Cover Charge #20: Leonard Cohen to Joni Mitchell

Cover Charge is simple: A covers B, B covers C, C covers D and so on, until I loop back to where I started, Ouroboros-style.

Last time: Andrea Bocelli to Leonard Cohen

Somehow this series has already run to 20 posts, in (for me, at least) fairly short order. It's been quite easy so far, although I have started to rub against the problem inherent in this premise: the acts and songs featured get older and older. I'm having to deliberately look for acts that have been around a long time but also recently active, so that when someone covers them I can pull the timeline back towards something more recent. But not today. Today I feature Leonard Cohen, in collaboration with Herbie Hancock, covering The Jungle Line by Joni Mitchell, for Herbie's 2018 album of Joni covers, River. Luxuriate in Leonard's delivery and tell me I don't spoil you.

That rolls us back to 1975 for Joni's original, from her album The Hissing of Summer Lawns. See the in-built tendency this series has, to go further and further back in time?

Next time: Joni and friends take us even further back...

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Abject fAIlure

First off, let me promise to you that this is the last post I'll write about AI in 2025. I've got a longer-term AI-related project on the go, but the outcome of that, if indeed there is any kind of outcome, won't be known until May next year. So, honestly, this is the last post on AI for a good while, which is good because, after all...

With those wise words ringing in our collective ear, cast your mind back to last month when I wrote about Suno, the scary AI music generation platform. And for latecomers, that's not an app for generating scary music, minor keys and Psycho-strings, no, no - Suno is scary because of how quickly and easily it generates anodyne, MOR pap, the sort that fills supermarkets aisles and hold-please phone lines and mid-afternoon commercial radio stations and song contests and more. It's a technological software marvel, no doubt about that, but it's also somewhat worrying, to say the least.

The "success" of my little Sunovision Song Contest last month did make me wonder though. Could Suno create a good song? What if it was fed decent lyrics, rather than merely prompted with a theme to write its own? And what if the music prompt was specifically targeted, with a predetermined end-result in mind?

You can already tell where I'm heading with this, can't you?

A quick copy and paste supplied the lyrics to one of my favourite songs, by one of my favourite bands. I added prompt keywords to Suno for the music - "british accent, male vocal, mod, revival, new wave, beatles-inspired bassline, strong beats, power pop, open chords, electric guitar, bass, drums, weller, foxton, buckler" - and clicked the ironically labelled "Create" button, and this... there's no other word for it, this abomination is what it came up with. Ladies and gentlemen, with profound apologies, I present Thin As Thieves by The Conserve. Give it until the first chorus, at least.

The Conserve · Thin As Thieves

I think we can all agree that is just appallingly, abysmally awful - a festering turd of a pseudo-song. Unadulterated, unmitigated crap, and you are, of course, most welcome to hate me for inflicting it on you. Okay, you might justifiably question my prompting skills, but that's not the real problem here, is it? Either way, I won't do it again.

To redeem myself, here's the untouchable source material, from 1979's almost-a-concept-album Setting Sons - this is a proper song, and a damn good one at that. Think of it as an aural sorbet, after the travesty above. AI is undoubtedly getting more sophisticated at an alarming rate but for now, at least, there's no substitute for fire and skill.

And some final thoughts from a long-time fan of this very blog:

Cover Charge #19: Andrea Bocelli to Leonard Cohen

Cover Charge is simple: A covers B, B covers C, C covers D and so on, until I loop back to where I started, Ouroboros-style.

Last time: Vampire Weekend to Andrea Bocelli

How to veer back into familiar musical territory, after last time's thematic diversion into Bocelli-land? Well, that might sound challenging but is actually easy, firstly because Andrea has covered lots of songs, and secondly because he has offered up an interpretation of what must be one of the most covered songs of all time. In short, here is Andrea Bocelli's version of Hallelujah, from his 2020 album Believe.

Although there are more covers of this than even the most branch-endowed man could shake a stick at, it's hard to imagine many hold a candle to Leonard Cohen's original.

Next time: Leonard discovers the junglist massive. Maybe.

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Cover Charge #18: Vampire Weekend to Andrea Bocelli (yes, really)

Cover Charge is simple: A covers B, B covers C, C covers D and so on, until I loop back to where I started, Ouroboros-style.

