Someone added almost 50 extra wolf whistles to Steve Miller's 'The Joker,' and it's hilarious

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Steve Miller will break out his many rock hits when he plays a free concert outside Lambeau Field at 7:30 p.m. Saturday as part of the Packers' 100 Seasons. And heck yeah, he's sticking around for the Packers-Bears game the next night.

Forget more cowbell.

Let's hear it for more wolf whistle.

It's the signature sound on Steve Miller Band's 1973 rock classic "The Joker."

"Some people call me Maurice," the Milwaukee-born Rock and Roll Hall of Famer famously coos, followed by that "wah wah" wolf whistle.

Now imagine hearing that signature sound after every single line in the song.

Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.

Matthew McVickar, a music fan and web developer in Portland, Oregon, made it happen, posting a version of "The Joker" on his YouTube page Sunday with a whole lot of wolf whistles.

For those that dare to listen and lose count, there are 49 in total. It's ridiculous, and pretty hilarious too. (Although there's no word yet if Miller himself finds it amusing.)

But aside from giving people a laugh, McVickar is asking viewers to donate $4.90, $14.90 or $49 to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the Advancement Project or bail funds for people protesting for racial equality.

In an email, McVickar said he had the idea to make this version of "The Joker" a few years ago, but just got around to posting it. He said he was inspired in part by "absurdist song remixes that are popular in my corner of the internet," including a version of Smash Mouth's "All Star" where every lyric is replaced by the opening word, "Somebody."

"There’s a ton of humor in a ridiculous thing repeating ad nauseam, not knowing when or how many times it’s going to happen again," McVickar wrote. "The placement of the wolf-whistle in the original song seems so arbitrary (why after 'Maurice?'), so I thought, well, why couldn’t it just go after every line in the song?"

McVickar's treatment had been viewed more than 40,000 times on YouTube as of Wednesday afternoon, and the YouTube comments are nearly as amusing as the video itself.

"Insane … and brilliant at the same time!" posted YouTube user MamboSons.

"This is the best thing on YouTube," wrote YouTube user TheStudioDrummer. "P.S. I almost choked on my apple."

And Justin Major commented, "When our dark and desperate world needed one the most, a hero steps forward."

"I’m really, really happy that this has made so many people laugh," McVickar said.

Contact Piet at (414) 223-5162 or plevy@journalsentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter at @pietlevy or Facebook at facebook.com/PietLevyMJS.

Piet also talks concerts, local music and more on "TAP'd In" with Jordan Lee. Hear it at 8 a.m. Thursdays on WYMS-FM (88.9), or wherever you get your podcasts.