May 8, 2012
I love Cake. And while that is true in many different ways, I'm not speaking today about the icing delivery system we all know so well. Instead I'm referring to the band whose most popular song, "Short Skirt, Long Jacket," you've probably never heard. What I really dig about them, though, is their selection of covers across their albums. War Pigs (yes, the old Black Sabbath song, Ruby (yes, the old Kenny Rogers song), I Will Survive (yes, the old Gloria Gaynor song) and Mahna Mahna (yes, the old Muppets song) are all served up in new ways. Covers aren't easy to pull off. If you start with a great tune, you can either try to copy the original or do something new with it. If the tune is weak, you have to save it from itself. A…
Cake, Covers and Best Practices
May 8, 2012
I love Cake. And while that is true in many different ways, I'm not speaking today about the icing delivery system we all know so well. Instead I'm referring to the band whose most popular song, "Short Skirt, Long Jacket," you've probably never heard. What I really dig about them, though, is their selection of covers across their albums. War Pigs (yes, the old Black Sabbath song, Ruby (yes, the old Kenny Rogers song), I Will Survive (yes, the old Gloria Gaynor song) and Mahna Mahna (yes, the old Muppets song) are all served up in new ways. Covers aren't easy to pull off. If you start with a great tune, you can either try to copy the original or do something new with it. If the tune is weak, you have to save it from itself. A…