Monthly Archives: August 2014

Cover Friday: “Thunderstruck”

August 29, 2014Music#CoverFriday, 2cellos, ac/dc, alternative, bluegrass, classical, covers, hard rock, metal, ministry, music videos, songs, steve'n'seagullsLance

“Thunderstruck”
by Ministry, 2Cellos, Steve’n’Seagulls, (originally by AC/DC)
from all over the goddamned place
Buy the original album on Amazon

I was thinking about picking an AC/DC tune for a #karaoketuesday post, but I’m sober enough right now to realize I could never pull off an AC/DC tune unless it was a swing number or something. Which got me thinking about covers that are done in a different genre than the original version. So, ladies and gentlemen, I present “Thunderstruck” as performed by three, radically different groups. But first, let’s take a listen to the original and still bad-ass AC/DC original.

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Karaoke Tuesday: “Teen Angst”

August 26, 2014Music#KaraokeTuesday, 120 minutes, 90s, alternative, cracker, high school, karaoke, lyrics, music videos, songsLance

“Teen Angst (What The World Needs Now)”
by Cracker
from the album Cracker
1992
Buy the album on Amazon

Lately I’ve been posting a lot about songs that I desperately want to perform at karaoke but couldn’t because the man didn’t deem them worthy of inclusion. However, this entry falls more in line with the thought, “Wow, this would be a great song to sing at karaoke.”

I remember generally dismissing Cracker for years based on the video for this song, which has the guys in a field prancing around like dandy rednecks, with dirt bikes and half-collapsed barns littering the background. When you’re trying to escape your shitty hometown you don’t want to be reminded of the situation everytime you turn on MTV.

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Karaoke Tuesday: “Everything Zen”

August 26, 2014Music#KaraokeTuesday, 90s, alternative, bush, karaoke, music videos, songsChris

“Everything Zen”
by Bush
from the album Sixteen Stone
1994
Buy the album on Amazon

I posted another Bush karaoke song (“Glycerine“) almost 3 months ago to the day from today. How the hell have we been doing this blog for 3+ months? I won’t rehash my thoughts on Bush, other than to say that if I remember right this was their first single, and what got me into them.

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Cover Friday: “Get It On (Bang a Gong)”

August 22, 2014Music#CoverFriday, 80s, covers, duran duran, music videos, robert palmer, songs, the power stationLance

“Get It On (Bang a Gong)”
by The Power Station (originally by T. Rex)
from the album The Power Station
1985
Buy the album on Amazon

I love this cover. The T. Rex original is a classic but this is the version I keep returning to. The combo of that crazy hi-hat, the crunchy guitar and that slap bass is intoxicating. On top of it all you’ve got Robert Palmer working his slick, sexy cool swagger through those lyrics. What the fuck do they even mean?

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Cover Friday: “I Want U 2 Want Me”

August 22, 2014Music#CoverFriday, 90s, alternative, cheap trick, covers, lyrics, propagandhi, punk, songsChris

“I Want U 2 Want Me”
by Propagandhi (originally by Cheap Trick)
from the album How to Clean Everything
1993
Buy the album on Amazon

I grew up not really knowing about Cheap Trick at all. Maybe in a peripheral way, but that’s it. Some time in the past 5 years I picked up their Greatest Hits album, but it was a combination of the That 70’s Show opening + hearing some people sing their songs at karaoke + seeing a guy from a company we used to work with (hello Hothead!) sing this song at a live karaoke night for our former coworker Jen that drove me to it.

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Karaoke Tuesday: “Father of Mine”

August 19, 2014Music#KaraokeTuesday, 90s, alternative, everclear, karaoke, lyrics, music videos, songsChris

“Father of Mine”
by Everclear
from the album So Much for the Afterglow
1997
Buy the album on Amazon

Finally making a jump back to the 90’s this week. Admittedly, I’ve never actually done this song, but it’s on my list to try next time. I was just a casual fan of Everclear when they were getting big (except my still unwavering love for Summerland and Santa Monica, which should pop up here on Lance’s list one of these days), and have a couple of their albums, but this song never really caught my ear.

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Karaoke Tuesday: “Don’t You (Forget About Me)”

August 19, 2014Music#KaraokeTuesday, 80s, alternative, karaoke, movies, simple minds, songs, soundtracks, the breakfast clubLance

“Don’t You (Forget About Me)”
by Simple Minds
from The Breakfast Club: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
1985
Buy the album on Amazon

Whenever I submit #116365, I always think it’s going to be a big crowd pleaser. When I get to the “Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!” part, I expect the whole bar to enthusiastically shout along, but it never happens. It’s usually just me on stage doing my own thing. I’m still having fun, but I want us to be having fun too.

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Cover Friday: “Theme From NARC”

August 15, 2014Music#CoverFriday, 80s, 90s, alternative, arcade games, convenience stores, covers, high school, junior high, pixies, video gamesLance

“Theme From NARC”
by the Pixies (originally by NARC)
from the album Complete ‘B’ Sides
2001
Buy the album on Amazon

Every time this track shuffles up, I’m instantly transported back to high school. My buddy Houston and I would spend a good portion of Friday afternoons playing video games at the local convenience store or Wal-Mart (our pseudo arcades). Between bags of Chili Cheese Fritos and cans of Cherry Coke we’d play whatever they had in stock that month. Wal-Mart usually offered up far such as Double Dragon, Super Off-Road and our favorite co-op, Silkworm. Minit Mart kept Bad Dudes, GI Joe, Bubble Bobble and NARC in the corner between the beef jerky and the fountain drinks for what seemed like years. Which was just fine with us. Particularly when the machines of the late 80s/early 90s put out such good theme songs:

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Cover Friday: “Against All Odds”

August 15, 2014Music#CoverFriday, 00s, 80s, alternative, ben gibbard, coveroke, covers, death cab for cutie, karaover, songs, soundtracks, the postal serviceChris

“Against All Odds”
by The Postal Service (originally by Phil Collins)
from the album Give Up (Deluxe 10th Anniversary Edition)
2004
Buy the album on Amazon

Keeping it simple this week and doing a karaoke/cover pair. Karaover? Coveroke? I’m a fan of the Postal Service and of course of this song. This is a much “colder” (in feeling) version and less heartfelt than the original. Wikipedia tells me that this cover was named by the NY Post as one of the best covers of all time. I wouldn’t go that far, but it is enjoyable.

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Karaoke Tuesday: “Cigarette Dangles”

August 12, 2014Music#KaraokeTuesday, 90s, alternative, canada, karaoke, music videos, rockvideo monthly, songs, the pursuit of happinessLance

“Cigarette Dangles”
by The Pursuit of Happiness
from the album The Downward Road
1993
Buy the album on Amazon

I’m picking a song that I’ve never performed for my Karaoke Tuesday post… which is straight-up cheating. It doesn’t even fall into the category of I always look for this song, but they never have it. But upon stumbling across the music video recently, I think this song might actually be the prototype karaoke song for me back in college, before I had the balls to sing in public, or more accurately, the ability to pound Jack and Cokes until I didn’t care that I was singing in public.

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