10. Tom Robinson — Rikki Don’t Lose That Number (Steely Dan cover)
Opening with a riff nicked (without attribution) from Horace Silver’s “Song For My Father,” “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number,” from Steely Dan’s 1974 album Pretzel Logic, is one of the band’s most straightforward songs and was their most successful single. According to Donald Fagen, it was written about a woman, Rikki Ducornet, who he had a crush on in college. Others have interpreted the song to be about drugs (“number” having once been slang for a joint), or about a potential gay relationship or crush. Influenced by the Silver riff, the song has a vaguely Latin feel to it.
Tom Robinson, who first became known for overtly political punk/new wave music in the late 1970s—notably his (not punk) anthem, “Glad to be Gay”—released a more mainstream, less political album in 1984, Hope and Glory, which included his cover of “Rikki.” It removes any reference to the Silver riff, instead opting for a fairly standard mid-80s New Wave beat and synthesizer sheen, but Robinson’s charismatic voice carries it over the line. Robert Christgau, the legendary critic/curmudgeon, clearly influenced by Robinson’s outspokenly queer persona, considered the cover “a great moment in gay liberation.” — Jordan Becker
9. Self — What A Fool Believes (The Doobie Brothers cover)
The original “What a Fool Believes” has what AV Club described as “a quirky yet smooth marriage of bleating bass and two-handed keyboard whose giddy toot feels like riding in a taffy boat bobbing through an ocean of cotton candy.” Matt Mahaffey, leader of the band Self, jumped aboard that good ship Lollipop and added further childlike qualities by recording an entire album with kiddie musical toys. Gizmodgery features a cover of “What a Fool Believes” that delivers not a single sidelong wink. Even as xylophones and one-string guitars plink along behind him, Mahaffey gives a vocal performance that’s just as earnest as Michael McDonald’s. And if it’s less soulful, well, it’s more naive, and that suits the song’s subject perfectly.
Self couldn’t really tour behind the Gizmodgery album because of the prohibitive cost of Duracell and Eveready batteries. That just makes “What a Fool Believes” that much more of a unicorn, one brought to you by Mattel, Playschool, and Hasbro. — Patrick Robbins
8. Zoe Sky Jordan — Marina Del Rey (Marc Jordan cover)
Jordan keeps it in the family with this cover of her dad’s original. Percussion is a lively part of the instrumentation in both the original and in this cover. Here the syncopated backbeat keeps us stutter stepping through the storyline, but I do find myself missing the jaunty steel drum of the original. Where the original is funkier, this version is more wistful and yet somehow a little more accusatory about getting that job. The electric guitar swoons in occasionally to disrupt the overall easygoingness and add a little dissonance to the background sound. — Sara Stoudt
7. Mike Viola — Steal Away (Robbie Dupree cover)
Robbie Dupree’s self-titled 1980 debut album, with its nine sleek and seriously sticky pop songs was, along with Christopher Cross’s debut LP, practically glued to my teen turntable that year. I loved age-appropriate cool stuff back then, too (The Police, Pretenders, etc.), but admit that Robbie’s brooding, bearded face and daydreamy soft rock songs really hit for a suburban teenage girl who required soundtrack music to ponder her irrational teen crushes. The first single off the Dupree album, the wanting and melodic, “Steal Away” sounds like the hot cousin of “What A Fool Believes” and got as high as #6 in the Billboard pop chart.
Mike Viola was and still is a busy man. He was the bandleader of underrated ’90s alt-power poppers Candy Butchers. He’s produced by albums by Panic! at the Disco, Teddy Thompson, and Andrew Bird, as well as releasing a solid slate of solo albums. That’s him singing lead on the still insanely popular, streamed- by-millions title track the 1996 film That Thing You Do. Viola’s cover of “Steal Away” is synthetic, shimmery and faithful (and why not, it’s a perfect song). He adds a wink in the coda by singing a line from “What A Fool Believes,” and the whole vocal feels like love. — Hope Silverman
6. Carly Simon — It Keeps You Runnin’ (The Doobie Brothers cover)
This song has a lot more to it than people give it credit for. It has one especially shining moment, and I don’t mean the big rousing chorus. I mean the pre-chorus, the part where Michael McDonald (in the original) drops down in register to confide: ”I know what it means to hide your heart from a long time ago.” The way the music behind that line strikes a minor chord and the “oooh”s comes in–it gets me every time. Haven’t we all been there, either as the person hiding, or as the one trying to help the other emerge? (Of course, you can also read it as a “Baby It’s Cold Outside” situation, where the pursuer just isn’t taking “no” for an answer and using any argument or accusation to get their way.)
