Chris Kattan: “I’m Not a Sing-along Guy”
Posted Thursday 05/15/2003 1:00 AM in
My Music
by
Edward Helmore
“I think I learned early that there’s an unheard rhythm to physical comedy,” muses Saturday Night Live’s deranged monkey boy and Roxbury disco maniac Chris Kattan, between unintentionally comedic fits of sneezing. “You may not hear it,” he splutters, “but I can hear it my head.”Filed Under:
chris kattan, saturday night live
For Kattan, 31, the music in his head hasn’t stood in the way of a rising career. He’s just finished his sixth season on SNL, and he stars in the new spoof Undercover Brother as villainous Mr. Feather, a madman who plots to turn black people white. (We’re not making this up.)
Even as a tyke, the rubber-faced funnyman showed signs of the kind of ludicrous musical overacting that would become his trademark routine (witness his hilarious solo on a-ha’s “Take on Me” in last year’s Corky Romano). A young Kattan, at a Big Band performance at the Hollywood Bowl with his parents, instinctively began conducting the orchestra. His future as a performer was set.
Since those days, there’s always been plenty of music for Kattan to spoof. Growing up in a granola community northeast of Los Angeles, he was subjected to the hippie music of the era. Later, as a high-schooler in Seattle, he endured terrifying hair bands of the mid-’80s, like Winger.
“Music gives you an identity,” offers the simian star, “but I wasn’t into what everyone else was listening to. I wasn’t a sing-along kind of guy. I’d rather drive alone and listen to one song over and over and think about this one girl.”
Oh, dear. Well, never mind. Let’s take a seat on the sidewalk, crack open a tasty container of chicken lo mein and tuck into Kattan’s lonely lunch of rock…
Trainspotting, Vols. 1 and 2, Original Soundtrack
Capitol, 1996 and 1997
“It’s got great songs, like Iggy Pop’s ‘The Passenger’ and ‘Lust for Life.’ That just makes me want to drive. When I was in school and realized I had a comedian side, I would act out a lot of these songs for girls. Added value, I guess, since I wasn’t a football player.”
U2, The Joshua Tree
Island, 1987
“You go to a U2 concert, and they still look like they’re having fun. The Joshua Tree is probably their best album, and I love the less commercial songs, like ‘Running to Stand Still’ and ‘Exit.’ They’re dramatic and melodic, and they have a tone of spirituality without being too full of shit.”
Sam Cooke, The Man Who Invented Soul
RCA, 2000
“I always come back to Cooke. Everyone knows ‘Sad Mood,’ ‘Cupid’ and ‘Bring It on Home to Me,’ but there’s a song on here called ‘Teenage Sonata.’ It’s incredibly romantic. A couple of weeks ago, I took my girlfriend onto the roof, put my headphones on her, played the song and danced with her.”
The Velvet Underground, 1969: Velvet Underground Live
Mercury, 1974
“They start by saying, ‘Does anyone have to go home tonight? Who goes to school? Can we play really long, then?’ It’s got the best version of ‘Sweet Jane,’ and ‘Heroin’ is great. Whatever was going on, whether they were on heroin, I don’t know, but it sounds amazing.”
The Beatles, Revolver
Capitol, 1966
“The Beatles made Revolver right before they got into the drug stuff. They’re right on the line between getting a little fucked up but not telling you. But then, by the time they get to Magical Mystery Tour, it’s more like, ‘OK, well, we’ve already had an overdose.’ ”
The Rolling Stones, Some Girls
Virgin, 1978
“I love ‘Shattered,’ ‘Miss You’ and especially ‘Beast of Burden.’ For me, that one has to do with a girl, fortunately or unfortunately… another one who got away. It was a song that she loved, so I ended up getting addicted to it.”
David Bowie, The Singles Collection
EMI, 1999
“He’s done so many great songs, from ‘Pretty Things’ to ‘Let’s Dance.’ ‘Jean Genie’ and ‘Suffragette City’ are my favorites. You know what I don’t like? ‘Scary Monsters.’ Sometimes he sounds too much like Katherine Hepburn.”
Polygram, 1999
“Wes Anderson does some of the better compilation soundtracks of songs you’ve forgotten about. This has Cat Stevens’s ‘Here Comes My Baby’ and John Lennon’s ‘Oh Yoko!’ — that’s not even on The Best of John Lennon. I love songs that are really happy.”
Radiohead, OK Computer
Capitol, 1997
“ ‘No Surprises’ is my favorite. They were on Saturday Night Live once, and it was pretty amazing to see them rehearsing just a few feet away. It’s great when your favorite bands come to play. I don’t know who I was more excited about: Radiohead, Natalie Imbruglia or All Saints.”
Love, Forever Changes
Elektra, 1967
“I love that song ‘Alone Again Or’ — it’s crazy. Arthur Lee sings, ‘I think people are the greatest fun.’ He was crazier than even Brian Wilson. On the inside cover of that record, they’re taking themselves very seriously, standing on a mountain — but one of them is wearing nothing but his underwear!”
