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defrogWe are running late, on account of I’m in Singapore now and I’ve had a busy day. No matter. I has Internets, so the show continues.
This week’s song has one of the more interesting and bizarre histories in Cover Song Folklore – not only was the original the first commercially successful rap record by a white artist, but both the original and the cover got radio airplay in the US at around the same time, even though the band doing the cover had already broken up. And then there's the Laura Brannigan Incident...
Let’s sort this one out, shall we?
THE SONG: “Der Kommisar”
THE ORIGINAL: Falco
COMMENTS: This was Falco’s first hit song, and as you can see, he was already channeling Teh Awesome. For he is Falco. Anyway, it’s a nice slice of rap-influenced Europop, although Falco would go on to greater things. Still, the video of him pretending to be chased by the cops is pure showmanship.
THE COVER: After The Fire
[ADVISORY: Contains gratuitous tarantula footage]
COMMENTS: A one-hit wonder in the US (and this is it), ATF went from prog rock to New Wave and registered a few chart hits, but this was by far the biggest, though only after they broke up. It’s pretty good as covers go, though apart from English lyrics and more guitars, it’s so straightforward as a cover that there was once a version making the rounds that interspliced the two versions as one song.
WINNER: Falco. Because he is Falco. To be fair, the ATF version is pretty good, and an argument could be made their version is better known in the US, but Falco’s is better known worldwide. Also, I deducted points for the gratuitous tarantula.
BONUS MATERIAL: Two years after Falco and one year after ATF, Laura Brannigan recorded “Deep In The Dark”, which is basically the exact same song with all-new lyrics, though it was never released as a single (or if it was, it never charted). It’s so wretched I can’t bear to embed it (hint: it’s from the same album as Michael Bolton's “How Am I Supposed To Live Without You”), but you can click here if you really need to know. I don’t recommend it, though.
Next week: Eddie Cochran vs The Who!
Don’t turn around,
This is dF
This week’s song has one of the more interesting and bizarre histories in Cover Song Folklore – not only was the original the first commercially successful rap record by a white artist, but both the original and the cover got radio airplay in the US at around the same time, even though the band doing the cover had already broken up. And then there's the Laura Brannigan Incident...
Let’s sort this one out, shall we?
THE SONG: “Der Kommisar”
THE ORIGINAL: Falco
COMMENTS: This was Falco’s first hit song, and as you can see, he was already channeling Teh Awesome. For he is Falco. Anyway, it’s a nice slice of rap-influenced Europop, although Falco would go on to greater things. Still, the video of him pretending to be chased by the cops is pure showmanship.
THE COVER: After The Fire
[ADVISORY: Contains gratuitous tarantula footage]
COMMENTS: A one-hit wonder in the US (and this is it), ATF went from prog rock to New Wave and registered a few chart hits, but this was by far the biggest, though only after they broke up. It’s pretty good as covers go, though apart from English lyrics and more guitars, it’s so straightforward as a cover that there was once a version making the rounds that interspliced the two versions as one song.
WINNER: Falco. Because he is Falco. To be fair, the ATF version is pretty good, and an argument could be made their version is better known in the US, but Falco’s is better known worldwide. Also, I deducted points for the gratuitous tarantula.
BONUS MATERIAL: Two years after Falco and one year after ATF, Laura Brannigan recorded “Deep In The Dark”, which is basically the exact same song with all-new lyrics, though it was never released as a single (or if it was, it never charted). It’s so wretched I can’t bear to embed it (hint: it’s from the same album as Michael Bolton's “How Am I Supposed To Live Without You”), but you can click here if you really need to know. I don’t recommend it, though.
Next week: Eddie Cochran vs The Who!
Don’t turn around,
This is dF
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no subject
on 2008-06-18 12:11 am (UTC)Both are great as I have said before.
http://bedsitter23.livejournal.com/269686.html
The ATF video has great (over)acting. However, Falco maybe gets the nod that he hams it up for four minutes in front of a bluescreen. Only in the 80s.