This is the B-side of Smith’s amazing “Hey Joe” cover / debut single. Yes, if you’ve heard this, your first reaction is likely “This was a B-side ?!?!?” One of the most brutal and despairing looks of blue-collar life ever. And having worked on an assembly line, Smith knew and lived this s–t!
One of the best covers of all time. This was Smith’s debut single and almost 40 years later, is still a stunner. Smith reimagines “Hey Joe” as a song about Patty Hearst and her band gradually ratchets up the tension as the song progresses. Driven by piano and some of the absolute sickest and most intense electric guitar ever recorded, the song explodes into a frenzy of sex, violence, and revolution. It’s so mind-blowingly intense, it’s easy to see why some critics were actually disappointed by her (damn good) debut album “Horses” which came out a year later.
Public Enemy teams with trash metal pioneers Anthrax for a slammin’ remake of PE’s “Bring the Noise” from 1991. If your head isn’t bangin’ or your fist isn’t in the air while listening to this, you’re not alive.
One of the least heralded bands of the late 1970s CBGB punk scene, the Tuff Darts still put together a pretty good album for Sire Records at the time. This is arguably their most famous song and if you’re a fan of Ugly Kid Joe’s “I Hate Everything About You” (Dave sheepishly raises his hand), you’ll like this song. A bit obvious and stoopid, but still pretty fun. Trivia note: rockabilly legend Robert Gordon was a member of the Darts before this album came out and before his later renown as a solo artist.
Here’s “The Killer” making mincemeat of Led Zeppelin’s classic … with the assistance of Zep’s Jimmy Page. Recorded when Jerry Lee was 71 years old!!!!
A smokin’ live cover of “Shakin’ All Over” by the then 74-year old Wanda Jackson (aka The First Lady of Rockabilly) and Jack White from “Late Night with David Letterman,” broadcast in January 2011.
A brilliant use of Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come” from Spike Lee’s stellar 1992 biopic “Malcolm X.” The scene where Cooke’s masterpiece is utilized is a triumph of acting (Denzel Washington), editing (Barry Alexander Brown), cinematography (Ernest Dickerson), and direction (Lee). Considering what Malcolm was up against at this point in his life, the scene really conveys the sense of a man who is tired of running and has accepted that death is inevitable for the path he has chosen. When you also consider this was one of Cooke’s last recordings before his violent death, it’s hard to watch this with a dry eye.
On a side note, Washington seriously got robbed at the 1992 Oscars. To say that he should have been the winner for Best Actor for “Malcolm X” that year is an understatement. While I like Al Pacino (and, yes, even like “Scent of a Woman”), Pacino should have gotten the Oscar for “The Godfather” or “Dog Day Afternoon” or even “Glengarry Glen Ross.” That hammy “Whooo-ah!” nonsense from “Woman” started Pacino down a very, very bad path.
The theme music from Terrence Malick’s bone-chilling and mordantly funny 1973 crime thriller “Badlands.” If you’re a fan of the 1993 Tony Scott / Quentin Tarantino collaboration “True Romance,” you may notice that Hans Zimmer’s theme music from that film pretty much copies note for note Orff’s music. Forget “Carmina Burana,” THIS should be Orff’s best-known piece.
From Boss Hog’s self-titled major-label album from 1995 comes this creepy cello-driven dirge that’s unlike the blues-punk on the rest on the album. The sense of dread that permeates this song is palpable. Why someone hasn’t scored their horror film with this is beyond me.
Here’s a real surprise! John Waters superstar Mink Stole lends her pipes to this sultry cover of “Sometimes I Wish I Had a Gun.” All I can say is “Wow!” No offense to her hilarious turns in Waters’ anti-masterpieces, but Stole should have pursued a singing career. From the compilation “A Date with John Waters.”
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