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Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Aug 21, 2013 16:32:38 GMT -5
AV Undercover Week continues. Today’s featured song is Gary Numan’s “Cars.” Numan wrote and recorded the song in 1979. According to Numan, the song's lyrics were inspired by an incident of road rage: “I was in traffic in London once and had a problem with some people in front. They tried to beat me up and get me out of the car. I locked the doors and eventually drove up on the pavement and got away from them. It's kind of to do with that. It explains how you can feel safe inside a car in the modern world... When you're in it, your whole mentality is different... It's like your own little personal empire with four wheels on it.” As for the cover, it was done by Sloan. They’re a band, not a person. Anyway, the cover is pretty good. The drummer really goes crazy with his part. So, here it is. Enjoy. www.avclub.com/articles/sloan-covers-cars-by-gary-numan,53064/
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Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Aug 22, 2013 7:49:43 GMT -5
AV Undercover Week continues. Today, we’re looking at Chumbawamba’s “Tubthumping.” The song was a big hit back in 1997. It was everywhere, and the anarchist band Chumbawamba was suddenly more popular than they ever had been. This did lead to one big question: what does “tubthumping” mean? Well, the term "tubthumper" is commonly used for someone, often a politician, seeming to "jump on the bandwagon" with a populist notion or idea. The liner notes on the album Tubthumper, from which "Tubthumping" was the first single, put the song in a radical context, quoting a UK anti-road protester, Paris 1968 graffiti, details about the famous McLibel case and the short story "The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner." As for the cover, it was done by the famous alternative duo They Might Be Giants. With a little help from The AV Club staff as the chorus. And, here it is. Enjoy. www.avclub.com/articles/they-might-be-giants-covers-chumbawamba,53068/
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Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Aug 23, 2013 14:40:50 GMT -5
AV Undercover Week continues. Today, we’re looking at Journey’s “Faithfully.” The song was written Journey’s keyboard player Jonathan Cain. He wrote this song about the rough relationship being a married man on the road in a Rock band. The song describes the relationship of a "music man" on the road, the difficulties of raising and maintaining a family, two strangers having to fall in love again, and staying faithful while touring are brought up. However, he suggests that he gets the "joy of rediscovering" her, and insists "I'm forever yours... Faithfully." Unfortunately, Cain and his wife divorced a few years later, despite him pledging in the song to be "forever yours... faithfully." Still, the song was a big hit for the band, going to number 12 on the Billboard charts. As for the cover, it was done by Clem Snide. Again, this is a band and not a person even though there’s one man in the video. That man is Clem Snide frontman and only constant member Eef Barzelay, and he does a very stripped down version of the song, with only a ukulele. So, here it is. Enjoy. www.avclub.com/articles/clem-snide-covers-journey,38879/
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Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Aug 24, 2013 8:49:39 GMT -5
AV Undercover Week has come to an end. So, let’s go out with a bang. Here is Kansas with “Carry On Wayword Son.” The original is one of Kansas’s most famous songs. It was released in December of 1976 and became a big hit in 1977, going all the way to Number 11 on the Billboard charts. It was their first Top 40 hit. As for the cover, it was done by a band that pretty different than Kansas. And, by “pretty different” I mean “completely different in every single way, shape, and form.” That band is GWAR. You may have heard of them. The thrash metal band that wears horrifying costumes and are known just as much for their graphic stage shows as they are for their hard metal sound. Needless to say, this cover is unusual, mainly because GWAR is doing it. Anyway, here it is. Enjoy. www.avclub.com/articles/gwar-covers-kansas,70708/
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Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Aug 25, 2013 9:06:42 GMT -5
Cover Songs (And The Original) Month continues. Today, we’re looking at how a cover can make a song popular again. And, the cover in question is Michael Andrews and Gary Jules’s version of “Mad World.” This stripped down version of the song has been pretty popular ever since it was done for the film “Donnie Darko.” Though, it took two years for the song to reach Number 1, which it did on the UK charts in late 2003. The music video, directed by Michel Gondry, has since been very popular on YouTube, with its most popular posting garnering over 57 million views by May 2013. The song has also been used in lots of TV shows and advertising, such as a popular commercial for the videogame Gears of War.
