Radblow Me: I got a note from the dynamic George Blowfish letting me know that the theme for this week’s Radblow is covers. That’s six hours of streaming internet radio goodness. Check it out. After you check out Cover Freak, of course.

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I’ve often made the snarky remark that any song can be a reggae song. Even though ska is really just double-time reggae I’ve always found it much more interesting than reggae. Probably because most ska bands have a horn section that gives them more to work with than the typical reggae instrumentation. And the guitar is often more aggressive. So let’s all put on our skinny ties and start jumping around.

The Skunks “YMCA” (Village People)
Disco songs are so simply constructed that they lend themselves to all sorts of different arrangements and musical styles. This version sounds joyous and not particularly gay. And once again I must ask if anybody can explain why an ode to anonymous gay sex at the YMCA is used as a crowd singalong at sporting events.

Hi-Standard “Pink Panther Theme” (Henry Mancini)
Update: I’ve been informed that this song is actually by a Japanese band called Hi-Standard. That’s what I get for believing everything that an mp3 tells me about itself.

The intro has a great slinky bass line. Then the rest of it blows by in under a minute.

SKAndalous All-Stars “Creep” (Radiohead)
Really nice horn arrangement on this one. It contains the whiny self pity of the original but also manages to bring some hope to the song. I may be a creep but I can change, baby.

Tommy McCook & The Skatalites “Lara’s Theme” (Dr. Zhivago soundtrack)
I got this from a CD of “original ska anthems” that I downloaded from Chocoreve a while back. This is probably my favorite version of this song. I can just see Lara in a dress with a tiny black and white checkerboard pattern.

Fifi “Mirror In The Bathroom” (English Beat)
This song starts out sounding like a pretty pedestrian cover of the original ska classic. Then it grabs you by the throat and starts screaming in your face. It also features one of the greatest lyrics ever written: “Can I take you to a restaurant?/It’s got glass tables/You can watch yourself while you are eating.” They just don’t write ’em like that anymore.

Sonseed “Jesus Is A Friend Of Mine”
This one isn’t a cover, but I just had to share. Thanks to Mr. Squid for bringing it to my attention.

Family concerns have left me without the time or inclination to come up with a theme this week. So here are five songs that have nothing in common.

Josh Joplin “Eye Of The Tiger” (Survivor)
Survivor was a Chicago band, so when Rocky came out this song was unavoidable on the local radio stations. It’s not a bad song but it’s not something you want to hear fourteen times a day either. This stripped down acoustic version is pretty listenable for me.

Helena Noguerra “I Can’t Get You Out Of My Head” (Kylie Minogue)
Summer’s gone but we can all still enjoy a languid bossa nova.

Joe Newman “Cracklin’ Rosie” (Neil Diamond)
Country and Western music, kazoos, and psychotic singing can all coexist peacefully in one song. Really.

Pete Shelley “Better Off Without A Wife” (Tom Waits)
The original version is a grand, weepy ballad from Mr. Waits’ boozy pianist period. The loser who’s singing is trying unsuccessfully to convince himself that he’s living the good life. This one is bouncy and pretty cheerful, a celebration of bachelorhood.

Waco Brothers “Wreck On The Highway” (Hank Williams)
He didn’t hear nobody pray, and he sounds like he’s gonna kick somebody’s ass because of it.

It seems that every few years synthesizers come into or out of fashion. Either it’s some hot new disco-tronic band making them cool or it’s an earnest guy with a guitar leading a backlash against them. Let’s just celebrate them for the flexibility they offer creative musicians.

Lulu Hughes “Time” (Pink Floyd)
This is one of the best Pink Floyd covers ever. A mopey self-pitying song (I know, that could describe almost any Pink Floyd song) gets a serious kick in the ass here. It sounds like Pink Floyd’s background singers locked the band in a closet and commandeered the recording studio.

Gary Schneider “Sweet Georgia Brown” (Ben Bernie)
I’ve posted songs from Mr. Schneider in the past which has led to some wonderful email exchanges with him. He told me that he was a “tacky lounge entertainer” in the 70s. I just love that kind of honesty. He was a one-man band with his keyboard and an array of electronic gadgets he built himself. He was recording music in his living room and self-releasing his music long before it was cool. He’s a charming man who deserves a wider audience for his work.

Battery “Gangsta’s Paradise” (Coolio)
It’s really tough to maintain any sort of street cred when you’re singing over a mid-tempo synth riff. The song sounds much less angry than the original, almost philosophical as the gangsta looks back on his life.

Christopher Scott “Do You Know The Way To San Jose” (Dionne Warwick)
This comes from the immortal Switched-On Bacharach album. That’s really a pretty interesting album because of all the different sounds and arrangements on it. This song is arranged for an imaginary Caribbean steel band.

Soft Cell “Where Did Our Love Go” (The Supremes)
Soft Cell’s first big hit in the 80s was “Tainted Love.” It became so popular that many people think it was an original song and there are many lame covers that mindlessly ape the Soft Cell version. For the record the song was originally recorded by Gloria Jones. At any rate the 12″ single of “Tainted Love” included a version that segued into “Where Did Our Love Go” by the Supremes. Because that song is nine minutes long it never got much radio airplay. Since everybody has heard the first part of that medley ten thousand times I’ve edited the extended version so you can now listen to just “Where Did Our Love Go.”

Tuesday marked the start of the school year for the public schools in Chicago, although my daughter started last week because we live in the suburbs. That’s as good a reason as any to celebrate education with music.

Moby “Verb: That’s What’s Happening” (From Schoolhouse Rock)
When I think of Moby I don’t think of a rockin’ beat and all sorts of wailing distorted guitars. It’s really quite cool, especially if you grew up with Schoolhouse Rock. For you youngsters out there, Schoolhouse Rock was a series of short cartoons that ran in between the regular Saturday morning TV cartoons. Each episode featured a song about science, math, grammar, or American history. I can still recite the preamble of the Constitution thanks to those cartoons.

Devil In A Woodpile “Good Morning Little Schoolgirl” (Sonny Boy Williamson)
The ad campaign for Gossip Girl uses the tagline “every parent’s nightmare.” Having your daughter bring home Rick “Cookin'” Sherry would be a much worse nightmare. He sounds so sleazy.

Manhead “Birth, School, Work, Death” (The Godfathers)
Here the most nihilistic sing-along ever gets turned into a smooth nihilistic dance number. I guess the guys in the Godfathers weren’t looking forward to a fulfilling retirement after they were done with work.

Christy Carlson Romano “Teacher’s Pet” (Doris Day)
Ms. Romano sounds like such a dedicated student. She makes me want to take up a career in education.

Richard Cheese “Hot For Teacher” (Van Halen)
There was a young woman who taught English at my high school. She was kinda cute. Not a great beauty, but since it was an all-boys Catholic school she was easily the best-looking woman in the school. She was pretty much the only woman in the school. She had problems controlling the adolescent boys in her class.

One day while she was talking in front of the class her blouse started coming unbuttoned. One button, then the next and the next. She wasn’t wearing a bra so she flashed the whole class. The class went uncharacteristically silent as we all held our breath, gaping in disbelief and wondering how long this would go on. She seemed unaware of what was happening. She walked around with her blouse hanging open for about a half hour, until she finally figured it out and picked up a book from her desk to hold against her chest. She soldiered on through the last five minutes of class as if nothing were amiss. I was amazed by her ability to maintain her composure.

That was the only convincing demonstration of telekinesis that I have ever personally witnessed. I have no other explanation for it. I’ve always wondered what made her decide to go to work at an all-boys high school without a bra. At any rate it was the closest I’ve ever come to being in a Van Halen video.