Please excuse me if some of this week’s reviews are short. I was so mentally exhausted after listening to these 10+ minute songs that I could only write a few curt sentences about most of them. I groaned at the prospect of listening to a 49 minute song. (Well, technically, two parts, 26 and 23…
Please excuse me if some of this week’s reviews are short. I was so mentally exhausted after listening to these 10+ minute songs that I could only write a few curt sentences about most of them. There are about four minutes of decent hard rock jamming, and thirteen minutes of aimless mush. Infinitely better than…
Some of the most iconic pop and rock songs of the past half century have been covers. These two weeks, I will take a look at these classics and their overshadowed originals. In some ways picking Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You” as a an “overshadowed” original is blatantly false. Her recording reached number…
Some of the most iconic pop and rock songs of the past half century have been covers. These two weeks, I will take a look at these classics and their overshadowed originals. As I’ve gone through some of these covers that have vastly overshadowed their originals, I’ve been struck by a few things. First, it’s…
Some of the most iconic pop and rock songs of the past half century have been covers. These two weeks, I will take a look at these classics and their overshadowed originals. I love the odd story of The Roar of the Greasepaint — The Smell of the Crowd, a 1964 musical. That’s not to say…
Some of the most iconic pop and rock songs of the past half century have been covers. These two weeks, I will take a look at these classics and their overshadowed originals. I love “Torn.” It’s a gorgeous pop ballad with a a fundamental tension: The lyrics depict a woman broken and drained, no fight…
Some of the most iconic pop and rock songs of the past half century have been covers. These two weeks, I will take a look at these classics and their overshadowed originals. Among iconic covers that are more popular than their originals, “Nothing Compares 2 U” is pretty well-known. I’ve seen it cited dozens of…
Some of the most iconic pop and rock songs of the past half century have been covers. These two weeks, I will take a look at these classics and their overshadowed originals. In 1979, minor new wave artist Robert Hazard wrote a song about how women are never passionate or committed in the bedroom. He…
Some of the most iconic pop and rock songs of the past half century have been covers. These two weeks, I will take a look at these classics and their overshadowed originals. Aretha Franklin’s “Respect” is an all-time treasure. Rolling Stone ranked it one of the five greatest songs in rock history. Her rendition is so full…
This week, Dan’s brother Will is a guest host for the Song of the Day (or この日の歌). When you can’t understand the words, the voice just becomes another instrument. Itsue is probably the most obscure band of the seven I’ve spotlighted this week (with the possible exception of Shione Yukawa). For one thing, they don’t…