Are you Jimmy Ray? Also who the hell is Jimmy Ray? Well if you're someone who wants to know, check out this video on the briefly popular '90s teen idol!
That eerie feeling when you were just humming *this exact song* this morning while cleaning and wondering, “Say, what was Jimmy Ray’s deal anyway? This song would probably be an interesting One Hit Wonderland!” Well! I’m both delighted and kind of freaked out. O_o
No way! I loved this shit. When I was a kid, I actually won this single (on CD) from a puck shooting contest at a roller skating rink. 13 year old me just loved the totally unjustified machismo of it.
So, this song is the Sharkboy and Lavagirl of songs. Something that you just...randomly remember, and can't figure out if it actually happened or was just a collective fever dream, so you Google it to confirm it's existence.
Out of all the questions asked by songs - "What is love?", "Do you really want to hurt me?", "What's love got to do with it?", "How deep is your love?", "Should I stay or should I go?", "Wouldn't it be nice?", "Wouldn't it be good?", "Can you feel the love tonight?", "Who are you?", "Who let the dogs out?" and "How much is that doggy in the window?" this one is certainly the most philosophical and the least interesting.
Man, I love the idea of "popabilly" and wish it was a thing now. I kinda feel like Panic at the Disco has a hint of this at least in asthetic though, if not in his actual music.
That would be a great episode. So much drama surrounding the sample, and it took FOREVER for the band to be able to make any money off of their biggest hit.
@@faeriegraver Nope, we missed that one. You know, as big a name as The Verge are, I would've assumed they were bigger, but no - only the one hit, and it only went to 12. I'm shocked.
This reminds me of The Simpsons episode about Poochie. To quote Roger Myers Jr., “One, Jimmy Ray needs to be louder, angrier, and have access to a time machine. Two, whenever Jimmy Ray’s not onscreen, all the other characters should be asking 'Where's Jimmy Ray?' ”
As a British person who listened to music in the 90's, I can honestly say I do not remember this song at all. Shampoo on the other hand, that song was awesome. Hey Todd, if you read your comments. What about a Drinking in LA by Bran Van 3000 as a One Hit Wonderland?
I feel bad for Jimmy Ray because if his record label didn't try to push him to be a pop idol and he had more creative control, he could have been a cult figure like Marshall Crenshaw. However, instead of becoming his generation's Gene Vincent, Jimmy Ray became his generation's Olly Murs.
And the weird thing is I can totally hear that snotty 50s rockabilly yelp in his singing and a few of the references he makes like Link Wray are great 50s deep cuts. If you took out the weird 90s dancehall production and put Scotty Moore guitar stings in there it would be a derivative but convincing homage to music of the era.
I was twelve when this dropped, and in the 20 some years since I'd convinced myself that it was a figment of my imagination. Thanks Todd for awakening this unholy earworm.
The way Todd describes people remembering this hit, as a "half-memory" that we vaguely remember due to it's eccentric, catchy sound is EXACTLY how I remembered it until I looked it up a few years ago. Must have heard it a handful of times at the most, but the catchy nature of the chorus and the combination of a wonderful late 90s childhood and the draining fatigue of life since those times have made sure the Nostalgia kept some parts of it alive in my mind for nearly 2 decades.
It's rare for Todd to review a British artist who was a one-hit wonder in the US *and* in his home country. If he really wants to get under the skin of his UK viewers, he should do "Never Ever" by All Saints. That group was (and maybe still is) absolutely gigantic in Britain but it was their only major hit in the US. ("I Know Where It's At," which actually came out first, barely sneaked into the top 40.)
That tracks--I made a chronological '50s playlist on RUclips last year, and a LOT of times, if there were younger people commenting on a song? They knew it from Fallout. Same with a lot of early '60s stuff too. (I say "younger people", like I wasn't born yet then either...) And then of course with Fallout '76, one '70s song became the biggest damn meme ever for the WRONG reasons...
