On Friday evening I went to a father-daughter dance put on by the local Girl Scouts. She had never had any interest in going to these events in the past (much to my relief) but this year she was very excited about it. Since I figure it will only be a few years before she doesn’t want to be seen in public with me I made a date night out of it. It was a terribly sweet experience and probably one that I’ll cherish when I’m old and feeble (well, older and more feeble than I am now). None of these songs were played at the dance (the playlist skewed more toward the Macarena and Justin Bieber), but they are all appropriate in their own way.
La Grande Sophie “My Heart Belongs To Daddy” (comp. Cole Porter)
Yeah, I know that it’s bad and wrong to post this song in the context of going on a date with my daughter. Just be glad I’m not posting “Thank Heaven For Little Girls.” But I’m pretty confident that her heart does indeed belong to her daddy. She seemed very excited to step out with me on her arm.
Big Bad Voodoo Daddy “I Wanna Be Like You” (Louis Prima)
Remember the 90s swing revival? Then you remember Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. I always thought of them as crass prefabricated opportunists jumping on a hot trend. But as it turns out they’re still around, recording and playing live shows. So I guess they honestly love this kind of music after all. I’m so glad I was wrong about them.
Ska Daddyz “Hotel California” (The Eagles)
The original version of this song always struck me as a tad pretentious. I remember hearing a recording of the rest of the band deconstructing the song when Don Henley wasn’t around. But I like it much better as a smokin’ ska tune.
Big Daddy “Once In A Lifetime” (Talking Heads)
Big Daddy just slays me. They did such unexpected arrangements of contemporary music that were note-perfect with their stuck-in-the-Fifties conceit. Brilliant stuff.
Action Camp “Gone Daddy Gone” (Violent Femmes)
It’s a competent cover, not revelatory by any means. But it just doesn’t work for me without Gordon Gano’s adenoidal whine. I don’t know if anybody could successfully cover this song.
I’ve enjoyed Big Daddy’s stuff before, but that was just amazing. This Ska Daddyz song is pretty sweet too. Thanks!
Love your blog as always.
A weekly treat like chocolate!
You’re too kind. Thanks for the nice words.
Gnarls kills on their “Gone Daddy Gone”!!!
I didn’t know that Gnarls covered Gone Daddy Gone. I’ll try to track it down. Thanks for the heads-up.