MORE SENSELESS ACTS OF BLOGGERY

Men In Bras!



Blinded by weird science,

This is dF

Well, are ya? Punk?



[Via Beatnik Daddio]

Who’s crying now.

This is dF

Or at least enough kung fu to take out a mullet guy in a tuxedo.



[Via The Actioneer]

Fists of fury,

This is dF

I’ve always found it ironic that Tom Waits gets a lot of accolades as a songwriter, yet has never had a mainstream hit single. His albums generally do well, and his singles do pretty good on specialty-format charts like “Adult Alternative”. But he’s never cracked the Billboard 200.

Which just goes to show that “great songs” and “hit songs” aren’t always the same thing.

Then again, sometimes it’s more about the presentation than the song itself. As a performer, Waits has never been a commercial proposition, and he gets more respect from the hipster alt.crowd than from the mainstream. Which is why yr more likely to hear a Waits song on mainstream radio if someone else performs it.

Especially if that someone is Rod Stewart doing “Downtown Train”.

Actually, Waits does get covered a lot, but usually by artists who also have smaller “alternative” followings, rather than big-name stars. Sure, Springsteen has covered “Jersey Girl” onstage, and the Eagles did “Ol’ 55”, but none of them have been as successful as Stewart’s take on “Downtown Train”.

And the thing is, I never really liked Stewart’s version. The brilliance of the song shines through, but it’s too obviously Adult Contemporary for my taste. Moreover, he wasn’t even the first singer to release a cover version as a single. 

That would be Patty Smyth.



It didn’t do better than Stewart’s chartwise, but I like her version a lot more. It’s obviously a more amped up arrangement, but I think it does preserve some of the romance of the original, even if it relies on 80s synths to do it. And of course Smyth was a really good singer in her own right.

Still, there’s nothing quite like the original.



PRODUCTION NOTE: I should mention that Mary Chapin Carpenter recorded her own version of “Downtown Train” the same year Smyth did. But that wasn’t released as a single.

Also, while we’re at it, Bob Seger recorded a version the same year as Stewart, but decided not to release it at the time because Stewart’s version did so well. 

Shining like a new dime,

This is dF

Indeed.





[Via Crypt Of Wrestling]

O captain my captain,

This is dF

There was such a thing, you know.



[Via Radioactive Lingerie]

DISCLAIMER: For educational purposes only. I was never big on Faster Pussycat.

Wake me when it’s over,

This is dF

And vice versa, I would assume.



[Via Radioactive Lingerie]


You remember Appolonia 6, of course. Quite possibly you even remember their music.



The 80s: you had to be there.

Shooting love in yr direction,

This is dF

And now for something completely different: Mr T doing a rap song about appreciating yr mom.



The 80s: you really had to be there.

Oh mama,

This is dF

And now, for no real reason, The Pandoras, who were doing the garage-rock revival thing all the way back in the 80s.



Hot rocks,

This is dF

Yr 80s Pop Culture Revenge lede of the day:



It’s called WireDoo, and it can do “deep search”.

Good luck with that, Hammer.

WireDoo is in pre-beta, if any of you are interested in trying it out.

Please Hammer don’t search ‘em,

This is dF