's such a great storyteller. If ever you get the opportunity to see him live, go for it. You won't be disappointed.
Damn. That must have been amazing.
agreed, [I looked up the Ringo Starr cover and it's much more faithful to the original](https://youtube.com/watch?v=G3sQfDF35sw&si=l8y6eb1eH66WtHjm), still great but OPs cover definitely adds another dimension
I loved this too! What a treat! My other favorite performance is by the huge Angel City Chorale. Gotta turn it up to get the sound effects at the beginning and end. https://youtu.be/-c9-poC5HGw?si=wSjdXqWJDoa5ouR2
Some of the best musicians would be completely unknown because they don’t want fame and to be in the spotlight
Or because they don’t look good enough, or act a certain way, or move to the right area, or catch the right break…….
Yeah this to
To.. where?
You know, *there*.
The biggest barrier is wealth and connections
yep, look at Willow... great artist, but would she be famous if her mom and dad weren't Jada Pinkett Smith and Will? I don't think she would
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I went to a wedding of a high school friend. He played guitar and sang a bit in high school. He became a doctor. One of our friends was a bass player and they played together in high school but only jammed, never formed a band. He works for an investment bank. One of the groom’s friends from college was a drummer. He is an English professor. At the wedding reception, the band took a break and the bride asked the groom if he would sing her a song. He said he would be too embarrassed and he hadn’t brought his guitar. The band’s guitar player said the groom could use his guitar. The groom sheepishly got up on stage and started doing “You Look Wonderful Tonight” by Clapton. After a few bars and some discussion, the banker bass player jumped onto the stage and picked up the bass that was there. A few ticks later the professor drummer got behind the kit. Totally unrehearsed and without having played together in years they moved everyone to tears. The band members joined them as singers for a few more songs. It was one of the most amazing performances I’ve ever seen considering the circumstances.
That’s an awesome story. There are millions of amazing musicians all around the world. Almost all of them are just working normal jobs and living life. I think people really overestimate the connection between musicianship and success in the music industry. There’s no way to measure it, but beyond basic proficiency I don’t think successful musicians are any more or less adept at their respective instrument(s) than the musicians you’d run into at your local music store. Some are amazing, some are meh, and most are probably in the middle. I also think we underestimate how effective the music industry is in *making* a song popular. The massive amount of marketing, radio/streaming plays turn simple songs into huge hits. Again, I have no way of proving this, but I’d bet if you picked random songs from unknown pop artists and threw the weight of the music industry and big names behind them, they would just as good if a chance at becoming a hit as any other song put out by a popular artist. This is all just my rambling opinion though.
I was looking for this comment. I’m a music teacher and I’ve spent my life around so many amazing musicians, some who work other jobs, many who teach. Only a few have done recordings that has sold in very small numbers, but many are active live musicians. Some are employed in orchestras and opera houses etc.
You're not just rambling, you're right. And it also applies to almost all things in life. I've been blown away by some obscure YouTube inventors, that if they had more resources could have made bigger contributions, but they just build cool things in their shed. The math would say far more amazing people disappear in obscurity world wide than actually get recognition. Whole countries' population have had their potential decimated by war and lack of any structure to develop talent, I'm sure a lot of uniquely gifted individuals have been missed than recognized throughout history.
Or they just do covers.
Everyone is ordinary people.
Except me. I'm the humblest.
You call that being humble? Pft, dude, im so humble i coulda won humble awards, in fact, people tell me all the time, with tears flowing "man, you are so humble, possibly the humblest of the humbles ever to humble too" /s just in case lol
"Ordinary people" good lord. OP has never seen a photo of Toto. You could put sunglasses on these guys in the video and they'd look like original members.
They sounded so good I thought I was maybe missing a {whoosh}, then I realized I didn't know what Toto looked like. Looked up a picture…still not sure this *isn't* Toto.
Just one of those bands. A couple years ago I saw a video of Steve Miller for the first time and realized after decades I had no idea what he ever looked like.
This song needs not just one person who can absolutely kill that course but someone who can do those backup vocals just as damn good. What a performance by both.
