5 Great Covers of Old School Songs

These 5 cover songs – in their original versions – appeared between the 70s and 80s. I can’t say I was a great fan of all the songs in their original form at the time but they’re all classics and I certainly came to appreciate them eventually. Each of the artists in these cover versions brings their own flavour in some way and each cover fulfils my 3 Tenets of Cover Songs (which I’ve made up just now):

1 – Be Original: the Cover Artist must bring something fresh to the original song, whether it be supplanting the song into another genre or casting it in a different light through context, tempo, musical colour, etc.
2 – Have a Point: the Cover Artist has to have a reason to cover the song – and we need to see it, whether it’s simply a love for the original or an outright mock; the remake should make the artist’s intention clear and convince us that they really did have to make a whole new version of an old song.
3 – Respect the Original: “respect” doesn’t mean that the Cover Artist can’t make fun of a song – it just means that they have to know what worked musically and build off it or reference it in some way that makes it clear they’re not just slapping their own music on a more popular song to try and gain some fans. Usually, a Cover Artist is covering a song that’s well known and was once popular to some extent so they should have some degree of respect for the fact that the songwriter knew what they were doing.

I like ‘em all – I hope you like them too! (and thanks for the help fOo!)

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Hungry Like The Wolf

by Incubus

As always, when live, Incubus prove that they’re a cut above many of their rock peers as far as musicianship and performance quality. They take a while to get into the song but it’s worth the wait – this cover is one of my favourites; the live instruments and rock sensibility gives the song a needed edge and Brandon’s voice is a great fit for this synthy pop classic.

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Heart Of Glass

by Lily Allen

Some people hate this version but I think Lily’s cover is great (sorry about the picture slideshow – it was the only video I could find with halfway decent audio). The music changes the feel from the original disco almost back to its original reggae roots – albeit an uptempo, hybrid pop version.

∞ Random Interest Snippet: Blondie originally recorded the song in 1975 as a much slower blues / reggae version before Producer Mike Chapman suggested the disco angle for the 1979 release. After its release the band were lambasted by their peers for supposedly “selling out”.

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Imagine

by A Perfect Circle

Maynard James Keenan (also of Tool) brings his anguished vocal to this Lennon classic – as well as the judgemental, cynical outlook that contributed to “Vicarious” and other Tool staples. In this cover, however, Maynard’s skewed cynicism doesn’t manifest in lyrical poetics – it is present in the dark chord choice and melody, a stylistic decision that adds a twisted air of disillusionment to Lennon’s anthem of hope.

∞ Random Interest Snippet: When the Liverpool airport was named after Lennon, a phrase from the song, “above us only sky”, was painted on the ceiling of the terminal. When commenting on this, the panel of Have I Got News for You joked that the baggage handlers’ motto was taken from the same song: “Imagine no possessions”. – [Wikipedia]

The video ably supplements the gray mood with a barrage of images that throw a stark light on the optimism of the lyrics. Ultimately, I’m not sure whether Maynard is laughing at Lennon’s premise (the baby dolls, ice cream cones and the rugby ball look faintly ridiculous) or calling our attention to the need for it now, more than ever.

Warning: some reasonably graphic images of war from various news programs / documentaries contained herein.

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Send Me An Angel

by Deadstar Assembly

Gotta love the bizarre cartoon video for this pop-metal / goth cover of Real Life’s 80s hit. Love that anime hair! xD The best video for this song has to be the clip from 80s BMX movie RAD, though. And is that a young Lori Loughlin (of Full House fame) performing figure skating type dance moves on a BMX? Why yes, it is.

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Drive

by Strawpeople

And finally, a cover by our very own Strawpeople – NZ’s pop electronica duo (plus vocalist Bic Runga) (the video’s not available on Youtube but it’s not that great a loss as it featured cheap CG ants DJing in a club, from memory… O_o). Strawpeople featured various guest vocalists from NZ’s talent pool – at one time Fiona McDonald (also of the Headless Chickens) sang for them.

This is probably a good time to mention my forthcoming post dedicated to NZ music – it’ll be a good chance to catch up on some great music from our little country for those of you who haven’t heard much of it!

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Honourable Mention

Mullet Inc. cover Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ On A Prayer” and change up the verse lyrics to confess their love for the 80s… (You can watch the full mockumentary of Mullet Inc. here.)

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The Stills channel U2

Canadian art students The Stills evince shades of U2 with their song: “Being Here”, from their latest album, Oceans Will Rise. For an indie rock band they’re sounding remarkably pop : ) (AllMusic describes Oceans Will Rise as “uplifting, anthemic rock”).

∞ Random Interest Snippet: according to rumour, the band recorded a few early tracks on a four track recorder that they bought to help a friend who needed drug money.

