Jun 152018
 
best cover songs 1978

Welcome to the third installment in our Best Cover Songs of Yesteryear countdown, where we act like we were compiling our usual year-end list from a year before we – or the internet – existed. Compared to the first two, this one has significantly less grunge than 1996 and less post-punk than 1987. It’s hard to have post-punk, after all, before you have punk, a new genre starting to hit its peak in 1978. And don’t forget the other big late-’70s sound: disco. Both genres were relatively new, and super divisive among music fans. Lucky for us, both genres were also big on covers.

Disco, in particular, generated some hilariously ill-advised cover songs. We won’t list them all here – this is the Best 1978 covers, not the Most 1978 covers. If you want a taste (and think carefully about whether you really do), this bonkers take on a Yardbirds classic serves as a perfect example of what a good portion of the year’s cover songs looked and sounded like: Continue reading »

Aug 202010
 

Song of the Day posts one cool cover every morning. Catch up on past installments here.

“Do you expect me to talk?”
“No, Mr. Jesus. I expect you to die!”

Those opening James Bond-aping quotes (Who can name which movie? No cheating!) indicate the level of reverence brought to this Jesus Christ Superstar song. This shouldn’t be surprising. That’s the album it appears on above. The savior of all mankind is looking fiiine.

Yes, Jesus Christ Surferstar one of the stranger tributes out there. All 26 songs from Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s hit musical, turned into Ventures-esq surf rock jams. As you might expect, it’s hit and miss, but the hits hit surprisingly hard. For instance, Atomic Mosquitos go all “Walk Don’t Run” on high priest Caiaphas’ showstopper “This Jesus Must Die.” Never has bloodlust been so danceable! Continue reading »