What if the Who covered the Beastie Boys? Bonnie Raitt Covers INXS, Lost Songs by Kenny Smith, Kanye Samples & More!
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My good friend Jordan suggested I put these songs into one playlist to listen through and I think that's a good idea. I will link to those playlists below. I think I'm going to just create one called Songs Recovered and add songs each week instead of creating weekly five song playlists. Let me know what you think!
Here are five songs I thought were worth sharing this week...
1) (You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!) - The Hotrats
What would it sound like if the mod-era Who covered the Beastie Boys? Enter The Hotrats, two gentleman known for their work in Supergrass who formed a cover band and released an album of covers called Turn Ons back in 2010. I heard this track on the Underground Garage show and immediately took a photo of the radio display in my car as a reminder to look it up later. First, I really enjoy this cover song and wish I could find the LP to spin during a DJ set to see if anyone would pick up on it. Second, the entire album is chock full of great covers by Gang of Four, Velvet Underground, The Doors, and many more including a punchy Elvis Costello cover. I can't recommend enough!
2) Need You Tonight - Bonnie Raitt
This is another unexpected cover song I heard last week on Sirius XM's Underground Garage show, this one from Bonnie Raitt covering the INXS hit, Need You Tonight. I wouldn't have imagined this working as well as it does. Bonnie's band does a great job keeping things loose and funky, sometimes feeling like things are about to fall apart, but they bring it back together just in time. This is from her 2016 album, Dig In Deep and a great reminder of what a national treasure Bonnie Raitt is.
3) Keep On Walkin' Baby - Kenny Smith
I recently found this 45 and knew nothing of Kenny Smith. Turns out he's from Cincinnati and one of my favorite record stores there, Shake It, released a compilation CD on Kenny called One More Day back in 2006. Kenny's singles have been collector items for some time now and I've been playing Keep On Walkin' Baby in my DJ sets regularly. Unlike his more soulful jams, this particular track has a garage soul feel to it with distorted guitars and drums. It jams. There is one more single I'd love to find (and of course it's one of the most expensive) which is his song Go For Yourself, a funky number that showcases one amazing drummer. Check that song out here. In the meantime, I'll enjoy my copy of the Keep on Walkin' Baby 45 that I own!
4) Can You Lose By Following God? - Whole Truth
Kanye's new album is a hot topic of conversation in our house. Our teenage boys were excited about it's release and ready to stay up until midnight the night before to hear it the moment it was available on streaming services. The song that resonated most with me was Follow God, where Kayne raps over a forgotten song, something that always drew me to his earlier albums. That interest led me to find what song he samples and stumbled on Whole Truth's Can You Lose By Following God?, a 45 released on Efe Records from Memphis, TN. How do songs like this end up in a Kanye song? I have this romantic notion that a producer is digging through 45s in a thrift store, stumbles on this song and somehow gets it to Kanye for his next album. That seems far fetched, especially since this song was included on a Numero Group compilation released in 2013 called Good God! Apocryphal Hymns. We live in a remix culture, where often the best new things are simply classics remixed for modern day tastes. This is why I feel it's important to always make a physical copy of a song. Will people be mining digital services in 20 years looking for lost treasures? Maybe. But I like the idea of a forgotten single sitting in a record store and someone picking it up on a whim, falling in love and giving it new meaning to a new audience of listeners. I'm not sure that will be possible when everything is in a cloud.
5) We're A Winner - The Impressions
Written in 1967 by Curtis Mayfield, We're A Winner became an immediate soul anthem for the Civil Rights Movement. I recently found this 45 and began spinning in my DJ sets. It has such an uplifting message, something we could all use right now. Honestly, I love the falsetto call backs, "Movin on up!" throughout the chorus and I often find myself singing that part at random throughout my day. Interestingly enough, TLC sampled this song and used on their 1992 song, This Is How It Should Be Done. Play The Impressions loud this weekend and I'll promise you'll come out feeling inspired.
Here are links to the Songs Recovered playlists on Apple and Spotify!
Those are my songs for this week. I hope you enjoy. If you’d like more information about these songs and more, visit my website: aaronhartley.me.
Also, check out the Aaron Calling podcast where I call one of my best friends, Aaron Ford, to talk about music, records and more. Listen on Apple or Spotify!
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"One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain." - Bob Marley