So glad you mentioned VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the 90s. I loved watching that doc back when I used to watch VH1. I'm trying really hard to find it online and found some videos of it here but always with some listings missing. I wish VH1 streamed it somewhere I wouldn't mind paying. In fact, I got introduced to a lot of hit songs through that program.
We had pop singers visit my high school since it had a radio station. Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Prince. The one I remember from the time I was attending high school was Jimmy Ray. His song just became a hit and one of the students got to interview him! I don't know if is online but it would be fun to listen to again! My High School is Nathan Hale in Seattle. You can watch of news report on the radio station by searching his on RUclips: KIRO-TV news report on KNHC Radio C89.5 - June 1997
I remember hearing this everywhere and thought this song was much bigger than it was in reality. But I looked it up and the song only peaked at number 84 over here.
I'm one of those people that not only remembers this song but I actually had the CD single for it!! Around that time in early '98, when MTV was still playing music videos every now and then, they had a show on five afternoons a week called "12 Angry Viewers" where 12 random people would watch three new music videos and vote for their favorite that day. On Friday, the four winning videos would go head to head against each other and the final winner would be placed in MTV's rotation. "Are You Jimmy Ray?" not only won the day was on but also on the grand Friday finale!! I remember one of the "judges" stating "I don't get it, I don't understand it, but I can't get it out of my head!!"
Todd I’m telling you right now that I was in my mid-20s when this was released. I’m a musician. A music nerd. You name it. And, I BARELY remember this song. That said..., it’s a helluva’ ear worm. Lol. Ugh... You should truly cover “Valley Girl,” by Moon Unit Zappa. So much to talk about with regard to her father.
With some OHWs, I would see the title and think, "I don't know this song." But then I hear the song play and then think, "Oh, yeah! I do know this song!" For the first time in my life, that second part didn't happen.
Okay, are we sure this isn’t the ageless, vampiric form of Brendan Urie? Especially after hearing “Going to Vegas.” That shit sounds like it came straight off a latter era Panic album.
I was definitely old enough to be aware of music when this came out and I do not remember this at all. ...The song's okay. It's no "Steal My Sunshine," though. The follow-up reminds me of something Tom Jones might've released in 1999.
I loved this programmed drum beats with guitar sound from this era - Christina had a great song that echoed the sound in 2012 with Red Hot Kinda Love, which was produced by Lucas With The Lid Off, whose 90s hit song also had this sound. Imani’s Legend of a Cowgirl also had that sound.
I only remember the video getting a ton of play on MTV for like a month and a half. That was the ephemeral state of things on MTV at that time. Shit would be played every hour, then disappear without warning. I don't know if they were trying to create hits or if they were just trying to fill broadcast time.
I remember coming across this song a few times on an internet radio station probably in the early to mid-2000s (I'm guessing it was a '90s-themed station) and being slightly perplexed by it. I'm pretty sure I've never come across it elsewhere, and I haven't really thought of it since, but I haven't forgotten it either.
Kind of appropriate that a Cornershop reference would appear in this. I never even heard of Jimmy Ray let alone that song, but "Brimful of Asha" was played a lot back then, and I doubt anyone remembers Cornershop (I actually bought their album but I don't remember any of the other songs).
One of the few for One hit Wonderland that I don't remember, and I grew up in the 90s. Interesting. I do hope that one day you might do It's a Beautiful Day's "White Bird" for the show. I mean, it didn't even crack the top 100, but it does get radio play, the only song of theirs to truly do so. So it's more a situation of where they were a one hit wonder on their own genre's charts (rather than the overall pop charts like most one hit wonders are).
I want this song to just keep going and going and going with the rhymes. "Are you Marvin Gaye?" "Are you Michael Bay?" "Are you Tony Jay?" "Are you Mary Kay?"
