Was listening to late-night, butt-headed sportstalk on the longwave recently and suddenly, between the caterwauling about the NY Giant pass rusher guy who blew his fingers off with fireworks and the ridiculousness of the abundance of riches of Ohio State at the pivot position, the two 'hosts' suddenly and incongruently started waxing nostalgic for Cameron Crowe's 'Almost Famous'.
And, specifically, that scene on the tour bus near the end of the show.
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Anyway...
Despite the tonguish-in-cheek title of this little series, I don't think I've ever done an Elton John tune.
So, without further ado, here's a pretty good version of the original by the Original mouthing the really original words of Mr. Taupin:
And here's a barebones Cover with just as much feeling (it actually amazes me how covering a tune can transform folks as they're playing/singing the song even in the most straightforward and rudimentary way).
______ And, just for good measure, here's the scene from the movie....And, why the heckfire wouldn't Dave Grohl do an almost, but not quite, ironic cover on the TeeVee?...Case in point, by the time the gum-popping Grohl gets halfway through the second verse he has the same expression on his face as the kid in the video above...Then, of course, he starts to work the crowd... As always, Uke Peg-Head at the top of the post courtesy of fantabulous Los Angeles photo-maven Ellen Bloom. Previous Cover Uke Fighting sessions can be found....Here.
There was an extended period that started in the late 90's and passed through into the early 'aughts that forms a massive hole in my knowledge of anything newly musical.
Why?
Pre-tenure-driven, work-a-holism times infinity, times.
That's why.
All of which is just a way of explaining why I knew absolutely nothing about the power-poppish, hook-laden 'Teenage Dirtbag' by Wheatus, despite the fact that it was, and is still, so popular that the band's original Vevo version, which was made for a crappy Amy Heckerling movie called 'Loser', now has 175 million views.
In fact, the first time I actually paid any attention to it at all was when it appeared in a much different form conjured up by that kid currently riding an indie supernova headed straight for the the mainstream named Phoebe Bridgers:
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Anyway, fast forward to yesterday and what does my favourite new musical site, which is called 'Cover Me' throw up?
Why, the five best covers of 'Teenage Dirtbag', of course.
Which, on its own, is great.
But I also enjoyed their parallel-lined treatise on the tune's true impetus:
...Even if you didn’t grow up on Long Island in the ’80s, if you are a true-crime aficionado of a certain age (a horrific classification but here we are), you are likely to be familiar with the case of Ricky Kasso, who murdered Gary Lauwers (both 17) in June of 1984. And if you did grow up there like Wheatus’s Brendan B.Brown (and myself), the whole story is firmly and forever embedded in your psyche, especially if you were a kid or teen at the time. It was both tragic and terrifying.
It wasn’t long before the press found a sensationalistic angle to latch onto regarding the crime and the scapegoating began. When Kasso was arrested for the murder, he was famously photographed wearing an AC/DC shirt replete with a bloody logo and a green cartoon devil. And that little detail, coupled with rumors of the crime being part of a satanic sacrifice ritual, provided all the ammunition needed for those in authority–i.e. parents, teachers and police–to go into irrational overdrive. As naively fantastical as sounds, from that point on, if you actively listened to metal, if you wore tees featuring the bands you loved like Iron Maiden or Black Sabbath, you were heretofore regarded as one of the devil’s loyal soldiers. While this mistrust of metalheads was patently ridiculous, an absurd piece of residual damage based on a single news photo, it really happened. And it was this very notion that led Brendan B. Brown to pen “Teenage Dirtbag”...
'Cover Me' shows up over there on the blog crawler thingy. It's really a fantastic musical multi-level stratification sort of place to hang out.
Kind of like a cool record store from the old days where the folks working there would let you in on what's what because they were actually nice rather than jerks.
First, here's The Original (without the originals)....
Next, here's the Most Glorious Cover....
OK, OK, OK!
So there are No (actual) Ukes!
And so what it's not real, dyed-in-the-sheeps'-wool DIY.
Because there are a whole lotta strings and a whole lotta wailin'.
And besides, it just slays me.
_______ And if you're interested, here's the place to get more of the 'cover' band, The Avett Brothers, stuff. Like the whole "Uke Cover Fightin'!" idea? Blame it on Jon, and feel free tocheck out more of 'em here. As always, custom UKE peg-head image at the top of the post courtesy of Los Angeles photo-maven and high throughput wool consumer, Ellen Bloom. Finally, just in case they're too young to remember it, this one's for Sage and Erin toiling away deep within the bowels of the Dipper WarRoom (and no, I don't wanna join up - something about not wanting to be in any club that.... well..... you all get the idea).
_______ As always, the Uke Peg Head image at the top of the post is courtesy of Los Angelino Photo-Maven and dog-on-a-stick aficionado, Ellen Bloom. Update: Ahhhhh........Cheese Willickers....The Rev. is fighting back with .....Wizardry.....Wizardry I tell you...No Fair!
First, the original from a real original who, thanks to reader Don F., is now on our top Canadian songwriters list...
And now, the Cover, from a rag-tag bunch of Australians, I think who, together, are nothing but joy and light (especially at the end)...
______ The Songwriter barroom pixel floor brawl started here...Then, after we all settled down and had a few pops, the discussion continued here. Yes, both Rick Danko and Richard Manuel were still alive then...Alas, they are not any longer. Second place in the cover fight goes to this kid. And thanks, as always, to Los Angeles photo-maven Ellen Bloom, whose site I really, really dig btw (because it's kind of like a real life Annette and Frankie movie for grown-ups, I think), for the Uke-Peg Head at the top of the post.
First, the original, which itself is a most fantastic cover of the Michelle Shocked tune called 'Fogtown'....
And now, the Uke Cover, from Bigger E. and me (for reals)...
