Last Updated on: 19th September 2013, 03:35 pm
I have just about had it with new music… or at least the lighter side of it. (i.e. pop, country). I’m gonna tell you why. I will start with the one that offends me less because… I wanna.
This morning I woke up and came upstairs to where the family was getting ready for the days activities. On the radio was the same country station that my mother always listens to in the morning. I’m not a huge country fan but at that time of day I usually don’t even notice what’s playing. This morning I did. And Faith Hill, as hot as she might be, offended my ears greatly.
I don’t know how long it’s been out but Faith was doing the old Janice Joplin song “Take Another Piece Of My Heart” and doing it quite badly. As I said before I don’t generally like country but I’ll admit that Faith Hill has a great voice… but she RAPED this song.
First of all the obvious. This does NOT turn in to a country song very well. The addition of a fiddle and the change from electric to steel guitar does not do the song any favours. It sounds just terrible.
Secondly. Faith Hill is a great singer – Janice Joplin is not. But in this instance it almost seemed reversed. Joplin’s voice is very crackly and almost masculin. Faith’s… ISN’T. The song fit greatly with Janice’s voice and that song made her lots and lots of money because people loved it. Faith performs it how she does all of her other songs, with a high pitched, angelic tone that is great for her but just terrible for this song.
The song was a classic good song and she has tortured it and anyone that must listen to it. She never should have treid to tackle it. She’s a great singer but she needed to understand that she did not have the right kind of voice for this song. It was almost offensive.
My second example hurts me more because it takes away from something I personally enjoy… and in the end isn’t it always about me? Yes it is.
Two nights ago I was watching part of the Brit Awards and I saw a pop group I’d never heard before called “Busted’ (I believe) take the stage and as they did the announcer said something that scared me.
“Now to perform their latest hit, Teenage Kicks, here is Busted!”
I was filled with terror. “it couldn’t be” I thought to myself. It was.
These lousy British pop motherfuckers were taking an old old punk song and turning it in to something that would have any punk fan almost in teers.
During the height of the Romones popularity there was another Europena punk band making some noise that doesn’t get near the recognition of say the Romones or the Clash. The Undertones were putting out solid record after solid record and had developed quite a large fan bass around Europe and some parts of North America. These boys hailed from Ireland and their first hit was… yup, Teenage Kicks.
The song was not as heavy as many punk songs are now but then neither is most of the older punk. It’s not that it’s softer or worse… It’s just different. Partly because of where music was at and partly because of where instrument technology was at but the song got very big in Europe and you still hear it now on certain Punk shows and compilations from time to time.
The electronic poppy little bastards started up and sure enough, it was the same song. Although, you could barely say the same song. Not once did anyone give the Undertones any kind of credit or even mention that the group didn’t have anything to do with writing it. No one even mentioned that it was written, performed, released and making money 10 years before these guys were born. Nope. Just a bunch of teenage girls screaming and thinking their geniouses for such a great song. It almost made me sick to my stomach.
There’s all kinds of bad covers out there and punk bands are some of the most famous for taking other peoples songs and performing them… but seriously how much money are they making off of it and how serious are they. Punk Covers are generally something you download online for a laugh. These modern mainstream bands, though, take these songs and put them on their cd’s and make millions.
How about the Ataris doing Boys of Summer. I bet you all the 13 year old girls flocking out to buy that album have never even heard of Don Henly and the Ataris sold more copies of that album then of all their other albums put together.
Write your own damn songs you pricks. I could sit here and name off a bunch more things that people never ever should have tried to cover but I thought it might be kind of fun for the comment boards. If you guys got some songs in mind that someone decided they could do a better job in and just killed it… please feel free to throw them on up here.
To me it’s just sad that we’ve reached a level where people can no longer write their own songs. Has every possible musical note combination been used up? Pretty sure it hasn’t. Quit being so lazy and if you are gonna use someone elses song you should acknowledge them every time you perform it or have it all over your cd or make radio DJ’s give real credit every time they play it.
Fuckin’ music. Almost tired of it.
