Saturday, February 11, 2012

Zuma Dogg Tribute To Whitney Houston ["I Will Always Love You," A Song He Will Be FOREVER PIGEON-HOLED For Singing In The Library on Cable TV."]

I was working for a New York City Top-40 radio station, when Whitney Houston's, "I Will Always Love You," was released. From that point on, for the 18 months, I was forced to endure the song, 13 times a day, on the station's in-house PA system, that was piped through the station, at all times. It kinda permeated my brain, to the point of forever indelibility. One night, when I was forced to sing karaoke, for the first time, due to social pressure, about seven years before the creation of "Zuma Dogg," I chose to sing, "I Will Always Love You," IN THE STYLE OF WHITNEY, to PUNISH the people who were forcing me to sing, as a pre-ZD, smart-aleck, passive aggressive tactic. BUT, when I walked off the stage, everyone liked it, cause it was in pitch. I noticed the PIERCING quality it has, so when I started to rabble-rouse, on camera, as "Zuma Dogg," it was the PERFECT song to cut through any occasion. A "7th Heaven" TV shoot in Venice is always a nice time for a round of "I Will Always," and ask, "Does anyone like Whitney Houston," JUST as cameras are rolling: NOTHING tops singing, full-blast, in the LIBRARY: AND THEN, there's even the time I thought I was signing it with Whitney, herself. Till I realized it was with, "himself." Gotta give shout-outs to my vocal amigos Steve Perry and Barry Gibb, who have made the past decade of ZD a BLAST! But my first and most recognized indelible love is WHITNEY'S rendition of a Dolly Parton classic. And now, Zuma Dogg pigeon holes himself, once again, with the song that UNLEASHED the Zuma Dogg persona and LAUNCHED Zuma Dogg into the consciousness of L.A. and abroad (on YouTube), and maybe the perfect way to call it a day: