Which British Pop Acts Should Be Classicalized Next?

songswithoutwords.jpgSeptember will, in the UK at least, see the issue of Songs Without Words, a collection of pop-rock hits that have been “classicalized.” David Bowie, Sting, Coldplay–all your middlebrow favorites, given the ultimate middlebrow treatment. This is nothing new, of course; Christopher O’Riley has tenderly massaged the Radiohead catalog two times, and done the same for other artists’ work as well. Still, a few big British names have been tragically overlooked in this “let’s show everyone that this stuff is legitimate” sweepstakes, so we’d like to see which ones we should lobby Classic FM and UCJ Music for on the next edition of this comp.

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  1. Rob Murphy  |   Posted on Aug 20th, 2008

    Gary Glitter

  2. bcapirigi  |   Posted on Aug 20th, 2008

    I just put All Change on, so I’m voting for Cast. Although classical versions of Daydreamer and I’ll Manage Somehow would also be good.

  3. NickEddy  |   Posted on Aug 20th, 2008

    Crass.

  4. Anonymous  |   Posted on Aug 20th, 2008

    Did you really just refer to David Bowie as middlebrow?

  5. Audif Jackson Winters III  |   Posted on Aug 20th, 2008

    Kula Shaker, but only stuff off “Peasants, Pigs and Astronauts.”

  6. Anonymous  |   Posted on Aug 20th, 2008

    @MtHeartAttack: THANK you. The guy made some cheesy stuff for sure, but no way is he “middlebrow,” especially compared to the likes of Sting and Coldplay.

  7. Ned Raggett  |   Posted on Aug 20th, 2008

    Menswe@r, specifically the B-sides.

  8. Michaelangelo Matos  |   Posted on Aug 20th, 2008

    @MtHeartAttack: I certainly did.

  9. Anonymous  |   Posted on Aug 20th, 2008

    @Michaelangelo Matos: That’s just not right.

  10. The Illiterate  |   Posted on Aug 20th, 2008

    @slowburn: How about upper middlebrow?

  11. Anonymous  |   Posted on Aug 20th, 2008

    @The Illiterate: Ooh, I like it!

  12. KinetiQ  |   Posted on Aug 20th, 2008

    KLF! Especially The JAMs’ 1987.

  13. moomintroll  |   Posted on Aug 20th, 2008

    Definitely Black Grape, just for the the spectacle of Reverend Black Grape being done by a huge brass section (for the harmonica-ish bits) it would be great!
    Can I get a witness?

  14. NeverEnough  |   Posted on Aug 21st, 2008

    @Ned Raggett: Agreed 100%.

    And The KLF would be fucking fantastic.

  15. CarsmileSteve  |   Posted on Aug 21st, 2008

    what, like this?:

    [www.amazon.co.uk]

    there are TOO MANY CHOICES on this poll, although i picked menswe@r, it could easily have been any one from 5…

  16. NoNewYork  |   Posted on Aug 21st, 2008

    heavenly!

  17. JReed  |   Posted on Aug 21st, 2008

    Elbow!

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