Was thinking today of the Mike Flowers Pops. Mike Flowers is a British musical comedian, and at this point he's been around for some time. His schtick was/is doing hit rock songs in an upbeat, kind of Bacharach-y style. The Pops' big hit was 1995 a cover of Oasis's "Wonderwall."
It's cute, not epic, and relies on your familiarity with the original versions. But credit where credit is due: this is a matter of having a vision and seeing it through.
The 90s also saw a fad for Dread Zeppelin (reggae covers of Led Zeppelin with an Elvis impersonator as lead singer.) Hayseed Dixie (bluegrass AC/DC cover band) came a few years ago, forming in 2000.
Now on YouTube you'll see things like "Pink Floyd's The Wall as soul" and "Led Zeppelin as early 60s frat rock." The difference is that these are created through AI. Just feed the song and a suggestion into a chatbot. It's as legitimate a use of the technology as any, but it's sad to know that going through the trouble to actually produce these goofs is a thing of the past.
Anyway, for related reasons, I ignore music recommendations from YouTube.
2 comments:
Am I mistaken or was Mike Flowers always wearing a a wig? Lounge music was a big albeit brief entertainment fad in the 90s. You're right about his take on the style being cute but not epic. Epic was Buster Poindexter doing 'Hot Hot Hot' in the late 80's.
https://youtu.be/X785qCGXBTY?si=9F30bCk5lyRlh-Jk
I like covers and cover bands but good comedy is very hard to accomplish. A couple of our personal favorites are 'The Nutley Brass' performing The Ramones Songbook - very good musicians who were fans of the band:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MH0kHju79Ek
and the Devo / E-Z Listening Disc / Gates of Steel - the band lounging themselves:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOEv-hnnG6Q&list=PLy6F8m5kswDyBM3w5V6IMDkV0-_dFWL5_
Okay, I have to give some time to a master of the form - Victor Borge playing The Hungarian Rhapsody (with a friend):
https://youtu.be/neTpcWOq8-8?si=4YKyLmymijRpvZqO
You're right that even the bad cover bands will no longer be able to entertain a willing audience - then again, I think a lot of people ignore youtube's suggestions.
I think you're right about Mike Flowers wearing a wig. It's supposed to be a kind of Brian Jones/Peter Tork style, but their hair moved about in the wind.
Lounge music did get a revival in the 90s, yes. Combustible Edison, who were based in Providence, were pretty good. I like Pink Martini as well, although I don't know if they're actually lounge.
David Johanson aka Buster Poindexter is a great performer. I'm glad he gave due credit to Arrow.
A brass-led easy listening rendition of "Beat on the Brat" is just what the world needed. Nutley Brass has apparently done a tribute album to the Misfits as well, but I'm not as familiar with them so I'm not sure I'd get it.
Gloriously weird stuff going on with Devo and "Gates of Steel". A lot of it sounds like Baroque music. Going for a cinematic feel, I guess.
Love to see and hear Victor Borge again. That was a great duet. As it turns out, Şahan Arzruni is not only a real person but still around and still performing.
I'm starting to think that bad cover bands might be a sign of a society's vitality, which is an idea I'd never entertained before. If you ignore the suggestions you're generally not missing much.
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