Man, I'm glad you mentioned "Who Wants to Know", because that's honestly a pretty good song. The thing that's interesting about it is that even though the lyrics are mostly the same as "Are You Jimmy Ray", the tone of the song feels very different. It feels way less braggadocios and more like he's leaning into the irony of singing "who wants to know about me?" when he's kind of a nobody now. There's a part near the end where he goes "Stingray, Link Wray, it's all the same to me / Fay Wray, Johnnie Ray, be who you wanna be" which I really like, because in the original song those names are basically just nonsense rhymes, but here it's more like he doesn't even care if you get his name wrong as long as you're acknowledging that he exists. It's basically a song about him being a one-hit wonder, while also being *a cover of the song that made him a one-hit wonder*. There's something very fun about that.
That's a really good analysis. As far as meta-songs about one's big hit goes it's a lot less morose than I Took A Pill In Ibiza and a lot less bitter than My Iron Lung
@DestinyKiller Given that he was in a techno duo before he made his solo debut, I think he's always had diverse tastes. He does say in his LinkedIn article from 2016 that he felt like too much of his stylistic direction was determined for him, but he probably allowed it to happen because he was up for anything. Like Todd said, he didn't realize that "Are You Jimmy Ray" would be the single. He only regretted it when he realized that it would be.
There's a dream sequence where he's the caretaker of a troop of miniature stop-motion chimps who reenact random moments from his childhood. And they're all wearing smoking jackets.
YES I AM SO HAPPY YOU'RE DOING THIS ONE A while back I went through the 90s year end hot 100 lists and came across this song. I was actively listening to pop music during this time period and had no recollection of this guy or this song. I really really hoped you'd cover it because I wanted to know who the hell IS Jimmy Ray and why don't I remember him?? Why is his only song echoing this sentiment??
"Are you Sting Ray?"
"Yes."
*swims away, song abruptly ends*
Sounds like a decent YTP
Steve Irwin abruptly ended
Sting Ray and the Police
Chevy Corvette Stingray pulls up.
There was a TV show called “Stingray” from 1964, from the same people that brought you “Thunderbirds” and “Captain Scarlett”, it was Gerry Anderson.
That eerie feeling when you were just humming *this exact song* this morning while cleaning and wondering, “Say, what was Jimmy Ray’s deal anyway? This song would probably be an interesting One Hit Wonderland!”
Well! I’m both delighted and kind of freaked out. O_o
That is a wacky coincidence. Although Todd does have 353k followers, so it was bound to happen to one of them. You got to be the lucky one today.
I was literally just thinking about a weirdo dude who used to wear a "are you Jimmy Ray" badge at my school and then this pops up. FREAKY
Sometimes life just hits you that way
Well, he is Todd IN the Shadows. >.> Lol
You manifested this episode into reality.
WIIITCH! 👉
“An odd collective half memory we are not sure actually happened” the perfect synopsis
So the Mandela Effect?
this description could be applied to the summer of 2018
The majority of Bee Movie & Jimmy Neutron.
To paraphrase another One Hit Wonderland subject: “Poor old Jimmy Ray”
This song gets stuck in my head, unprovoked, several times a year. I know who you are, Jimmy Ray, please leave me alone
I know right?! Ever since I watched this episode it gets in my head a couple times a month!
No way! I loved this shit. When I was a kid, I actually won this single (on CD) from a puck shooting contest at a roller skating rink. 13 year old me just loved the totally unjustified machismo of it.
So, this song is the Sharkboy and Lavagirl of songs. Something that you just...randomly remember, and can't figure out if it actually happened or was just a collective fever dream, so you Google it to confirm it's existence.
Oh my lord, that’s the PERFECT description
Out of all the questions asked by songs - "What is love?", "Do you really want to hurt me?", "What's love got to do with it?", "How deep is your love?", "Should I stay or should I go?", "Wouldn't it be nice?", "Wouldn't it be good?", "Can you feel the love tonight?", "Who are you?", "Who let the dogs out?" and "How much is that doggy in the window?" this one is certainly the most philosophical and the least interesting.
Rhiannon, will you ever win?
"Am I a man or am I a Muppet?" (The Muppets, feat. Jim Parsons)
"Who wrote the book of love?"
Do you believe in life after love?
When will we fall down?
Why don't you get a job?
Do you have to let it linger?
