Cover Song
Robert Fripp and Toyah Serve Up Mötley Crüe’s “Girls Girls Girls”: Watch
Tennis, anyone? Robert Fripp and Toyah Willcox are back at it with another “Sunday Lunch” performance, this time taking on the Mötley Crüe hit “Girls Girls Girls” as Toyah practices her forehand. After taking a detour from tackling rock classics with a version of Britney Spears’ “Toxic” last week, the King Crimson founder and his singer wife are back on the rock train this week. As she sings and dances along to Fripp’s guitar work on the Mötley Crüe song, Toyah fires off foam tennis balls with a red racquet. Toyah is once again wearing the revealing white shirt that helped propel their cover of Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” to more than 5 million views, only this time she’s sporting some strategically placed tape underneath. Did she get a note from the powers that be at YouTube? If you combi...
Future Islands Cover Tina Turner’s Hit “We Don’t Need Another Hero”: Stream
Future Islands have shared a new cover of Tina Turner’s classic 1985 hit “We Don’t Need Another Hero”. Stream it below. The track was recorded as part of Future Island’s new live session on SiriusXMU. While the majority of the set saw the band stripping down material from their new album As Long as You Are for an intimate radio performance, it was the cover song that stole the show — in part because their ’80s-inspired sound was born from classics like this Golden Globes-nominated single from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. As is to be expected, Future Islands glam up the Turner classic with a lot of bouncy ’80s synthpop. Leader singer Samuel T. Herring takes a smoother approach to his vocals, giving each word proper enunciation and gusto without ever overdoing it. Meanwhile, there’s some spar...
IDLES Cover Sharon Van Etten’s “Peace Signs”: Stream
To celebrate the tenth anniversary of her 2010 album Epic, Sharon Van Etten is reissuing it as a double LP featuring a front-to-back covers album. Dubbed Epic Ten, our first sample of the reimagined tracks came from Justin Vernon and Aaron Dessner’s Big Red Machine’s take on “A Crime”. Today, the second single has arrived, as SVE has shared IDLES’ cover of “Peace Signs”. The British outfit keeps things as close to the original as their post-punk sensibilities will allow them, with all the familiar progressions still in place. In IDLES’ hands, however, they’re riddled with anxieties and the searing tension of shredding guitars. Certainly the screaming repetition of “Peace signs” hits different coming from Joe Talbot’s growl rather than Sharon Van Etten’s voice. Take a listen to the cov...
Mike Patton Sings Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Theme Song for Shredder’s Revenge Video Game: Stream
What’s cooler than the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles theme song? Mike Patton singing that theme song in the trailer for the new video game Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge. That’s right, the lead singer of such bands as Faith No More, Mr. Bungle, Tomahawk, Dead Cross, and Fantômas lends his vocals to the infectious song that so many of us still have in our heads since it first debuted in 1987 as part of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles TV show. Oddly enough, the original theme was co-written and co-recorded by Chuck Lorre, who would go on to famously produce such TV shows as Two and a Half Man, The Big Bang Theory, and others. Patton, whose six octave ranged once earned him the title of greatest singer of all time, offers a rocking take on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles&nb...
CHIKA Covers Billie Eilish’s “my future”, Reimagines “U SHOULD”: Stream
All this week, the Spotify Singles series is highlighting the nominees for the 2021 Best New Artist Grammy. But the contribution from CHIKA comes as a double celebration, as today happens to be the Alabama MC’s 24th birthday. As a gift for your ears, she’s delivered a new rendition of her single “U SHOULD” as well as a cover of Billie Eiilish’s “my future”. Plenty of artists have put their own spin on Eilish’s single from last summer, including Artist of the Month Arlo Parks and Miley Cyrus. CHIKA takes it into a new realm, however, taking ownership of the luscious, jazzy ode to self worth with a whole new verse of her own. “Ain’t no stopping shooting stars/ They got their own mind, and that’s the gold mine,” she raps. “The whole grind is nuts, so hold mine/ I promise you I’m set for go ti...
Matt and Kim Cover Lesley Gore’s “You Don’t Own Me”: Stream
There’s perhaps no more classic anthem for International Women’s Day than the late Lesley Gore’s “You Don’t Own Me”. So to celebrate today’s festivities, Matt and Kim have flipped their name to Kim and Matt for a cover of the 1963 hit. Out via FADER, the duo’s cover of “You Don’t Own Me” sees drummer Kim Schifino providing lead vocals (natch). The home recording updates the song’s instantly recognizable R&B balladry with electronic drums and fuzzy synths. It captures all the norm-defying independence of the original for a modern audience that feels like it’s finally beginning to change those norms. “This song has always resonated with me lyrically, ever since I was a kid,” Kim said in a statement. “My dad raised me to not take shit from anyone and live the life I want to live. It break...
