Memo from Haspel
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17:05 GMT on 17 December 2003
Aaron Haspel claims that he is tired "of having to straighten everybody out on everything," but gives us a paragraph on the superiority of Devo's "(Can't Get No) Satisfaction" to that of the song's originators, The Rolling Stones.
Then, in the comments, bloggers begin shouting out their own favorite covers (including yours truly), before Aaron steps in and lays down criteria for a cover even being considered for greatness:
One, it must be better than the original. Different does not suffice. Wish You Were Here covers are eliminated prima facie, Wish You Were Here being the greatest rock song ever written.
Two, the song must be great to begin with. You cannot make a silk purse from a sow's ear. Shonen Knife's Top of the World is out.
Finally, and almost ineffably, the cover must be inevitable. It must strike the listener as the way the song should have been done in the first place. The Breeders' Happiness Is a Warm Gun may still qualify, but as I haven't heard it, I cannot say.
I proposed Memo from Turner, originally by the Stones, memorably covered by Dramarama on their penultimate album, Vinyl. Does it qualify?
On the first criterion, I will brook no dispute. The Stones version is a mess, with Mick's spoken lyric refusing to come into the same rhythm as the tune at any time. If you want to be all pomo about it, then you can say that it is a deconstruction of a song. I prefer constructed songs, myself. Dramarama's rendition is a revelation, with John Easdale's vocals both looping in and out of the rhythm of the guitar lead and also conveying more of the mock-buddy feeling that the Memo's words seem to call for. Mick was all sarcasm and condescension. Easdale saves that for the final verse.
Is it a great song, the second criterion? You've got me. It's great when Dramarama does it, or so I think. Perhaps part of the reason I perceive it as great is that it follows Dramarama's ode to songs of that era (and trashing of bands that continue to retread the same material thirty years after it was fresh), Classic Rot. In short, I'm stumped as to whether the song itself is great.
Was this cover inevitable? Surely.
Dramarama always included at least one cover per album, sometimes two, and it was always an obscure song, whether or not the band that originated it was well-known or not. For pete's sake, they included a cover on their fan-club album! And sure, it was an Alice Cooper cover, but has anybody but the die-hard Alice Cooper fan ever heard of Reflected?
So when it came time to cover the Stones (certainly one of the band's bigger influences), the standards were right out, and an unappreciated gem was sure to be the choice.
So, two out of three, and possibly batting a thousand.
Someday I am either going to write a big long post on Dramarama, a band which should have been far more successful than it was, or I'll incorporate their (fictionalized-so-I-don't-get-sued) story into the background of one of my own stories. The talent associated with them over their decade or so of existence and the brilliant work they put out ought to have guaranteed at least minor stardom, enough to keep them plugging away for a long time. Alas, 'twas not to be.