As for the original, it was done by Tears For Fears back in 1982. Released on their debut album The Hurting, it was the band's third single release and first chart hit, reaching #3 on the UK Singles Chart in November 1982. However, it was intended as a B-side for the band’s second single "Pale Shelter (You Don't Give Me Love)." The band instead decided it may be something people would like to hear on the radio and held back its release, waiting to issue the song as a single in its own right after re-recording it with Chris Hughes, a former drummer with Adam and the Ants. And, they were right. It has become a popular song to cover since then. Though the Andrews and Jules’s version seems to be the most popular.
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Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Aug 26, 2013 8:57:22 GMT -5
Cover Songs (And The Original) Month continues. Today, we have another cover from Elvis Presley. I mentioned how he had done quite a few covers throughout his career when I featured his cover of The Beatles’ “Hey Jude.” Even some of his most famous hits were covers. For example, here’s “Hound Dog.” “Hound Dog” is one of Presley’s most famous songs. It came out in 1956 and sold over 4 million copies in the United States on its first release. It was his best-selling single and, starting in July 1956, it spent eleven weeks at #1, a record not eclipsed until Boyz II Men's "End of the Road" held at #1 for 13 weeks in 1992. It stayed in the #1 spot until it was replaced by "Love Me Tender", also recorded by Elvis. "Hound Dog" would go on to sell 10 million copies worldwide, including 5 million in the United States alone. In 1958, the "Hound Dog"/"Don't Be Cruel" single became just the third record to sell more than three million copies, following Bing Crosby's "White Christmas" and Gene Autry's "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer." And, it wasn’t his. The song was written the famous songwriting duo Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and was originally recorded by Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton on August 13, 1952 in Los Angeles and released by Peacock Records in February 1953. It was Thornton's only hit record, spending 14 weeks in the R&B charts, including seven weeks at #1. It sold between 500,000 and 2 million copies. However, Presley’s version became more popular since he was known to cover songs that were popular but whose time in the limelight didn’t last long enough for them to become standards. www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4tILEQ5dDM “Hound Dog” is also a good example of how Elvis took songs done by black artists and made them his own. He added the line “You ain't caught a rabbit, and you ain't no friend of mine,” which Leiber complained about, calling it "inane…It doesn't mean anything to me." Stoller also wasn’t a fan of the song, saying "And I heard the record and I was disappointed. It just sounded terribly nervous, too fast, too white. But you know, after it sold seven or eight million records it started to sound better."
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Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Aug 27, 2013 11:13:12 GMT -5
Cover Songs (And The Original) Month continues. Now, I haven’t featured a lot of hip hop during this month. The main reason for that is most rappers don’t do covers songs. With the widespread use of sampling, it just seems a little unnecessary. But, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t any rap covers. In fact, here’s a pretty famous one: Run DMC’s version of “Walk This Way.” The original was done by Aerosmith. Originally, they had the music written but had no lyrics for it. Then, during a break from recording their album Toys In The Attic, the band saw “Young Frankenstein.” Inspired by the "Walk this way" joke, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry soon had an idea for the lyrics, which would end up telling the story of a teenage boy losing his virginity. The song was a big hit for Aerosmith. It peaked at Number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1977, part of a string of successful hit singles for the band in the 1970s that helped break Aerosmith into the mainstream. www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKttENbsoykOne of the things that made the song stand out was the fast delivery of Tyler’s vocals. Mixed with the heavy emphasis being placed on the rhyming lyrics, the song had a rap-like quality to it that lent it so well to being remade as a rap song. However, Run DMC originally didn’t want to just straight up cover the song. They just wanted to sample the song for their album Raising Hell. They also had no idea who Aerosmith was; they had thought the band’s name was “Toys In The Attic.” After producer Rick Rubin explained who the band was, he talked the group into doing the cover. They also got Steven Tyler to come in and sing the chorus and Perry to do the guitar parts. And, the cover proved to be very successful. It was the first hip hop song to hit the top 5 on the Billboard Hot 100, which not only propelled Run DMC to the mainstream but also gave a big boost to hip hop in general. It also helped Aerosmith to launch a comeback in the late 1980s. It just goes to show how a cover can improve on the success of the original.