King Crimson’s Robert Fripp and Wife Toyah Cover Britney Spears’ “Toxic”: Watch
King Crimson co-founder Robert Fripp and his wife Toyah Willcox are using the latest installment of their “Sunday Lunch” performance series to pay homage to Britney Spears. The couple described their quarantine cover of Spears’ 2004 single “Toxic” as a “love letter” to the pop singer amid her ongoing conservatorship battle with her father. To that point, the hashtag #freebritney appeared in the upper right corner of the video, and Fripp and Willcox closed their performance by holding up signs that read, “Britney We C You”. Watch the footage below. Since launching their “Sunday Launch” series last year, Robert and Toyah have covered a wide array of artists, including Metallica’s “Enter Sandman”, Billy Idol’s “Rebel Yell”, Guns N’ Roses’ “Welcome to the Jungle”, the Joan Jett ...
Iggy Pop and Jazz Icon Dr. Lonnie Smith Cover Donovan’s “Sunshine Superman”: Stream
Iggy Pop and Dr. Lonnie Smith, photo by Don Was Iggy Pop and jazz icon Dr. Lonnie Smith have teamed up for a cover of Donovan’s “Sunshine Superman”. The track is taken from Smith’s new album Breathe, which is out later this month. It might seem like an odd pairing for rough-and-tough proto-punk legend and a Hammond B3 organist to join forces for a cover of a classic psych-rock tune — and it is, but it also comes together shockingly well. Smith and his bandmates give the song a loungey, tropical makeover while Pop offers an uncommonly sweet and sultry vocal performance for a man of his gritty stature. The way Smith tells it in a statement, the whole process seemed like a quick and organic happy accident. “I was playing with my trio at Arts Garage in Delray Beach in Florida,” Smith said. “Ig...
Robert Fripp, Toyah, and a Real-Live Snake Take on Foo Fighters’ “Everlong”: Watch
Robert Fripp and Toyah Willcox are joined by a member of the animal kingdom in their latest “Sunday Lunch” performance video. The married couple tackle Foo Fighters’ “Everlong” as Toyah handles as real-live slithering snake. Fripp, the founding guitarist for prog pioneers King Crimson, and Toyah, a new wave singer with a series of UK hits in the ’80s, have taken on the role of rock’s most entertaining couple during the lockdown. Their “Sunday Lunch” series sees the pair offering quirky takes on rock classics. Their new performance features Fripp playing the unmistakable guitar riff from Foo Fighters’ “Everlong”, with Toyah singing the song with a good-sized snake slithering in her hands. At the very end, as if on cue, the snake turns around and makes face-to-face contact with Toyah. D...
Freddie Gibbs Covers Gil Scott-Heron’s “Winter in America”: Stream
Gary, Indiana rapper Freddie Gibbs has released a cover of influential poet Gil Scott-Heron’s 1975 song, “Winter in America”. Check out the song below. Shining a light on American colonialism, the absence of democracy, and racism, “Winter in America” first appeared on Gil Scott-Heron, Brian Jackson, and the Midnight Band’s 1975 album, The First Minute of a New Day. In his version, Gibbs pays tribute to Scott-Heron by singing in a spoken-word flow. Unfortunately, the lyrics are just as applicable today as they were 45 years ago. “Just like the cities staggered on the coastline / In a nation that can’t take much more,” he croons. “Like the forest buried underneath the highway / Never had a chance to grow.” “Winter In America” appears on Black History Always – Music For The Movement Vol. 2, t...
Lzzy Hale’s Powerhouse Vocals Highlight Halestorm’s Cover of The Who’s “Long Live Rock”: Stream
Halestorm have covered The Who’s “Long Live Rock” in conjunction with the recently announced documentary of the same name. The rousing rendition is fueled by frontwoman Lzzy Hale’s powerful vocals. The new documentary Long Live Rock … Celebrate the Chaos focuses on the culture surrounding hard rock, with appearances by members of Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, Rage Against the Machine, Slipknot, Halestorm, and many others. It was filmed at a number of U.S. rock festivals in recent years, and also spotlights fans of the music, as they “commune with their ‘rock families’.” In promotion of the movie, Halestorm have tackled “Long Live Rock”, which was released on The Who’s 1974 rarities collection, Odds & Sods, and also featured during the credits of the legendary UK band’s 1979 documentar...
10-Year-Old Nandi Bushell Honors Keith Moon with Rousing Drum Cover of The Who’s “My Generation”: Watch
Having owned 2020 and conquered Dave Grohl in an epic drum battle, 10-year-old Nandi Bushell has now set her sights on the Mount Rushmore of rock drummers. Her latest YouTube video sees her dedicating a drum cover of The Who classic “My Generation” to the late, great Keith Moon. Moon is in the pantheon of drumming gods along with the likes of Led Zeppelin’s John Bonham and Rush’s Neil Peart, among others, but that didn’t stop young Nandi from tackling the iconic Who song. As she’s shown us in her previous videos, she’s incredibly talented. What’s more, she’s a bundle of energy and joy behind the kit. “My Generation” is a fitting choice for Nandi, as she represents a new generation of young rockers. It was also, in many ways, one of the first punk songs before punk rock was even a thing — w...
