Wednesday, July 14, 2004

hello...

People make cover versions of other people's songs for lots of reasons, and with varying degrees of success.

Look at Kylie - now she is the absinthe/botox fairy, a dance diva sex god, a veritable Queen Mum...but once there was ordinary SoapKylie, touting "Do the Locomotion" in backless dungarees, an old tune with a slick makeover sung by a bubbly froth-haired teen - fun for all the family, and therefore money in the bank from a variety of income streams...

or look at The Slits' version of "Heard it through the Grapevine", possibly the best cover ever - a stark re-imagining, the whole song stripped to the core and rebuilt, scratchy guitars daubed over an evil bassline, and that line "just about to lose my mind" - well, when marvin sang it, it was high school dramaqueenery, but when Ari Up (I think) wails it, it's a threat, a promise, and what's more, you know she doesn't really care...

The Slits: Heard it through the Grapevine or (buy)

People make cover versions of other people's songs for lots of reasons, to make them look good and others look bad, for money and credibility, for market share and love. Most bands do covers at some point; this site isn't meant to be an exhaustive list, but somewhere for me to stick some of my favourites, and hopefully some you havn't heard before. See you tomorrow?

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