Once again we have foreign visitors at the Casa de Freak. This time it’s Mrs. Freak’s Swedish friend and her daughter. And in what has become another Cover Freak tradition I’m posting a collection of Swedish music to make our foreign guests feel more at home. Swedish translations provided by Google Translate, so don’t blame me if none of it makes sense.

Återigen har vi utländska besökare på Casa de Freak. Den här gången är det fru Freak’s svenska vän och hennes dotter. Och i vad som blivit en Omslag Freak tradition Jag postar en samling av svenska musik så att våra utländska gäster att känna sig mer hemma. Svenska översättningar av Google Translate, så Skyll inte på mig om inget av det är vettigt.

Milo Bender “Dancing Queen” (ABBA)
You can’t talk about Swedish music of any kind without talking about ABBA. Check out the Wikipedia entry for Swedish music, that’s where it starts. No discussion of medieval Swedish music or folk traditions. Before ABBA Sweden was a weird musical Bermuda Triangle where not even the birds sang.

Du kan inte tala om svenska musik av något slag utan att tala om ABBA. Kolla Wikipedia posten för svenska musik, det är där det börjar. Ingen diskussion om medeltida svenska musik eller traditioner folk. Innan ABBA Sverige var en konstig musikalisk Bermudatriangeln där inte ens fåglarna sjöng.

The Mountain Goats “The Sign” (Ace Of Base)
I posted the studio version of the Mountain Goats’ cover of “The Sign” awhile back. A reader commented that he liked the live version better. It’s an interesting story he tells of driving across the country listening to the song over and over. At one point it sounds like it might have driven him insane, but I guess he’s just passionate about the song’s greatness.

Jag postade studio version of the Mountain Goats ‘cover på “The Sign” en stund tillbaka. En läsare kommenterade att han tyckte den levande versionen bättre. Det är en intressant historia han berättar att köra hela landet lyssnar på låten om och om igen. Vid ett tillfälle det låter som det kan ha drivit honom galen, men jag antar att han bara passionerad låtens storhet.

I Am Cereals “The Look” (Roxette)
The lyrics for the first two verses were just guide lyrics, written just to have something to sing. Like how Paul McCartney sang “scrambled eggs” when he was first writing “Yesterday.” In Roxette’s case they couldn’t come up with anything better so they kept them. It’s refreshingly honest of the songwriter to admit that.

Texterna till de två första verserna var bara guide texter, skrivna bara för att ha något att sjunga. Liksom hur Paul McCartney sjöng “äggröra” när han var först skriva “Yesterday”. I Roxettes fall de inte kunde komma på något bättre så att de höll dem. Det är uppfriskande ärlig av låtskrivaren erkänna.

The Cardigans “Iron Man” (Black Sabbath)
I’ve always been pretty indifferent to the Cardigans but I really love this song. They completely reinvent it and make it their own. I can’t put my finger on it but there’s something about the drumming that I find very striking.

Jag har alltid varit ganska likgiltig till Cardigans men jag verkligen älskar den här låten. De uppfinna helt den och göra den till sin egen. Jag kan inte sätta fingret på det men det är något om trummandet som jag tycker är mycket slående.

Dolapdere Big Gang “The Final Countdown” (Europe)
A reader turned me on to the Big Gang, and I’m quite glad he did. They play contemporary songs in a Turkish gypsy style. This song is as overblown and grandiose as the original but it’s also exotic and lushly orchestrated. The singer can really belt out a tune.

En läsare vände mig till Big Gang, och jag är ganska glad att han gjorde. De spelar nutida musik i en turkisk zigenare stil. Den här låten är så uppblåst och grandios som originalet men det är också exotiska och överdådig iscensatt. Sångaren kan verkligen vråla ut en melodi.

It’s Valentine’s Day, not one of my favorite holidays. I know that some people think it’s the most romantic day of the year. A friend of mine told me she liked the holiday because it was a day when everybody was nice to each other. Which is a noble thought at the very least. Personally I view it as a holiday made up by Hallmark to sell greeting cards.