How do we sleep while the beds are burning?
Oh say, can you see by the dawn's early light, what so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Man, I love the idea of "popabilly" and wish it was a thing now.
I kinda feel like Panic at the Disco has a hint of this at least in asthetic though, if not in his actual music.
Are we sure this wasn't some Panic! At the Disco side project?
It's a shame Urie was, like, 10 years old at the time
@@Annafyz no, now they can do a time travel music video
i was gonna say something like that
PLEASE DO Bittersweet Symphony By The Verve
PLEASE DO IT, A Great Band and a Great Song
That would be a great episode. So much drama surrounding the sample, and it took FOREVER for the band to be able to make any money off of their biggest hit.
I could have sworn he already had
The Verve are a one-hit wonder in America?
"The Drugs Don't Work" was at least as massive over here (UK), I don't know about America off the top of my head.
@@faeriegraver Nope, we missed that one. You know, as big a name as The Verge are, I would've assumed they were bigger, but no - only the one hit, and it only went to 12. I'm shocked.
I love how colorful and eclectic 90s pop was. Quality of music may vary but at least people were having fun.
This reminds me of The Simpsons episode about Poochie. To quote Roger Myers Jr., “One, Jimmy Ray needs to be louder, angrier, and have access to a time machine. Two, whenever Jimmy Ray’s not onscreen, all the other characters should be asking 'Where's Jimmy Ray?' ”
Actually, it was Homer who said that, not Roger Meyers Jr
Billy Ray looks like if Space Dandy tried to launch a music career.
Jimmy ray
I’d say Alvin Stardust, but no one needs to remember him.
He's leaner, he's meaner, now he works as a cleaner
As a British person who listened to music in the 90's, I can honestly say I do not remember this song at all.
Shampoo on the other hand, that song was awesome.
Hey Todd, if you read your comments. What about a Drinking in LA by Bran Van 3000 as a One Hit Wonderland?
I’d go for that.
They played the video quite often on German music television. XD
And yeah, "Drinking in L.A.', awesome, awesome song!
why does he look like the lovechild of Danny Zuko and Brendon Urie?
That is exactly what he looks like
Best comment
Technically Brendon Urie is his love child.
I feel bad for Jimmy Ray because if his record label didn't try to push him to be a pop idol and he had more creative control, he could have been a cult figure like Marshall Crenshaw.
However, instead of becoming his generation's Gene Vincent, Jimmy Ray became his generation's Olly Murs.
Same
And the weird thing is I can totally hear that snotty 50s rockabilly yelp in his singing and a few of the references he makes like Link Wray are great 50s deep cuts. If you took out the weird 90s dancehall production and put Scotty Moore guitar stings in there it would be a derivative but convincing homage to music of the era.
Awake at 4am? Questioning all the craziness of the world? Finally getting round to that pile of dishes? Thank goodness for Todd's odd upload schedule!
I was twelve when this dropped, and in the 20 some years since I'd convinced myself that it was a figment of my imagination. Thanks Todd for awakening this unholy earworm.
Jimmy Ray, you are the man. You're invited to my house for a pizza party next weekend.
Hi!
Are you Jimmy Ray?
~_~
@@duffman18 and he looks like he wants to fight the man, not be the man
How can you be certain it really IS Jimmy Ray coming by for pizza, and not, say... Stingray?
You know it's pretty bad when I literally lived the entire decade of the 90's and I have no utter clue who the hell this is.
The way Todd describes people remembering this hit, as a "half-memory" that we vaguely remember due to it's eccentric, catchy sound is EXACTLY how I remembered it until I looked it up a few years ago. Must have heard it a handful of times at the most, but the catchy nature of the chorus and the combination of a wonderful late 90s childhood and the draining fatigue of life since those times have made sure the Nostalgia kept some parts of it alive in my mind for nearly 2 decades.
It's rare for Todd to review a British artist who was a one-hit wonder in the US *and* in his home country.
