A Mark In Time

General Discussion => General Discussion => Topic started by: Fletch on June 12, 2011, 07:37:06 AM

Title: Hugh Laurie
Post by: Fletch on June 12, 2011, 07:37:06 AM
We have been absolutely loving his new CD this weekend - get it and you won't be disappointed. Blues and ragtime, with unbelievable feel.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1x7AeEogGM
Title: Re: Hugh Laurie
Post by: Jackal on June 13, 2011, 01:09:16 PM
Amazing talent. But you can't take him seriously after having seen stuff like this:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MT52HhtJ6kU
Title: Re: Hugh Laurie
Post by: Rollergirl on June 13, 2011, 01:57:48 PM
Amazing talent. But you can't take him seriously after having seen stuff like this:

same here, it's a shame though
Title: Re: Hugh Laurie
Post by: Jackal on June 13, 2011, 07:15:23 PM
Just listened to the whole album on Grooveshark. I think it's really good. His voice isn't that great, but it's him, so it makes it personal in a sense. The production is really cool. Not as raw as Daniel Lanois, but it has some of that sparseness, and the arrangements are sometimes wonderfully wacky. Cool.
Title: Re: Hugh Laurie
Post by: Pottel on June 13, 2011, 08:04:42 PM
i am not interested in his dr. house or music stuff at all, the man used to be a genius comedian, with the likes of Stephen Fry...
Title: Re: Hugh Laurie
Post by: Jackal on June 13, 2011, 08:55:04 PM
Can't blame a man for wanting to move on, though.
Title: Re: Hugh Laurie
Post by: Pottel on June 14, 2011, 12:56:05 PM
$$$ indeed not... ;D
Title: Re: Hugh Laurie
Post by: Jackal on June 14, 2011, 01:12:50 PM
At least the $$$ are a good reason for staying at what he does :D Don't know how much he was offered for House when he started, but today ...

"The 51-year-old Brit earns $400,000 (£255,000) per episode for his role in the medical whodunnit series which he began filming six years ago."

(http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1302604/House-star-Hugh-Laurie-named-highest-paid-actor-US-TV-drama.html#ixzz1PFPnP1Qv)

Actually, that's sick. I'm not a socialist or communist or anything, but NOBODY deserves to earn that much money, at least not for starring in a stupid TV show.

EDIT:

"Laurie, 49, who had humble beginnings on "House" with a starting salary in the mid-five figures in 2004, got his first major salary bump in summer 2006 when his per-episode fee was upped to $250,000-$300,000 an episode."

(http://www.reuters.com/article/2008/09/12/us-house-idUSN1235329620080912)

Not bad.
Title: Re: Hugh Laurie
Post by: Fletch on June 15, 2011, 09:23:04 AM
There`s nothing on the CD that would be considered commercial - in exactly the same way nothing on Get Lucky is aimed at popular culture.

Not sure why you`d think Hughs motives are based on $$ ??
Anyway I think its very cool and would recommend it to folks that love the blues / ragtime feel.
Title: Re: Hugh Laurie
Post by: Jules on June 15, 2011, 03:02:48 PM
Hugh was always into music

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4tDP-yMwXI
Title: Re: Hugh Laurie
Post by: goldenheart96 on June 15, 2011, 09:09:38 PM
I saw him live in concert twice in April and he is very very good. Didn't take me long to realise this is NOT Dr. House onstage - unlike hundreds of other lunatic fans  >:(
Title: Re: Hugh Laurie
Post by: dustyvalentino on June 16, 2011, 12:17:43 AM
The music is good but I agree with Guy, can't take his vocals seriously.

The figures quoted re his House fee were surprisingly LOW - the Friends actors were getting a million dollars an episode, and that was ten years ago.

To be honest I can't really be arsed with actors trying to be singers and vice versa (I'm looking at YOU Phil Collins ;) )

Very few people have done it well (Frank Sinatra, Kris Kristoffersson).

Thank god MK has kept his dignity. "It wasn't just the records, no you must have Hollywood..."
Title: Re: Hugh Laurie
Post by: Jackal on June 16, 2011, 08:45:30 AM
Apparently, sit-com actors are better paid, but I read somewhere that top actors these days cannot expect the same high salaries as they could earlier. Cutbacks in Tinsel town too.

Yeah, I think the music is excellent. His voice is also decent on the louder, upbeat tracks.