Frank Rogala “He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss)” (The Crystals)
In what has become a Cover Freak tradition, I’m once again posting a cover of the most romantic song ever written. Carole King intended it to be a protest against spousal abuse, written from the woman’s point of view. It was a noble sentiment but she seriously botched the execution. The singer sounds like she’s glorying in her helplessness and low self-esteem. Thank goodness she’s got a strong caring man to slap her around when she gets out of line, otherwise who knows what she’d do?

Pearl Harbour “Filipino Baby” (Ernest Tubb)
This is a great song that’s both romantic and racially insensitive. You couldn’t write a song like this nowadays, that’s for sure. It just gives me goosebumps to hear this sailor proclaim his love for his “dark-faced Filipino.” Pearl Harbour started out as a background dancer with the Tubes and then got involved with the San Francisco New Wave scene that also gave us Romeo Void and Wire Train.

Arthur Brown “I Put A Spell On You” (Screamin’ Jay Hawkins)
One of the greatest obsessive stalker songs ever written. It’s hard to get scarier than Screamin’ Jay but Arthur Brown gives it his best shot. You just can’t express eternal love better than “I don’t care if you don’t want me, I’m yours.” Restraining order? What restraining order?

Fiona Silver “Run For Your Life” (The Beatles)
Not everybody appreciates how deeply you have to love somebody to threaten to kill them if they cheat on you. It’s easily the most mean-spirited and graceless Beatles song ever, but everything sounds breezy when it’s played on a ukulele.

The Bad Livers “I Know You’re Married But I Love You Still” (Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton)
Woody Allen famously reminded us that “the heart wants what it wants,” even if that’s your jailbait adopted daughter. Or another man’s wife. This song expresses the same sentiment as “Ring Of Fire” but without the subtlety and metaphor. Which makes it a great song for the Bad Livers since they’re not real big on subtlety either.

Conceptual Continuity
People who know me (and even some who don’t) know that I’ve been a huge Frank Zappa fan for many years. I’d like to honor FZ’s life and work by releasing a Zappa tribute album through this web site. If you’re a musician (or know one) and would like to participate you can find details on the project here. Thanks for your support.

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I was driving around the other day when my iPod coughed up a sonic hairball from The Ethel Merman Disco Album. The throbbing beat made me nostalgic for the simpler days of the Disco Era. I was slightly too young to take advantage of the polyester leisure suits, cocaine, and cheap meaningless sex that I knew millions of others were enjoying, but if you’re just a little older than I am I’m sure these songs will bring back memories that are probably best forgotten.

Snuff “I Will Survive” (Gloria Gaynor)
It’s loud and fast and raw and you’d never know it was originally a disco song.

The Bobs “Disco Inferno” (The Trammps)
If you ever get the chance to see the Bobs perform live, take advantage of it. Kill if you must. They are the most amazing singers I’ve ever heard. Especially Richard Bob, who sings bass. I talked to him after a show once and his regular speaking voice rattled my breastbone. Here they deliver a flaming, multi-layered disco joyride.

Zen For Primates “Funky Town” (Lipps Inc.)
This is one of those genre-hopping covers that works despite all odds. There’s folk, flamenco, and horn-driven funk all thrown into the blender. And like a V8, the whole is much more than the sum of its parts.

Trenchmouth “That’s The Way (I Like It) (KC And The Sunshine Band)
It’s got the loose-limbed feel of a bar band at 2:00 a.m. You’ve got the wailing guitars, the sloppy chorus, and the drummer beating his drums like he’s mad at them. I wonder how drunk these guys were when they recorded this one.