If he really wants to get under the skin of his UK viewers, he should do "Never Ever" by All Saints. That group was (and maybe still is) absolutely gigantic in Britain but it was their only major hit in the US. ("I Know Where It's At," which actually came out first, barely sneaked into the top 40.)
I saw this and I said "I remember that song!"
The closest we've had to bringing fifties music back is all us Fallout fans.
That tracks--I made a chronological '50s playlist on RUclips last year, and a LOT of times, if there were younger people commenting on a song? They knew it from Fallout. Same with a lot of early '60s stuff too.
(I say "younger people", like I wasn't born yet then either...) And then of course with Fallout '76, one '70s song became the biggest damn meme ever for the WRONG reasons...
@@robinchesterfield42 What was the '70s song that became a meme? I've been OotL
@@amphioxusanniversary Take Me Home Country Roads by John Denver, probably.
@@robinchesterfield42 Yeah I made my own playlists too.Well it didn't bring it back per se but turned a lot of younger people on to it.
@@theserpentslair8072 Huh. I knew that song was meme-adjacent, but never associated it with Fallout. Learn something new!
So glad you mentioned VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the 90s. I loved watching that doc back when I used to watch VH1. I'm trying really hard to find it online and found some videos of it here but always with some listings missing. I wish VH1 streamed it somewhere I wouldn't mind paying. In fact, I got introduced to a lot of hit songs through that program.
We had pop singers visit my high school since it had a radio station. Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Prince. The one I remember from the time I was attending high school was Jimmy Ray. His song just became a hit and one of the students got to interview him! I don't know if is online but it would be fun to listen to again! My High School is Nathan Hale in Seattle. You can watch of news report on the radio station by searching his on RUclips: KIRO-TV news report on KNHC Radio C89.5 - June 1997
Another song from the 90's that I vividly remember being a hit and loving as a kid, but NOBODY else seems to remember.
so... todd...
when are we getting our mambo no 5 episode 👀
screw that, when are we getting DOG POLICE?!?!
I have literally never heard this song until just now, and I was an adult in the 90s. Allegedly.
LFO - Summer Girls
make it happen toddmeister
Their lead singer was allegedly molested by Lou Pearlman and then died of cancer. It would be the saddest OHW video ever.
@@zombiedodge1426 yikes 😬
@@zombiedodge1426 2 of the band members died of cancer if I remember correctly.
This song feels weirdly similar to *The Man* by The KiIIers.
Anyone remember that one?
Yeah a bit..it was..a song?
Remember? That's a damn good song
Saw that wonderful album in the bargain bin yesterday.... So no.. i haven't heard that song.
I love that song. I was practicing it for karaoke until this whole pandemic thing happened.
@@barringtonwomble4713 it's actually a goof album. Don't think they've put out a bad album.
I don't know if it's just me, but it seems to me that this video is making this song popular again.
I remember hearing this everywhere and thought this song was much bigger than it was in reality.
But I looked it up and the song only peaked at number 84 over here.
“No, this is Patrick!”
Hello Patrick!
This is Dog!
He looks like if Elvis Costello tried to be Elvis Presley.
I never heard this song before, but it perfectly matches the 90s lol
Looks like a warped version of Mick Jones from The Clash.
I'm one of those people that not only remembers this song but I actually had the CD single for it!!
Around that time in early '98, when MTV was still playing music videos every now and then, they had a show on five afternoons a week called "12 Angry Viewers" where 12 random people would watch three new music videos and vote for their favorite that day. On Friday, the four winning videos would go head to head against each other and the final winner would be placed in MTV's rotation. "Are You Jimmy Ray?" not only won the day was on but also on the grand Friday finale!! I remember one of the "judges" stating "I don't get it, I don't understand it, but I can't get it out of my head!!"
That's such an awesome concept. MTV used to be pretty cool. Thanks for sharing. 🤙
Todd I’m telling you right now that I was in my mid-20s when this was released. I’m a musician. A music nerd. You name it. And, I BARELY remember this song. That said..., it’s a helluva’ ear worm. Lol. Ugh... You should truly cover “Valley Girl,” by Moon Unit Zappa. So much to talk about with regard to her father.
