I'm not sure if I'm understanding this right, but what comes to mind is "Green Light" by Lorde.
― Lily Dale, Saturday, 11 June 2022 15:15 (one year ago) link
How about songs with awesome, multipart bridges? (sorry if I’ve already done this… I love bridges)“Father Figure” is the gold standard for me:https://i.imgur.com/HU4HEtJ_d.webp?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&fidelity=medium
― Creature Catcher (Live) (morrisp), Saturday, 11 June 2022 16:52 (one year ago) link
I used to love karaoking that due to the bridges alone.
Good call
― Gymnopédie Pablo (Neanderthal), Saturday, 11 June 2022 17:09 (one year ago) link
songs where the 7" version is a classic and the 12" remix is unspeakable and should never be played again
― link.exposing.politically (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Friday, 9 September 2022 20:33 (one year ago) link
songs that are remade a million times, but pretty much every remake is based on one iconic cover of the song and not the original.
some obvious ones:
Tears for Fears - "Mad World"Leonard Cohen - "Hallelujah"The Roar of the Greasepaint, the Smell of the Crowd Original Cast Recording - "Feeling Good"
― Fash Gordon (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 28 December 2022 03:50 (one year ago) link
“Hound Dog”
― Wet Legume (morrisp), Wednesday, 28 December 2022 04:16 (one year ago) link
ahh yes very good one!
― Fash Gordon (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 28 December 2022 04:18 (one year ago) link
"Feeling Good" I guess is a special case because the song originated on Broadway and music lovers who didn't give a shit about musical theatre reacted to the Nina Simone/Hal Mooney version as if it were the original.
― Fash Gordon (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 28 December 2022 04:19 (one year ago) link
“All Along the Watchtower,” maybe (a case where the iconic cover influenced even the original artist’s live performances of the song)
― Wet Legume (morrisp), Wednesday, 28 December 2022 05:02 (one year ago) link
Tainted Love.
― Vernon Locke, Wednesday, 28 December 2022 05:19 (one year ago) link
"Blue Bayou"
"You Don't Know Me"
That is, I think most people cover the Linda Rondstadt and Ray Charles versions more than the originals
― Ye Mad Puffin, Wednesday, 28 December 2022 12:58 (one year ago) link
^excellent!
― A Kestrel for a Neve (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 28 December 2022 13:08 (one year ago) link
Not enough covers for this topic probably, but the B-side of “Blue Bayou,” “Mean Woman Blues,” was originally sung by Elvis Presley in the movie Loving You.
― A Kestrel for a Neve (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 28 December 2022 13:24 (one year ago) link
"Louie Louie"
― Josefa, Wednesday, 28 December 2022 20:12 (one year ago) link
"Fever" (Peggy Lee version is normally the one copied)
Frank Sinatra is probably responsible for many of these, e.g. "I've Got You Under My Skin." He was always taking tunes from the 1920s/30s and swinging them up and making them more fun, and of course that's the way most people like to play them today.
― Josefa, Wednesday, 28 December 2022 23:11 (one year ago) link
a case where the iconic cover influenced even the original artist’s live performances of the song“Respect” Is another of these:
"R-E-S-P-E-C-T" and "TCB" are not present in Redding's 1965 version, but he incorporated Franklin's ideas in his later performances with the Bar-Kays.
― Vexatious litigant (morrisp), Sunday, 15 January 2023 15:30 (one year ago) link
House of the Rising Sun
― kornrulez6969, Sunday, 15 January 2023 20:20 (one year ago) link
a case where the iconic cover influenced even the original artist’s live performances of the song
Billy Bragg has apparently sung the Kirsty MacColl verse during A New England since she died.
― you can see me from westbury white horse, Monday, 16 January 2023 03:13 (one year ago) link
Songs which announce individual sections
Wire - Map Ref 41N 93W ("CHORUS!")Prince - Loose! ("GUITAR SOLO!")
― you can see me from westbury white horse, Monday, 23 January 2023 01:09 (one year ago) link
Can I take it to the bridge
― The Myth of Sisyspacek (Ye Mad Puffin), Monday, 23 January 2023 02:04 (one year ago) link
“Play it for me guitarist”
― calstars, Monday, 23 January 2023 02:47 (one year ago) link
“C’mon Steve, get ir”
― calstars, Monday, 23 January 2023 02:48 (one year ago) link
Second verse, same as the first
― Vernon Locke, Monday, 23 January 2023 03:32 (one year ago) link
and that's a good line to take it to the bridgeand they're coming to the chorus now
― ledge, Monday, 23 January 2023 07:21 (one year ago) link
Middle eight!! (public image limited, don't ask me)
― ledge, Monday, 23 January 2023 07:30 (one year ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XKDTOiNqdE
― Alba, Monday, 23 January 2023 07:32 (one year ago) link
Rock me, Joseph Alberto Santiago
― The Myth of Sisyspacek (Ye Mad Puffin), Monday, 23 January 2023 13:00 (one year ago) link
Denim – The Great Pub Rock Revival ("Synthesizer solo!")
― Vaguely Threatening CAPTCHAs, Monday, 23 January 2023 14:49 (one year ago) link
This is surely its own thread already, but Weird Al does "drum solo!" on the "Polka Your Eyes Out" medley.