For those of us who are mostly put off by McDonald’s powerhouse vocals (at full bore, his voice could scrape the barnacles off a yacht), Carly Simon is here to make it right. She’s smooth, not too forceful. Not desperate-sounding like McDonald–she sounds like she’s Carly Simon, so you both know she’s got other options. But you believe her when confides that she gets it, she’s been there, and so you surrender. She keeps you runnin’ in her direction. — Tom McDonald
5. The Grass Cats — How Long Has This Been Going On (Ace cover)
As this starts, with the repeating bass, it feels as if it could be the original, but then, as the acoustic guitar ripples and the banjo splutters into effervescent life, a smile should be hitting your face and hard. Sure, for a song of accusation, remorse and regret, a smile may not be the lyrical intent, but, crafted like this, the singer is imparting a massive middle finger at his deceitful chum, before bounding off with a footloose spring unrealized in the original. As orthodox-looking and sounding a bluegrass band as you can find, the Grass Cats were not beyond inserting covers freely and liberally into their otherwise trad repertoire, this being one of many that could have made this list. — Seuras Of
4. The Darcys — Josie (Steely Dan cover)
Covering a complete album charges artists with a daunting task: presenting their own cohesive package drawn entirely from someone else’s cohesive package. And few albums present more of a comprehensive package than Aja. But in 2012, Toronto quintet The Darcys tackled the whole thing. It was our second-favorite cover album that year. They brought in a significantly more electronic vibe, drum patterns and keyboards replacing much (though not all) of the original’s funk guitar and gospel choruses. The pop-rock sheen might be sacrilege to the Dan purists, but anyone with an open mind may just discover new ways to hear these songs. We could have picked almost any song for this list (indeed, both the riff-rock “Peg” and the angelic “I Got The News” were contenders at one point), but it’s hard to top this dark and turgid run through “Josie.” — Ray Padgett
3. Joan as Police Woman — I Keep Forgettin’ (Michael McDonald cover)
Michael McDonald is the George Washington of yacht rock’s Mount Rushmore. His warm buttered soul has been a recognized hallmark of the genre for half a century now, going back to his backing vocals on Steely Dan’s “Katy Lied.” His highest charting solo hit, “I Keep Forgettin’,” sounds like a sequel to “What a Fool Believes,” and it sees McDonald following (and losing) the same plot, sadly ruminating on heartbreak in all its lushness.
Well, Joan as Police Woman takes out that lushness. This is a slower version, more painful in its memories and lack of same. The call and response vocals are at odds with each other and the piano behind them. But it’s not chaotic – it’s cathartic, By being so different from the original, by abandoning all familiarity, Joan Wasser invites us to get lost in the song’s pain, then follow her voice to her own version of freedom. — Patrick Robbins
2. M People — What A Fool Believes (The Doobie Brothers cover)
The ‘90s were lean times for Yacht Rockers – heck, the term hadn’t even been invented yet. The bands’ style of slick keyboard and saxophone driven pop seemed passé, especially as long-haired dudes from Seattle were dominating the airwaves. British R&B outfit M People found a way to make the Doobie Brothers relevant again with their 1998 cover of “What a Fool Believes.” Infusing the song with a techno beat, they brought the Doobie’s classic out of the “where-are-they-now” file and sent it spiraling into the dance clubs. One can still hear elements of the famed “Doobie bounce” keyboard riff, but as Heather Small belts out the words, no one would “think twice” that it was a ‘90s dance track. — Curtis Zimmermann
1. Bill Callahan & Bonnie “Prince” Billy ft. Bill McKay — Deacon Blues (Steely Dan cover)
You can’t help but be drawn into the story of the expanding man by Bill Callahan’s deep, warm, and inviting vocals of this cover. Where the original is more of a team effort with a chorus of background vocals and plenty of instruments chiming in, here everything stays in pairs. There’s no literal working of the saxophone in this cover, but the accompanying new voice when it’s mentioned in the choruses adds a layer of lightness, matching the duo of resonant strums and more delicate plucks of the guitar. You also won’t hear overt percussion like the groove-keeping hi-hat of the original. Instead, the wanderlust guitar, ever a steadfast companion to the vocals, changes not only strum style but genre throughout, turning towards a bit of twang in transitions between sections of the song. — Sara Stoudt
Thanks for this, but 3 minor quibbles: the original version of Love Will Keep Us Together was by Neil Sedaka, the original version of What a Fool Believes was by Kenny Loggins, and, most egregiously, you posted a photo of Loggins and Messina, along with Christopher Cross the ultimate yacht rock kings, but no Loggins and Messina songs (What a Fool Believes doesn’t count)! What, no Angry Eyes by the Pointer Sisters? And, since their versions of House at Pooh Corner and Danny’s Song were themselves covers (even though Kenny Loggins wrote them both) you might have chosen to use their versions, though Mary Travers did sing the former and Neko Case (!) and Me First & The Gimme Gimmes (!!) sang the latter. Still, great fun. Thanks.
Mmm, Joe, re LWKUT, whilst it was, of course, a Sedaka song first, no way could it have been deemed yacht, whereas the later C&T hit epitomised the genre, right down to the peaked hat worn by Daryl Dragon. Plus, I forgot to remember to nail my Cover credentials around the O Carol hitmaker, straining to meet my overshot deadline for inclusion. I can’t speak for the mighty Kenny and Jim, but it is good to see egregiously in your response.