Last time: Peter Gabriel to Vampire Weekend

I like it when a cover is unexpected, and today's certainly surprised me. From the 2014 compilation album Sweetheart, here's Vampire Weekend's take on Time to Say Goodbye...

...which of course is better known by the original Italian title of Con Te Partirò, made famous by Andrea Bocelli. Now there's a left turn for this blog that no-one saw coming, right?

Next time: Bocelli has recorded many reinterpretations, praise the lord!

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Cover Charge #17: Peter Gabriel to Vampire Weekend

Cover Charge is simple: A covers B, B covers C, C covers D and so on, until I loop back to where I started, Ouroboros-style.

Last time: Sheryl Crow to Peter Gabriel

A real curio today. In 2008 former Genesis frontman and general pusher of boundaries Peter Gabriel hooked up with Hot Chip to record a cover of a Vampire Weekend track, Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa. I had no idea how this came about, so ended up searching Wikipedia, which had the following: "Vampire Weekend themselves had reportedly asked Gabriel to cover it, on account of him being referenced in the lyrics ('This feels so unnatural/Peter Gabriel, too'). Ahead of the cover's release, Gabriel told 6Music that he hadn't decided whether or not to sing the line that references him verbatim. He ended up replacing one of the lines with 'And it feels so unnatural/To sing your own name' when the cover was released." I'm still none the wiser as to how Hot Chip got involved but anyway, here's the cover:

And from their eponymous debut album, here's the original from Vampire Weekend. Fun fact - this promo video was directed by the quiet genius that is Richard Ayoade.

Next time: Vampire Weekend bid us farewell.

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Cover Charge #16: Sheryl Crow to Peter Gabriel

Cover Charge is simple: A covers B, B covers C, C covers D and so on, until I loop back to where I started, Ouroboros-style.

Last time: Prince to Sheryl Crow

It's a little bit of a cheat today, sorry. For whilst this most certainly is a cover by Sheryl Crow, she does feature some additional vocals from the original artist during the chorus. But my gaff, my rules, so here goes, with Sheryl's retooling of Digging in the Dirt, from March 2024 - this sounds surprisingly good through headphones. Mundane fact: Sheryl's middle name is Suzanne.

And here's Peter Gabriel's original, all the way back from when he was breaking new ground with a run of innovative music videos. I think I'm right in saying this was the first single taken from 1992's pajillion-selling album Us.

Next time: Peter has cod'n'chips.

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Cover Charge #15: Prince to Sheryl Crow

Cover Charge is simple: A covers B, B covers C, C covers D and so on, until I loop back to where I started, Ouroboros-style.

Last time: The Jesus and Mary Chain to Prince

Maybe it's just me but I can't really imagine Prince just churning out any Straight Bat covers; it would either have to be an Own Stamp or he wouldn't bother. That's certainly the case with this purple reworking from 1999 (when surely Prince should have been partying, right?)

And here's the original Everyday is a Winding Road, from Sheryl Crow's eponymous second album. Neil Finn is on backing vocals, fact fans. Oddly, this was released as a single in the UK only in 1995, where it limped to #43 in the charts, but released globally in 1996 when the parent album came out, and that time made it all the way to #12 in the UK.

Next time: Sheryl gets her fingers dirty.

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Cover Charge #14: The Jesus and Mary Chain to Prince

Cover Charge is simple: A covers B, B covers C, C covers D and so on, until I loop back to where I started, Ouroboros-style.

Last time: Pixies to The Jesus and Mary Chain

After quite a few Straight Bat covers recently, it's nice to feature an Own Stamp today, in the form of The Mary Chain's take on the Purple One's Alphabet Street. This was released all the way back in 1994, on the flip-side of the Come On EP. It's heavy and fuzzy, as you might expect.

Prince's original, six years earlier, was an altogether lighter and sharper affair. The lead single from Lovesexy, it peaked at #8 on the Hot 100 and #3 on the R&B chart, selling 750,000 copies in the process. Is it funky, do you think? I typed that just now but then edited it back out. It might be a little funky, but it doesn't make me want to move body parts, not like I expect funk to anyway. Maybe I should leave it up to connoisseurs of the métier to decide.

