12. Randy NewmanLittle Criminals
Both Maxwell Kardon and I were really into ‘Short People’, it’s just a weird hit that’s skewering racism and I think also one of those funny hits that are misunderstood. It might be banned by certain radio stations for being offensive because people just didn’t get it. It’s sort of like Ronald Reagan used ‘Born In The USA’ as his anthem [but] Bruce Springsteen’s like, "I hate you!" Just the idea of that song being banned is so funny to me. We were inspired by the production and arrangements of the songs. There’s the song ‘Baltimore’ that Nina Simone also does a cover of, but I think I prefer the Randy Newman original. It was a big sonic touchstone for us, as far as the drum sound on the songs that we rip off, on ‘Fathers And Brothers’ at the end, that sort of piano part that we pretty much stole from ‘Baltimore’ and the Little Criminals album. I like the fact this guy was an off-kilter songwriter and was definitely not afraid to make a song that had a historical context and call it a pop song.
