Zorac (zorac) wrote,
Zorac
zorac

In which dinner blows up in my face

Yes, that subject is the literal truth. It was one of your higher-class ready meals including whole chicken breasts, which I microwaved as per the instructions. When I stuck a fork in it, however, I was surprised by a loud noise and a spray of sauce. I approached the other with more caution, but there was a similar effect. Exploding breasts - my day is complete.

And now to music - cover versions, to be precise. The most annoying sort, of course, is the re-make of a classic which tries to sound as much like the original as possible - they almost always fail, and what's the point anyway? Then there's the just plain bad - like Madonna's version of American Pie - and Don McLean had already done a bad cover of his classic original.

What spurred this subject was my recent acquisition (recc'd by frayer of Paul Anka's Rock Swings - a fabulous album of rock songs done in the swing style. Genius. This gives me two versions of Wonderwall - neither the Oasis original, the other being 60s-style Mike Flowers Pops version.

I also now have two versions of Smells Like Teen Spirit. Again, the second isn't the Nirvana original, it's from Scala's on the Rocks, which is familiar songs done by a girl's choir. The crowning glory and song which made be buy the album (after one of you recc'd it to me) is a cover of the Divinyls' I Touch Myself. 'Nuff said.

Another double-cover example is Holding Out for a Hero - which I do have the Bonnie Tyler original of. Here, the two covers are both on the Shrek 2 Soundtrack. The Frou Frou version is ... different, but still pretty good. Jennifer Saunders' showtunes-style version from the film's finale, on the other hand, is simply fantastic.

Another fertile ground for cover versions is my collection of Ally McBeal CDs. Music was a very big part of that show, but to keep the style consistent, rather than using original versions of songs, Vonda Shepard would do a cover. Exceptions to that were either when the song was within the show's world (or, more likely, a character's head), or when the singer was doing a guest spot (a quite frequent occurrence).

Which reminds me, I did one of my periodic checks of Vonda's tour page, to discover that she played two nights at the Jazz Café in London last month. [ Long string of expletives deleted ] I went there last October, and it was really one of the highlights of my year. Still, maybe next year...
Tags: food, music
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  • 9 comments

kazzik

November 10 2005, 01:18:53 UTC 15 years ago

I think your microwave needs to get a restraining order out against you.

I am also amused at the idea of "higher-class ready meals". Is caviar microwavable?

On the subject of muzik, I bought Pandora's Box off Amazon, and it is the best £3.33 cd in the world. I am le impresséd.

zorac

November 10 2005, 10:26:27 UTC 15 years ago

Actually, the microwave will be taking a trip to the tip when I finally get around to getting the kitchen re-done. Hopefully this will be before Christmas, assuming that I stop procrastinating soon enough.

"Higher-class ready meals" is a bit of an oxymoron, it's more a better quality thing (as opposed to random chunks of "meat" in anonymous goop) - Teso's Finest and Sainsbury's Taste the Difference, for example.

meggitymeg

November 10 2005, 02:12:11 UTC 15 years ago

Reading this (and your mention of "Wonderwall," specifically) reminded me of an album my ex-boyfriend was particularly fond of, back in 2003, by a local artist whose original stuff we both liked quite a bit - Angie Aparo's The One With the Sun. There are a number of good covers on there, all rather unexpected - especially the Alice in Chains track that leads off the album, and his version of "Champagne Supernova" and the Beastie Boys' "Fight For Your Right (To Party)." I think I used to have a burned copy around somewhere, but that was at least three moves ago, so who knows where it is now....

zorac

November 10 2005, 10:30:44 UTC 15 years ago

Hmmm. I may have to investigate that. More interesting covers would be good to have, although at some point it might be worthwhile me picking up some of the originals...

phoenixw

November 10 2005, 06:13:58 UTC 15 years ago

Oh yes! I haven't bought it yet, but I heard excerpts from Paul Anka's "Rock Swings" and particularly loved "Smells Like Teen Spirit". Absolutely fantastic. :-D

huskyteer

November 10 2005, 09:37:08 UTC 15 years ago

I collect cover versions of Paul Simon songs. Far and away the worstest is Frank Sinatra's 'Mrs Robinson': he thought his fans might be offended if he sang 'Jesus loves you more than you will know', so he changed it to 'Jilly'.

I like his addition of 'The PTA, Mrs Robinson, won't okay the way you do your thing, ding ding ding', though.

zorac

November 10 2005, 10:34:18 UTC 15 years ago

I have to admit that I frequently find Ol' Blue Eyes a bit disappointing - I picked up a greatest hits CD a few years back and found that, beyond signature tunes like My Way and New York, New York, most of the songs on there I'd heard done better by other people.

sophie10

November 10 2005, 10:57:21 UTC 15 years ago

I have a fabulous CD that is an Elvis Impersonater doing covers of certain tracks. The only one I can think off the top of my head is Come as you are. They make me laugh anyway.

jiggery_pokery

November 10 2005, 19:05:12 UTC 15 years ago

Hm. Looks like you need to wear a hat with a very large brim for protection against similar spurts from other potentially violent ready meals in the future. Should the only hat with a suitable brim you own be pink, then so much the better.