At Home with John and Debbie

Last Wednesday, I told you that the credibility of the artist in this weekly alphabetical look at my CD collection would rise sharply this week, then plunge next week. Actually that was based on a mis-sorted CD shelf. Next week’s plunge was to be Bryan Adams’ Waking Up The Neighbours. Due to the mis-sorting, that plunge would have come today. However, I didn’t buy it, nor was it given to me. Debbie thinks it might be hers, but doesn’t know how it might have come into her possession. So I’m taking an executive decision to skip it.

The sticker on the front says it includes (Everything I Do) I Do It For You and Can’t Stop This Thing We Started. Bryan is shouting into a megaphone on the cover, but will have to put it down before he can play anything musical on his guitar. That’s all you or I need to know.

This week’s expected rise, actually comes next week. In fact the second artist in the list, not including Bryan Adams, is Paul Anka.

Paul Anka is on the B team of big band swing singers. Before the album Rock Swings, he was mostly famous outside swing circles for a foul mouthed rant recorded backstage, in which he is outraged that one of his band wasn’t wearing a proper shirt.

Rock Swings (2005) is Richard Cheese with a budget (you’re going to have wait a few months til we get to Richard Cheese). Anka covers ‘new’ songs - what he calls in the sleeve notes ‘the standards of the future for a large demographic of people’. Songs Paul Anka considered newfangled in 2005 include The Pet Shop Boys’ It’s a Sin from 1987 and The Cure’s Lovecats from 1983…

There’s no shortage of novelty covers in the world. What’s unusual about this album is that it is equally respectful to the songs and to the style into which they’ve been morphed. The tracks that work best - like all good covers - reveal previously undetected quality in songs you may not have appreciated before.

The standard is so high throughout that it’s hard to pick out highlights. Smells Like Teen Spirit falls a little flat, but even attempting it is worthwhile. In places the makeover is perhaps too extreme. Whistle Lovecats for me. Yes, that’s the bit I’d have whistled too. It’s not in Paul Anka’s version.

Unfortunately for me, I just not fond enough of this style of music to love the album, even though I can tell that it’s been made with love and to a high standard. I would never listen to a full album of Paul Anka performing his usual songs. As a result, I get a kick out of listening to this a couple of times: “Haha, it sounds like Sinatra, but it’s Eye of the Tiger“, but I don’t get much more from it. A few more musical jokes or gimmicks - a sneaky segue here, a borrowed countermelody there - might have added the spark I need.

Next week: very cool indie pop. At least I think so. Can you guess what it is yet?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 11th, 2008 at 18:57 and is filed under CDs, Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.