Dirac Angestun Gesept

I haven’t read it yet, but the Wired News interview makes it sound pretty interesting. It’s apparently an expansion of Andy’s folklore.org site, which I have enjoyed immensely.

I originally encountered Andy’s code before the Mac even shipped; I was an Apple II owner, and learning 6502 assembly via the Call-A.P.P.L.E. user group magazine. One of the code examples was a neat routine Andy had written to print text in a particularly elegant way: you put a subroutine call to his routine, then immediately afterwards included the text string you wanted it to print. It popped the return address off the stack, incremented its way through the string, then pushed the address after the string back on before returning. This effectively hopped the flow of control over the string transparently!

The best quote from the interview:

WN: How does writing compare to coding?

Hertzfeld: I would say the key difference is the rigor. Writing you can get away with being sloppy and your book doesn’t crash.

Most Improved

Some songs just weren’t that good in the original version, but the covers are great. This basically leaves out all the Beatles covers; it’s hard to beat those (pun not really intended, but left in anyway). However, some artists just aren’t my type as singers, even when they’re great songwriters (yes, Bob Dylan, this means you).

A Hard Rain’s A Gonna Fall - Edie Brickell & New Bohemians (Bob Dylan) All Along The Watchtower - Jimi Hendrix (Bob Dylan) Always Something There To Remind Me - Naked Eyes (Sandie Shaw) Downtown Train - anyone (Tom Waits) Love Is All Around - Wet Wet Wet (The Troggs) Mahna Mahna - The Muppets (Piero Umiliani) Space Oddity - Natalie Merchant (David Bowie)

Lesser-Known Originals

Some songs often aren’t thought of as covers, because the original sank without a trace or otherwise fell into obscurity. Some examples:

Blinded By The Light - Manfred Mann (Bruce Springsteen) Family Man - Hall & Oates (Mike Oldfield) I Fought The Law - The Clash (The Crickets) Mahna Mahna - The Muppets (Piero Umiliani) Tainted Love - Soft Cell (Gloria Jones)

I’d also like to give a special award, “Most Varied Covers“, to one song:

Can’t Help Falling In Love Corey Hart / Erasure / UB40 (Elvis Presley)

Three versions of the same song, each one very clearly done by an artist in their own style. Corey Hart’s is a quieter, elegiac take on the song, reminiscent of “Never Surrender”; Erasure goes for the full-throttle synth-pop approach; UB40 brings their reggae sound to the fore. The song sounds different each time, but is still recognizably the same song as the original.

I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking “yeah, yeah, William Shatner, I’ve heard those.”

Well, yes, but those aren’t the absolute weirdest.

Unlike the previous lists, I’m not going to rank these (except for The Winnah); think of them all as honorable (or dishonorable) mentions except for that one. The rest are in alphabetical order.

I will resist the temptation just to paste in the track listings from the Golden Throats CDs.

Baby, You’re A Rich Man - Fat Boys (originally by the Beatles)

Their versions of “Louie Louie”, “Wipeout”, and “The Twist” aren’t even in the running. A rap version of the Beatles classic, complete with the Human Beat Box’s vocal stylings. (I discovered the Fat Boys in high school, along with Run-DMC and The Time, long before the latter two met Aerosmith and Kevin Smith, respectively.)

Brown Eyed Girl - Everclear (originally by Van Morrison)

A very different take on the classic. Not so far as to become a parody, but it almost doesn’t sound like the same song at first listen.

Caroline, No - They Might Be Giants (originally by the Beach Boys)

Somehow, the concept of TMBG covering the Beach Boys is just weird in and of itself, even though (or particularly because) I like both.

Day Tripper - James Taylor (originally by the Beatles)

Another pair of artists I really like, but I don’t quite understand how this one was supposed to work the way Sweet Baby James sang it.

Don’t Give Up - Willie Nelson (originally by Peter Gabriel)

Also, instead of Kate Bush (or Paula Cole on the “Secret World Live” version), the female vocals were done by Sinéad O’Connor. That pairing alone would put this in the running for weirdest cover. (His covers of “American Tune” and “Graceland” don’t compare.)

Don’t You (Forget About Me) - Billy Idol (originally by Simple Minds)

Billy Idol is not Jim Kerr. (Chrissie Hynde is probably happier that way.)

Hot Hot Hot - Bina Mistry (originally by Buster Poindexter)

Yes, “Hot Hot Hot” done full-on Bollywood style, from Bend It Like Beckham. The version on the soundtrack CD is less funny than the version run over the movie credits, since you lose the visuals and the incongruous mix-ins from the cast, but it’s still pretty darn weird (and fun).

I Am The Walrus - Jim Carrey (originally by the Beatles)

“There! I did it! I defiled a timeless piece of art! For my next trick, I will paint a clown face on the Mona Lisa while using the Shroud of Turin as a dropcloth!” — actual quote from the song

The Joker - Fatboy Slim (originally by the Steve Miller Band)

What can I say about this? It’s exactly what you’d think it is.

Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds and Mr. Tambourine Man - William Shatner (originally by the Beatles and Bob Dylan, respectively)

There, I’ve listed them. They’re weird, but lots of people have heard them, so they’re not sufficiently weird. “Mr. Tambourine MAAAAAAAAAN!”

Ohio - Devo (originally by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young)

Not weird in its genesis; Mark Mothersbaugh and Jerry Casale were at Kent State at the time, as was Chrissie Hynde. Very different sound than the original version, of course.

Our Lips Are Sealed - Fun Boy Three (originally by the Go-Go’s)

A much darker, slower version of the original. Not peppy; almost sedated.

Start Me Up - The Folksmen (originally by the Rolling Stones)

From the soundtrack album (but not the movie) A Mighty Wind. The same guys who were Spinal Tap, playing folk-music style. Hysterical.

White Wedding - Herman’s Hermits (originally by Billy Idol)

In response to Idol’s “Don’t You (Forget About Me)”? I don’t know. Peter Noone’s vocals are nothing like the original. He doesn’t go all the way to the music-hall sound of the old Hermits hits like “I’m Henry the 8th I am”, but it’s clearly Herman’s Hermits and nobody else.

Finally, the absolute weirdest cover song in my collection:

Shock the Monkey - Don Ho (originally by Peter Gabriel)

Yes, Don Ho, and it sounds like he’s imitating Bill Murray’s lounge singer from SNL. This absolutely must be heard to be believed. Someone’s even made a video.