Next time: post- Prince takes a road less travelled.

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Without you

I don't have enough Beach Boys knowledge to write properly about Brian Wilson. Other bloggers have done so already, far better than I ever could (step forward Swiss Adam, Alyson, John, Tim, Craig and Khayem, for starters).

Also, and at the risk of sounding like a heathen, can I just say that a lot of early Beach Boys output - the surf and car songs - never did a great deal for me? I'm sorry (not sorry) but they just said nothing to me about my life. I'm not sure they necessarily did a lot for Brian either but boy, did they sell...

That said, as soon as he, and they, started to move away from dunes and deuce coupes, well, that's when things got a bit more interesting, for me at least. There is a special kind of sonic genius in Good Vibrations, I think, and as for songs that say something to me about my life, I Just Wasn't Made For These Times takes some beating. And then there's God Only Knows ... a song that begins with the line "I may not always love you", and later asserts that life will go on "should you ever leave me", yet somehow still manages to be one of the greatest love songs of all time. Not even a looping remix for the syrupy end of Love Actually has robbed it of its power.

In 2014, the Beeb brought responsibility for all its musical output, including radio, orchestras, various "... of the year" competitions and then-nascent BBC Sounds, under one umbrella, with the Ronseal-esque title of BBC Music. To mark the event, they commissioned a recording of God Only Knows with an all-star cast, in a similar fashion to their reworking of Lou Reed's Perfect Day for Children in Need some years earlier. The track was credited to The Impossible Orchestra, which included Dave Grohl, Alison Balsom, Lorde, Pharrell Williams, Zane Lowe, Sam Smith, Paloma Faith, Eliza Carthy, Nicola Benedetti, Chris Martin, Jaz Dhami, Martin James Bartlett, Danielle de Niese, Stevie Wonder, Florence Welch, Lauren Laverne, Jake Bugg, Katie Derham, Gareth Malone, Kylie Minogue, Chrissie Hynde, One Direction, Emeli Sandé, Elton John, Baaba Maal, Ethan Johns, Jools Holland, Jamie Cullum, Brian May, Tees Valley Youth Choir, the BBC Concert Orchestra ... and Brian Wilson.

The end result was quite something, and this week feels like a good time to play it. Rest easy, Brian.

Who's who (and when) in the Impossible Orchestra

Cover Charge #13 - Pixies to The Jesus and Mary Chain

Cover Charge is simple: A covers B, B covers C, C covers D and so on, until I loop back to where I started, Ouroboros-style.

Last time: David Bowie to Pixies

I'll be honest, when Pixies released Trompe Le Monde in 1991, I found it a tiny bit disappointing. Sure, I enjoyed Planet of Sound and Alex Eiffel and Subbacultcha and a few others but the album as a whole, for me, fell a bit short. With hindsight I think I expected too much, after their earlier releases, and in my head attached greater significance to their every recorded note because of how I'd come to know and love Come On Pilgrim, Surfer Rosa and Doolittle. But that's another story. One highlight from the album though, was Pixies' cover of Head On. Here it is:

I know it might be considered blasphemous, but I think I prefer that to the Jesus and Mary Chain original, good though that is. Sorry, Reid bros.

Next time: East Kilbride's finest mix their reds with their blues...

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Cover Charge #12 - David Bowie to Pixies

Cover Charge is simple: A covers B, B covers C, C covers D and so on, until I loop back to where I started, Ouroboros-style.

Last time: Depeche Mode to David Bowie

Once a god-like genius has been posthumously deified, it's easy to forget that for there to be such lofty peaks there must also be some troughs, even if only minor ones. The run of albums Bowie produced in the 1990s (Outside, Earthling and Hours) were, for him, perhaps not the successes he might have hoped for. Still, he was Bowie, so everything is relative, I suppose. Whatever, 2002's less experimental Heathen was viewed by critics as a return to form... and side one, track two was this cover of Pixies' Cactus:

And here's the original from Frank, Kim, Joey and David - I don't think they were ever better than on those first two releases.

Next time: Pixies tackle the challenge of a good cover head on. Which may be too much of a clue.

The Cover Charge "chain" to date.

