The Tuesday Special - Songs You Didn't Know Were Covers

You know, a lot of songs that are or were very very popular are actually covers of somewhat obscure songs. Here, we will feature a few....

Elvis Presley was a great artist. And this song was very passionately performed by Jumpsuit Elvis.



But it wasn't his song. It was a song by an singer/songwriter named Mac Davis, who made the song a hit in his own right. And it's the first version I learned.



The Bangles hit it big with "Manic Monday" (which itself was a Prince cover - we will discuss Prince covers in a future post) (and we'll be coming back to the Bangles, too - most underrated band in history) They followed it with this very original song.....



....originally performed by Jules Shear, that is.



Linda Ronstadt made this song a huge hit in the 70s. And her signature growl in this song made it great....



....just like Buddy Holly had 20 years prior. Granted, Linda gave it more of a growl, but it was a cover, too!



OK, those of us that grew up in the 80s and hung out at the mall know this tune. And OK, I can admit it now. I LOVED this song. Still do.



And frankly, I think Tiffany did a more credible job on the song than Tommy James did. Which might be why few people realized at the time that it was a cover.



Tiffany was actually quite adept at covers. This one, however, was a bit of a sacrilege...



... given that it was the Beatles. Never mind that it was a relatively faithful cover. It was the Beatles, and you DON'T just cover the Beatles.



Isn't that right, Joe Cocker?

Cover of the Day - Katy Perry - Electric Feel

Technically, I know, this isn't a video. It's a picture of Katy Perry with audio. Doesn't change the fact that this is a completely AWESOME cover of an interesting-at-best song by MGMT. And it proves the woman is talented.

Tribute of the Day - CSS - Let's Make Love And Listen To Death From Above

I absolutely love this song. The song and video are an homage to a Toronto band (now defunct and the subject of a future post) called Death From Above 1979. Those familiar with their album covers know that the elephant masks in the middle of this video are a shout-out to DFA.

The Greatness that is Petra Haden

Told ya!

Petra Haden, a triplet, used to be in a band called that dog with her sister Rachel. From her website, http://www.petrahadenmusic.com

"Petra was born into a musical family, one of the triplet daughters of legendary jazz bassist Charlie Haden. At age seven, after seeing Captain Kangaroo playing the violin on T.V., Petra decided to take up the instrument herself."

Petra wasn't really a vocalist in that dog. She was their violinist. She did do backing vocals, though. Here is a song from their 2nd album, Totally Crushed Out. Seek it out.

As a side project from that dog, Petra was also in a band called The Rentals. It was a project with some of the guys from Weezer. That was kind of a big hit, and ironically led to the end of that dog. This was their first single, and yes, that's Petra on violin.

The Rentals |MTV Music

Since the demise of that dog. Petra has performed with many other artists, like Beck, Mike Watt, and the Foo Fighters. She's also done a fair amount of solo work, as well as performance as part of a group called The Haden Triplets, with her sisters (and fellow triplets) Tanya and Rachel. Here they are, live, doing a cover (ha! funny for this blog, right?) of a Carter Family classic.

And here is Petra, doing what is probably her 2nd best known cover, live. This song is a Beach Boys classic.



Of course, she's best known for this!

Cover of the Day - Selena Gomez - Cruella De Vil

I know, I know.... I've been bad at updating this thing. Sorry. I will give you a few covers today. We start with a Disney star covering a Disney classic.

Cover of the Day - Daughtry - Poker Face

As those of you who know me well know, I am a HUUUUUGE fan of cover songs. So I will be frequently posting videos of covers. Here's the first....