Mar 182024
 

In Memoriam pays tribute to those who have left this world, and the songs they left us to remember them by.

Karl Wallinger covers

Karl Edmond De Vere Wallinger: chorister and oboe player educated at England’s finest schools.  Karl Wallinger: hippy, Beatles fanatic, multi-instrumentalist and “likable smart aleck.”  Like Joe Strummer before him, also a product of a diplomat who had his children educated at Boarding Schools, Karl Wallinger took his music and his political passions in an individual direction.

Wallinger came from the small Welsh seaside town of Prestatyn.  As the crow flies it is not far from Liverpool (although it is more of a trek by road than across the Irish Sea), and his sisters gave him a love of the Beatles and Merseybeat which never left him.  Music engulfed him at a young age. He was a chorister at Eton College, a nursery for Royalty and Prime Ministers, and his skills earned him a music scholarship to another famous school, Charterhouse. In the latter he followed closely on the heels of Tony Banks and Peter Gabriel, as they started their path to the formation of Genesis. Gabriel gave one of the warmest tributes to Wallinger, noting that he had “the most creative and fun week I have ever had in the studio” during their time in a Real World Recording Week.

Always active in bands and musical movements, he first came to prominence as a member of The Waterboys. In many ways that does not distinguish you.  Mike Scott likes to claim that The Waterboys have had more members than any other band, and he has some receipts to help make his case. However, Wallinger was more than a bit part rental player. He was a key part of the band’s most successful incarnation, at least commercially. Having talked his way into the band (Scott had advertised for a guitarist, Wallinger sold himself as a keyboard player), Wallinger was part of the “big sound” that marked the most impactful phase of the band’s career, including their biggest hit, “The Whole of the Moon.” Scott remains on better terms with his many, many collaborators (when compared with The Fall’s Mark E. Smith, for instance), and his love and respect for Wallinger never waned. “Travel on well, my old friend,” he wrote on his X/Twitter page. “You are one of the finest musicians I’ve ever known.”
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Mar 302018
 
best cover songs of march

Disclaimer: Our monthly “Best Cover Songs” aren’t ranked, and the “Honorable Mentions” aren’t necessarily worse than the others (they’re just the ones we had the least to say about).

Angelique Kidjo – Born Under Punches (Talking Heads cover)


Goddammit, Angelique. We spent weeks compiling our Best Talking Heads Covers post, and only days after we finish, you announce a full Remain in Light tribute album. Judging from this first single, it’s going to be pretty amazing too. Continue reading »

Mar 312017
 

In the Spotlight showcases a cross-section of an artist’s cover work. View past installments, then post suggestions for future picks in the comments!

mavericks

Read any article about the Mavericks and you are almost guaranteed to see the word “eclectic.” And that is fair. Their music is a cocktail of country, rock, blues, folk, Cuban, Tex-Mex, swing, and probably other genres, that somehow all works together. It is surely a testament to the strong writing, tight playing, and maybe most of all, the rich vocals and riveting stage presence of singer Raul Malo, that the band is able to meld these influences into a coherent body of work.

Also, they are an amazing live act, which doesn’t hurt.
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