4 December 2013 - 10,000 Maniacs - Peace Train

I was a huge 10,000 Maniacs fan back in their In My Tribe days which seems like a zillion years ago (26 to be exact). I used to play that record over and over for most of my high school and college years. Sadly, like many of those "back in the day albums," I rarely get a chance to listen to them that often because there's just too much new music that I MUST check out. I actually hadn't thought of this wonderful Cat Stevens cover in years, but someone mentioned it to me online recently and I couldn't resist listening to it again. And again. And again. You get the picture. I probably haven't seen the Peace Train video in 20 years. It still puts a smile on my face.

2 December 2013 - 30 Seconds to Mars - Stay

Here's a cool live video of 30 Seconds to Mars playing Rihanna's Stay at this year's iHeartRadio Music Festival. I fully expected them to let loose and totally rock out toward the end of the song, but instead they played it close to the original, and I must say it sounds pretty awesome.

27 November 2013 - Billie Joe + Norah - Silver-Haired Daddy Of Mine

I was totally intrigued when I first heard that Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong was doing an album with jazz/pop songstress Norah Jones (collectively known as Billie Joe + Norah). Then my mind was completely blown when I learned that the album (Foreverly) was a recreation of Songs Our Daddy Taught Us, the 1958 Everly Brothers collection of traditional American songs. Judging by the first single, That Silver-Haired Daddy Of Mine (originally written and performed by Gene Autry) I have to say that they sound awfully sweet together. I'll be picking this one up sooner than later.

25 November 2013 - Pink - Girl On Fire

I'm still grinning ear to ear from last night's Pink concert in Washington, DC. It was one of the wildest performances I've ever seen. It's astonishing how she does all of those acrobatics while singing. Heck if I was just harnessed and raised 20 feet into the air without doing the flips the only words coming out of my would be "AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH HEEEEEEELLLLLLPPPPP!!!!!" The woman has no fear (and clearly I have much). While she didn't play this this Alicia Keys cover last night, she did play Wicked Games by Chris Isaak which was very cool.

21 November 2013 - Siouxsie and the Banshees - The Passenger

It's a rare cover that exceeds the original.  Some bring something new to the song, but few exceed it, especially when the original artist is so iconic.

"The Passenger" is one of those songs. Iggy Pop did it first, but Siouxsie Sioux did it better.  It's spirited and bright, despite all the goth. The sound here is so much deeper and richer than the original (which admittedly didn't suck). 



The first video might have been the original, but this, cleaner version is the one I remember.  I can't explain all the blood.  I can say that it's a visually interesting video.

20 November 2013 - The Wolfgang Press - Mama Told Me Not To Come

The song Mama Told Me Not To Come was originally written by Randy Newman and made famous by Three Dog Night. Over the years it's also been recorded by a number of artists such as Eric Burdon (one of the first versions), Tom Jones and the Stereophonics, Wilson Pickett, Lou Rawls, and Yo La Tengo...among others. Personally, I've always dug this trippy, laid back version by Wolfgang Press from their 1991 album Queer.

19 November 2013 - Kitten & Charli XCX - I Want Candy

On her current US tour, Kitten is the opening act for Charli XCX.  Chloe Chaidez - who, at this point, is pretty much Kitten - has already developed quite a stage presence, at just 17.

Enough so that the headliner pulls her opening act out on stage to do this cover, which is the best cover of the Strangeloves classic I've heard since Annabella Lwin posed nude.