― got it in the blood, the kid's a pelican (Doctor Casino), Monday, 23 January 2023 17:05 (one year ago) link
Hit singles that begin really dissonant and/or atonal
OMD - Maid of OrleansAdam & the Ants - Prince CharmingThe Cure - The CaterpillarFamily - In My Own Time
― you can see me from westbury white horse, Wednesday, 25 January 2023 05:27 (one year ago) link
I suppose Purple Haze
― you can see me from westbury white horse, Wednesday, 25 January 2023 05:28 (one year ago) link
The Human Beinz - Nobody But Me
(which I guess is just following the example of The Beatles - I Feel Fine)
― got it in the blood, the kid's a pelican (Doctor Casino), Wednesday, 25 January 2023 12:37 (one year ago) link
Pop songs where a drumkit is only fully deployed well into the second half.
The Sundays - Can't Be SureJulia Jacklin - Lydia Wears A Cross
This doesn't feel like it should be terribly rare, tbh, so I'd appreciate suggestions/reminders...
― Nag! Nag! Nag!, Thursday, 9 February 2023 03:37 (one year ago) link
In the Air Tonight, obviously.
Peter Gabriel - The Rhythm of the Heat
― Hideous Lump, Thursday, 9 February 2023 06:30 (one year ago) link
Oh god, yeah!
― Nag! Nag! Nag!, Thursday, 9 February 2023 07:33 (one year ago) link
(FWIW, this was the intended Jacklin link. Whoops.)
― Nag! Nag! Nag!, Thursday, 9 February 2023 09:48 (one year ago) link
Game Theory - Like a Girl JesusTed Leo & The Pharmacists - Timorous Me
― Vaguely Threatening CAPTCHAs, Thursday, 9 February 2023 22:11 (one year ago) link
I'm not sure of the exact timing, but "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin (unless that isn't what is meant by "pop song").
― Halfway there but for you, Thursday, 9 February 2023 22:21 (one year ago) link
Yep! These are all great. I guess I meant "popular music" broadly. Though, heck, if there's a symphony where a percussionist is conspicuously underemployed until later movements don't keep it to yourselves!
― Nag! Nag! Nag!, Thursday, 9 February 2023 22:44 (one year ago) link
Jane's Addiction - Classic Girl
― listened to "Mississippi" one take too long (morrisp), Friday, 10 February 2023 02:42 (one year ago) link
Ricardo Villalobos will happily wait for days before the drums really kick in
― Agnes, Agatha, Germaine and Jack (Willl), Friday, 10 February 2023 08:27 (one year ago) link
Re: songs that announce sections of the song Money Mark - CryI don't really feel like a man, feelin′ low.A man on the keyboard, gonna play my organ solo (so low?)
― Agnes, Agatha, Germaine and Jack (Willl), Friday, 10 February 2023 08:28 (one year ago) link
Yep! These are all great. I guess I meant "popular music" broadly.
Very broadly, "Krautrock" by Faust.
― Maggot Bairn (Tom D.), Friday, 10 February 2023 09:19 (one year ago) link
Nick Berry - Every Loser WinsThere's about 25 hilarious seconds of clunky drums in the second half before they go again.
― you can see me from westbury white horse, Friday, 10 February 2023 11:59 (one year ago) link
the drums come in sooner than the second half, but for hip-hop, a whole verse without drums is an eternity
ugk - international player’s anthem ft outkast
― sault bae (voodoo chili), Friday, 10 February 2023 13:50 (one year ago) link
that choice really makes the song too.
― waiting for a czar to fall (Neanderthal), Friday, 10 February 2023 14:54 (one year ago) link
songs that announce sections of the song
Can I take it to the bridge? Take it to the bridge!
Seriously this is one of my all-time fave gimmicks and I am unlikely to tire of it, despite some cornball abuses of the trope.
I was a child the first time I heard "Dance to the Music," and I confess that my tiny mind was blown by the way each instrument enters, proclaims its role, and announces itself. I was (and remain) deeply fascinated by the way rock music is put together in layers and the whole becomes more than the sum of its parts.
All we need is a drummerFor people who only need a beat
I'm gonna add a little guitarAnd make it easy to move your feet
I'm gonna add some bottomSo that the dancer there just won't hide
You might like to hear my organI said, 'ride, sally ride', now
If I could hear the horns blow
Listen to the voices
Yes, of course there are excesses. I don't think anyone still needs to unironically shout GUITAR! before a guitar solo, but sly lampshading of the trope ("Rock me, Joseph Alberto Santiago") is acceptable.
It is commonplace to say that a novelist is not supposed to intrude on the narrative ("Look out, here comes a metaphor!") because it interferes with suspension of disbelief.
But the ontological space of a rock and roll song is not so self-serious. We don't need to be lost in a vivid dream or seriously imagine ourselves on the deck of the Edmund Fitzgerald or whatever. There's no harm in breaking the fourth wall and acknowledging that you're making noises in front of people.
― Auf Der Martini (Ye Mad Puffin), Friday, 10 February 2023 14:56 (one year ago) link
tbf i think it would be a problem for that song if Gordon Lightfoot had suddenly screamed out "ROCK ME, PEE WEE CHARLES" halfway through.
― got it in the blood, the kid's a pelican (Doctor Casino), Friday, 10 February 2023 15:00 (one year ago) link
Your point is well taken, Doctor.
(That said, I would secretly be pleased if more twee indie folk artists suddenly shouted FLUGELHORN! or whatever. Even better if they don't actually have a flugelhorn.)
― Auf Der Martini (Ye Mad Puffin), Friday, 10 February 2023 15:04 (one year ago) link
are there any songs where band members bicker mid-song
― waiting for a czar to fall (Neanderthal), Friday, 10 February 2023 15:05 (one year ago) link