Mount Martha, Australia "entertainer" Tones and I released "Dance Monkey" in 2019. It was apparently pretty popular, being nominated for the ARIA song of the year. I could offer a different perspective on the cringy tune, but the fine folks at Reddit are wordsmiths, and this thread sums up my opinion pretty thoroughly.
Dayton, Ohio singer Joey Stamper takes the mound of elephant dung and transforms it into something that isn't merely listenable, but palatable as well.
Their 1985 song "Karla with a K" used to play between innings of Phillies games that were broadcast on channel 17 on Sunday afternoons... not sure exactly when, but Juan Samuel and Milt Thompson were in the lineup. And Von Hayes.
Plus, with their accordion and mandolin and saxophone and hooter, the group were, and remain, a completely unique blend of new wave, folk, and roots rock.
Kilkenny Band gave this tune a Celt rock twist on their 2015 album "We'll Find it Someday."
This is the perfect Thanksgiving cover, as Todd says "Thank You" 52 times over the course of the song (by my count), averaging once every 4.4 seconds.
The back up singers also say "Thank You" quite a bit, but they don't sing throughout, so it's much tougher to determine their gratitude density.
Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!
And, for a cover by Natalie Merchant (well, 10,000 Maniacs, but she counts for at least 6,432 of those Maniacs), check out their version of Cat Stevens' "Peace Train" here.
But, better late than never in discovering these goofy hillbillies and their bluegrass versions of mainstream hits, including "Sabotage," the rap rock crossover initially released by Beastie Boys in 1994.
My younger sister and I had a love/hate relationship with Columbia House in the mid '90s.
We loved the ability to select almost any album conceivable and have it delivered to our house for roughly the price of a cassingle.
We hated the staggering frequency of getting CDs that we hadn't requested due to an overabundance of teenage negligence.
In 1997, after forgetting to call the number on the mailer yet AGAIN, Jessica was sent a copy of "The Full Monty" soundtrack.
She figured she'd give it a listen, seeing as though she'd already paid the going rate for youthful irresponsibility.
And, she LOVED it.
Her favorite song in the collection was "You Sexy Thing," a 1975 disco number from London, UK soul band Hot Chocolate.
Over time through repeated listenings, she perfected this party trick of duplicating lead vocalist Errol Brown's pitch and cadence.
"I believe in MIRACLES," she'd belt out in a gruff voice, which would drive anyone nearby into fits of uncontrollable laughter. When the cackling subsided a bit, she'd sing "Where're you from?," and we'd start laughing again, clutching our sides.
This song encapsulates so many fond memories of pure hilarity courtesy of my sister, the goofball.
So, bare minimum, 39 years elapsed between the band forming and their release of the cover version of synth pop pioneers Depeche Mode's 1989 electro dance smash "Personal Jesus."
In that wide span of time, you'd think that lead singer Joe Elliott would master the art of circular breathing.
In 1998, Portland, Oregon power pop band Everclear redid "Our Lips are Sealed," a Go-Go's gem that was designated one of the top 100 pop songs of all time according to Rolling Stone magazine.
The swirling guitars give it that mid '90s aesthetic. I dig 'em.
A pretty masterful job by this trio. In fact, the only way I could think of to improve their version is to get Belinda Carlisle to sing on it.
For a cover of Belinda's solo stuff, check out this one by Elvenking.
For a post tangentially related to the Go-Go's and Belinda Carlisle, American Hi-Fi's cover of Joe Jackson can be found here.
At the risk of sounding vulgar, "Cotton Eyed Joe" was a pre-Civil War era tune, more or less about an indentured cockblocker.
The traditional folk song was recorded by over 100 artists before Swedish electro-dance-country artists Rednex dropped the "D" (no, not a euphemism), and recorded "Cotton Eye Joe."
The whereabouts of Cotton Eye Joe remain a mystery (and gave rise to one of my favorite memes).
I remember loving this song as a kid, which shows that even at the tender age of eight, I was completely lame. Like, what current eight year old is rocking out to Adele? Bopping along to the adult contemporary charts?
As an adult, though, I can confirm that the song held up, and is now not only a jam, but gets nostalgia points as well.
