Menno Versteeg Covers “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) as an Indie Rock Ballad

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Aug 162026
 

When “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” by The Proclaimers nearly topped the charts in 1993 it was like it came out of nowhere. So out of touch with the R&B that was dominating the Hot 100 at the time and just aggressively Scottish, it was like nothing else on the radio. And that makes sense, because the song was actually five years old. It had narrowly missed the UK Top 10 in 1988 but was released in 1993 in North America due to its inclusion in the romantic comedy Benny and Joon. That was enough, apparently, and the song became The Proclaimers’ only US Top 40 hit, a song which now has over a billion streams, ten times their next most popular song. Continue reading »

Five Good Covers: “Money for Nothing” (Dire Straits)

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Apr 092018
 

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

money for nothing covers

Dire Straits got a raw deal. Their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame class that should, in all rights, include Radiohead. This was the first year the band was eligible, and they in particular seemed like a shoe-in. No luck. Instead, Dire Straits are getting lined up right next to Bon Jovi and the Moody Blues in yet another slate of honorees inspiring endless articles about how out-of-touch the Hall is.

And I have nothing against Bon Jovi or the Moody Blues, but I hate seeing Dire Straits lumped in with the “classic rock for aging boomers” crowd. I mean, I get it, but Dire Straits are so much more than that to me. (Sidebar: I’d be remiss without nothing that Nina Simone and Sister Rosetta Tharpe are getting in, though it’s a shame the Rock Hall voters couldn’t find any living women or minorities to celebrate). Continue reading »

Spoon Cover One of David Bowie’s Final Songs

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Feb 022018
 
strombo show covers

As an avant-garde jazz-influenced album, David Bowie’s final record Blackstar would seem damn-near uncoverable (unless you’re an avante-garde jazz band). But the songs keep getting covered, and by some surprising artists. Sting covered “Lazarus.” Nine Inch Nails covered “I Can’t Give Everything Away.” Amanda Palmber and Anna Calvi covered the title track. (So did Car Seat Headrest and Hiatus Kaiyote’s Nai Palm, blending it with Radiohead, no less).

The latest comes from indie-rock vets Spoon, who tackled “I Can’t Give Anything Away” on The Strombo Show, a radio program that is quickly become Canada’s answer to other international cover-shows BBC Live Lounge and Triple J “Like a Version.” Britt Daniel’s understated vocals deliver the quiet melody and bigger chorus perfectly, but the secret star of this stripped-down version might be pianist Alex Fischel. Needless to say, it sounds quite different than Nine Inch Nails’ take on the tune.

And, while we’re at it, here’s a bunch of other Strombo Show covers from recent episodes too. Continue reading »