I’ve never hidden my love of a good cover version. The old place used to have the occasional week’s worth of postings that were all about cover versions. I thought I’d so similar here in my new abode.
One of the things that I think makes a particularly good cover is when a singer or band take a song and do it in their own inimitable style so that unless you knew the original version you’d be hard pushed to realise it is not an original you’re listening to. Edwyn Collins has managed this on a couple of occasions:-
mp3 : Edwyn Collins – Ding a Dong
mp3 : Edwyn Collins – The Witch Queen Of New Orleans
The first of these is a cover of the winning entry in the 1975 Eurovision Song Contest. The original was by a band called Teach In who were from the Netherlands and on its release as a single in the UK, Ding a Dong reached #13 . Although would be their only success in the UK, Teach In were well-known in their native land – indeed their participation in Eurovision came after a number of hit singles in 1974 – and released 5 LPs and around 20 singles in the 70s.
The second song dates from 1971 and was written and recorded by Redbone, an American band that enjoyed a fair bit of critical and commercial success in the States in the 70s. The Witch Queen of New Orleans was also a hit in the UK, reaching #2 in October 1971, a position it kept for four successive weeks but kept off the top spot by Rod Stewart singing Maggie May. Given that Edwyn would have been 12 years old at the time, I’m guessing his love for Witch Queen stems from him watching Top of The Pops and wishing that somehow the song would get boring old Rod off the show for at least one week….
Enjoy.
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 