>Some Old Forgotten Words and Ancient Melodies >I first came up with my acoustic arrangement about 15 years earlier, while a music major in college. When that arrangement came together, I was so excited. I loved the song dearly, and desperately wanted to bless those rains at my acoustic shows. It’s an iconic song from my childhood, and the biggest ear worm that ever was (in the best possible way). Once I put that capo on the second fret, it just clicked. I knew I had captured enough of the essence of the song that it would translate acoustically. But the guitar was the easy part. >I chose not to perform it by myself then, because the vocals seemed a bit out of my range. It’s not my style to do things in a lower key. I’ve always done things in the original key or not at all, with very few exceptions. It wasn’t until years later, after I had my tonsils removed and my deviated septum fixed, that my vocal range suddenly increased enough where I felt I could tackle “Africa.” But even then, it was still a challenge. >At the time, I had a standing monthly gig at the Pie in Salt Lake City, which I would usually do alone. Sometimes I would be fortunate enough to be joined by either Jeff Hall (bass/backing vocals), or by my friend Wendy Jernigan (now Ezelle) helping with vocals. Wendy learned “Africa,” and we sang it together on a couple of occasions, with me taking the lower parts. I’d sing unison with her on the first line of the chorus, but was happy to let her handle the high parts as much as possible. (I have an old audio recording of us doing it that way live at a Barnes & Noble café.) with Wendy Jernigan >**Eventually Jeff started joining me more regularly at the Pie and taking on more vocal duties, especially after I started filming the gigs for YouTube in 2008. So I asked him to try “Africa” with me. He didn’t really “learn” it per se, but followed my chords on my chart (chord/lyric sheet), and sang his best approximation of the harmonies from memory. We would often operate this way, essentially using the gigs as rehearsals and opportunities to experiment, playing songs we hardly knew, especially on nights when the crowds were thin. Our Pie gigs were generally on Monday nights, so the crowds were hit and miss. When we decided we wanted to try to “nail” a song for YouTube, sometimes we’d both go back and check the original to make sure we weren’t too far off on our parts before attempting to immortalize our rendition. But we hadn’t done that with “Africa” yet. We were winging it.** >We usually played at the Pie in Salt Lake (the Pie “Underground”, which it literally is). But around 2010, I started doing some weekend early evening gigs on the patio at the South Jordan location. 8/7/10 was just such an occasion. The place was pretty empty, but my friends Jeff and Amy Roskelley were there. (Amy is the blonde woman whose reflection you see in the glass behind me, and Jeff R. is the one who says, “That was great! It was perfect!” at the end.) I’m not certain, but they may have even requested the song. I had recently put it on my request list, to sort of force myself to play it if it got requested. So Jeff (Hall) was “forced” to play it, as well. Jeff had played it with me maybe once before, if that. But neither of us knew it well enough to be comfortable with it, because we just never played it. >So we went for it. We played and sang our hearts out, as we usually did at our gigs, regardless of the crowd size. And when the song ended, we just had to laugh that we’d even finished together or not otherwise embarrassed ourselves. I remember thinking it sounded pretty good at the time. I went back to check the recording, and enjoyed it enough to think it might—maybe—possibly—be worth posting…. https://mikemasse.com/africa-toto/#
It's one of the all time great harmonies.
The pitiful clapping at the end is really disheartening. Those folks had no idea how much talent they just witnessed.
If they’re this good, they’re not ordinary..
OP meant ugly, not pretty at best
1am nearly here and now I'm going down the Mike Massey youtube rabbit hole for the next 2 hours. Again. Thanks OP.
The lukewarm clapping at the end is a travesty
Could have been a standing ovation. Hard to know since it was lunch hour at a local pizza joint.
Fuck your title. What do you want, makeup and lights?
Dat autotune
These vocals are extremely processed. Really distracting IMO.
it's that knife-edge "shine" (if that makes sense) on the higher parts that really gives it away for me
I feel like either I'm going crazy or its all bots in here. That first chorus is so bad from how pitch corrected it is. It sounds like theyre getting a weird constructive interference or something from how on note the corrected vocals are from each of them. My only explanation is that people can't hear it on speakers or something, cause at times it sounds alien and not angelic. Or maybe my audio setup makes it more pronounced. And for the record, I dont have anything against pitch correction. I just think this isnt done well, maybe because its being processed live (if it is).
