Another terrific Aimee Mann cover … this time of Harry Nilsson’s “One” which Three Dog Night turned into a big hit during the early 1970s. Mann’s version was brilliantly used over the opening of P.T. Anderson’s 1999 masterpiece “Magnolia.” I like this version WAAAAY better than Three Dog Night’s cover, which is the best known version.
Aimee Mann’s lovely version of Badfinger’s early 1970s classic “Baby Blue,” originally released as a B-side. The original played at the end of “Breaking Bad”‘s final episode, but I thought I’d give a shout-out to this great, but little-known cover.
Jon Spencer, his sexy spouse Cristina Martinez, and the rest of the Boss Hog gang get their Russ Meyer on with this homage to “Faster Pussycat, Kill! Kill!”
Jon: I dig your groovy hips!
Cristina: I dig your barbecued lips!
Yowsah! That has to be one exciting marriage. From Boss Hog’s self-titled major label debut in 1995.
This has to be the strangest “happy” ending in film history … a declaration of mature love amidst massive destruction and mayhem … while the Pixies’ legendary “Where Is My Mind?” plays in the background. I realize this is a perverse selection here given my last entry about “United 93,” but to be fair, “Fight Club” was written / filmed pre-9/11. And just because some of the angst of “Fight Club” was rendered obsolete by the subsequent “war on terror” doesn’t mean that “Fight Club” still doesn’t raise several excellent issues about our culture. If there’s a film that summarized my mental state in my early 20s, this is it. Fortunately, I saw this in my late 20s after I was married and settled down … so the film left me with the weirdest, most perverse grin on my face I’ve ever had watching a film. Especially during the “Sixth Sense” – level plot twist that occurs 3/4 of the way through. Between this and David Cronenberg’s “Videodrome,” my all-time favorite film.
Sorry ladies … and maybe some gents … the infamous subliminal “pickle” shot has been edited out.
On the surface, this seems like a joke. Europe’s artiest rock band covering a song by America’s grungiest troubadour? Until you realize that this classic Neil Young song has all of the elements of Roxy Music’s best songs. The way Ferry and company cover this, it sounds like they could have written it themselves … even though Young’s version sounds quintessentially Young. Seriously, I’m hard pressed to say which one is better.
Wanna see something truly amazing? Check out this cover of the Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby” by jazz guitarist Stanley Jordan. Watch his hands. They’re tapping the strings … not strumming. And he’s getting a very, very intense sound out of his instrument from what seems like very little effort … but not quite. Because you know that someone has to know their instrument really really well in order to pull something like this off. Really mind-blowing stuff.
Much of Robert Plant’s solo work during the 1980s is hit or miss. 1983’s “Big Log,” however, is quite remarkable. From the album “The Principle of Moments,” this is a terrific “night song” if there ever was one. This is a song that sounds just about right when you’re driving at 1:30 am, with little traffic or lights around you … when you’ve got nothing to distract you … and you start really thinking about stuff … especially with those Ennio Morricone-style guitars strumming in the background. Too cool.
Man, what a great song. This is a top contender for my favorite Patti Smith song of all-time, mainly because she co-wrote it. “Because the Night” may be her best known song, and while it’s very good … it’s a bit overplayed. I love the sinister groove “Dancing Barefoot” has and is one of the best “night songs” ever recorded. What’s a night song? It’s the kind of song that sounds just about right when you’re hearing it at 1:30 am. Pleasant dreams. From the 1979 album “Wave.” Produced by Todd Rundgren.
The closing song from Lou Reed’s perversely depressing masterpiece from 1973 “Berlin.”
Key lyrics: “Staring at my picture book … She looks like Mary, Queen of Scots … She seemed very regal to me … Just goes to show how wrong you can be … I’m gonna stop wastin’ my time … Somebody else would have broken both of her arms”
Leave it to Lou to write something both uplifting and completely creepy and depressing at the same time. Apparently, this was written and recorded during a particularly bad bender on Lou’s part. Ironically, it was immediately after the huge commercial success of the “Transformer” album.
When I first saw Nirvana’s MTV “Unplugged” appearance, I was pleasantly surprised by this really terrific cover of an otherwise obscure David Bowie song from 1971. I was VERY familiar with the song, being a big fan of Bowie’s pre-Ziggy Stardust album of the same name, which I remember buying on cassette from Fantasia Records in Charlottesville, VA in 1988. Bowie’s original album was quite trippy … and heavy … at the same time. To this day, a VERY underrated album. Thanks to Nirvana for giving the props to this extremely cool phase of Bowie’s career.
I’ve attached Bowie’s original here:
Dave's Strange World 