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Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Aug 28, 2013 8:37:46 GMT -5
Cover Songs (And The Original) Month continues. Today, Elvis Costello wants to know “What’s So Funny About Peace, Love, And Understanding?” Of course, he wasn’t the first to ask this question. The song was originally written and recorded by Nick Lowe. It was originally released in 1974 on the album The New Favourites of... Brinsley Schwarz by Lowe’s band Brinsley Schwarz and released as a single. The Elvis Costello & The Attractions version was first issued as the B-side of Lowe’s 1978 single “American Squirm” credited to “Nick Lowe and His Sound.” At the time, Lowe was Costello’s producer, and he produced this track as well. When the song became a hit, it was quickly appended as the last track to the U.S. edition of Costello's album Armed Forces. (Nick Lowe) www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAqAmLSIGU8 Of course, Costello’s cover is not the only one. There have been several others. A very high-selling, if not as famous, cover version of the song by jazz singer Curtis Stigers was included on the soundtrack album for the film The Bodyguard, which sold 17 million copies in the United States alone. Other covers have been done by such artists as Midnight Oil, The Flaming Lips, and Chris Cornell. (Curtis Stigers) www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtrNlAJQ94M (Midnight Oil) www.youtube.com/watch?v=roGaMeacc-Q (The Flaming Lips, note: it’s a medley with a cover of “Strychnine”) www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFzj4FP-Vos (Chris Cornell) www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nLSQHS9F5w
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Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Aug 29, 2013 11:24:18 GMT -5
Cover Songs (And The Original) Month continues. Today, we’re looking at one of the most covered songs in music history. It’s a classic from Elvis Presley: “Can’t Help Falling In Love.” The song was written by Hugo Peretti, Luigi Creatore, and George David Weiss and was featured in the Elvis film “Blue Hawaii.” It quickly became one of Elvis’s most popular songs, going platinum in the U.S. and topping the U.K. charts. During Presley's late 1960s and 1970s live performances, the song was often performed as the show's finale. Most notably, it was also sung in the live segment of his 1968 NBC television special and as the closer for his 1973 Global telecast, "Aloha from Hawaii." Then came the covers. The most famous one is UB40’s version. The British reggae band released it as the first single from their 1993 album Promises and Lies. The cover proved to be a big hit for the band. It eventually climbed to Number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 after debuting at Number 100 and remained at Number 1 in the U.S. for seven weeks. It was also Number 1 in the U.K., Austria, the Netherlands, Sweden, Australia, and New Zealand. (UB40) www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ajp0Uaw4rqoAnother popular cover was done by Swedish pop group A-Teens. The song was the A-Teens's first single from their third album Pop 'til You Drop!, as well as for the “Lilo & Stitch” movie soundtrack, which was originally scheduled to include several Presley tracks, the A-Teens picking it for inclusion in the soundtrack. The video had thus tremendous exposure on several television channels, with the A-Teens eventually including the song in their third album. As a result, the song had two music videos, one to promote the Disney movie, the other for the album. The song was also a radio hit in the United States and reached No. 12 in Sweden, No. 16 in Argentina, and No. 41 in Australia. (A-Teens) www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxiCAekXoMsOther famous musicians who have covered the song include Perry Como, Bob Dylan, U2, and Chris Isaak. (Perry Como) www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3FBuCMFEk8(Bob Dylan) www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHut-lm-l54(U2) www.youtube.com/watch?v=KH9_lresvCs(Chris Isaak) www.youtube.com/watch?v=edciT85S7sc
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Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Aug 30, 2013 8:52:50 GMT -5
