R.E.M. called it quits last week after roughly thirty years as a band. That’s a long life for a rock band, especially since three of the original four members were there for the duration. It’s been some time since they were musically interesting although they’ve still been commercially successful, sort of like a postpunk Eric Clapton. They certainly released a lot of interesting music over the years, some of which is covered in this post.

Liz Durrett “The One I Love” (R.E.M.)
You can learn the most interesting things on Wikipedia. For instance, did you know that the director of photography for this song’s video went on to be a chef on the Food Network? The same article also has a great quote from Michael Stipe that “it’s probably better that they just think it’s a love song at this point.”

This hushed lyrics and spacious arrangement really up the creepiness quotient. And I mean that in a good way.

Penn Shabbatones “Shiny Happy People” (R.E.M.)
One of R.E.M.’s big hits after they became more interested in traditional song structure and songcraft. Despite its popularity the song received a decidedly mixed reception. The irony of the lyrics was apparently lost on people on both sides of the the divide. It works well as an a capella song though.

Grant-Lee Phillips “So. Central Rain (I’m Sorry)” (R.E.M.)
There aren’t a lot of covers of songs from the first couple of R.E.M. albums, maybe because they weren’t big pop hits, maybe because of the strange way those albums were mixed. This song comes from Mr. Phillips’ album of 80s covers and it’s the first time I’ve ever been able to understand the lyrics.

The Shout Out Louds “Man On The Moon” (R.E.M.)
This is my second-favorite song about Andy Kaufman, my favorite being “Andy Always Dreamed Of Wrestling” by the Bobs. I really wish somebody would cover that one, but I digress. R.E.M.’s video for this song was one of the first that I ever saw on Pop Up Video, which I miss dearly. After seeing that I understood more about both the song and the video.

This version has absolutely wonderful percolating percussion throughout.

Bingo Hand Job “Tom’s Diner” (Suzanne Vega)
Bingo Hand Job is R.E.M. playing a supposedly secret show in London. The folks in R.E.M. had a good sense of humor that they didn’t exhibit as often as I might have liked. This wacky live version is from the album Tom’s Album which collected the original version, the famous remix by DNA, and other covers.

Hi, Bob: Awhile back I wrote about Bob, a client who mysteriously went missing. A few folks have since written asking what happened to Bob. He called me last week and I’m happy to say that he’s not dead. He tells me that he was helping his wife with her business and his own business got away from him. I’m not sure if I believe that, but he paid me what he owed me and is talking about new projects, so I’m okay with his story.

…

Some readers may recall the difficulty I had deciding to shutter my consulting business and take a job with a large soulless corporation. I agreed to a six-month contract-to-hire deal and now that the six months are done (and the project they brought me in to work on is a smashing success) they’ve decided not to hire me after all. Yes, we’ve all been screwed by The Man at one time or another and now it’s my turn. But I don’t have to be happy about it. I’m not as enraged about it as I was last week, but I’m still in the mood for some angry music.

Most of the angry music out there is directed at former significant others, so this could also be viewed as a really early Twisted Cover Freak Valentine’s Day Post, except for the fact that this week does not feature “He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss).” I can’t tell you how happy Mrs. Freak is I’m not posting that song this week.

A Day To Remember “Since U Been Gone” (Kelly Clarkson)
This cover is more guitar oriented than the original and features death-metal vocal stylings that really add to the anger. The sentiment here is that you’re gone and I’m better off but I’m still mighty pissed. That’s the attitude I’m trying to maintain toward my former corporate masters.

Jonathan Coulton “You Oughta Know” (Alanis Morrisette)
Ms. Morrisette was really quite angry back in the day. She seems to have mellowed a bit over the years. This song is notable not only for its bitterness but also for telling us far more than we ever wanted to know about her sex life. I like listening to it as a sensitive singer-songwriter tune.

Glen Hansard “Cry Me A River” (Justin Timberlake)
Glen Hansard is famous for being half of The Swell Season and the leader of The Frames. He also won an Oscar for Best Original Song in 2007. The man’s a huge talent. And he does a wonderful stripped-down version of this song.

Alias Ron Kavana “If I Had A Rocket Launcher” (Bruce Cockburn)
I was a college radio disk jockey when this song came out in 1984 and I got a chance to to a phone interview with Mr. Cockburn. He was a very nice and thoughtful man. When I mentioned that this song seemed like a strange choice for the first single from the album Stealing Fire he agreed with me, saying that he thought “Lovers In A Dangerous Time” would have been a more obvious choice.

Lucky Uke “We’re Not Gonna Take It” (Twisted Sister)
I probably shouldn’t admit this, but I paid money to see Twisted Sister play. Well, I actually paid to see Iron Maiden and Twisted Sister was the opening act. They weren’t as bad as I thought they’d be. They were fun as long as you didn’t take them seriously.

This song is absolutely hilarious on the ukulele.

Last weekend Mrs. Freak and young Freakette went camping with several families with whom we’re friendly. I don’t camp, Mrs. Freak knew that before she married me. When she came back Mrs. Freak commented that the group’s ethnic composition resembled a Benetton commercial. With that in mind I present the United Colors of Cover Freak.

Joel Grey “White Room” (Cream)
Kind of a two-fer here between the artist and the song. I understand the desire to appeal to a younger audience, especially with your original demographic dropping dead from chain smoking filterless cigarettes during the 50s. But this was not the way to do it. The string-soaked tinkley piano bar arrangement would be bad enough without without Mr. Gray trying to hit those high notes. Jack Bruce he ain’t.

Robbie Fulks “Black Or White” (Michael Jackson)
This comes from the extremely excellent Michael Jackson tribute album Mr. Fulks put out called Happy. He does a great job of stripping away the layers of production, bombast, and disco to expose the well-written pop songs beneath.

Petty Booka “Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini” (Brian Hyland)
Part of this song is in English and part isn’t. I’m not sure if they’re singing in their native Japanese or in Hawaiian. Either way it’s a wonderful happy song.

Paul Kelly “Little Red Corvette” (Prince)
Prince is another artist who writes terrific pop songs but isn’t exactly subtle in his arrangements. This acoustic arrangement shows what a talent Prince really is.

The Hassles “Coloured Rain” (Traffic)
The Hassles sound like a lot of other organ-based bands from the late 60s. Their music is notable for containing the first recorded performances of Billy Joel. That’s right, that’s the Piano Man playing that bombastic Hammond organ. I’m not a huge fan of his, but I think he made the right decision as far as his musical direction goes.

For a variety of reasons I haven’t had much time this week to lovingly craft a theme. So here’s some random goodness.

Thea Gilmore “Ever Fallen In Love” (The Buzzcocks)
When I think of heartfelt songs about love and regret I don’t generally think of the Buzzcocks. Maybe I need to reconsider.

Conjunto 3D “See You In September” (The Tempos)
I think I got this one from the very excellent Brazilian retro blog Sabadabada, which seems to be down at the moment. Hopefully they’ll be back soon, but in the meantime enjoy this tasty samba.

Dolapdere Big Gang “Faith” (George Michael)
The Big Gang is my absolute favorite Turkish Gypsy disco band. This is the arrangement of the song that George Michael intended to record.

Poi Dog Pondering “Lay My Love” (Brian Eno and John Cale)
The album Wrong Way Up that Eno and Cale released in the early 90s is surprisingly warm and whimsical. Poi Dog takes a song from that album and gives it a glorious percussive Up With People treatment.

Porno For Pyros “Satellite Of Love” (Lou Reed)
The original version is a stately ballad. So’s the famous U2 cover. But those wacky Pyros give it a swinging piano lounge spin that I like much better.