Eldissa “Staying Alive” (Bee Gees)
Anybody ever watch Welcome Back Kotter reruns? Watch John Travolta’s hair and you can tell when he was filming Saturday Night Fever. His hair goes from a shaggy high school burnout look to a highly-processed disco puff. And amusingly nobody else in the cast got a new hairdo so his really stands out. In reality if he went with that haircut the rest of the Sweathogs would have beaten the crap out of him just on general principles.

One of the cool things about running this blog is having independent artists send me new music. I make a note of the good stuff and try to work it into posts I’m writing. But there are usually good songs that just don’t fit into a theme I’m doing for some reason and after awhile they start to stack up. So here’s a selection of songs I’ve been sent recently that have nothing in common other than they’re relatively new.

Natubella “NIB” (Black Sabbath)
Most disco-tronic covers don’t sound much like the original. Natubella does a great job of making this song dancefloor-friendly while keeping the wallop of the Black Sabbath classic. That’s important to me because the original was a major part of the soundtrack of my high school years.

Gina & Tony “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)” (Nancy Sinatra)
For some odd reason Gina & Tony decided to turn everybody’s second-favorite Nancy Sinatra song into a nine-part suite. It hangs together well but is kinda long to post here. This is a radio edit that gives a good flavor of what the larger work sounds like.

Lumpy “Red Rubber Ball” (The Cyrcle)
I’ve always liked the original version of this song because of the tension between the chipper music and the caustic, bitter lyrics. Lumpy reimagines it as a mutant waltz with mariachi horns. There’s regret and hope, with less bitterness. Well done, Lumpy.

Darrin James Band “Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You” (Bob Dylan)
I like Darrin James‘ whole new album The Lovely Ugly Truth. It surveys American roots music without sounding trite or derivative. This is a very nice soulful reading of a Bob Dylan song that I’m not sick of hearing.

Donna Beasley “Love My Way” (Psychedelic Furs)
This song never really did much for me, what with the monotonous buzzing of those synthesizers and of the singer’s voice. “Languorous” isn’t a word I often use to describe the music of the Psychedelic Furs, but Donna Beasley infuses the song with an exquisite sense of languor.

Thanks For Your Support
I renewed the web hosting contract for Cover Freak last week. I paid for it with the kind donations of my readers. Thanks to all of you for your generous support. I’ll try to make sure you get your money’s worth in the upcoming year.

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The holiday season was not too happy for the Freak family this year. A week before Christmas my brother became seriously ill. I got a call at 4 a.m. telling me to come to the hospital to see him before he died. Thanks to skilled doctors and advanced medical technology my brother cheated death. He came home from the hospital last week, a little worse for wear but still better off than the alternative. I’m glad he’s still with us, I’m glad he’s back home, and I’m glad that I get to post songs about life instead of songs about death.

The Blind Corn Liquor Pickers “Once In A Lifetime” (Talking Heads)
This has got to be one of the weirdest songs ever to become widely popular. Just when I think that society has lost all appreciation of anything with artistic merit something like this comes along and restores my faith in humanity.

Big Daddy “A Day In The Life” (The Beatles)
I never realized that there was a straight line from Buddy Holly to the Beatles until I heard this song. This is from Big Daddy’s brilliant Sgt. Pepper’s album, where they covered the entire Beatles album in various 50s musical styles.

Harry Nilsson “Always Look At The Bright Side Of Life” (Monty Python)
Alright, this song deals with death in addition to life. But it does it so cheerfully. I remember reading that Life Of Brian is considered the Pythons’ greatest film in England, while Holy Grail is considered by Americans to be their best effort. It’s not that surprising when you consider that the U.S. was founded by religious fanatics with thin skins.

Anggun “Life On Mars?” (David Bowie)
This is from an album called Snow On The Sahara, which really applies to the feel of this song. There are a lot of sounds layered on top of each other here, including the ever-popular pan flute.

Denis Fischer “Lust For Life” (Iggy Pop)
This song is really dark and troubling. It sounds like he’s got a lust for the kind of life you see people living in a David Lynch film. I always feel like I need to take a shower after listening to it.