Short People Got No Reason

One of my earliest memories, and most vivid, is seeing Mr. Randy Newman perform 'Short People' on Saturday Night Live in 1978. It was my parents favorite tv show, and really the only thing besides sports my Dad would watch so I always stayed up with them to watch too. I must have gone crazy for the song because my Mother bought me the lp the song is on, 'Little Criminals'. It and the Star Wars soundtrack didn't leave my record player in my room for years after that, and I firmly believe it was exposure to that album that spurned the pure passion for music I have today. No doubt, it helped create my near fetishist love of keyboards and pianos. I still love Randy today, and have an Ipod full of his music. He has always been in my top 5 list of people I want to see perform live. And last night, that dream came true. It was just Randy, his piano, a nearly 40 year long song archive for him to choose from, and Tellulah and I about 12 feet away. It was not only one of the best concerts I've ever seen, but I'll list it as the funniest. The man is known for his sense of humour, and he fills the spaces inbetween songs with stories and anecdotes about his career and life. It was great. My favorite thing he talked about; how upset he was that a beautiful ballad he wrote for Toy Story was never used when Pixar decided to cut the love scene between Buzz and Woody. Hilarious! And besides, how can I not like the man who co-wrote 'Three Amigos' and was the voice of the Singing Bush!