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And ya, that really is Bigger (and littler) E's Grandpops with the camera....And yes, he probably was down at the park on that August Day in 1956 when Marilyn Bell finished swimming across the Strait of Juan de Fuca to the beach below...
First, the Original, covered by the excellent third generation Non-Originalists...
Next, Bigger E's amazingly graceful Uke Cover...
Why no video on this one?
Well....
If you listen closely I'm there in the audio mix, off in the background (which is right where I belong)...
_____ If you want to keep track of where E. is playing around town, and beyond (she's across the water at a gig tonight, in fact) her Twittmachine feed is....Here. And, just in case you were looking for that seminal second generation cover by the exceptional Mr. Van Ronk, it's....Here.
First, the Original, done by the original...Originally....
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Next, an otherworldly cover that may have been sung by she who the original was written for... If ever there was/is real truth and beauty (and art) in a Youtube cover, this just might be it...
_____ As always, thanks to Los Angeles photo-maven Ellen Bloom for the use of the Uke peg-head image at the top of the post...I honestly, and somewhat unfathomably, can't get enough of Ellen's escapades with all her friends and her partner and, it seems, somehow, the entirety of Southern California... Did a little Bruce covering of my own recently if anybody's interested...here.
And now, 'The Cover', which was found so serendipitously that I can't even begin to explain it, except to say that I looking for the antithesis of the thing when I stumbled upon this...
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You want the real, and more original, original version of dear old uncle Bill back in the days when he was still the scrawny nephew who was not nicking mirrors in car parks in Essex?...Well, here it is....And really, was not young Billy really just doing the whole YouTube guitar in my bedroom thing before there was internets...God, think of the balls it took for this kid to just go out there and do this on his own, essentially, without a band behind him...Pretty damned amazing.
As for the kid doing the cover?....Turns out she's doing some pretty interesting stuff of her own...
You know, I am absolutely certain that it really and truly will be the amateurs and the plebes that will save us...And, on that note, any early wagers on who will play Iron Steve in the movie after we, ourselves, realize that we are not looking to change the world, but that we are looking for a new Canada?
As always, the Uke Peg Head image at the top of the post is courtesy of Los Angelino Photo-Maven Ellen Bloom.
The rave-up on the album, if you can call it that, is Cecilia. I most certainly didn't understand the lyrical histrionics at the time, but that rhythm though.
Who knew that Eddie Simon helped to generate that rhythm line, which older brother Paul later looped, by banging on a piano bench.
Anyway, there are a bazillion covers out there - this one by former Indie Kids (but now kinda/sorta grown-ups) 'Local Natives' - slays me...
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Brought to you, really, by the fine folks over at 'Cover Me'
And tonight, as the Canuckleheads are collapsing like the Maginot Line, we're taking the fight to our good friend, The Reverand Paperboy, who moved things onto a whole new plane with his Uke movie theme cover challenge.
With that, here's our counterattack....
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First, as usual, is The Original....
Next, the cover, courtesy the magnificent Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain....
____ And if you want to watch a real original, here's Isaac Hayes live.... And, once again, we thank Los Angelino photog and knitting needle wielder extraordinare Ellen Bloom, for allowing us to use the uke peg head image at the top of the post.
First, given the weather in Lotusland, The Original, by one of the original Eurythmics...
Next, the cover, which is a little goofy, but pretty darned original...
_____ An even more original cover (of Edie Brickell's 'What I Am'), by the duo above, is this one..... As always, thanks to LA Photomaven Ellen Bloom for the Uke Peghead at the top of the post. Tsunami warnings for low lying areas (due to Haida Gwaii/Queen Charlotte Isles earthquake) up and down coast, including for WestCoast of Vancouver Island (eg. Tofino)....Should pass between 10pm and 11pm tonight, Saturday...Scarier in a few hours may be Hawaii as most of energy seems to be going south and west....Details, here.
These kids, who call themselves 'Th'Rattletrap', just slay me with this tune.
Especially the combination of shamoblics and the wicked guitar breakdown that begin at 2:15.
And, as far as I can tell, it looks like the kid taking care of the latter is doing pretty much all of it with her thumb.
All killer and absolutely no filler...
_______ The band's page is...Here. And the Sioux Falls South Dakota visualaudioscapish incubator where I've been getting all my new stuff lately is a place called the White Wall Sessions. Check out their artist archives...They're really quite something. Previous versions of our usual Saturday Night Uke Cover Fighting feature can be found...Here.
And, if you need a pick me up while doing your Sunday chores/homework, you can listen to an utterly charming/earwormyesquiderian playlist from the duo that is 'Heavy Boxes' here....
And thanks, as always, to Los Angeleno photo maven extraordinaire, Ellen Bloom, for the image of the Uke headstock at the top of the post...
First, the Original, by Lisa Hannigan and friends....
Now, the Cover, by Bigger E and me at our recent UkeFolkFunkFusionFest...
______ Our first ever UkeFFFFest was held last Thurs Jan 3rd at the fabulous Prophouse on Venables just off Commercial...More to come from that, including the 'Originals' (including a collaboration with Mr. Beer 'N Hockey!)....Promise (and the second Fest O' Uke is already in the works)...
First, the original, from Daryl Hall and John Oates.....
Now, the Uke cover, in all it's DIY glory, from Danielle.....
_____ When the Hall and Oates biopic finally comes down the pike (and you know it will), enquiring minds (and the editors of VillagePeople Magazine) sure do want to know if the allegedly ageless Kevin Bacon will be playing Daryl, the young frontman version.... Oh, and just so you don't get the wrong idea, the young Ms. Danielle and her friends also do really original originals..... UkePegPhotoCredit: LosAngelino PhotoMaven EllenBloom.