Cover Charge #11 - Depeche Mode to David Bowie

Cover Charge is simple: A covers B, B covers C, C covers D and so on, until I loop back to where I started, Ouroboros-style.

Last time: The Cure to Depeche Mode

You've got to have big balls, I think, to cover David Bowie. Luckily for us all, Depeche Mode are fully equipped in the trouser department, if this take on Heroes is anything to go by. The Highline Sessions, from whence this comes, were recorded live in August 2016, just a few short months after Bowie died, adding an extra resonance for all concerned. This could have gone very wrong, but turned out rather well.

And because you can't hear it, or him, too often, here's Bowie's original.

Next time: David leads the Cover Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Charge into some quiet/loud/quiet.

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Cover Charge #10 - The Cure to Depeche Mode

Cover Charge is simple: A covers B, B covers C, C covers D and so on, until I loop round, Ouroboros-style, back to where I started.

Last time: Editors to The Cure

Maybe there is a third kind of cover after all, some hybrid of the Straight Bat and Own Stamp. For when The Cure covered World In My Eyes, it was at once both faithful to the source and yet recognisably, unmistakably Robert et al.

Here's the Depeche Mode original, the opening track from 1990's Violator (an album so good it's on the Every Home Should Have One masterlist).

Next time: the Basildon boys take us ... to someone born in Brixton. That's an actual clue, right there. Runaround... now!

The Cover Charge "chain" to date.

Cover Charge #9 - Editors to The Cure

Cover Charge is simple: A covers B, B covers C, C covers D and so on, until I loop round, Ouroboros-style, back to where I started.

Last time: REM to Editors

Editors are a perfect band for covering The Cure, I think. They manage to put enough of their Own Stamp on Lullaby while maintaining, perhaps even adding to, the tension and disquiet that runs through the original. The spiderman is always hungry, indeed...

Here's the original, from Sir Robert of Cure-shire - surely a national treasure by now - and his merry band.

Next time: Crawley's finest cover a contemporary act ... but they've been around forever, so that could be anyone, right?

The Cover Charge "chain" to date.

Cover Charge #8 - REM to Editors

The premise of Cover Charge is simple. A covers B, B covers C, C covers D and so on, until I loop round and eat my own tail, Ouroboros-style, by getting back to where I started with The Specials.

Last time: The Replacements to REM

Today, the fruit of a mutual covering love-in. Editors had covered Orange Crush, so in 2008 REM returned the compliment by covering Munich for Radio 1's Live Lounge. There's grainy video of this online, but I've gone for the best quality sound recording I could find on YouTube.

And here's the original, from Editors' 2005 debut album The Back Room which, for my money, still sounds rather good.

Next time: spoiler alert, I'm not going to feature Editors covering Orange Crush as that would cause a feedback loop in the chain and bring an end to the spacetime continuum...

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Sunday shorts: Isla de Encanta

Sunday is a day of rest, right, so let's take a break from Cover Charge with another classic slice of early Pixies that comes in comfortably under the two-minute threshold required for Sunday shorts.

Isla de Encanta is also meat and drink for the Duolingo-bothering learner of Spanish (me, currently), with enough words for me to pick out to get the gist.

Anyway, all the way back from when I was 17 (though I didn't hear it until I was 19, but that's another story), here's the track.

I think we can all agree that's marvellous, right? And the only "love island" worth the time of day.

As for those lyrics? With apologies to any actual Spanish speakers...

Hermanita ven conmigo Hermanita ven conmigo Hay aviones cada hora Isla de encanta Me voy, me voy, me voy Donde no hay sufrimiento Donde no hay sufrimiento Me vieron pasar por la calle Isla de encanta Me voy, me voy, me voy Nuestro propio animal Canta a la gente pa'gratis Hey babe, what are we doing here? Laaaa, laaaa, patria Isla de encanta Me voy, me voy, me voy

Little sister, come with me Little sister, come with me There are planes every hour Island of love I'm going, I'm going, I'm going Where there is no suffering Where there is no suffering They saw me passing by on the street Island of love I'm going, I'm going, I'm going Our own animal sings To the people for free Hey babe, what are we doing here? Laaaa, laaaa, homeland Island of love I'm going, I'm going, I'm going

The Cover Charge resumes next time.

