ReMix:The Adventures of Bayou Billy "El Lagarto" 4:37

By Evil Horde

Arranging the music of 2 songs...

"BGM A", "BGM B"

Primary Game: The Adventures of Bayou Billy (Konami , 1989, NES), music by Hidenori Maezawa, Kyouhei Sada, Tsutomu Ogura

Posted 2008-12-26, evaluated by djpretzel


One can only wonder whether Konami's decision to localize "Mad City" into "The Adventures of Bayou Billy" actually helped sales; I for one never really connected with or completely bought the protagonist's supposed Cajun/Creole street cred. Wiki informs me that there are uncomfortable similarities between the game's plot/original boxart and Crocodile Dundee II, which makes me cringe with unfortunate memories of Paul Hogan. One thing we can all agree on, however, is that the game's soundtrack was all sorts of badass. EGM just ran an awesome feature on Maezawa in their latest issue, and while it never became a real franchise, the game still has a place in the hearts of VGM fans as one of Konami's classics. Evil Horde's hooking us up with our first ReMix since Mazedude's classic 'Trippin' on Alligators' back in 2002. Janne writes:

"Here is my Adventures of Bayou Billy remix. About six months ago I listened to good old NES tunes and the funky guitar and the "muy caliente" chorus in Bayou Billy's soundtrack just blew me away. I needed to remix this, badly. The ending result is somewhere in the fields of 70´s latin-esque-funk/disco. I came up with this latin piano vibe and the rest followed that - hence the name "El Lagarto" which is the spanish word for lizard. The word alligator is an anglicization of el lagarto. How convenient.

The remix has two songs from the Bayou Billy soundtrack. The main vibe is from the first stage. I tried to find out what the second song is, but I couldn't get past the first stage to check it out because the game is so FREAKING DIFFICULT. But I believe it is the second stage theme."

Wiki also informed me that Bayou Billy was supposedly the only game even Captain N himself couldn't conquer; respect. In a completely irrelevant sidenote, I also ran across Bayou Billy's Homemade Soda Pop while googling. No relation. So I'm glad we're getting this one out in 2008 because it adds a last dash of flavor to an awesome year. EH has taken a completely different direction with his mixing, here, going way out on a limb with brass, wah, Latin flava aplenty, and mucho creativity in the arrangement department. Oh and a freakin' delicious, funky bass that drips fat-filled character. Awesome piano slides, inspired percussion, some of the best ensemble brass writing on OCR, and just a heapin' helpin' of pure gusto. Reminds me VERY much of Santa Esmeralda, visually of the Thurman-Liu Kill Bill showdown with an instrumental version of 'Misunderstood' playing. Towards the end the sheer number of instruments firing at the same time is almost overpowering, but that's basically the idea.

This is a badass, eye/ear-opening ReMix; Evil Horde's prior mixes are rock-solid-and-then-some, but for me this one's groundbreaking, very unique on OCR, and pushes the artist's compositional arsenal out into a whole new expanse of possibilities. It's the type of thing I absolutely love to see, I can't wait to see what else he has up his sleeves for 2009, and it's just in time for any VGM-theme NYE parties that want a hottastical latin/disco jam on their playlists. Also, RAD TIMBALE LICKS. Major props - absolutely inspired ReMix.

djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
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Black_Doom
on 2015-02-05 11:47:11

HOLY CRAP! Mind = blown. There's so many brass and funky guitars and various percussive elements, that I can't restrain myself from any movements while listening to this mix - it makes my body move. It's so awesome.

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kitty
on 2013-11-03 19:49:56

Dance! Party! If you are holding an event with one or both of those two words in it this song needs to be playing at it. This mix is fun, energetic, and awesome!

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Crulex
on 2013-09-30 10:01:48

Holy shit, the funk just doesn't stop in this ReMix! How did I not see this before!? In any case, I have to give props for the insanely good production and both the clapping and 70's sounding guitar work, which just adds to the spice of the arrangement. So much fun, it's incredible! Hard Latin funk for the win!

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timaeus222
on 2013-09-28 19:16:08

DAMNNNNNNN this is funky!!! Not only that, but it's produced at the quality of 2013's stuff. So worth the listen. GET IT!

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RDX
on 2011-06-22 04:23:29

This song has 3 pages of comments. 3 pages is not enough.

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CasualVader
on 2010-11-28 19:59:01

Great job on this! As a side note does anyone else think this sounds like it could be from the Dragon Ball Z Budokai 2 soundtrack? Sounds like the same style anyway.

