The 27th season of “The Simpsons” will have a Pittsburgh soundtrack.
The Clarks' cover of “What A Wonderful World” will be played as the credits roll for the episode titled “Every Man's Dream,” and be heard one other time during the show, which also features an appearance by actress and director Lena Dunham.
“It's really an honor to have your vision right alongside a Tom Petty or Aerosmith song, or anyone else who has been on the show,” says Clarks guitarist Rob James.
The Clarks join an estimable roster of musicians who've made appearances or had music played on the long-running Fox cartoon. In addition to Petty and Aerosmith, Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Lady Gaga, Lenny Kravitz, Katy Perry and Ludacris are all “Simpsons” alums.
James says he and vocalist Scott Blasey, bassist Greg Joseph and drummer Dave Minarik are fans of the show.
“I've seen all the early episodes,” James says. “When we were traveling in our van, JW (tour manager John Williams) would always bring episodes for us to watch, first on videotape, then graduating to DVDs.”
The Clarks' version of “What a Wonderful World” was recorded in 2009 at the request of Pittsburgh Penguins director of events presentation Bill Wareham. A friend of the band, Wareham wanted to use the song during the team's run to the Stanley Cup championship that year.
“We wanted it to be lean and effective,” James says, noting that the song was done at producer Sean McDonald's Red Medicine Recording studio in Swissvale. “We wanted something that announced this as a different version than had ever been done.”
According to Williams, placement of the song on the episode is thanks to the efforts of the band's manager, Rishon Blumberg of Brickwall Management. Blumberg started negotiations with representatives for “The Simpsons” — who wanted to feature “What a Wonderful World” on the show and liked The Clarks' version — over a year ago.
The Clarks have made other high-profile appearances, notably on “The Late Show With David Letterman” in 2004 and during the NHL Winter Classic in Pittsburgh in 2011. “The Simpsons,” James agrees, has the potential to bring more attention to the band than anything the band has done before.
“This is the one (appearance) that may be sort of a landmark,” he says.
But no matter what happens, James is proud to be part of a show with which he feels a kinship.
“I'm a 49-year-old man, and I think I've always related to Homer,” he says. “That's who I laugh at the hardest. I always think to myself what I would do in his situation, and I realize I'm watching a cartoon, but it is social commentary.
“Somehow, Homer always comes through even though he may get there in a roundabout way. He's a screw-up, but, somehow, he always manages to keep his family fed and rolling along. There's always some sense of hope that he has, even if it's pure blissful ignorance, making that living working in a nuclear power plant.”
Rege Behe is a contributing writer for Trib Total Media.
