Remakes

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Today I heard Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper's Delight" (the original), & it got me thinking: why do "remakes" of pop tunes do so well? Is there such a thing as a good remake (I'm not talking about remixes or "tribute" albums), or are they all along the lines of Puff Daddy?

― Snow Dog, Friday, 9 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

So, erm, what do you mean?

― Greg, Friday, 9 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I mean all the "modern" versions of old tunes that become top-selling singles, ie: Lenny Kravitz' "American Woman". My question is, has anyone done this right? Or should it just not be done?

― Inukko, Friday, 9 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

american pie was recently remade by madonna for no reason i can think of..why ruin something good?

― Kevin Enas, Saturday, 10 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Oh.. you mean covers. Obviously Cat Power's Covers Record. Joan Jett's first few albums have some lovely ones -- Crimson and Clover was a chart topping single. The Primitives' version of Buddy Holly's "You're So Square" is good -- the version of "Substitute" that the 'Mats did live -- the version of "Baba O'Riley" by the Waco Brothers -- hell, a great deal of alt-country (although they cover mainly country tunes) including the cover by Kelly Hogan of tha Magnetic Fields' "Papa was a Rodeo" -- John Fahey's version of Skip James Blues -- Nirvana's version of Bowie's "Man Who Sold The World" which is far superior -- Bowie's version of "Dancin' in the streets" -- R.E.M.'s cover of the Velvet's "femme fatale" -- however many versions of "Heard it through the grapevine" which have topped charts at one time or another -- "Take me to the river" by tha Talking Heads -- tha Talking Heads "Cities" as done by Phish (yes, it is good. really. yes. no kidding. none.) -- Tiffany's version of "I think we're alone now" is bliss.

And the list goes on.

― Sterling Clover, Saturday, 10 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Most covers by shit bands (that is, little bands) are only popular because they're ironical or novelty anyway. Travis doing "Baby One More Time"? Fuck off. A good cover shouldn't need you to know the original anyway.

― Greg, Saturday, 10 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

The 'Mats cover of Another Girl, Another Planet blows the orig. out of the water-- The Who, Young Man Blues-- Tiffany, I Think We're Alone Now-- Lotion, Walk Away Reene-- BTS, Cortez The Killer-- Sinead o'Connor, Nothing Compares 2 U-- The Gourds' alt-country cover of Gin and Juice (really. check it out. really.)-- The Bangles, Hazy Shade of Winter (but not September Gurls. Yuck)... it goes on like that.

Rapper's Delight don't count 'coz it's a sample. Samples aren't remakes, they're just... samples. Puffy has never covered anything in his life.

― JM, Saturday, 10 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Except, obviously, LL Cool J's "Big Ole Butt", for the In Tha Beginning... There Was Rap album.

― Greg, Sunday, 11 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

That Travis thing doesn't count... if it's a new song, it's not a remake.

― Inukko, Monday, 12 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

WHAT? Can someone please explain this question to me in English? I thought I understood the question, which seems to be about obvious sampling issues, then someone throws in about covers, then the person who replied last said that Travis's Baby One More Time isn't a cover because it's a new song? WTF???? Okay.

1) "Remakes" ie obvious samples don't always do well; the ones that do do well because they are pumping up a catchy original. 2) There are loads of awesome covers, too many to list. 3) Travis's Baby One More Time is the shittest cover ever.

― Ally, Monday, 12 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Er, sorry... I *am* the person who posted this question originally, just under a different pen name. Yes, it is about sampling issues, but covers like Madonna's "American Pie" also count. What I'm excluding are the covers of recently released (ie: 10 years or less) songs, because if it's recent, then how can it be a remake?

― Inukko, Tuesday, 13 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Um... because another group... makes it again?

― Josh, Tuesday, 13 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

What *are* you going on about? How can you not count covers of recent releases? A cover's a cover, a sample's a sample. As long as the artist has enough hype/money/backing/moronic fans to make it work, it would appear that it doesn't matter how good the music actually is. Surely you realise that musical merit dosn't sell records in the popular market?

― Uncle Bulgaria, Tuesday, 13 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Actually of course musical merit does often sell records within the popular market - how else does one explain the success of Britney and the failure of Girl Thing? I think that pretty much all genres and scenes are driven by a fairly similar ratio of hype:quality, realising of course that hyped acts are often also good and unhyped ones often also dreadful.

― Tom, Tuesday, 13 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Britney Spears musical accumin dosn't sell her records. It's because sge's fit. The fact she sings 'better' than Girl Thing is just relative. OK. Not all pop is shite and not all 'non-pop' is good, but the majority of pop music is media driven, packaged bollocks for people who can't make up their own mind about what good music is. For the most part here, I'm talking about the influx of exploited children that we have all been subjected to, not to mention some of the older bands who obviuosly don't even realise they ere born.

― Uncle Bulgaria, Tuesday, 13 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

So it's not then possible to 'make up your own mind about what good music is' and then choose Britney? Britney gets blanket media coverage because she's "fit" but that doesn't shift the units because the men having a bit of an ogle don't want to hear the music - hence Caprice's awful record didn't sell. What sells the records is partly the strong visual branding, partly the good tunes, partly an audience responding to dynamic and fresh-sounding production within a comfortably familiar structure.

The hardest thing for a lot of anti-pop people to accept is that the people who buy pop music do so because they like it. They are quite possibly exposed to a very constrained range of music, but within that range they pick and choose just like you and me.

This is all precious little to do with remakes, though I will say that Travis' cover would still have been pants if it had been made in 2009 instead of 1999.

― Tom, Tuesday, 13 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

OK. Agreed: 1. Pop listeners are too lazy to find out what's out there so just accept what's thrown at them. 2. The Travis' cover's shite.

― Uncle Bulgaria, Tuesday, 13 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I would be really really interested if somebody did a study on, say, 1000 pop fans and exposed them to, say, alternative music, and saw how many of them did actually say, "Wow, I had no idea this kind of stuff existed, I will discard my lazy pop tastes". Very few I think. I love this implication that if only THE KIDS would just hear the RADICAL UNDERGROUND MUSIC their lives would somehow be changed.

Sorry to harp on, Uncle B, but believe you me my work alternative right now is a hundred times duller.

― Tom, Tuesday, 13 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Yup. Works a bitch. PS. Yes, I believe no one is beyond salvation. I'm not talking about some pretencious 'underground' scene, but just genuinely good music, something involving 'real' instruments and vocals, not the processed rubbish the pop world has to offer which, lets face it, all sounds the same.

― Uncle Bulgaria, Tuesday, 13 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Yeah Yeah. Uncle Bulgaria is right. Un-cul-B! Un-cul-B! Un-cul-B!

― Mr T., Tuesday, 13 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

"American Pie" *good*, Kevin? The record that created the disgusting oxymoron of nostalgic pop music, more like ...

― Robin Carmody, Tuesday, 13 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

My amusing cover version story concerns a cryptographer friend who went to a cryptography conference where they had booked The Sugerhill Gang to play. Some person who is big in the world of cryptography joined them onstage for a live rendition of 'Cryptographer's Delight'. Sadly my friend does not remember any of the adjusted lyrics. The following year the conference had Starship playing. Those cryptographers are pretty crazy guys.

― pihkalboy, Wednesday, 14 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

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