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.
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Jul 132022
 

Welcome to Cover Me Q&A, where we take your questions about cover songs and answer them to the best of our ability.

a cappella cover

Here at Cover Me Q&A, we’ll be taking questions about cover songs and giving as many different answers as we can. This will give us a chance to hold forth on covers we might not otherwise get to talk about, to give Cover Me readers a chance to learn more about individual staffers’ tastes and writing styles, and to provide an opportunity for some back-and-forth, as we’ll be taking requests (learn how to do so at feature’s end).

Today’s question: What’s your favorite instrumental cover?
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Apr 292016
 

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

everybody's got to learn sometime covers

The Korgis really were an extraordinary group. With a name derived from the name of ubiquitous ’80s synthesizer makers Korg, they evolved out of the eccentric and often unclassifiable ’70s UK band Stackridge, at a time when fashion demanded shorter and hookier songs, shorter hair, skinny ties, and shiny suits, i.e. the ’80s. Stackridge were resolutely unfashionable and nominally prog, although their music could be an odd amalgam of twiddly instrumentals, folk, psychedelia and music hall. Their instrumentation could include anything from flutes and fiddles to dustbin lids, and bear tribute to the days when record companies had money to invest in the sometimes vainglorious pursuit of a hit, allowing a band to mature over several albums, rather than today’s one strike and you’re out.
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Nov 162012
 

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

Nick Laird-Clowes had become friends with Paul Simon. One day he played Simon a chorus that had yet to find verses or a bridge; Simon told him that if he could build a song around it, he’d have a hit. “What are you going to call it – ‘Ah Hey Ma Ma Ma’?” Simon asked. Laird-Clowes said no, it would be called “Morning Lasted All Day.” Simon shot that down. After giving it some more thought, Laird-Clowes asked how “Life in a Northern Town” sounded; Simon said it was a great title, and the rest is what we here at Cover Me like to call history. Continue reading »

Oct 262011
 

Quickies rounds up new can’t-miss covers. Download ‘em below.

North Carolina collective Stephaniesid describe their sound as “pop-noir,” which is a phrase that could also be used to describe the Dream Academy (“folk-pop-noir” perhaps). Their cover of “Life in a Northern Town” brings a joyful bounce to the proceedings, adding in xylophones, horns, and whimsy aplenty.
MP3: Stephaniesid – Life in a Northern Town (The Dream Academy cover) Continue reading »