With some OHWs, I would see the title and think, "I don't know this song." But then I hear the song play and then think, "Oh, yeah! I do know this song!"
For the first time in my life, that second part didn't happen.
Thank you for this episode. I thought I was the only person who remembered this song.
>Pioneer Saloon flashes onscreen for a split second
"Howdy, what can Easy Pete do for you?"
The question is, can we convince Brendon Urie to do a cover of this song by his doppelganger?
Never did I think I would see a real life Josuke, but here we are
I remember hearing it in the 90s here in England on the radio. I'd forgotten all about it
Ready to realize I DO know the song he's talking about it as soon as it starts playing
I never heard this song before, but I too wouldn't mind living in the universe where Jimmy Ray was a big star.
Okay, are we sure this isn’t the ageless, vampiric form of Brendan Urie?
Especially after hearing “Going to Vegas.” That shit sounds like it came straight off a latter era Panic album.
I was definitely old enough to be aware of music when this came out and I do not remember this at all.
...The song's okay. It's no "Steal My Sunshine," though. The follow-up reminds me of something Tom Jones might've released in 1999.
That one definitely deserves an episode!
@@archimmes A one-hit wonder that samples another one-hit wonder!
i never heard of this song until now
So many songs/artists I wanna see you explore!
Somebody I used to know
You're the Voice
... Pretty much any ska hit.
Love this show!
I remember listening to this song while I was living in Boston. I would listen to it all the time and I can never forgot this song 🎵 🎶
I was born in 1981, grew up in the 90’s, and absorbed tons of obscure 90’s hits and had never heard of this song or artist until this episode.
"I'm Here, Bitch" singles are rare? That's like half the hip-hop songs ever written!
he's british? i wouldnt have guessed that. i did remember the song once i heard it not from the name though.
He's gotta be British to be that Rockabilly, a real American would have realized that belt buckle was too big XD
The phrase “Jimmy Ray fansite that operated up until the day GeoCities closed down” is really melancholic to me
This jam actually kinda holds up. I could totally see it becoming a tiktok trend lol
TBH Jimmy Ray was the precursor of Fitz and the Tantrums.
And Panic! At The Disco.
Todd: uploads in a consistent schedule
Me: That's another one for the apocalypse bingo!
I loved this programmed drum beats with guitar sound from this era - Christina had a great song that echoed the sound in 2012 with Red Hot Kinda Love, which was produced by Lucas With The Lid Off, whose 90s hit song also had this sound. Imani’s Legend of a Cowgirl also had that sound.
I only remember the video getting a ton of play on MTV for like a month and a half. That was the ephemeral state of things on MTV at that time. Shit would be played every hour, then disappear without warning. I don't know if they were trying to create hits or if they were just trying to fill broadcast time.
Title, nothing. Intro piano, nothing. "Are you", Hey I know that song!
I remember coming across this song a few times on an internet radio station probably in the early to mid-2000s (I'm guessing it was a '90s-themed station) and being slightly perplexed by it. I'm pretty sure I've never come across it elsewhere, and I haven't really thought of it since, but I haven't forgotten it either.
Jimmy Ray is just a character from Jojo's manga come to life
This is probably a bad time to mention that I made a JoJo fan character for a LARP I’m a part of named after Jimmy Ray.
would like to request "Steal my Sunshine" - Len
Never heard this song but I 100% love it, regardless of how little sense it makes
BLIND MELON’S “NO RAIN”!!!
Suggestion for this series that I'm pretty surprised hasn't been made yet is Rick Astley
I was 18 when this song came out and I've never heard this before.
Jimmy Ray looks like that one guy from the Disney movie, “Geek Charming”
Kind of appropriate that a Cornershop reference would appear in this. I never even heard of Jimmy Ray let alone that song, but "Brimful of Asha" was played a lot back then, and I doubt anyone remembers Cornershop (I actually bought their album but I don't remember any of the other songs).