I like this live version for its slightly dirtier feel (reminds me of classic practice room syndrome where the song sounds great before you take it to a studio and the Producer flicks the “glam” switch) but you might prefer the recorded version for its clearer production.

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Lonely Soul

Phew… a quick drop today/tonight as it’s 3am and I’ve just finished installing Vista xD Good times!

One reason I’m making the move to Vista is “Assassin’s Creed”. Marketing teams for the AAA games titles are getting savvy with music now (especially after the atypical Gears of War trailer using Gary Jules’ cover of Tears for Fears “Mad World”) and to celebrate my pending elation at being able to play the DirectX 10 version of Assassin’s Creed ; ), here’s a live performance of the track that Ubisoft used at one point to market the game: Unkle’s “Lonely Soul” featuring the vocal talents of The Verve’s Richard Ashcroft.

It was a great choice for the game with its title and its dark air and Ashcroft’s voice fits the bill just nicely.

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5 unusual ethnic vocal styles

I’ve blogged already about the power of the voice as an instrument on its own – although the focus in that post was primarily on percussive styles. This post is about the incredible diversity to be found in expressive vocalisation from different cultures around the world – it’s powerful stuff, man!

I was introduced to a good deal of awesome world music through Peter Gabriel’s Real World label and some of those artists are featured here. (The 2000 compilation: Voices of the Real World is a great place to start if you’re looking for more of the same.)

This press review from New Age Voice (USA) sums it up perfectly:

“‘With so many sounds that at first seem so different, what becomes so obviously common is the impact of the human voice. The communication of ideas and emotions are transmitted despite language barriers and presentation…Quite simply, the most innovative and moving instrument may be the one that we’re equipped with at birth.’”

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Tenores di Bitti

This wonderful sound – four male voices in polyphonic bliss – hails from Bitti, Sardinia. A traditional folk band and successors to 3000 years of musical heritage, Tenores di Bitti recorded their album S’amore ‘e mama in their home town, retaining the sounds of the ambient locations – the churches, pubs and fields of Bitti.

At the risk of sounding like a pretentious blowhard I have to say that it’s almost a shame to see them in a concert hall with microphones in their faces. How awesome would it be to come across them in the narrow alleys of their home town, voices booming from the walls? Or in the fields of their countryside, warm harmonies washing over the landscape? Uber-licious awesome, say I.

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Loituma – Levan Polkka

Loituma are a Finnish folk band whose song “Levan Polkka” was made famous by the Loituma Girl internet meme (if you know what I’m talking about you’ll be sick to death of this clip).

One of the interesting things about their music is that they often improvise, breaking into a collection of rhythmic melodic gibberish; apparently they do so in the fifth and eighth stanza of this song (I can’t hear the difference from the rest of it to be honest xD).

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Tuvan Throat Singing

I couldn’t pass over this famous style of vocalisation from Central Asia. In throat singing, or overtone singing as it’s also known, the vocalist “manipulates the harmonic resonances (or formants) created as air travels from the lungs, past the vocal folds, and out the lips to produce a melody.”

In the common parlance: they sing more than one note at the same time, yo.

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Konnakol – Indian vocal percussion

Lori Colter’s not from the race, culture or gender that immediately springs to mind when you hear the phrase, South Indian Vocal Percussion, but she certainly has the skill to lay it down. Her performances of this indian vocal art are accomplished and impressive; she manages to disappear inside the sound completely – her culture, gender and skin colour forgotten.

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The Art of Yodel

When it comes to the beauty of ethnic music and the seeming global commonality of its spiritual connection to nature, we here in the west – with our loud, brash rock music and electronic noise – are often the poor cousins. But we have artists like the DeZurik Sisters.

Yodeling may not be the exclusive domain of the west but the southern US popularised their own peculiar brand in a big way, through the country and bluegrass styles of music. Besides the beautiful harmonies throughout this song, the DeZurik Sisters yodel in an amazing way – not unlike the birds they tried to emulate at home on the farm in Minnesota.

Give the song a chance before you shut it down in horror : ) – it really is impressive: the sisters twitter, chirp and warble in an astounding effort to copy and ultimately connect with nature in their own personal way – just like their cultural counterparts around the world .

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Honorable Mention

The power of the voice: sometimes it makes us cry with emotion; sometimes it makes us laugh for joy. And sometimes it makes us laugh til we cry.

Inara George – the Bird sings

I blogged about the great Apple OS X video made for this song back in the day; now that Inara George (the singer with the beautiful fairy voice) has released another solo effort I found myself digging through the interwebs for some more of her moozak.

This clip is not new but it’s a great live performance showcasing Inara’s vocal qualities and the simple purity of the Bird and the Bee’s sound.

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Verdi Acoustica

I was operatically inspired after reading an excellent post from the fantastic At the Lighthouse (from Verdi to Moomintroll! What’s not to love!) so I thought I’d pretend I have an iota of culture by posting something opera-related.

