Idolator
Hey, did ever get a hankering to hear Mark Ronson cover Mary J. Blige? Stereophonics tackle Hot Chocolate's "You Sexy Thing"? Something called the "Pigeon Detectives," which sounds like a failed Nick Jr. show, try their hand at Huey Lewis and the News? Listen to Mike Skinner sing-rap Elton John? Take a razor blade to your eyelids? Pour lye all over your genitals? Light your toes on fire? Then you may be interested in Radio 1, a forthcoming collection where modern-day NME faves cover one song per year from 40 fabulous middlebrow years of the BBC station. Unlike our recent rants againt cheeky cover conceits, these don't look to be so much "ironic" as "awful." The full tracklist is after the jump:
1967 - Flowers In The Rain (The Move) covered by The Kaiser Chiefs
1968 - All Along The Watchtower (Jimi Hendrix Experience) covered by The Fratellis
1969 - Cupid (Johnny Nash) covered by Amy Winehouse
1970 - Lola (The Kinks) covered by Robbie Williams
1971 - Your Song (Elton John) covered by The Streets
1972 - Betcha By Golly Wow (The Stylistics) covered by Sugababes
1973 - You're So Vain (Carly Simon) covered by The Feeling
1974 - Band On The Run (Wings) covered by Foo Fighters
1975 - Love Is The Drug (Roxy Music) covered by Kylie
1976 - Let's Stick Together (Bryan Ferry) covered by KT Tunstall
1977 - Sound & Vision (David Bowie) covered by Franz Ferdinand
1978 - Teenage Kicks (The Undertones) covered by The Raconteurs
1979 - Can't Stand Losing You (The Police) covered by Mika
1980 - Too Much Too Young (The Specials) covered by Kasabian
1981 - Under Pressure (Queen & David Bowie) covered by Keane
1982 - Town Called Malice (The Jam) covered by McFly
1983 - Come Back And Stay (Paul Young) covered by James Morrison
1984 - Careless Whisper (George Michael) covered by The Gossip
1985 - The Power Of Love (Huey Lewis & The News) covered by Pigeon Detectives
1986 - Don't Get Me Wrong (The Pretenders) covered by Lilly Allen
1987 - You Sexy Thing (Hot Chocolate) covered by Stereophonics
1988 - Fast Car (Tracy Chapman) covered by Mutya Buena
1989 - Lullaby (the Cure) covered by Editors
1990 - Englishman In New York (Sting) covered by Razorlight
1991 - Crazy For You (Madonna) covered by Groove Armada
1992 - It Must Be Love (Madness) covered by Paolo Nutini
1993 - All That She Wants (Ace Of Base) covered by The Kooks
1994 - You're All I Need To Get By (Mary J Blige) covered by Mark Ronson
1995 - Stillness In Time (Jamiroquai) covered by Calvin Harris
1996 - No Diggity (Blackstreet) covered by Klaxons
1997 - Love Fool (The Cardigans) covered by Just Jack
1998 - Ray Of Light (Madonna) covered by Natasha Bedingfield
1999 - Drinking in LA (Bran Van 3000) covered by The Twang
2000 - The Great Beyond (REM) covered by The Fray
2001 - Teenage Dirtbag (Wheatus) covered by Girls Aloud
2002 - Like I Love You (Justin Timberlake) covered by Maximo Park
2003 - Don't Look Back Into The Sun (The Libertines) covered by The View
2004 - Toxic (Britney Spears) covered by Hard-Fi
2005 - Father & Son (Yusuf & Ronan Keating) covered by The Enemy
2006 - Steady As She Goes (The Raconteurs) covered by Corinne Bailey Rae
Actually some of them probably won't be so bad. Or at least they'll be "interesting." Or good mixtape fodder. Still, England, you have some explaining to do.
Stars Line Up For Radio 1 Album [BBC via Maura IM'ing me this morning with the queasy-making horror that is "1996 - No Diggity (Blackstreet) covered by Klaxons" via Poptimists]
Comments
Local H does a cover of Toxic that is likely 12 to 15 times better than whatever Hard-Fi comes up with. Wait, let me check my math.... 6 times better.
I could stand to hear a few of those, but a cover of Whetus? I wouldn't be surprised if some of those guys are in a cover band by now.
Klaxons : No Diggity :: Pineapple : Pizza
LOL @ The Fray not even being able to pick an REM song that doesn't suck.
Things like this are so bizarre to me, that they'd bother to honor such a wide canon of music as "songs that were played on a pop radio station." There's not even any challenge to the artists trying to pick something to cover.
Wheatus' inexplicable popularity in the UK goes a long way to debunking the whole "cool Britain" bunk so many hipsters cling to desperately.
I want to go back in time and retroactively break all the bones in the Klaxons bodies to prevent this No Diggity cover from happening.
This also reminds me of how inexplicably big "Drinking In LA" was over there, when ... I was over there.
Those mostly seem like ass, but the Foo Fighters', Raconteurs', and the Gossip's contributions are at least intriguing.
@Bob Loblaw: two great tastes that go great together?
I bet Robbie Williams is a bit more familiar with the subject matter of "Lola" than he'd like to let on.
Hasn't this already been done?
[wc08.allmusic.com]
Damn these bands for enjoying music that we also enjoy, and desiring to cover it! DAMN THEM TO HELL.
@aluberalles: More like, an illogical combination with surprising potential. (And dammit, now I'm hungry for Hawaiian pizza.)
@enriquez the water bottle: I'm with you on the Gossip's cover. A lot of that other stuff looks rather askew.
The Franz Ferdinand cover of "Sound and Vision" will probably rule. The rest, AAAAAAAUUUUUUGH!! (Yes, the Gossip covering Wham! is a fun idea, but why the fuck "CARELESS FUCKING WHISPERS"? Almost any other song would be better.)
UM. A couple of those covers were already covers. I think.
My money is on Kylie stealing the show.
The NME Ruby Trax collection from the mid-90s was a much more interesting selection of both songs and artists, but that may be the misty haze of nostalgia clouding my objective vision of things. I think Curve's cover of "I Feel Love" and Ride's version of "The Model" are great records. (The fact I still really like The Farm's version of "Don't You Want Me" says a bit too much about how shameful my listening tastes can really be...)
I still can't believe there's a band called Just Jack in the world.
@Al aka El Negro Magnifico:
Yeah. The Gossip have a cover of Aaliyah's "Are You That Somebody?" that, although it lacks the crucial baby sample, is still pretty awesome.
I also have my fingers crossed that the band "The View" is actually a jam band comprised of the people from the show "The View".
I'm sorry--people actually think the Gossip covering "Careless Whisper" is a good idea?
@Matos: I don't think the Gossip are a good idea in general, so I'm probably not the one to ask.
I can't be the only person excited for the Maximo Park cover of "Like I Love You", which should at the very least be better than their entire second record.
Comment on this post
Reply by EmailLogin with your username and password below. Or comment on this post via email.
Forgot your username or password? New User?