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Gherkin
on 2010-10-08 23:32:15
The whole style reminds me of some of the music in the very first GTA game, way back

Yeah, me too. On a slightly related side note, this music was used in Ben Buja's machinima, Red Dead Redemption Bloopers, Glitches And Silly Stuff, here.

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Level 99
on 2010-08-31 07:45:39

Holy. Fucking. Shit.

This popped up on my playlist on shuffle. I had to repeat it at least four or five times to make sure what I was hearing was real. It was.

Mind you, I liked Bayou Billy's music when I first listened to it, but sweet crap I didn't realize anyone had made an arrangement this unbelievably awesome. It comes in almost unassumingly but then BAM! Brass right in your face, with a whole slew of sounds that blend together perfectly. The Latin flavors, the slick guitar, the funky bass, the ridiculous hand percussion and...oh man, this is so good.

Nature of the beast is that I didn't know about it sooner because it was from Bayou Billy, a game which unfortunately I don't seek out arrangements for very often. Glad it eventually made it's way down my waxy earways because this song can be inspiration to anyone to make a mix.

I would encourage you, whether you're familiar with the source or not, to LISTEN TO THIS MASTERPIECE. 99.999% guaranteed to bring a smile to your face.

(Incidentally, I'd love to know what kind of brass you used: whether it was live or sampled, and if sampled, what samples)

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Bip
on 2009-08-11 22:00:43

Right from the get-go this song unapologetically pays homage to the source in a unique fashion that can only come from being taken from Bayou Billy. I always enjoyed the song on the Nintendo when I played this, closely followed by the jeep stage music... which, as a bonus, was also included in this, and the transition was pulled off very nicely. I'm not sure anyone not familiar with the music would be able to tell that it was actually a separate track... it sounds like more of a breakdown. Way to ninja that in there. And great job on the Santana-esque guitars towards the end. Sounded great.

Can't say enough good stuff about this track. It's got a permanent slot on my OCR playlist.

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Polo
on 2009-04-13 04:37:31

This is what the ultimate bayou barbecue sounds like. Billy's spending a day-long truce with his enemies, flippin' burgers, poppin' open fizzy beer bottles, tossin' horseshoes, breakdancing, crackin' jokes, AND battling alligators. Contagious, mind-blowing fun. It's probably due in large part to how the Latin brass and the wah guitar play off one another, blending and countering with blendmelodies and countermelodies alike. Of course, the other instruments (particularly the claps and drums) sound just as hot, even if they're not as prominent.

Superlative work.

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richter
on 2009-02-18 19:49:39

Holy shit this is so much fun! Reminds me of Santa Esm-- oh, David nailed that in the write-up. Fuck, I love that song. And this is terrific too. Amazingly well done!

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MechaFone
on 2009-02-15 12:38:28

This is surprisingly fun to listen to!

It's like there's a party in my pants, and-

...I don't sleep with this remix, whatchu talkn' about?

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42
on 2009-01-17 19:22:22

Heck yeah!

This is awesome.

This pulls everything off everything off superbly.

Very nice :grin:

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EvilHorde
on 2009-01-17 07:14:31
and I really love the castanets (or whatever that is) used throughout the song, e.g. from 0:22 on.

That's actually just basic handclapping. Me and few friends of mine clapped it to a really crappy mic. And it worked out great.

On other news:

Thanks everyone for the great feedback! Really glad you like it.

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Martin Penwald
on 2009-01-16 14:28:41

Absolutely great piece of music. The whole style reminds me of some of the music in the very first GTA game, way back. The wah-wah guitars are great, the overwhelming guitar from 3:30 onwards is even better, and I really love the castanets (or whatever that is) used throughout the song, e.g. from 0:22 on.

Sources Arranged (2 Songs)


Primary Game:
The Adventures of Bayou Billy (Konami , 1989, NES)
Music by Hidenori Maezawa,Kyouhei Sada,Tsutomu Ogura
Songs:
"BGM A"
"BGM B"

Tags (4)


Genre:
Funk,Latin
Mood:
Instrumentation:
Brass,Electric Guitar
Additional:

File Information


Name:
Adventures_of_Bayou_Billy_El_Lagarto_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
5,636,707 bytes
MD5:
3e756fbac753ae88a38319d62c3cd221
Bitrate:
160Kbps
Duration:
4:37

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