More like Entire Career of Heartwarming. Scatman John's success story is one of the most inspirational of the 90s.
- "Scatman (Ski Ba Bop Ba Dop Bop)" could be considered one in and of itself. It's a song for anyone out there who has a handicap of any sort, telling them that they can still succeed just as much as anybody else. Aww.
- According to rumors, he wrote "Su Su Su Super Kirei"
about his wife. As in, the one where he's singing about how beautiful someone is. - A must-watch for fans: his speech at the National Stuttering Project Convention in 1995, in which he talks about his long road to stardom, and his drug problem that nearly killed him. It's hard not to marvel at what a charming, warm-hearted individual the Scatman is despite it all. He even cracks a few jokes!John Larkin: [laughing] I've been asked to be your keynote speaker! Hope you've got a few hours!
- His utterly insane fan support in Japan. Sure, it's easy to joke about how weird Japan is, but they took an offbeat American novelty, a guy making something new out of a disability he struggled with for his whole life, and made him a legend. He appeared in commercials, got plush dolls made of him, and cans of Coke were modeled after him. At 1.56 million copies sold, Scatman's World is still one of the highest-selling foreign albums in the country's history - the Eagles don't even sell like that over there. Here he is in Japan accepting a New Artist of the Year award, and he looks utterly elated to be there. The Scatman gave that love right back, with exclusive Japanese tracks on subsequent albums. Including the aforementioned "Su Su Su Super Kirei".
- His career as "the Scatman" was, tragically, not long-lived - for almost his entire life, he was a moderately-successful jazz pianist with a stutter he was greatly embarrassed by. However, after five years of international success and fun as the Scatman, when he learned his death was inevitable, he held no regrets:"Whatever God wants is fine by me... I've had the very best life. I have tasted beauty."