Cover Songs (And The Original) Month is almost over. So, let’s start wrapping things up with one of the most covered songs of the last 30 years or so. It’s Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.” Cohen wrote the song for his 1984 album Various Positions. His original version contains several biblical references, most notably evoking the stories of Samson and traitorous Delilah from the Book of Judges as well as the adulterous King David and Bathsheba: "she cut your hair" and "you saw her bathing on the roof, her beauty in the moonlight overthrew you." Originally, the song wasn’t much of a success; but that all changed when the covers started. Even though it wasn’t a big hit, the song still became a popular cover after Welsh singer-songwriter John Cale first covered it in 1991 for the Cohen tribute album I’m Your Fan. Cohen's lyrical poetry and his view that "many different hallelujahs exist" is a big reason for why so many wide-ranging covers with very different intents or tones, allowing the song to be "melancholic, fragile, uplifting [or] joyous" depending on the performer, exist. Cale’s cover promoted a message of "soberness and sincerity" in contrast to Cohen's dispassionate tone. Another reason for so many different covers is the fact that Cohen many lyrics for the song that weren’t in his original. He’s been known to sing some of the different lyrics during his concerts. And, when Cale asked Cohen for the song’s lyrics so that he could perform the cover, Cohen sent him 15 pages. Cale claims that he "went through and just picked out the cheeky verses." (John Cale) www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEOZLQ3d1FICale’s cover has proven to be the most influential as it has severed the basis for most performances of the song. It was certainly an influence on Jeff Buckely’s cover. Though, this version of the song is more sorrowful and was described by Buckley as "a hallelujah to the orgasm.” Released on his famous Grace album, the cover is easily the most popular. It’s been used on several movies and TV shows, such as The West Wing, House, and “Lord Of War.” However, it didn’t become a chart hit until after Buckley’s death in 1997. Even then, it took nine more years for it to first chart. (Jeff Buckley) www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8AWFf7EAc4Canadian-American musician and singer Rufus Wainwright had briefly met Jeff Buckley and recorded a tribute to him after his 1997 death. That song, "Memphis Skyline", referenced Buckley's version of "Hallelujah", which Wainwright would later record, though using piano and a similar arrangement to Cale's. Wainwright offered a "purifying and almost liturgical" interpretation of the song. And, his version was pretty successful, especially after it was included in the album Shrek: Music from the Original Motion Picture, although it was Cale's version that was used in the film itself. The Shrek soundtrack, containing Wainwright's cover, was certified Double Platinum in the United States in 2003 as selling over two million copies. (Rufus Wainwright) www.youtube.com/watch?v=xR0DKOGco_o In 2004, K.D. Lang recorded a version of "Hallelujah" on her album Hymns of the 49th Parallel. She has since sung it at several major events, such as at the Canadian Juno Awards of 2005, where it "brought the audience to its feet for a two-minute ovation." Lang also sang it at the 2006 Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame when Cohen was inducted into the Hall of Fame. Cohen's partner, singer Anjani Thomas, said: "After hearing K.D. Lang perform that song at the Canadian Songwriter's Hall of Fame in 2006 we looked at each other and said, 'well, I think we can lay that song to rest now! It's really been done to its ultimate blissful state of perfection'." However, Lang later sang it at the opening ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, before a claimed TV audience of three billion. (K.D. Lang) www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_NpxTWbovEOther people who have covered the song include Bob Dylan, Allison Crowe, Bon Jovi, and Willie Nelson. (Allison Crowe) www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIMOdVXAPJ0(Bon Jovi) www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSJbYWPEaxw (Willie Nelson) www.youtube.com/watch?v=58UjoiSP2wM
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Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Aug 31, 2013 14:59:13 GMT -5
