You probably know The Nerves’ “Hanging on the Telephone” from its cover by Blondie, the second single from their third album, Parallel Lines. Though this cover was a hit in the UK, it took the album becoming a hit in the US for the song to become known on this side of the pond. Blondie’s version isn’t particularly different from the original. And because The Nerves didn’t last, Blondie’s version has remained the definitive one. Continue reading »
When we last heard Amigo the Devil, he was stripping down a Tom Jones song to create a haunting murder ballad. Now he does the same to another highly polished pop song – but a much more recent one. “[The original is] this very confidence-boosting, really good-feeling, power-infusing song,” Amigo’s Danny Kiranos told Rolling Stone. “I was curious what it would sound like if you took away the positive nature of it and kept the lyrics, essentially the emotions they are portraying.” Continue reading »