Yippie yi yooooo....
I have a confession: I love cover songs. I've always admired people who can take something, put their unique stamp on it, and create something new. From the unbearable cool of Power Station's "Bang A Gong" and Coal Chamber's "Shock the Monkey" to the total randomness of Bobby McFerrin's "Pink Panther Theme" and Devo's "Satisfaction" (or any of their other covers), I'm addicted. Until a couple of nights ago, I thought I had probably the most unlikely cover song of all - Robert Palmer version of Devo's "Girl U Want". What happened, you ask? Well, I've been backing up my hard drive, starting with my music. While I was cataloging some of the DVDs, I decided to listen to Spike Jones' "The Man Who Murdered Music", which has their version of "Ghost Rider in the Sky". Now, if you're familiar with Spike Jones, you know what happens to songs when he and the City Slickers get their hands on them. But, something about that song - or at least the lyrics - got to me. I was curious - you see, I'd NEVER heard another version of the song. So, I Googled it.
Wow.
This could very well be the most covered song of all time. It seems that every country act EVER has done a version of it. Dick Dale, the surf guitarist, has done it. Impaled Nazarene, a Finnish black metal band, has done it. Johnny Cash performed it on "The Muppet Show". And SOMEHOW, I had NEVER heard it. So, through the magic of the Intratubes, I took a listen to quite a few of them. But, the most unlikely version (in my mind)? Not Impaled Nazarene. Not from "Blues Brothers 2000". Not Lawrence Welk.
It's from the soundtrack of "The Three Businessmen". By Debbie Harry. Yes, Blondie's Debbie Harry. It's available on her website here. There's something fundamentally WRONG hearing the same woman who sang "Heart of Glass" and "Call Me" belting out:
Their brands were still on fire and their hooves were made of steel,
Their horns were black and shiny and their hot breath he could feel.
Wrong, wrong, WRONG. And that's what makes it so very AWESOME. I've been listening to it off and on since I got it, and I simply haven't gotten tired of it.
So, how about you folks in LJ land? What's the strangest/best cover song you've ever heard?
Wow.
This could very well be the most covered song of all time. It seems that every country act EVER has done a version of it. Dick Dale, the surf guitarist, has done it. Impaled Nazarene, a Finnish black metal band, has done it. Johnny Cash performed it on "The Muppet Show". And SOMEHOW, I had NEVER heard it. So, through the magic of the Intratubes, I took a listen to quite a few of them. But, the most unlikely version (in my mind)? Not Impaled Nazarene. Not from "Blues Brothers 2000". Not Lawrence Welk.
It's from the soundtrack of "The Three Businessmen". By Debbie Harry. Yes, Blondie's Debbie Harry. It's available on her website here. There's something fundamentally WRONG hearing the same woman who sang "Heart of Glass" and "Call Me" belting out:
Their brands were still on fire and their hooves were made of steel,
Their horns were black and shiny and their hot breath he could feel.
Wrong, wrong, WRONG. And that's what makes it so very AWESOME. I've been listening to it off and on since I got it, and I simply haven't gotten tired of it.
So, how about you folks in LJ land? What's the strangest/best cover song you've ever heard?