Cover Charge #7: The Replacements to REM

The premise of Cover Charge is simple. A covers B, B covers C, C covers D and so on, until I loop round and eat my own tail, Ouroboros-style, by getting back to where I started with The Specials.

Last time: Jesse Malin to The Replacements

A wonderfully scuzzy, ramshackle recording today as The Replacements just about rattle through half a rough and ready take on the debut single from their early-80s contemporaries, REM.

And here's the original single release of Radio Free Europe, a record that surely needs no further introduction (though you should read Swiss Adam's excellent recent post at Bagging Area if you want to hear some other versions of the song):

Next time: REM were fairly prolific covering other artists, so where will we charge next?

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Cover Charge #6: Jesse Malin to The Replacements

The premise of Cover Charge is simple. Artist A covers artist B, then B covers C and C covers D, and so on and so forth, until you, me or Google give up on blogs altogether.

Last time: Bruce Springsteen to Jesse Malin

Cover versions seem to fall into one of two categories, broadly speaking: the Straight Bat, in which the cover sounds very similar to the original, and the Own Stamp, in which the covering artist tries to do something a bit different. Today we have an Own Stamp from Jesse Malin, as he offers up a thoughtful reworking of The Replacements' Bastards of Young:

And here's the original from Paul Westerberg and chums, all the way back from 1985 and their fourth album Tim:

Next time: The Replacements replace someone else. Contain your excitement.

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Cover Charge #5: Bruce Springsteen to Jesse Malin

The premise of Cover Charge is simple. Artist A covers artist B, then B covers C and C covers D, and so on and so forth, until you, me or Google give up on blogs altogether.

Last time: Neil Young to Bruce Springsteen

Seems that towards the end of last year, The Boss recorded this straight-bat cover of Jesse Malin's She Don't Love Me Now for tribute compilation album Silver Patron Saints. I know next to nothing about Malin, but do know (thanks to John and Wikipedia) that he suffered a spinal stroke in 2023, leading to paralysis from the waist down. A fundraising/support tribute compilation followed, which included this offering from Bruce:

And here's Jesse's original, from his 2015 album New York Before the War. Spot the difference? No, me neither.

Next time: Jesse has a go at someone else, with a marginally less straight bat.

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Cover Charge #4: Neil Young to Bruce Springsteen

The premise of Cover Charge is simple. Artist A covers artist B, then B covers C and C covers D, and so on and so forth, until you, me or Google give up on blogs altogether.

Last time: Radiohead to Neil Young

An entry at the excellent Neil Young Archives tell us that he recorded his take on My Hometown on 16th September 2013. Here's the video proof:

And here's the original from Bruce, back in the day:

Next time: The Boss covers someone. But who?

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Cover Charge #3: Radiohead to Neil Young

Okay, I give in to the weight of public opinion (three blog comments). The premise of Cover Charge is simple. Artist A covers artist B, then B covers C and C covers D, and so on and so forth, until you, me or Google give up on blogs altogether.

Last time: Toots and the Maytals to Radiohead

Radiohead have, at various times, covered a number of Neil Young songs but for my money one of their better attempts is this, Cinnamon Girl:

And here's the original from Neil and Crazy Horse:

Next time, some time: Mr Young covers someone. But who?

The Cover Charge "chain" to date.

Cover Charge #1: The Specials to Toots & The Maytals

Last time out I wrote about how I'd planned but abandoned a new blog series, the premise of which would have been simple: one week, artist A covers artist B, then B covers C, C covers D, and so on. I abandoned the idea because, having planned 30+ steps, I realised I was considering songs and artists I wasn't fussed by, just to keep the whole premise rumbling on. So I just posted one cover I really got something out of, Toots and the Maytals covering Radiohead, and thought that would be the end of it.

However, the ever-lovely C at Sun Dried Sparrows expressed an interest in hearing more of what I'd planned. I don't usually do requests but, especially for C, this is how I'd planned to get to Toots. My intention was to start the Cover Charge (terrible name for a series) with Coventry's finest, The Specials, rattling through an excellent Monkey Man in 1979:

And here's the original from Toots and the Maytals in 1969:

Who knows, I might recycle other posts that I'd drafted for this series when the usual dribble of guff runs dry.

The Cover Charge "chain" to date.