BAD COVER VERSION 057: I KILL CONVERSATION WHEN I WALK INTO A ROOM

One interesting aspect about cover songs recorded for commercial purposes is the timing. Once the original comes out, how long should one wait before recording one’s own version? 

In most cases, it’s a moot point, since many artists tend to cover songs they loved when they were growing up, so there’s at least a ten-year gap between versions.

It also depends on how well-known the original was. You could get away with, say, covering the 1964 Kinks hit “You Really Got Me” in the late 70s. You probably couldn’t do it the same year without being accused of cashing in on someone else’s success. On the other hand, if the song is by someone obscure enough – or someone who works in a distinctly different genre than you – yr odds are better.

For example, take the song “Demolition Man”, which started out as a hit single for Grace Jones in 1981.

It was actually written by Sting of The Police, but that band hadn’t yet recorded it at the time. But they did record it later that year for their album Ghost In The Machine.

Then two years later it appeared on the Somewhere In Afrika album by Manfred Mann’s Earth Band, and became a chart hit.

I might be making more out of this than is warranted, but it interests me that the song saw three incarnations in two years, two of them singles, albeit in different radio formats. I can’t think of too many examples where that’s happened.

Personally I prefer the Manfred Mann version. The arrangement is appropriately terse and dangerous, as though Steve Waller really could take you all out if he wanted to, and Shona Laing would watch and laugh while he did it. And you can move yr hips to it.

That said, it was good material for Grace Jones, too. In fact, the Police version is my least favorite of the three. Go figure.

BONUS MATERIAL: It's worth mentioning that Sting recorded a new version of the song for the 1993 film Demolition Man. But the less said about it, the better.

The sort of thing they ban,

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ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY MY ONLY POST ABOUT GEORGE ZIMMERMAN

[Not to be confused with that other post about Trayvon Martin.]

You know by now who George Zimmerman is, what he did, and that he was found not guilty of doing it. 

The reactions have been pretty predictable (except for the race riots that conservative pundits confidently predicted – that hasn’t really happened yet, unless the LameStream Media is covering them up, cos they do that), if only because a lot of people drew their sociopolitical battle lines regarding this case a long time ago. Consequently, many people were never going to be satisfied with whatever verdict was handed down unless it supported their opinion on the political issues raised by the case.

I tend to avoid armchair-jury scenes. But now the verdict is in, and as a blogger and a US citizen, I’m required by law to post something about it. So here’s a few takeaways from me. 

1. Always open yr murder defense with knock-knock jokes. Juries appreciate that, because murder trials tend to be kind of a downer. You want to keep it light.

2. On a more serious note, there’s been some debate over the role of Florida’s Stand Your Ground law in the case, and what it means for the future of such laws. From what I gather, it’s accurate to say that SYG wasn’t specifically invoked in Zimmerman’s defense – it’s kind of hard to justify SYG when he was the one pursuing Martin in the first place, and especially when he was specifically told by law enforcement professionals not to do that. Zimmerman was relying on old-fashioned self-defense laws that came into play the moment Martin, for whatever reason, allegedly turned on Zimmerman.

However, the jury’s instructions on determining self-defense were decidedly based on SYG. So regardless of what laws Zimmerman’s defense team were invoking, it was the criteria under SYG that the jury was told to use to make their decision. 

Also, it was because of the SYG provisions that Zimmerman wasn’t even arrested in the first place. If it wasn’t for the subsequent political pressure, Martin’s death would have gone unquestioned and filed away as just another black punk attacking someone.

3. As for the future of SYG, I don’t expect a lot will happen either way. ALEC (who came up with the bright idea for SYG in the first place, along with the NRA) dropped support for them out of political expedience after the Martin shooting, and while I’m sure the NRA will continue to support the constitutional right of every American to shoot the fuck out of anyone who frightens them defend themselves, they’re probably going to find more sympathy in red states that have already passed such laws.

That said, such states won’t repeal them, especially with conservatives claiming SYG didn’t apply, and Zimmerman was found innocent, and it's Martin's fault for wearing a hoodie, so hey, no harm no foul. 

Which is especially maddening because SYG laws only really exist because some people insist on living in constant fear that they could be attacked and killed by street creeps and gangstas in hoodies AT ANY MOMENT. It’s like they think they live in the middle of a Death Wish film, where on-the-spot civilian punishment is not only necessary but highly encouraged. Steal a camera, get a bullet in yr back. JUSTICE IS SERVED, BITCHES!

4. So yeah, I totally get why people are upset with the verdict. It’s clear that Zimmerman got off on legal technicalities, which is even more upsetting when you consider the context involved – the racial profiling, Zimmerman’s reckless behavior, and the 44-day gap between the shooting and his arrest. To say nothing of that other case from a year ago (which is only making national headlines now, you’ll notice). 

Given all that, it’s hard to view the verdict as justice in any sense of the word. Martin is dead because Zimmerman falsely pegged him as a criminal and took matters into his own hands, and for that he gets to walk away with no accountability – he may even be immune from civil prosecution under SYG, though unlike the murder trial, the burden of proof is on him, not the plaintiff. 

Still, that’s the NRA dream world you get to live in when SYG is the law of the land and everyone’s on a fear trip and armed to the teeth. It’s what George Washington would have wanted. 

What would Paul Kersey do,

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