The world of streaming music is a bizarre and fascinating place. All of the songs you could ever want to hear are available at a moment’s notice. Not only that, but you can listen to them anywhere you have your phone or computer. I have spent countless hours exploring new artists and groups on Spotify. It’s a proverbial rabbit’s hole of limitless entertainment. Some of the things I have found are wonderful, some of them are God-awful. However there is also a third category that transcends both good and bad. The weird stuff. I’m talking like super strange. Every now and then I come across music so bizarre that it defies all sense of reason and logic.
The first time I encountered the Sly Guys was when I was doing a search for the song “Gonna Fly Now” from the original Rocky soundtrack. I teach Yoga and I thought it would be a good addition to a playlist I was making. It’s an inspiring tune with a cool 70’s vibe that works well for group exercise.I also figured it might elicit a few smiles from any Rocky fans in the audience. It never hurts to inject a little humor into the class. When my search results came up, I saw the song from the original movie soundtrack at the top. However right under that was another, more curious version of the song. It was from a band called The Sly Guys. What caught my attention was their album cover. It featured a computerized version of Rocky Balboa that I think was inspired by a nintendo game. Intrigued, I clicked on the link.
I was transported to the Spotify home page for the Sly Guys. Once I arrived, I immediately noticed that all of their songs were covers from Sylvester Stallone movie soundtracks. I’m not joking. Every single song in their entire musical catalog was a cover of something that once appeared in a Stallone movie. Not only that, but they seemed to span his entire theatrical career, including some absolutely bizarre additions. Obviously all of the “Rocky” movies were well represented. There were also a few songs from “Rambo.” A couple tunes from the arm-wrestling “Over the Top made the cut. Then it got kind of bizarre. There were songs from “The Expendables,” the theme song from “Judge Dredd” was on there, I noticed a song or two from “Cliffhanger” and they even threw in one from “Rhinestone.” In case you have never seen “Rhinestone,” it was the 1984 musical comedy that paired Sylvester Stallone with Dolly Parton. It was about a New York city taxi cab driver learning to be a country music singer. They covered a song from that movie. You cannot possibly get more obscure than that.
It took me a few minutes of listening to the different selections to realize that this was not some elaborate practical joke. This was in fact a legitimate musical act. Their songs were actually well composed renditions. They all sounded quite similar to their original compositions but with a unique flair. It was clear that whoever the Sly Guys were, they took their work seriously. They sang, they played instruments, and they had access to a recording studio. This discovery begged many questions, the most noteworthy one being why? Why would anyone take the time and effort to do this? Why form a cover band dedicated solely to Sylvester Stallone movies? Why take your musical talent and channel it in this direction? What kind of motivation could so inspire these individuals?
Wanting to know more, I clicked on the artist bio link on Spotify. Frustratingly, it came up blank. I then did a google search. The results yielded scant information. All I could find were the song listings on different streaming music sites. There was absolutely zero background information whatsoever on this band. It was like they were ghosts. I couldn’t find out where they were from, or who they were. There was no tour schedule and no merchandise for sale. It’s like they formed a group, created all of this music, put it on Spotify, and then disappeared from the face of the Earth.
I’m not sure if I will ever unravel the mystery behind the Sly Guys. Maybe it is better left unknown? Perhaps there are things on this earth that are beyond human understanding. Whatever the case may be, I’m just glad that I live in a world with such a diverse array of music. Whoever the Sly Guys are, I tip my cap to you gentlemen. I hope that Sylvester Stallone keeps making movies, and that you guys keep covering the soundtracks. Everyone should follow their musical dreams, no matter how bizarre they might be.
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