Is anybody here aware of the fact that Shakin’ Stevens was the single most successful male solo singer on the U.K. Charts in the 80’s?
Who? I'm American.
@@vita1ogy. The guy who did Merry Christmas Everyone and The Green Door, of course. Tbf, he doesn't get much radio play in the UK either.
I'm so glad this video exists. For years I thought this song was some weird figment of my imagination.
The things I learned:
1) Jimmy Ray exists
2) That's all anybody knows
This was a banger I was just listening to this recently.
I have been waiting for Jimmy Ray on One Hit Wonderland
I thought I imagined this song for years and couldn't find it because I'd misremembered it as Johnny Ray.
Keep Your Hands To Yourself- Georgia Satellites
Usually I have at least some recollection or knowledge of these one hit wonders... but I don't remember ever hearing this song at all
"Poor old Jimmy Ray, sounded sad upon the radio..."?
I just thought of the song randomly after so many years, and you just happen to make an episode about it.
You ever gonna do "Sex and Candy" by Marcy Playground?
One of the few for One hit Wonderland that I don't remember, and I grew up in the 90s. Interesting.
I do hope that one day you might do It's a Beautiful Day's "White Bird" for the show. I mean, it didn't even crack the top 100, but it does get radio play, the only song of theirs to truly do so. So it's more a situation of where they were a one hit wonder on their own genre's charts (rather than the overall pop charts like most one hit wonders are).
Speaking of one-hit wonders of artists naming themselves in songs: "Jim Dandy (to the Rescue)" - Black Oak Arkansas
Jimmy Ray looks like somebody gave Brendon Urie an Elvis costume and then put him through a taffy puller.
Then how does he look more Costello than Presley?
Exactly what I thought
@@georgegrenvillethe7thpm176 Nextralife never specified which Elvis..........
Taffy Puller!
that’s exactly it, you hit the nail on the head
The weird 50s-homage-except-not-at-all aesthetic reminds me of another bygone Jimmy: Jimmy Neutron
This is based as fuck
Gotta blast
Skeet did nothing wrong
Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Neutron.
Or another: Charlie Sexton.
"There was just no market for a teen idol British hip-hop Elvis" and _that's_ how I know we're in the wrong timeline
As if we don’t have...ANY amount of other proof.
@@theoneandonlymichaelmccormick actually yeah this is it. Everything else is totally on track
@@theoneandonlymichaelmccormick.
Are you Michael McCormick?
@@TotoDG Who wants to know?
"The guy behind the Spice Girls tries to make a new Elvis" sounds like something out of a fever dream.
They always ask "Are you Jimmy Ray?" but never *"How* are you Jimmy Ray?"
Woah
But how can they ask that, if they don't confirm that you are Jimmy Ray first?
That would just be impolite
I'll do you one better, *WHY* is Jimmy Ray?
He keeps asking who wants to know, but never WHY anyone wants to know.
Did he ever think about that?
No, he only thinks about himself. :P
I got a good idea for a next one hit wonder:Hot Hot Hot by Arrow
It sounds like the intro-theme to a shitcanned Nickelodeon Show that never made it past its pilot
Wow that's a great analogy. I wonder if the producer tried to sell this song to Nickelodeon.
The intro to "Gibby: The Show"
@@basedkhajiitdon't you DARE knock down GIBBY!
Todd: so he wanted to be Elvis
Jimmy Ray: I wanted to be Jane Goodall
Todd: you wanted to be ELVIS dammit
Jimmy Ray: but the chimps-
Todd: NO
he really wanted to be the 4th most famous jane that worked with chimps.
I want this song to just keep going and going and going with the rhymes.
"Are you Marvin Gaye?"
"Are you Michael Bay?"
"Are you Tony Jay?"
"Are you Mary Kay?"
I think you win for best comment!
“You use Ben Gay?”
"Are you Mary J?"
"Are you Charlie Day?"
Are you Billy Ray?
"Are you Doris Day?"
"Are you Gerard Way?"