Tampa, Florida actress and director Sarah Paulson joined Tampa, Florida actress and director Sarah Paulson for a soloduet covering Brooklyn, New York avant-pop artist Fiona Apple's 1996 Grammy nominated single "Criminal." The remake was featured during an episode from the fourth season of FX network's anthology television series "American Horror Story."
It's listed on Spotify and their official YouTube channel as "Pulling Muscles (from a Shell)," which isn't quite right.
Perhaps they're conflating the title with "Pulling Muscles (at the Shell)," which is a ditty that I wrote about hurting myself when trying to lift the gas pump too fast or while in an awkward position.
I'm so out of shape. Send help. And doughnuts. But, mostly doughnuts. Chocolate frosted.
Members of the supergroup the Mamas and the Papas' offspring (but not, you know, The Offspring) Wilson Phillips bring their tight harmonies and completely unnecessary key changes to "A Reason to Believe," a Tim Hardin original that became a hit song for Rod Stewart in 1971.
For another Rod Stewart cover, check out this one from Blur.
48th St. Collective are a band from.... Argentina, maybe? They cover songs in a jazzy, vintage style, like the title track from the 1979 progressive rock album "Breakfast in America" by London, UK group Supertramp.
The line "Can we have kippers for breakfast, Mommy dear, Mommy dear?" was uttered by no American, ever.
On this side of the pond, it's all about the Honey Smacks.
Dallas, Texas post grunge band Overscene supplemented 1991 Garth Brooks tale of rain clouds and infidelity "The Thunder Rolls" with some heavier yet melodic riffs.
Musically, I prefer the updated version.
Lyrically, I prefer the Tulsa, Oklahoma country star's release from the album "No Fences" that cuts off after the second verse with that sweet, sweet ambiguity.
Does the scorned wife kill him? Leave him for his more well-endowed cousin? Drain the joint account and 401K? Pull a Lorena Bobbitt? Forgive his triflin' ass?
The Overscene version kills the mystery... along with the philanderer.
On this day in 1989, citizens from East Germany and West Germany broke out chisels and sledgehammers to crumble the Berlin Wall, a barrier that had separated the state for a generation.
Inexorably tied to the collapse of the concrete divider -- in my mind, anyhow-- was the news footage-filled music video for "Right Here, Right Now" by British alternative dance band Jesus Jones.
Here, their song is low-key covered by coffee house artist Regina Costa.
All in all a decent version, though it's obvious that Regina attended the Dash of Honey School of Rhythmic Timing.
I was sitting in my dorm room studying for finals when I received a call.
"I GOT TICKETS TO SEE MILLA!," my sister shouted into the phone, referring to Kyiv, Ukraine born singer and actress Milla Jovovich.
"That's great, Jamie!," I said, trying to match her enthusiasm, though all I knew of Milla was her starring role in "The Fifth Element," a movie that's a literal rucksack of sweaty armpits.
The story was that one of Jamie's college friends had planned to go to the show, but wound up sick or in prison or something, and had to surrender their ticket.
Knowing my sister, this was likely a little fib, and she knew that I was a humungoid ttws fan, and she planned on taking me all along.
"Be right there" entailed driving from East Falls to Temple's campus in North Philly and then down to Center City, fighting traffic like a salmon swimming upstream the entire way.
By the time we parked near Drexel and entered the venue, Milla was finishing up her last two songs.
This is textbook Jamie. Sacrificing seeing a show she had been eagerly anticipating in order to show her little bro a good time.
In the near three decades since, I've attended hundreds more concerts, but toad the wet sprocket at The Armory remains one of my absolute favorites.
The cover of the day is Milla's version of Lou Reed's 1972 glam rock single "Satellite of Love," for Jamie on her birthday.
The cover of 2000 nu-metal hit "Down with the Sickness" by Italian siblings Melodicka Brothers is what Disturbed's original would have sounded like if the band members had been raised eating funnel cakes exclusively.
For a cover by Disturbed, check out their version of "Land of Confusion."
When Sarah McLachlan sings the line "And I would be the one to hold you down/Kiss you so hard/I'll take your breath away" from her 1993 alternative folk song "Possession" -- Hawt. Here's a Grammy for best female vocal performance.
