Don’t Forget To Tip Your Waitress: I hate listening to public radio or watching public television during Pledge Week. They constantly interrupt their programming so some whiny poindexter can beg for cash. And it seems like every other week is Pledge Week. That’s why I usually let the PayPal donation button at the top of the right hand column just squat there quietly. But once a year I call your attention to it, dear readers.

Cover Freak is my hobby, and as hobbies go it’s not very time consuming or expensive. But I do have to pay for somebody to host the blog and I have to pay for the music I present for your dining and dancing pleasure. That’s why I’m asking everybody to use that screaming orange button to make a donation to Cover Freak. If all my readers would donate $2 it would be a big deal to me. Two dollars is less than the cost of a movie or a pack of cigarettes, and if you keep coming back here I hope that you’re getting at least two dollars worth of entertainment. But I’d appreciate any amount of cash you can spare. Last year I got contributions from American readers for the first time and I hope that trend continues this year. Thanks for your support. We now return you to your regularly-scheduled programming.

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When I started Cover Freak four years ago I had no idea that I’d be doing it this long. I just sort of assumed that I’d get discouraged by widespread indifference, or maybe I’d get too busy to keep up with it, or perhaps I’d run out of covers. And yet here we are.

I’ve had a great time with this little blog and the interaction with my readers has been both informative and heartwarming. Thanks to everybody who reads the blog and especially those folks who take the time to leave comments and/or send me email. My plan right now is to keep doing this as long as somebody out there’s interested. And what have I been doing for the last year? Glad you asked. Here’s a sample of some of the best stuff. See you next week.

Monica Green “25 Or 6 To 4” (Chicago)
This was Chicago’s first Top Five hit, and deservedly so. I don’t think this reggae version ever charted, but it certainly deserved to.

The Dollyrots “Brand New Key” (Melanie)
It starts out as a bouncy guitar-driven update of the original, but then it finds another gear and really rawks.

Celtika “Creep” (Radiohead)
Finally, a version of this song that you can bang your head to.

Devil In A Woodpile “The Most Beautiful Girl” (Charlie Rich)
I don’t know of many other Country and Western weepers recast as a blues stomp. That’s too damn bad because this is a really wonderful cover.

Lumpy “Red Rubber Ball” (The Cyrcle)
The Diodes did a punk version of this song just to piss off Paul Simon, but I much prefer this punch-drunk waltz.

Delopdere Big Gang “The Final Countdown” (Europe)
80s hair metal rewired as Turkish Gypsy disco. Absolutely brilliant.

Toadsuck Symphony “Stop In The Name Of Love” (The Supremes)
A well-written song can stand up to all kinds of reinventions. This song sounds like it always was a country/bluegrass tune.

Jim White “King Of The Road” (Roger Miller)
This is one of the most creative arrangements I’ve ever heard. It’s so far removed from the original that it’s hard to find any trace of Roger Miller’s DNA.

Jerry Garcia and David Grisman “The Thrill Is Gone” (B.B. King)
Despite my distaste for the Grateful Dead I have to admit a fondness for the album Uncle Jerry did with David Grisman. The songs are spacious and give Mr. Grisman room to strut his stuff without turning into endless Deadhead twiddling.

Das Palast Orchester “Sex Bomb” (Tom Jones)
Take a Tom Jones song, replace TJ’s manly musky swagger with Weimar cabaret sleaze, and this is what you get.