Thursday marks May Day, the international worker’s holiday that we don’t celebrate in the U.S. because it was invented by dirty commies. Feel free to listen to these songs in solidarity with your comrades.

The Busters “Friday On My Mind” (The Easybeats)
Some songs are just fated to become ska covers.

The Recliners “Working For The Weekend” (Loverboy)
The Recliners are a lounge band out of Austin. They work the same territory as Richard Cheese but with a bit more range.

Stevie Wonder “Sixteen Tons” (Tennessee Ernie Ford)
Stevie Wonder has this knack for making other people’s songs sound like his own songs, whether that’s appropriate or not. Sing along with Stevie on this one. Or hum if you’d prefer.

The Notting Hilbillies “Railroad Work Song” (Traditional)
I’ve never handed my hammer to the boss and run away but I did once go to lunch and not come back.

David Lindley and Wally Ingram “Do You Want My Job?” (Little Village)
This song is so tragically sad. I try to remember that no matter how bad my job seems, at least I’m not dumping plutonium into the bay.

In case you missed it, head on over to Coverville to listen to a roundtable discussion about covers featuring myself, Liza of Copy, Right?, Jamie of Fong Songs, Joshua of Cover Lay Down, and Kurtis of Covering The Mouse. I make a strong first impression by muting my microphone while I’m being introduced. And to think I used to be a college disc jockey.

Thanks to Brian of Coverville for inviting me to participate and to the other bloggers for putting up with me. And congrats to Brian on his 450th podcast.

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I used to work at the corner of LaSalle and Chicago. There was a hole in the wall nearby called the Joanne Piano Bar. Several of my coworkers frequented the place. I went there a couple of times but it wasn’t my scene. I just wasn’t urban-hipster enough, I guess. So here’s a tribute to the late great Joanne.

Emm Gryner “Pour Some Sugar On Me” (Def Leppard)
Generous reader Hanne shared this with me some time ago. She says that she used to play it alongside the original when she was teaching orchestration and arranging. I can only imagine the expressions on the faces of her students.

Tori Amos “Smells Like Teen Spirit” (Nirvana)
If anybody tells you that there aren’t too many covers of “Teen Spirit” just play this for them. They’ll shut up pretty quickly.

Greg Laswell “Girls Just Want To Have Fun” (Cyndi Lauper)
They may want to have fun but this song doesn’t make them sound all that enthusiastic about it.

Giant Sand “Iron Man” (Black Sabbath)
Kick back with a martini and enjoy some smooth jazz.

Twink “Beautiful World” (Devo)
Twink does some really interesting things with toy pianos. Check out their website.

Update: Hey folks, check out Coverville to hear a roundtable discussion about covers featuring myself and other cover bloggers.

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It’s cold and rainy, but let’s remember that April showers bring May flowers. And some pretty good songs to boot.

Bryan Ferry “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” (Bob Dylan)
I want to be like Bryan Ferry when I grow up. He’s so suave. He also does a great job of reinterpreting other people’s songs.

Sally Timms and Jon Langford “Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain” (Roy Acuff)
Why aren’t there more songs that feature bicycle bells?

Jebediah “It’s Raining Men” (The Weather Girls)
Wikipedia describes this song as a “classic female anthem,” which was news to me. I’ve always identified it more with the gay disco scene. But what do I know?

Deadbolt “Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head” (B.J. Thomas)
This song comes to us from a surf tribute album to Burt Bacharach. The music doesn’t matter, I just love that concept.

Cracker “Rainy Days And Mondays” (The Carpenters)
Even by Karen Carpenter’s standards this is one mopey song. David Lowry’s surfer drawl fits it perfectly.

My Fantasy Baseball draft was Friday so the time I would normally spend lovingly crafting a theme was instead spent scouting the Pirates’ backup middle infielder. So here’s some random stuff.

Wesley Willis “Amie” (Pure Prarie League)
Even though I live in Chicago, Wesley Willis wasn’t on my radar until a couple of months before his death. I’m not sure how that happened and it’s one of my great regrets in life.

Spiderbait “Black Betty” (Ram Jam)
This song completely eclipses the original. This is the definition of rock and roll, baby. Thanks to Doctor Cyclops for pointing this one out.

Gunnar Madsen “Naive Melody” (Talking Heads)
Gunnar Madsen is one of the founders of the Bobs, the weirdest a capella group on the planet. This is from his first solo album, The Power Of A Hat.

Abrevadero “All My Little Words” (Magnetic Fields)
This one sounds like a Handsome Family song, what with the banjo and singing saw.

Fink “All Cried Out” (Alison Moyet)
I absolutely loved Alison Moyet’s Alf album when it came out, and this was my favorite song from it. The original is a howling cry of bitterness from a woman wronged. Here we have a much more resigned and philosophical take.

The whole world knows by now that former New York governor Eliot Spitzer spent $80,000 on prostitutes, resulting in shame, resignation from his elected office, and uncounted snarky comments. In the spirit of totally unnecessary piling-on, here are some songs about hookers.

Bugotrak “House Of The Rising Sun” (Traditional/The Animals)
People who know me know that the only thing I love more than Tom Jones is Tuvan throat singing.

Dr. John “Milneburg Joys” (Jelly Roll Morton)
I wonder what the Milneburg Chamber of Commerce thinks of this song?

Fall Out Boy “Roxanne” (The Police)
This is a pretty smoking tune, honestly better than I thought it would be. It’s still one of the creepiest obsessive-stalker songs ever to make it onto the Top 40.

The Village People “Just A Gigolo” (Louis Prima)
Why wasn’t this song a big hit? It distills the whole ethos of the Village People so well.

Fine Young Cannibals “Love For Sale” (Billie Holiday)
Give him a go, people. His love is only slightly soiled.