My introduction to opera in the distant chambers of my youth was a sudden, unfathomable (for me at the time) love for “La donna è mobile” from Verdi’s Rigoletto. I’m not gonna lie – the extent of my operatic “education” was a few supermarket compilation CDs and, as my love grew, the popular CDs of Pavarotti and Bocelli xD. The music moved me to tears (like Paul Potts’ famous performance did) and, though I didn’t understand the language or the stories behind it at the time, its beauty couldn’t be denied.

∞ Random Interest Snippet: before the first performance of “La donna è mobile” in Venice, the song was rehearsed in the utmost secrecy to avoid “leaks” (hey, they knew it was catchy). Sure enough, days after the first performance every gondolier in Venice was belting it out.

So! Digging further into the work of my first love, I discovered this gem – an acoustic guitar interpretation originally by Johann Kaspar Mertz of various pieces from Verdi’s Il Trovatore. I might be biased, given the instrument, but Frank Bungarten’s performance is a beautiful example of classical guitar playing.

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Justice for MGMT

French electro-funksters Justice remix “Electric Feel” by MGMT. Justice are responsible for the controversial Stress video in which a gang of youths go around causing all sorts of mayhem, eventually turning on the cameraman.

I love the funky slap bass and occasionally syncopated beats that Justice bring to the electronica stable, and this remix is a good example : ).

∞ Random Interest Snippet: During the MTV Europe Music Awards 2006 Justice won “Best Video” (for “Justice vs. Simian – We Are Your Friends”); as the label art director and video director were giving their speeches, everybody’s favourite ego punching bag Kanye West jumped onstage arguing that he should have won the award instead. He obviously misheard and thought they’d announced the award for “Most Disproportionate Self-Confidence” (although, now that I’ve finally found a Youtube clip of it, it looks like he wasn’t being overly serious about it… maybe the media coverage should win a “disproportionate” award O_o). Gotta love Justin Timberlake’s response though (he was there): “After the show, Kanye will be in the parking lot accepting awards he did not win. Seriously though, I’ve got sexy covered, it’s good to see someone’s doing crazy.”

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The Bee Gees via 80s Heavy Metal

Tragedy are a heavy metal Bee Gees tribute band. And there’s not much else I can say beyond that; the sheer bodacity of their music speaks for itself.

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Ronny Jordan acidizes Miles Davis

I’ve been engaging in some Miles Davis reminiscence thanks to an excellent blog post from mental_floss “explaining” the genius of the godfather of modern jazz. Check it out for an insightful read and a great reminder of the power of Miles Davis via a collection of compelling clips from throughout his career.

Ronny Jordan’s cover of Miles Davis’ “So What” was my intro to the wonder of Davis. Yes, my jazz education was sorely lacking in my youth – in fact, I hated it… Acid Jazz changed my mind with its hip hop sensibilities and generally more pop oriented structures (instead of 45 chord changes a minute, acid jazz often comprised little more than a strong verse and chorus hook).

US3’s “Cantaloop” had a supermagnet hook but was a bit simplistic to hold the attention for very long – Ronny Jordan’s “urban” style embraced the importance of the pop song structure and the elusive hook, yet exemplified the complexity of jazz in Jordan’s free form guitar playing and sophisticated chord choice. 1992’s “The Antidote” had me hooked and introduced me eventually to a range of artists from the Brand New Heavies to Guru and Gang Starr and – certainly not least of all: Miles Davis.

So here’s Jordan’s cover of “So What” – a great take on the Miles Davis original. Jordan makes the guitar a fluid, dynamic instrument and whilst he may not capture the “cool” of Davis completely, he makes a fine tip of the hat to one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century.

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Calexico Alone Again… or…

I was looking for a way to blog about Calexico – indie rock, mexican style (their new album’s due out in September) – when I came across this great little cover of 1967’s Alone Again Or, originally by psychedelic folk-rock proto-punk band Love (phew… thanks to Wikipedia for that description xD). The original made it onto Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs Of All Time: “The essence of the song is the contrast between the positivity of the tune and the bleakness of the lyrics, with the chorus “And I will be alone again tonight, my dear.” – [Wikipedia].

∞ Random Interest Snippet: Co-producer and Band Leader of Love – Arthur Lee – added the ‘mysterious’ “Or” to the title of the song which was originally called Alone Again (by writer Bryan MacLean). Lee and co-producer Bruce Botnick also remixed the track to bring Lee’s harmony vocal to the forefront… Was a certain someone trying to shoehorn in on someone else’s work…? ^_o

Calexico kicks off with a great little spanish acoustic guitar intro and rocks into the classic mexican-style riff. Gotta love those mariachi trumpets!

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