I’ve had a busy week, so I had no time to come up with a theme.

Andy Prieboy “On The Road Again” (Canned Heat)
Andy Prieboy used to sing for Wall of Voodoo, taking over when Stan Ridgway left. These days he apparently hangs out in Los Angeles writing novels and releasing the occasional album.

Bryan Ferry “The ‘In’ Crowd” (Dobie Gray)
Greg Kot, the rock music critic for the Chicago Tribune, wrote a column last week about cover songs. The occasion was the impending release by Bryan Ferry of an album of Bob Dylan covers. Mr. Kot published a list of his favorite covers, I sent him a list of mine, and he even wrote back.

At any rate the column got me thinking about my favorite Bryan Ferry covers. This is one of them.

Nostalgia 77 “Seven Nation Army” (The White Stripes)
I’m not a huge White Stripes fan. The drumming gets on my nerves pretty quickly so I can’t listen to their music for very long.

That said, I think that many of their songs make for good cover material because they’re so stripped down to begin with. It leaves other artists a lot of room to put their own stamp on the songs. This song is a wonderful, funky example.

Petra Haden “Mary Ann With The Shaky Hand” (The Who)
Petra Haden recorded an a capella version of The Who Sell Out. A very ambitious undertaking, but she pulls it off wonderfully.

Oranger “Mister Sandman” (The Chordettes)
Reader B. Halsey turned me on to the Stubbs The Zombie videogame soundtrack. Not being a gamer I was unaware of the album, but it’s chockablock with great covers.

And as a reminder folks, if you have any covers lying around that you think I’d be interested in please drop me a line.

Thursday marks the Summer Solstice. Here’s a soundtrack for your seasonal celebrations.

Evil-E “Summertime” (George Gershwin)
This is from a coverfight that took place over at Songfight awhile back. Sometimes they had bands covering each other’s songs, sometimes everybody covered a predetermined artist.

Space feat. Tom Jones “Sunny Afternoon” (Kinks)
Tom Jones is music, baby! I just love that he’s always true to himself, regardless of the artist he’s working with. And it seems like he’ll record with just about anybody. Maybe I can learn to play the guitar and do a duet with TJ.

Derek Sherinian feat. Billy Idol “In The Summertime” (Mungo Jerry)
I don’t really hear Billy Idol in there anywhere, but that’s how the song is labeled. Stick with this one. It starts out pretty true to the original and then all hell breaks loose.

I like the big drum sound. Gives it kind of a Led Zeppelin feel. And you gotta love the wacky Peter Frampton vocal thing.

Buddy Morrow “Summer In The City” (Lovin’ Spoonful)
Because nothing says summer like lounge music.

Isley Brothers “Summer Breeze” (Seals and Crofts)
I never knew what a great guitar player Ernie Isley was until this guy I worked with in a warehouse told me to check out this song. I’m still grateful to him, wherever he is now.

My second post (way back in November) was entitled “What Were They Thinking?” Not many people read that post, so I’m recycling the idea. What we have here are particularly inept musical choices. Some by really talented musicans and singers.

Ethel Murman “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” (Irving Berlin)
Did you know that Ethel Murman recorded a disco album? Don’t you feel better now that you do?

Muddy Waters “Let’s Spend The Night Together” (Rolling Stones)
Muddy must have had a mortgage payment due when he agreed to record an album of “psychedelic” music entitled Electric Mud. The record mostly features recordings of his classic songs played by drug-addled studio musicians who wank furiously away, oblivious to Muddy’s musical gifts. Muddy, for his part, has no feel at all for this long-haired suburban mutation of his music but gamely gives it his best shot.

Strangely, this sonic train wreck has become something of a touchstone for the hip-hop crowd. It’s been rather extensively sampled, for reasons I cannot begin to comprehend.

Mrs. Miller “Up, Up, and Away” (The Fifth Dimension)
Mrs. Miller was something of a celebrity in the Sixties, even appearing on the Tonight Show. She didn’t realize at first that everybody was laughing at her. When she did she stopped recording and the world was left a little less interesting. From the album Mrs. Miller Does Her Thing. Because she’s the only one who could do that thing she did.

Balsara and his Singing Sitars “Strangers In The Night” (Frank Sinatra)
Some songs naturally lend themselves to the sitar. This one doesn’t.

Toy Dolls “Tocatta In D Minor” (Johann Sebastian Bach)
Totally Spinal Tap. Where’s my codpiece?

Hey kids, it’s June! That means it’s time for blushing brides and lavish outdoor receptions set amid swarms of cicadas. Here’s some appropriate music.

Pastel Vespa “White Wedding” (Billy Idol)
Who knew that a Billy Idol song could be so cool and sophisticated?

Detholz “Celebration” (Kool And The Gang)
Detholz is a local band that does an all-covers show every Halloween that they call the Jukebox of the Dead. Eventually they made an album out of it. Ya-hoo.

Brave Combo “The Hokey Pokey” (Traditional)
This almost makes me want to do the Hokey Pokey. Almost.

Blue Man Group “Chicken Dance” (Werner Thomas)
Aren’t you glad you dropped some ecstasy before you went to the reception?

Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson “I Got You Babe” (Sonny and Cher)
This one boggles the mind. There’s the pop-culture aspect (I was crushed when I found out about the divorce! They were so perfect for each other! So in love! So telegenic!). Not to mention the jaw-dropping tone-deafness of both of these “entertainers” (please don’t call them singers). I think they’re actually singing in different keys.

While I was poking around for songs for this post I found a version of this song by David Bowie and Marianne Faithfull, which sounds like a fantastic idea until you actually listen to it. The it sounds just like Sonny and Cher if Cher was smoking three packs of cigarettes a day.