Review: Belinda Carlisle’s ‘Once Upon a Time in California’

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Sep 012025
 

Once Upon a Time in CaliforniaBelinda Carlisle wouldn’t be the first boomer to look back on her formative years through rose-tinteds, as she does on her new release Once Upon a Time in California, and I dare say she won’t be the last. The erstwhile singer of trailblazing L.A. new-wave punkettes, the Go-Go’s, she has been clean and sober these last 20 years, and, if her releases no longer rattle the upper reaches of the charts, she maintains a strong fanbase, especially in the U.K. and Australia.

Given this is Cover Me Songs, it is worth mentioning, if only in passing, the last two albums that Carlisle has made, if only to refute the idea that this project might just represent more of the same. In 2007 she issued Voila, a set of French chansons, sung in that language, and in 2017, Wilder Shores, made up of chants from the Sikh religion, and sung in Punjabi. That’s a bit, different, eh, as are each the albums.

Once Upon a Time in California harks back to safer ground, mostly to the songs of Carlisle’s childhood in Southern California. Rather than seeking to put any new spin on the large print ballads that these most are, it is her voice that is the single identifying factor for the set; it’s mixed high and proud, awash with luscious string arrangements and spry studio polish. Were it not for that voice, this might come across as too much. Amazingly, it doesn’t, unless I too am similarly nostalgic for balmy and long childhood days. Born on Britain’s rainy south coast, I don’t think so, other than in envy.
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The Best Covers of 1960s One Hit Wonders

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May 082023
 

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

best covers of 1960s

Last week we kicked off our new One Hit Wonders series with ten covers of big 1950s hits, and today we continue it with 20 covers of 1960s smashes.

Some classic songs getting covered in here, in some cases by artists that should have had many more hits just as big. So it goes in pop music. We’ll probably never be able to do a The 40 Best Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs Covers Ever list, though, so we celebrate them here with a few fun reimaginings of their early 1960 chart-topper “Stay.” Continue reading »

Five Good Covers: “A Taste of Honey” (Scott/Marlow)

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Jan 132023
 

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

Hundreds of covers of “A Taste of Honey” exist, but only a few people will recognize it if you hum a few bars. The folks who recognize it may not be able to name the tune, and no one will be able to name its composer.

It was Robert William Scott. He wrote the piece initially as an instrumental, a motif for the 1960 Broadway production of A Taste of Honey, the notorious British play. Bobby Scott was known mostly as a pianist, singer, and producer, but he did have another songwriting win with “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother,” a modest hit for The Hollies in 1969.

Luckily for Bobby Scott, someone had the idea to put words to his tune, so that they could get rising star Tony Bennett to record it. Enter Ric Marlow, a struggling singer/actor/writer/fabric salesman, who turned in a poetic lyric that clicked with the music. With that, a hit was born, though it took the public a few years to realize it.
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Under the Radar: Terry Reid

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Apr 122021
 

In the Spotlight showcases a cross-section of an artist’s cover work. View past installments, then post suggestions for future picks in the comments!

Terry Reid covers

There are very few articles about Terry Reid that fail to mention his falling at the first hurdle of being asked to join Led Zeppelin, and, I am afraid, this isn’t one of them. It seems the one fact anyone knows about this still-performing singer, and one that, understandably, always irks him. Not so much that he regrets it, more he just regrets it being the only part of his life and career anyone asks him about. Or seems interested about. Which is a shame, as there has always been a good deal more to Terry Reid than that.
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The 50 Best Tribute Albums Ever

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Oct 052020
 
best tribute albums

Over our time tracking cover songs (13 years this month!), we’ve written about hundreds of new tribute albums, across reviews, news stories, and, when they’re good enough, our best-of-the-year lists. We also have looked back on plenty of great tribute albums from the past in our Cover Classics series. But we’ve never pulled it all together – until now. Continue reading »

Under the Radar: Radka Toneff

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May 132020
 

Under the Radar shines a light on lesser-known cover artists. If you’re not listening to these folks, you should. Catch up on past installments here.

Radka Toneff

Up until a few years ago, I had no idea who Radka Toneff was. I stumbled upon her only because I was doing what what all Cover Me nerds do in their spare moments: looking for cover versions of their favorite songs (in my own case it’s to add a little spice to my specific-song-themed-playlist situation because I’m a deluxe version nerd). Continue reading »

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