Patrick Robbins

Patrick Robbins lives in Maine, where he moves through life with the secure knowledge that, as Penn Jillette said, "In all of art, it's the singer, not the song," On Wednesdays he goes shopping, and has buttered scones for tea.

Cover Classics: Ciao My Shining Star: The Songs of Mark Mulcahy

Posted by Patrick Robbins at 5:00 pm No Responses »
Jun 072013

Cover Classics takes a closer look at all-cover albums of the past, their genesis, and their legacy.

In 2008, Melissa Rich Mulcahy died, leaving behind two-year-old twin girls and her husband Mark. That would be Mark Mulcahy, leader of the ’80s college radio favorites Miracle Legion and Polaris (Adventures of Pete & Pete – ’nuff said) and a solo artist who was suddenly not just a widower, but one who was unable to record or tour because he needed to be there for the kids. What he didn’t know was that plans had been set in motion to put together a tribute album whose proceeds would assist him in his hour of need – plans which evolved into what Big Takeover called “a sort of indie-rock equivalent to the final scene of It’s a Wonderful Life.”
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Five Good Covers: Our Lips Are Sealed (The Go-Go's / Fun Boy Three)

Posted by Patrick Robbins at 5:00 pm 2 Responses »
May 282013

Five Good Covers presents five cross-genre reinterpretations of an oft-covered song.

Jane Wiedlin co-wrote “Our Lips Are Sealed” and brought it to her band, the Go-Go’s; their version was sunny and buoyant, a nascent form of girl power that served as their first single and heralded their classic debut album, Beauty and the Beat. Terry Hall co-wrote “Our Lips Are Sealed” and brought it to his band, the Fun Boy Three; their version was moody and dark, a top-ten dose of paranoia that served as their next to last single and heralded the end of their too-short career.
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Five Good Covers: I Want You Back (The Jackson 5)

Posted by Patrick Robbins at 5:00 pm 7 Responses »
May 172013

Five Good Covers presents five cross-genre reinterpretations of an oft-covered song.

“I Want You Back” was such a perfectly written song it would have been a hit no matter who did it first (Gladys Knight & the Pips were early candidates, as was Diana Ross), but the world lucked out by discovering it through the Jackson 5. Michael Jackson, still a couple years away from his teens, delivered a vocal Dave Marsh called “just beyond belief, nuanced and knowing but at the same time, young and innocent.” Backed by a musical track that combined the sounds of Motown and Sly & the Family Stone with a double dose of sunshine, Michael and his brothers were never going to miss the target, but who knew their arrow would embed itself so deeply in the bull’s-eye?
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Five Good Covers: Sam Stone (John Prine)

Posted by Patrick Robbins at 12:00 pm 1 Response »
May 082013

Five Good Covers presents five cross-genre reinterpretations of an oft-covered song.

“Sam Stone,” from John Prine’s self-titled 1971 debut album, is considered one of the most depressing songs ever written. We’re not talking my-baby-left-me depressing here, understand; this is a song about a wounded war veteran suffering from PTSD and a heroin addiction, who grows remote from his family and winds up dying alone, with a chorus couplet so devastating (“There’s a hole in daddy’s arm where all the money goes / Jesus Christ died for nothin’ I suppose”) that even Johnny Cash flinched at it, altering the words in his own cover. When the Man in Black can’t bring himself to sing your lyrics, you know you’ve touched a nerve.
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Five Good Covers: Can't Help Falling in Love (Elvis Presley)

Posted by Patrick Robbins at 5:00 pm 6 Responses »
Apr 302013

Five Good Covers presents five cross-genre reinterpretations of an oft-covered song.

1961′s Blue Hawaii marked the start of Elvis Presley’s long and painful slide down the dull razor blade of mediocrity. The movie has little plot, bland acting, and inane dialogue that sounds more suited to the romantic Anakin Skywalker (“You wanna know something – on you, wet is my favorite color”). Meanwhile, its soundtrack featured emetic material like “Rock-A-Hula Baby” and “Ito Eats.” But we’re ready to forgive all the minute we hear “Can’t Help Falling in Love.” Sure, it took a few takes to get it right (give this outtake a listen if you’re in a spot where you won’t get in trouble), but you can’t deny Presley’s performance here, and it would be flat out wrong to try.
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They Say It's Your Birthday: Liz Phair

Posted by Patrick Robbins at 5:00 pm 2 Responses »
Apr 172013

They Say It’s Your Birthday celebrates an artist’s special day with other people singing his or her songs. Let others do the work for a while. Happy birthday!

It’s hard to believe, but in a couple months we’ll be celebrating the twentieth anniversary of the release of Exile in Guyville, the benchmark indie album that revealed Liz Phair to the world at large. She won a reputation for her lyrical candor, never using a euphemism when a dysphemism will do (look that up in your Funk & Wagnalls), and delivering those lyrics in a perfectly imperfect everywoman voice, set to spare but incredibly catchy melodies. Subsequent albums saw her staying true to her voice no matter where it took her, and as songs like “H.W.C.” attested, she never lost her spunk. Continue reading »

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They Say It's Your Birthday: Richard Thompson

Posted by Patrick Robbins at 5:00 pm 1 Response »
Apr 032013

They Say It’s Your Birthday celebrates an artist’s special day with other people singing his or her songs. Let others do the work for a while. Happy birthday!

Electric, Richard Thompson’s newest album, followed the pattern of all his releases – first-rate material, critical hosannas, sales to his devoted core following, and no long-deserved breakthrough to the masses. Having been through this for four and a half decades now, he’d be forgiven for growing complacent with this level of acceptance; instead, he continues to take chances, and his playing and songwriting continue to stand astride a very tall mountain with very little room for others to join him at the peak. Continue reading »

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Cover Classics: Trill It Like It Was by the Templeton Twins

Posted by Patrick Robbins at 9:30 am No Responses »
Apr 012013

Cover Classics takes a closer look at all-cover albums of the past, their genesis, and their legacy.

Have you heard of Ted Templeman?
Anyone who knows their ’70s record producers should recognize the name.
Perhaps you know the albums he produced: Van Morrison’s Tupelo Honey, Little Feat’s Sailin’ Shoes, and all the ’70s records by the Doobie Brothers.
Probably his signature production work is on all the Roth-era Van Halen albums (he’s the guy who says “C’mon, Dave, gimme a break” in “Unchained”).
Yet Templeman has one highly unusual skeleton in his closet, and that’s what we’ll be looking at today. Continue reading »

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