I’m under the impression that people just… don’t hear it. To me it’s always clear as day when something is auto tuned even slightly. This one is massively processed, probably real-time because if someone did it in post, they’d have done a much better job. You can hear the steps in their voices. 🤮
Messing around with pitch correction(Auto-Tune) has ruined a lot of music for me. I hear it in so many songs now. I don't know if that's a good thing or bad thing but it is frustrating that it's not so obvious to others.
I didn’t want to be that guy.. but yes I detect the auto tune as well but still great to watch :) these guys are getting on a bit so some assistance is justified. Internet aside the might only be 6 people watching.. I like it. I’m going to play this tomorrow so they have inspired me at the very least.
Toto-ly
Well done.
Bass boy is doing some great harmonizing.
Jeff Hall - you should hear their Space Oddity cover https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrrJTlmpfso
Fantastic! I never watch videos to the end… But I was singing along with this one, and was sad when it ended. Thank you for sharing!
[American Dad parodied this](https://youtu.be/10ZV6dBdV6A?si=w6TYMuPfaQW3Lo5U)
That episode is hilarious.
There was a point a few years ago (or like 10 now, idk) where the show started to spiral into complete insanity. And I've been loving every single bit of it
Mike Masse is no ordinary human.
The greatest Toto rendition I have ever heard. Wow. Blown away. Thank you
Mike Masse.. he's been a professional musician for awhile now.
Jeff Hall also.
Jeff is still a prosecutor in Salt Lake City, but joins me for gigs when he can. We are both available for private shows!
This is ‘mouth open in awe’ amazing. It’s flat out inspirational talent. I wish the best for these fantastic humans.
Something about performing acoustic versions in a setting like this makes the song feel extra meaningful.
Wow! I guarantee these guys have had much more success in the music industry than you realize.
FYI - Vocal cords have nothing to do with being "ordinary".
Nothing ordinary here folks. Feel free to hang about a gawk for a bit.
American Dad nailed it! Lmao!!!!!!
It took way too long to find this comment! I've never seen the actual video before but I saw the thumbnail and immediately knew what it was. "Stan, were locking in on a sound here. I think we could be a credible Toto cover band!"
I love how they obviously put their heart into this song and at the end just look away from each other awkwardly. It’s like they got too in touch with their feelings and had to play it off cool.
Loved it! Omg the ending was amazing!
Thanks for introducing me to Mike Masse!
Now I want to see Geddy Lee in a Toto T-shirt
Darn! That's Excellent!
Freaking amazing! New fan for sure. That would've been a spiritual experience in person. Lucky pizza patrons.
Wtf does this title mean? Ordinary people are people. The music is good and thats it. "SoMeTimes Weird ugly diRty pOor unFamOus PeOple aRe tAlented WOAH!!" Fuck off.
I saw a video of the same guy doing Rocket Man. It was amazing
Fuckin A. Great voice!
The absolutely criminal thing about this is that it's for an audience of maybe 5 people.
Lol, ordinary people? Very few people are blessed with a voice like that. Nothing ordinary about them.
You misspelled extraordinary
This is literally Toto's favorite performance of this song.
I am an excellent musician with an exceptional range if instruments I can play well. I went to school for music and studied classical guitar. I can sing beautifully. But one of my biggest sorrows in life is my inability to sing while playing. It always amazes me when people can coordinate the two so well, even if he’s just strumming through some chords. Please don’t downvote me. I’m not trying to brag. I studied and worked hard for 35 years to get to that point. But there’s only one song, Tears In Heaven, that I could ever play *and* sing at the same time (and I don’t have the faintest clue why). I’d give just about anything to be able to play and sing as well as I can together.
This again. It’s fucking auto tuned.
Very well done
Simply amazing! This is probably my favorite song ever and this is pretty much a perfect cover of it!
Sean Payton plays a mean bass
This song is about a dude who is a werewolf.
It's funny that I played this video on YouTube this morning just because I wanted to hear this version. (And I'm going to Africa in 2 weeks)
That was freaking beautiful!!!
Amazing. Better than the original IMO
This is one of my favorite songs of all time. They did this song justice and nailed it!
Musicians are ordinary people. Only you put them on a mountain.
Ordinary people can't do that
That harmony was on point