Saturday Night Video: It’s Bruno’s World…

My wife and daughter listen to Top 40 pop radio incessantly and so I’m subjected to all of the aural horrors that this entails on a regular basis. But I’m not a total snob and every once in awhile something jumps out at me from that junk that isn’t totally awful. The Police-inspired smash hit single by Bruno Mars, Locked Out of Heaven, is one example.

I like this kid, although I didn’t when he first hit the scene a couple of years ago. The Elvis-meets-Michael-Jackson schtick was a little much as were the sequined gold tuxedos and the pompadours.  But he seems to have grown out of that and his new record ‘Unorthodox Jukebox‘ is actually about the music, not the image or the packaging, from what I’ve heard of it so far.

Side Note: He was absolutely hilarious when he hosted SNL a few weeks back. Also, upon getting arrested at the Hard Rock Hotel for cocaine possession (2 grams) in the fall of 2010, his response was that he was sorry – but he quickly added “I’m not gonna preach that I’m a role model, I’m a f**king musician! But I’ve learned people are watching, so don’t do nothing stupid.” You can tell there was no PR flack in the background coming up with that – I’ll let you decide whether or not that was selfish and careless or a startlingly refreshing dose of honesty.

In the meantime, at this moment, it’s Bruno’s world, he’s just broken a new record.  According to Billboard, Bruno Mars’ hit Locked Out of Heaven has set a record by being the first single to top the Billboard Hot 100, Radio Songs, Digital Songs and On-Demand Songs charts simultaneously.  Now the On-Demand Songs chart just launched in March, obviously necessitated by the huge increase in Spotify listeners and other new formats on the web.

Anyway, here’s a quick video of Bruno in the studio with the producers he cut the record for, backed by the Heaven track – and below, his now-infamous skit on SNL in which he impersonates his pop star peers.

Enjoy!

and…

Get the album on Amazon:

Unorthodox Jukebox