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 »

Jan 312024
 
best cover songs january
BABii — Lovefool (The Cardigans cover)

Brent Amaker And The Rodeo – Gut Feeling (Devo cover)

Continue reading »

Dec 072023
 
nouvelle vague only you

It seems like such a limited premise: Bossa nova covers of hit songs from the ’80s, mainly of new wave and electronica of that period. But Nouvelle Vague have been going for 20 years. To have that longevity there has to be something more, and there is. When Marc Collin and Olivier Libaux started the project they brought immense ability in playing and arranging music. And they had exquisite taste in the artists they collaborated with. This has made them a regular feature of Cover Me lists, and they have inspired a small industry of other cover artists in the field. Unfortunately, Libaux passed in 2021, but Collin is preparing to release a new album to mark the 20th anniversary of their first release, and is working with some of his most successful collaborators. From that album comes “Only You,” with Melanie Pain on vocals. Continue reading »

Aug 252023
 

SpellboundThe return of Siouxsie Sioux to the stage this year was as welcome as it was unexpected. Her not performing in public for the past decade did not mean her fans had forgotten her. Some folk have never abandoned her signature look, and people born long after she had her biggest hits could be seen with that look in British cities and beyond during the interregnum. The music never went away, the originals on repeat and lots of cover versions. Cleopatra Records have assembled an outstanding list of devotees to pay homage in the well-timed tribute Spellbound.

There is a tendency to look at Siouxsie and the Banshees, driven by Siouxsie and Steve Severin, with dark purple lenses.  But that can neglect the breadth of their achievements. To wit:

  • The first iteration of Siouxsie’s pre-Banshees band had Billy Idol and Sid Vicious in it and fitted with the punk ethos of the day.
  • The infamous moment when the Sex Pistols let loose expletives on prime-time TV started when presenter Bill Grundy made a clumsy pass at Siouxsie.
  • One classic lineup of Siouxsie and the Banshees was a driving guitar band, expertly produced by Steve Lillywhite, who later developed U2 and Big Country.
  • Their biggest hit in the UK was an audacious cover of “Dear Prudence,” chosen as Robert Smith (filling in between iterations of The Cure) knew the melody.
  • By the time of their only (!) hit in the US, 1991’s “Kiss Them for Me,” Talvin Singh’s tabla rhythms were in the mix, before a wide swath of artists adopted the sound.
  • Many miles away from the center of the action for pop, in a town just outside of Glasgow, the Jesus and Mary Chain showcased art school antics and developed the shoegaze sound, citing the Banshees as a significant influence.
  • The Banshees had a prototype trip-hop song as early as 1983.

Of course, on this site we are interested in their history of covers, and here too the band excelled. Their 1987 Through the Looking Glass album gave insight into their influences and heroes. These were not in punk but in classic pop and rock, heavily featuring those artists who presented a whole package of music, visuals, and attitude. Siouxsie performed with Iggy Pop just this year, which went better than when she performed with Nico in the ’70s. In the video for “The Passenger,” Siouxsie and the band were clearly larking about, comfortable where they were and with each other.

Siouxsie’s influence was very broad across genres and artists, and female artists have consistently expressed gratitude just for Siouxsie’s existence as a trailblazer and icon.  From her first recording, Siouxsie called the shots, rejecting her label’s choice of producer, and choosing one that better reflected what she wanted to do. That first single was a hit. Did that make it easier for the next generation of highly talented women to get their vision expressed?  You can only hope.
Continue reading »

Jun 302023
 

‘The Best Covers Ever’ series counts down our favorite covers of great artists.

1980s one hit wonders

Is the 1980s the best decade ever for one-hit wonders? So many classic songs came out that decade by not-so-classic bands. It was, perhaps, a particularly fickle time to be chasing pop-chart success. Many of the oft-discussed one hit wonder bands have killer catalogs, but, for whatever reason, those catalogs contain only one tune that is widely remembered today. If you like “Take on Me” or “Safety Dance,” check out the respective A-Ha and Men Without Hats albums they came from, both just as good! The same holds true for many other ’80s bands. Dead or Alive, pictured above, has some other killer jams too, but alas, these days they’re best known as the “you spin me right round” band.

So today, we celebrate the big one-off hits in new wave, synth-rock, easy listening, and other very-’80s genres with some knockout covers. From “867-5309/Jenny” (Tommy Tutone) to “Turning Japanese” (The Vapors) to “In a Big Country” (Big Country — maybe hard to follow-up a hit that has your band name in the title). Rock down to Electric Avenue, and let these covers take you higher.
Continue reading »

Feb 142022
 

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

Blue Monday covers

“Blue Monday” is feels too darn recent to be almost 40 years old. That may be due to the number of times it has been re-released, each time never outstaying the welcome the immediately discernible intro offers. Which is one of the problems, but we’ll get to that.

New Order, having emerged phoenix-like from the ashes of Joy Division and the suicide of frontman Ian Curtis, appeared to have hit the ground running with the iconic “Blue Monday.” But it was actually a year or two into their formation, 1983, earlier recordings having been more akin to the maudlin gloomcore of their earlier incarnation. Only after a wider exposure to techno and house music, along with the absorption of synthesist Gillian Gilbert into the band, did they have the conviction to fully embrace and add such textures to their existing sound.

“Blue Monday” epitomized where guitars and dance music might meet, making for a new breed of visceral electronica, with some organic frailty heightening the robotic artifice. The biggest selling 12″ single ever made, it remains a perpetual in the live repertoire on the still functioning band, who, according to setlist.fm, have played it 448 times in their 41 year history.

There are more covers of this song than you might expect. Broadly, they fall into two categories: the copycat, identifiable in seconds from the staccato drums, and the ambient acoustic deconstruction. They make up, between them, well over half the field available. The former seems sort of pointless and the latter, well… Much as I love that style, they are all a bit samey and a bit, given they are mostly Gallic in origin, vieux chapeau, which made the decision for me that they would not be included here. (Except, in passing, the one by Nouvelle Vague.)

No, I like my Blue Mondays to stand out. Like these five here…
Continue reading »