As for acting, I think actually Mark wouldn't have been too bad at it. In normal conversation, he can stall a lot and be really disconnected, but he has these moments when gets into it, makes impersonations that make me think that there is some undiscovered talent there. Anyway ...
Title: Re: Hugh Laurie
Post by: sak4 on June 17, 2011, 06:51:47 PM
He did a couple of concerts and I would have liked to go, but I found out too late.   Saw him on Jools Holland and on the tv programme, I was pleasantly surprised - he was pretty good.

Sally
Title: Re: Hugh Laurie
Post by: Justme on June 17, 2011, 07:55:34 PM
As for acting, I think actually Mark wouldn't have been too bad at it. In normal conversation, he can stall a lot and be really disconnected, but he has these moments when gets into it, makes impersonations that make me think that there is some undiscovered talent there. Anyway ...

Yes, I do remember the impersonation of Chet Atkins very well, of that guy in the guitar shop ("Drop that and I'll drop you!"), but also David Knopfler impersonating Mark how Mark greets him when they meet occasionally at family celebrations was quite funny ("Hello David.").  ;D

Have there been any more impersonations made by MK during interviews?
Title: Re: Hugh Laurie
Post by: Love Expresso on June 17, 2011, 09:19:07 PM
That kid ("with a face like a bullett")  on the first day at school that asked him the immortal question "Celtic or Rangers", which Mark must have been answered in the right way because he still lives to tell - as he told us in the STP press kit - classic!

LE

Title: Re: Hugh Laurie
Post by: Jackal on June 17, 2011, 11:41:39 PM
Have there been any more impersonations made by MK during interviews?

There was an interview on YouTube from the 80s, recorded at Air Studios in London, I think, where he did a great impersonation of Dylan. He was asked about how he came to produce Infidels I think, and Dylan had said to his manager, with this kind of Jewish New York accent: "You know, I've just been makin' home rekedz [records]. I wanna make a real reked." It was really funny. Couldn't find on YouTube now though.

Plus then you have all the banter and joking with Brendan Croker at the NHB concerts where Mark kind of lets loose. So funny.
Title: Re: Hugh Laurie
Post by: Justme on June 18, 2011, 02:45:30 PM
That kid ("with a face like a bullett")  on the first day at school that asked him the immortal question "Celtic or Rangers", which Mark must have been answered in the right way because he still lives to tell - as he told us in the STP press kit - classic!

LE

Yes, now I remember that one, too!

Have there been any more impersonations made by MK during interviews?

There was an interview on YouTube from the 80s, recorded at Air Studios in London, I think, where he did a great impersonation of Dylan. He was asked about how he came to produce Infidels I think, and Dylan had said to his manager, with this kind of Jewish New York accent: "You know, I've just been makin' home rekedz [records]. I wanna make a real reked." It was really funny. Couldn't find on YouTube now though.

Plus then you have all the banter and joking with Brendan Croker at the NHB concerts where Mark kind of lets loose. So funny.

Yeah, let's hope that it finds the way to youtube in the future.
Title: Re: Hugh Laurie
Post by: Knut on June 18, 2011, 10:51:02 PM
The German accent during the Les Boys story is funny too :D Boston '80!
Title: Re: Hugh Laurie
Post by: Pottel on June 19, 2011, 12:35:55 AM
The German accent during the Les Boys story is funny too :D Boston '80!
yessss
Title: Re: Hugh Laurie
Post by: Banjo99uk on June 21, 2011, 07:09:48 PM
Bloody good album, love the raw feel.  MK could learn something from the production style.
Title: Re: Hugh Laurie
Post by: vgonis on June 30, 2011, 09:22:17 PM
What a nice production. And even though I am not such a big admirer of his vocal abilities, (i don't like his "s", "t" or "j" 's) his voice is not that bad.
He has a long history with music, even if the only glimpses we got were from a little Fry and Laurie episodes or fragments from House. Yes he is no Sinatra, but a lot of people get away with it, Dylan comes in mind. (And yes maybe the other qualities in Dylan's voice makes him the ideal singer for his songs, but you can't deny his voice is no canary) 
Title: Re: Hugh Laurie
Post by: goldenheart96 on July 03, 2011, 12:33:42 PM
Agree with both of you, Banjo and Vgonis. As for Hugh's voice, yes, it starts getting on my nerves after a while, too, but I still prefer it over Dylan's anytime  :P That said, a unique voice with flaws is always better than some perfect casting show voice.