The Best Covers of 1950s One Hit Wonders

 Posted by at 9:00 am  2 Responses »
May 052023
 

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

best covers of 1950s

As regular readers know, every month we put together a giant list we call Best Covers Ever. We take a household-name artist and count down the best covers of their songs. We’ve done Bob Dylan and Beyoncé and Billy Joel and Bee Gees and Britney Spears and Beach Boys and Bruce Springsteen and Buddy Holly and those are just the B’s.

What do all of those “B” artists have in common? Not much, except for this: They all have a lot of different songs that get covered by a lot of different people.

But there are some artists who will likely never get their own list here. Why not? Maybe they just don’t get covered enough. Or maybe they get covered often — but people mostly just cover a single song. These are the artists we colloquially call One Hit Wonders. And in a special series starting today, we’re celebrating covers of their songs. Continue reading »

Cover Classics: Cat Power’s “The Covers Record” and “Jukebox”

 Posted by at 2:00 pm  No Responses »
Dec 072018
 

Cover Classics takes a look at great covers albums of the past, their genesis and their legacies.

Black Friday may have gone, but here’s a twofer bargain.

Cat Power, aka Chan Marshall, has produced two near-full album cover classics in her career (so far), which doesn’t even begin to fully address her never-more-quirky approach to the songs of others. Not that she is lost for any words of her own! She’s got a back catalogue stretching across many styles and many genres, from raw scratchy indie through slinky southern soul, a touch of electronica and back again, yet always unmistakably herself. Her career has seen her seemingly beset by internal demons; many had written her off until her triumphant return this fall with Wanderer, containing ten of her own songs, and one contender for our Cover Songs of the Year post.

But it is back to 2000 we first go, to The Covers Record. Allegedly a disappointment to her record company, who had appreciated this was an artiste worth their investment, but even with lackluster promotion it became a slow burning triumph. Praise and plaudits accumulated over the years, not least as box set dramas required ever more diverse musical accompaniments.
Continue reading »

Good, Better, Best: Sea of Love (Phil Phillips)

 Posted by at 4:00 pm  2 Responses »
Jul 152016
 

Some covers are more equal than others. Good, Better, Best looks at three covers and decides who takes home the gold, the silver, and the bronze.

Because I decided to fight for what was rightfully and legally mine, a full album that I recorded was never released. I’m not being paid, nor have I ever been paid, as an artist for “Sea of Love.” I never received justice and to this day have not received justice. – Phil Phillips

The author of “Sea of Love,” John Phillip Batiste (he Anglicized it for the benefit of non-French-speaking DJs), got more pain than joy from his big hit. Written to woo a girl he didn’t wind up with, co-credited to a record store owner who Phillips claims had no hand in writing it, the original “Sea of Love” went to number one in 1959, but only earned its author $6800. His album was permanently shelved after the label got in a dispute with the record store owner, and Phillips was unable to get out from under his five-year contract; by 1964, Beatlemania had hit and Phillips’ time in the spotlight was over.

“Sea of Love,” on the other hand, was just beginning to shine.
Continue reading »

PAWS Delivers Lo-Fi Rendition of Oft-Covered “Sea of Love”

 Posted by at 10:30 am  No Responses »
Feb 102015
 

If you were in high school and madly in love around the time Juno came out in 2007, you are familiar with Cat Power‘s rendition of Phil Phillips’ 1959 hit, “Sea of Love.” The ballad has been covered by the likes of The Honeydrippers, Iggy Pop, and Tom Waits. Just in time for Valentine’s Day, Scottish fuzz rock trio PAWS has delivered their own sweet, lo-fi version of the classic love song. Continue reading »