Yesterday Beck announced that he had been "recording some tracks" with country singer Dwight Yoakam. And yeah, we guess we could kind of see that, as Beck has run the gamut of styles during his career, touching on hip-hop, electronic, folk, and mariachi.
But, even though it makes sense when one really thinks about it, the collaboration is still -- on paper at least -- a bit strange. So while we're still waiting to see how these tracks come out we decided we ponder some of the odder musical partnerships we could remember.
Hit the jump to see what we came up with.
Weezer & Kenny G - "I'm Your Daddy"
David Bowie & Mick Jagger - "Dancing in the Streets"
The only thing more awkward than the pair's prancing in this video are the persistent rumors that Bowie's ex-wife once caught them in bed together. (See also: Bowie and NIN, Bowie and Bing Crosby)
James Brown & Luciano Pavarotti - "It's a Man's World"
By far the weirdest collaboration Pavarotti ever did at one of his annual 'Pavarotti & Friends' concerts was when he teamed up with the Godfather of Soul in 2002. Oddly it somehow kinda worked. Kinda.
Paul McCartney & Stevie Wonder - "Ebony and Ivory"
A few years back BBC listeners ranked this pro-diversity anthem as the worst duet ever. And really, who could blame them? (See also: McCartney and Michael Jackson)
Eminem & Elton John - "Stan"
Although the two have long since become friends, the duet between John, the legendary gay icon, and Eminem at the 2001 Grammys couldn't have seemed unlikely. The rapper, if you remember, was coming under heavy fire at the time for anti-gay lyrics.
Willie Nelson & Snoop Dogg - "Superman"
Toby Keith may vowed to never smoke weed with Willie again, but Snoop has proved himself more than up for the task. The only question we have is how much more would they have had to smoke before Willie would have tried to freestyle a verse? (See also: Willie and Wyclef Jean)
Timbaland & Chris Cornell - "Part of Me"
Even from Timbaland, a dude who has made a career out of odd collabos the album he did with Chris Cornell has to be the worst thing either of them ever did. When we saw Cornell Jesus Christ posing back in the day we never expected he'd one day appear in a video where he walked through a dance club singing 'That bitch ain't a part of me'. (See also: Timbaland and The Hives)
Reba McEntire & Justin Timberlake - "The Only Promise Remains"
Embedding is disabled on Youtube, so hit the link here.
They sing, they act, they participate in extremely ill-advised duets. Is there anything these two can't do?
Nelly & Tim McGraw - "Over and Over"
We're starting to notice a trend here; maybe country/rap crossovers aren't such a great idea aferall.
Michael McDonald & Grizzly Bear - "While You Wait For The Others"
No matter how crazy a pairing sounds on paper when it is also as tastefully/perfectly executed as this one there is no better way to generate buzz for music on the web these days --Rebecca Black, of course, being the exception to this rule. (See also: McDonald and Holy Ghost)
Ted Nugent & Meat Loaf - "Together"
When Derek St. Holmes quit Nugent's band during the making of Free For All the then unknown young singer Meat Loaf was brought in to sing the remaining half of the album. A year later Bat Out of Hell would come out and change everything making this collaboration slightly weirder. But really, when we think about it, the 'I Can Barely Fit My Dick in My Pants' front man and the 'When In Doubt I Whip It Out' guitarist have more in common than we realized.
DMX & Marilyn Manson - "The Omen"
This uber-strange combination came about for a song where DMX is dying and begins having a conversation with the devil. On the other hand we could think of very few artists more fitting to play the part of Satan than Mason. (See also: Manson and Eminem)
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss - Gone Gone Gone Further proving that not all bizarre pairings are necessarily a terrible idea. Plant and Krauss were so successful at it, even, as they earned the Album of the Year Grammy in 2009 for their collaboration album Raising Sand.
Natalie Cole & Nat King Cole - "Unforgettable"
Few gimmicks in collaboration history are as tawdry and cringe-inducing as those digitally-manufactured duets with the deceased. And the most egregious example of this is Cole who's duet with her long dead father has been called everything from tasteless and unnecessary to downright creepy. (See also: Hank Williams Jr and Sr)
Beavis & Butthead & Cher - "I Got You Babe"
Somehow even singing lines like "You got me and Butthead I got you" to a cartoon character still aren't the weirdest version of this song. That distinction is held by Tiny Tim who did it as a duet with himself on his debut album. (See also: Ozzy and Miss Piggy)