Cover Songs (And The Original) Month has come to an end. And, we end with what may be the most covered song in music history, with more than 2,200 cover versions. It’s The Beatles’ “Yesterday.” Even though it’s credited to The Beatles and the songwriting credit goes to Lennon-McCartney, it is a Paul McCartney song. McCartney composed the entire melody in a dream one night in his room at the Wimpole Street home of his then girlfriend Jane Asher and her family. Upon waking, he hurried to a piano and played the tune to avoid forgetting it. McCartney's initial concern was that he had subconsciously plagiarized someone else's work (known as cryptomnesia). As he put it, "For about a month I went round to people in the music business and asked them whether they had ever heard it before. Eventually it became like handing something in to the police. I thought if no-one claimed it after a few weeks then I could have it." Upon being convinced that he had not robbed anyone of their melody, McCartney began writing lyrics to suit it. As Lennon and McCartney were known to do at the time, a substitute working lyric, titled "Scrambled Eggs" (the working opening verse was "Scrambled Eggs/Oh, my baby how I love your legs"), was used for the song until something more suitable was written. In his biography, McCartney recalled: "So first of all I checked this melody out, and people said to me, 'No, it's lovely, and I'm sure it's all yours.' It took me a little while to allow myself to claim it, but then like a prospector I finally staked my claim; stuck a little sign on it and said, 'Okay, it's mine!' It had no words. I used to call it 'Scrambled Eggs'." McCartney is also the only Beatle to perform and sing on the song, making it the first official recording by the Beatles that relied upon a performance by a single member of the band. Though, he was accompanied by a string quartet. As for the covers, well, like I said, there are over 2,200 covers of it. That’s just too many to cover here. So, I’m gonna offer a sample. Here are four of them: (Frank Sinatra) www.youtube.com/watch?v=WswBkTAy1dI(Boyz II Men) www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6J50Pjd9jA(Marianne Faithfull) www.youtube.com/watch?v=gORyrU1xQpg(Plácido Domingo) www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRRP9TwON3I
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Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Sept 1, 2013 9:43:05 GMT -5
Back to business as usual. Here's Third Eye Blind with "Semi-Charmed Life."
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Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Sept 2, 2013 9:44:31 GMT -5
Well, it's Labor Day here in America. And, today's video is not related to that holiday in any way shape or form. It's Lita Ford's "Kiss Me Deadly." Enjoy.
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Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Sept 3, 2013 11:04:12 GMT -5
It's time for another edition of Video I'm Posting For The Day Because YouTube Recommended It To Me. And, that video is Spacehog's "In The Meantime." And, here it is. Enjoy.
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Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Sept 4, 2013 19:09:36 GMT -5
Sorry this is so late. But, it's been late before. No biggie. Anyway, here is the Foo Fighters with "The Pretender." Enjoy.
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Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Sept 5, 2013 10:58:19 GMT -5
I'm kind of groggy. So, you're not going to get the usual top notch witty and informative intro you always get with these videos. Here's Public Image Ltd. with "Death Disco." Enjoy.
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Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Sept 6, 2013 9:02:13 GMT -5
For today, we have the most popular song of the summer. Well, the one that didn't feature a stupid rhyme from Alan Thicke's kid. It's Daft Punk's "Get Lucky."
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Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Sept 7, 2013 9:08:13 GMT -5
For today, David Bowie is afraid of Americans. I don't know why. It's not like America is about to bomb his country. Well, enough politics. Here's "I'm Afraid Of Americans." Enjoy.
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Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Sept 8, 2013 11:14:26 GMT -5
Another week, another dollar. Whatever that means. Honestly, I don't know why I chose that for an intro. Oh well. Here's a-ha with "Take On Me." Enjoy.
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Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Sept 9, 2013 8:56:01 GMT -5
For today, I don't really have a good intro. So, here's Naked Eyes' version of "Always Something There To Remind Me." Enjoy.
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