Category: Tunes

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100 best covers: #89 Rogue Wave “Everyday”

<< #90    |    #88 >>

Like The Raveonettes’ cover of “My boyfriend’s back”, which we saw at number ninety-seven on this list, this cover of “Everyday” by Rogue Wave appears on the soundtrack for the video game, “Stubbs the zombie”. As I mentioned in that other post, I’m the world’s worst gamer and so have never played said game but it sounds compelling, excepting of course, the other problem with it: this blogger is not a huge fan of zombies. In fact, I’m a massive wuss. I used to read all sorts of Stephen King novels and watch any horror flick I could get my hands on when I was a teenager and deep into my twenties. Then, I was indefinitely ruined by “28 days later”, a zombie scenario that almost seemed plausible by comparison and that has set the template for any zombie story that has since followed. I refuse to even watch “Shaun of the dead”, which I hear is hilarious. Nope. I just won’t do it.

But I digress.

The soundtrack for “Stubbs the zombie” is filled with renditions of 50s and 60s classics as covered by hot indie artists of the day. (Check out the rest of the track listing on the Wikipedia page for the game.) For me, this cover of the Buddy Holly standout was the biggest highlight, getting me into a band of whom I had not previously heard. It just feels so different and fresh. A song that is so ingrained in our rock and roll consciousness as Buddy Holly’s original is barely recognizable until frontman, Zach Schwartz starts in on vocals. Instead, it almost sounds like a faithful Smiths cover, all jangle and reverb, resembling a second cousin to “Please please please”, though Schwartz sounds nothing at all like Morrissey.

The original “Everyday” is tap-tappy, like a sped up grandfather clock, rock and roll’s biggest geek, rockabillying his voice and keeping our attention with upbeat chimes. Rogue Wave introduces wave after wave of rolling guitars and a much fuller sound altogether, not quite hiding the tapping rhythms in the back room. It is much more laidback but no less happy.

Which do you prefer?

The cover:

The original:

For the rest of the 100 best covers list, click here.

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Best tunes of 1991: #28 EMF “Unbelievable”

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What do you call it again when an artist or band writes a song that becomes the biggest thing they ever do, overshadows their entire body of work, and becomes the only song they are remembered for? Oh yeah…

Well, in the case of EMF’s “Unbelievable”, it just happened to be the first single that the Gloucestershire dance group ever released. It was actually released in the UK in 1990 but didn’t hit North American shores until 1991, which is when I would have first heard it (hence it being in this 1991 list rather than for 1990). It found itself at or near the top of the charts in most countries and hit gold status in Australia, Canada, England, and the United States. All that means nothing though. You really know you’ve made it when ‘Weird’ Al Yankovic takes notice of you. That prince of parody fit the song’s chorus lines, “The things you say, your purple prose just gives you away”, into his polka medley, “Polka your eyes out”, on his 1992 album, “Off the deep end”.

Yeah. That’s right.

Though “Unbelievable” sounds a bit dated today, it hit all the right notes in 1991. It took the acid house beats and psychedelic sounds of the baggy Manchester deeper into dance floor territory. I definitely heard it a few times at high school dances and mouthed along with the chorus lines while shuffling along in my own corner of the auditorium or gymnasium floor (whichever it was at the time). It is an unbelievable danceable groove, peppy drumming set against a slick bass line and plenty of fun samples, mostly notably, the Andrew ‘Dice’ Clay trademark “Ohhhh!!!!!” leading into every chorus.

Okay. So this song isn’t going to save the world but at least it might make us forget our troubles for three and a half minutes, while we’re sweating out the alcohol molecules underneath the disco ball.

For the rest of the Best tunes of 1991 list, click here.

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Tunes

Best tunes of 2001: #20 New Order “Crystal”

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Happy Monday. A dubious day to announce a comeback but we’ll do one nonetheless because it feels like my best songs lists have taken a back seat of late. And of course, comebacks don’t get any better than this song.

“Crystal” was the iconic New Wave band’s first single since the standalone, “Video 5 8 6”, in 1997. But more significantly, it was also the first single released off “Get ready”, New Order’s first studio album in eight years and the last to feature all of its original members. Shortly afterwards, keyboard player Gillian Gilbert would go on a second hiatus to take care of her and drummer Stephen Morris’s kids. And then, there was the famously acrimonious departure of standout bassist Peter Hook in 2007.

But in 2001, all the pistons were firing and New Order was welcomed back to the music world with open arms by fans and critics alike. “Crystal” (as well as the rest of the album) was some of the fastest, upbeat, jubilant, and guitar-driven material we had heard from a band that cut its teeth filling dance floors in the eighties with its synth heavy tunes. The keys and effects and danceable beats are still here but this feels like rock. And of course, when I first heard it, I recognized it as New Order but felt its differences deep within my soul. I loved it and immediately clamoured to hear the rest of the album. A good quality for a first single for sure.

As an aside, the video for the song is notable for inspiring the name of what is arguably one of the biggest bands in rock in the new millennia. Just have a look at the bass drum of the fictional band performing the song in the video and you’ll have a chuckle I’m sure. That is, if you’re not already smiling along with the song. Enjoy.

For the rest of the Best tunes of 2001 list, click here.