Blondie Archives - Cover Me

Elvis Costello Covers Ailing Debbie Harry at Tibet House Benefit

Posted by Luke Poling at 9:00 am No Responses »

Mar 132026

The annual Tibet House US benefit concert is always a great group of musicians assembled for a great cause. This year’s version, held March 3rd at Carnegie Hall was no different. With Debbie Harry out sick, Elvis Costello stepped in to take her place. Costello explained that he was in Nashville when Laurie Anderson called and asked if he could fill in for Harry. “When you think of Debbie, you think of who else? Me,” said Costello by way of introduction. And then he launched into a cover of Blondie‘s “Picture This,” delivered with his usual affection and clear love of the song. Continue reading »

Good Terms Create On-the-Spot Screamo Cover of Blondie’s “Call Me”

Posted by Riley Haas at 9:00 am No Responses »

Mar 172025

Musora is a music education channel based out of the Greater Vancouver Area in Canada with a number of YouTube channels. Some of their channels have featured musicians performing famous songs. Recently, the main channel has started a series where musicians have to cover a song in their own style and they don’t know what it is ahead of time. We here at Cover Me have written up one other Musora spontaneous cover.

The most recent episode features self-described emo/pop-punk/post-hardcore band Good Terms taking on Blondie’s “Call Me.” “Call Me” was actually written by Giorgio Moroder for American Gigolo, and lead singer Debbie Harry wrote lyrics to it once she was brought in. Blondie then performed the song and it became one of their biggest hits.

From the very opening, it is clear that Good Terms understand the purpose of the Musora challenge. Gone is any hint of Moroder’s electronic disco – from the very beginning it is post-hardcore guitars and drums. Lead singer Brian McShea follows the vocal melody but sings much more in an emo style to begin with.

For the chorus there’s a bit of a break and then a rhythm that is almost 3rd wave ska. There’s another little breakdown before the real show begins: during the second verse Good Terms go full screamo as bassist Geo Botelho briefly takes over the vocals. The chorus is the same as the first but then the bridge is completely transformed into a full post-hardcore/scream breakdown.

It works extremely well and it’s all the more impressive that they just did it on the spot. The full performance starts around 10:58 but it’s fun to watch them working it out too:

Review: Nouvelle Vague’s ‘Should I Stay Or Should I Go?’

Posted by Seuras Og at 11:30 am 1 Response »

Feb 212024

Nouvelle Vague is back with a new collection titled Should I Stay or Should I Go? I’m going to hesitate in answering that question, as there is the one more demanding, about how this lot are still going. No offense intended, mind; back in the day, Nouvelle Vague’s bossa nova revisiting of punk and new wave songs was really something to behold, with both the novelty and the application well worthy of praise and merit. But now? I know a version has been touring, but I hadn’t appreciated they were still marketing something new, or, more to the point, new to them. So, is this a soft sophisticated samba swirl through the song cycles of Eilish and Swift, Sheeran and whoever else the young people adore? Ummmm, nope. This is a further trawl through the hallowed dusty halls of the last century. Or, more to the point, hoping the audiences who loved them near two decades ago will still love them now, and are still listening to their tired old record collections.

I needed to check out the rationale, hastening to the requisite website. The fact that one of the originators, Olivier Libaux, is now the late Olivier Libaux should be enough confirm him spinning gently, counterclockwise, in his grave. I am presuming his then co-conspirator Marc Collin is still at the helm, as the agenda is seemingly unchanged, setting up a set of chanteuses unfamiliar with the originals, ironically perhaps all the more available as time flits by. So why does it seem now to, largely, pall, where it once delighted? Follow me…..
Continue reading »

The 50 Best Cover Songs of 2023

Posted by Staff at 9:00 am 10 Responses »

Dec 152023

Follow all our Best of 2023 coverage (along with previous year-end lists) here.

I like to think that badass lady in the artwork up there (done by our own Hope Silverman!) embodies the spirit of this year’s list. Not that they’re all CBGB-style punk songs—though there are a couple—but in her devil-may-care attitude. “Who says I shouldn’t do a hardcore cover of the Cranberries? A post-punk cover of Nick Drake? A hip-hop cover of The Highwaymen? Screw that!”

As with most good covers, the 50 covers we pulled out among the thousands we listened to bring a healthy blend of reverence and irreverence. Reverence because the artists love the source material. Irreverence because they’re not afraid to warp it, bend it, mold it in their own image. A few of the songs below are fairly obscure, but most you probably already know. Just not like this.

The Best Cover Songs of October 2023

Posted by Ray Padgett at 1:31 pm No Responses »

Oct 312023

Deer Tick – Dancing In The Dark (Bruce Springsteen cover)

“For me, ‘Dancing in the Dark’ isn’t a song about romance, but instead a desperate plea to break out of some degraded, stagnant situation. The narrator is filled with angst, self doubt, and the only way out is to the sheer force of unwavering will power,” says Deer Tick guitarist/vocalist Ian O’Neil. “Bruce really shows us who he is on this one and it looks an awful lot like the rest of us.”

Die Sauerkrauts Polka Band — Now That’s What I Call Polka! (Weird Al cover)

There are a lot of Weird Al covers out there (okay, maybe not a lot, but more than you might think). This is new though. This band didn’t cover one of Weird Al’s parodies. They didn’t even cover a Weird Al original, like “Dare to Be Stupid.” They covered one of his polka medleys (a subject I interviewed Al about in Cover Me the book—excerpt at The AV Club). Meaning, they covered polka versions of hits by Miley Cyrus, One Direction, Gotye, and many more, all in a brisk medley. A very silly music video brings it home. Continue reading »

The Ophelias Turn “Hanging on the Telephone” Into a Ballad

Posted by Riley Haas at 12:00 pm No Responses »

May 112023

You probably know The Nerves’ “Hanging on the Telephone” from its cover by Blondie, the second single from their third album, Parallel Lines. Though this cover was a hit in the UK, it took the album becoming a hit in the US for the song to become known on this side of the pond. Blondie’s version isn’t particularly different from the original. And because The Nerves didn’t last, Blondie’s version has remained the definitive one. Continue reading »