Monday, August 19, 2024

Completely Conspicuous 643: Cover Me

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about our favorite cover songs. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

  • What makes a good cover?
  • Be true to the song, but bring something of yourself to it
  • Jagger and Bowie's cover of "Dancing in the Streets" is godawful
  • In the '80s and '90s, used to get 45s or cassingles (or CD singles) to get B-sides
  • Phil's honorable mention covers: U2, Courtney Barnett, Nirvana, Allman Brothers, Led Zeppelin, Etta James, Beatles, Stones, Bjork, Aretha, Pearl Jam, CSNY, Cowboy Junkies
  • Nirvana's MTV Unplugged has several great covers
  • Zeppelin covered a lot of songs on their early albums, with or without giving credit
  • Jay's honorable mentions: The Clash, Hendrix, Pretenders, U2, Charles Bradley, Thin Lizzy, Bjork, Elvis Costello, Talking Heads, Living Colour, Soft Cell, Johnny Cash, PJ, Deep Purple, Urge Overkill, Violent Femmes, Anthrax, Breeders, Cheap Trick, Malkmus and Elastica, Iron Maiden, Queens of the Stone Age
  • Phil's #10: Stevie Ray Vaughan takes on a guitar god's classic
  • Jay's #10: Dinosaur Jr. makes a Cure song their own
  • Phil's #9: Zeppelin's first album features a cover that was previously done by Joan Baez
  • Judas Priest also covered a Baez song
  • Jay's #9: A signature Blondie song was actually a cover
  • Phil's #8: A timeless classic from the late '50s by the Flamingos
  • Jay's #8: Sinead O'Connor made the definitive version of a Prince song
  • Phil's #7: Faces with a powerful Temptations cover
  • To be continued

Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

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