This is a man who doesn't have a pencil moustache but really should
how can you tell, he is always in the shadows
@@JeremyForTheWini think he meant jimmy ray. Maybe.
Man, I'm glad you mentioned "Who Wants to Know", because that's honestly a pretty good song. The thing that's interesting about it is that even though the lyrics are mostly the same as "Are You Jimmy Ray", the tone of the song feels very different. It feels way less braggadocios and more like he's leaning into the irony of singing "who wants to know about me?" when he's kind of a nobody now.
There's a part near the end where he goes "Stingray, Link Wray, it's all the same to me / Fay Wray, Johnnie Ray, be who you wanna be" which I really like, because in the original song those names are basically just nonsense rhymes, but here it's more like he doesn't even care if you get his name wrong as long as you're acknowledging that he exists. It's basically a song about him being a one-hit wonder, while also being *a cover of the song that made him a one-hit wonder*. There's something very fun about that.
That's a really good analysis. As far as meta-songs about one's big hit goes it's a lot less morose than I Took A Pill In Ibiza and a lot less bitter than My Iron Lung
I feel bad for him, it looks like he really wanted to be rockabilly but got squished into a certain mold by the company
The whole 2017 record is definitely worth checking out. It's very quirky and catchy.
@DestinyKiller Given that he was in a techno duo before he made his solo debut, I think he's always had diverse tastes. He does say in his LinkedIn article from 2016 that he felt like too much of his stylistic direction was determined for him, but he probably allowed it to happen because he was up for anything. Like Todd said, he didn't realize that "Are You Jimmy Ray" would be the single. He only regretted it when he realized that it would be.
He looks like he'd be an enemy racer in a Speed Racer sequel
Except he gets a redemption arc.
He could play Snake Oiler.
He looks like Brendon Urie.
He looks like Josuke from Jojo
In car 13 is Jimmy Ray in the Sting Ray Special
Jimmy ray walked so brenden urie could run
First thing I thought of when I looked at him. Hell, Brendan Urie is also all about old-time rock and roll and Vegas.
Yeah they're very similar looking and sounding.
I was gonna say! Especially with that Vegas song. Got the look and the sound/personality
@@SuperJNG18 Brendon Urie, old time ROCK N' ROLL?!?!?! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 THAT couldn't be ANY further from the truth.
@@InkAndPoet What do you mean? He loves classic rock. He covers Billy Joel and Kansas.
Anybody else think this sounds like the backstory of a character who would die in a David Lynch movie?
Ohmigod. Yes!
There's a dream sequence where he's the caretaker of a troop of miniature stop-motion chimps who reenact random moments from his childhood. And they're all wearing smoking jackets.
I'd watch that
This guy is literally Dean Stockwell in Blue Velvet. "Suave! You are so fucking suave!"
Funny you say that, I’m getting James from Twin Peaks vibes from this guy.
Except, sadly, James from Twin Peaks did not die.
I love how Todd is consistent during a world virus and riots. Like this is the only time Todd consistent ever.
I mean, when you're stuck at home all the time...
He must be behind it all.
@@Mia-W2 All for us!😅😜
For us it's a lockdown, for him it's was Tuesday.
you truly know the world is over when Todd is consistent
Brendon Urie stole this man's look so hard
Facts.
Jimmy Ray stole a guy named Charlie Sexton's look. Look up "Beat's So Lonely", by Sexton in 1989(?)
Honestly, he kinda SOUNDS like Jimmy Ray too.
In fact...
TODD!
I KNOW WHERE JIMMY RAY IS!
Brendon Urie was more Morrissey, with his jackets and glasses
YES I AM SO HAPPY YOU'RE DOING THIS ONE
A while back I went through the 90s year end hot 100 lists and came across this song. I was actively listening to pop music during this time period and had no recollection of this guy or this song. I really really hoped you'd cover it because I wanted to know who the hell IS Jimmy Ray and why don't I remember him?? Why is his only song echoing this sentiment??
I didn't expect to find you here. What a pleasant surprise. 😊
Christ, this is like seeing your teacher outside of school.
I dontremember