Wednesday 2 August 2023

Basket ball Jones Cheech & Chong

 Basket ball Jones Featuring Tyronne Shoelaces

Cheech & Chong

Things were a lot different in the 1970s.

As this video attests, Cheech & Chong were and I believe still are a popular comedy duo that based most of the humour on dope and counter culture life.

The sold many albums and had several successful movies.

Sung in falsetto by Cheech Marin, playing the title character Tyrone (as in "tie-your-own") Shoelaces, it tells the story of Shoelaces' love of basketball. It is a parody of the No. 16 Billboard Hot 100 song "Love Jones" by Brighter Side of Darkness. In the album version, the song is preceded by a mock interview with Jones' basketball coach named "Umgwana Kickbooti", in a parody of a Wide World of Sports interview conducted by a character named "Red Blazer".


The song's opening lyric, "basketball jones, I got a basketball jones", references "jones" as slang for craving or addiction. A "basketball jones" thus refers to loving basketball so much that it overtakes all other thoughts.


Musicians who appeared on the record included George Harrison,[2] Billy Preston, Tom Scott, Klaus Voormann and Carole King (so the record became the highest-peaking single on which she appeared during 1973). The Blossoms and Michelle Phillips (from The Mamas & the Papas) performed vocals as cheerleaders on the track.

The video was designed by animator Paul Gruwell who worked on many series, including The Banana Splits, Scooby-Doo, GI Joe, The Transformers, The Simpsons, and the film Heavy Metal.

The video is very risque compared to todays standdards and features many -what would be deemed these days  -highly offensive.

Look out for a guest appearance from the Beatles and the Singing Nun near the end.

Source: Wikipedia