Welcome back to “Tied to the 90s“, a not-very complete guide to a decade that was. I’m your host, Yostal, and once more, I’ll be taking you through the pop culture landscape of the 1990s. If you have any suggestions for future columns, please email me at GoinYostal@gmail.com or leave me a comment.

Today, I’ll be looking at 10 conversation inducing covers from the 1990s. I’m not Coverville around here, but who is? That said, I like a lot of covers, and so as a change of pace, I wanted to look at ten interest covers of the decade. Note, these are not the “best” covers, just some of my favorites, or ones that I wanted to talk about, so please keep the gnashing of teeth to a minimum. That said, here we go, under the covers…

1). “Shameless” by Garth Brooks from his 1991 album Ropin’ the Wind

I am not a huge country music fan, as you have probably gathered, but I am also not one of those “anything but country and rap” types. Good music is good music, and this is one of my favorite covers, because it’s covering a great Billy Joel song. It takes a full swell power ballad, complete with the begging and the pleading and the hey hey, and it becomes something a little more country. You notice it immediately in the guitars, the lonesome twang of the steel guitar in the intro, but then you realize, at it’s heart, it’s still a major power ballad. Garth Brooks has repeatedly stated that he grew up on Billy Joel songs, and this was a natural for him. Later, during Garth’s concert in Central Park, Joel joined him on stage for a dual cover of “Shameless” and “New York State of Mind” which were just excellent.

2). “(Don’t Go Back To) Rockville” by 10,000 Maniacs from their 1992 single for “Candy Everybody Wants“

Yes, my love for Natalie Merchant is back, coupled with my adoration for R.E.M., all in one convenient package. The original is from R.E.M.’s 1984 album Reckoning, written as a plea from Mike Mills to his then girlfriend not to return to her hometown of Rockville, Maryland. (I have friends in Maryland who question the girl’s overall mental state, since no one would willingly return to Rockville if they had managed to escape.) Since 10,000 Maniacs and R.E.M. had always had a friendly relationship, during the 1980s, it is just a natural that this would become a 10,000 Maniacs cover. The enhancements that make this their own include the strange guitar licks in the background, Natalie’s richness of voice, allowing her to make the same plea as the original (albeit far more readily understood than Michael Stipe’s own version) sound sweeter. An excellent cover.

3). “Angel of the Morning” by The Pretenders from their 1995 album Mystery Achievements

Even though I could have selected “Everyday is Like Sunday” and made the requisite Morrissey jokes, but instead I went for the slow and smoky cover of the 1968 Chip Taylor classic so I can discuss, among other things, how the guy who wrote “Wild Thing”, Angelina Jolie’s uncle, also wrote this song. This cover version is probably better known for showing up on the soundtrack from Friends after Chrissy Hynde played a live acoustic version of it in Central Perk. The drums really carry this version, sounding almost like the beat of a heavy heart, even if the free love of the one-night stand in the lyrics would suggest less emotional connection. If nothing else, this reminds me just how good Chrissy’s fastball is when she still wants it to be. (Oh, and for gratuitous hilarity, in the episode coda, Chrissy learns how to play “Smelly Cat”)

4). “How Soon Is Now?” by Love Spit Love from the 1996 soundtrack for The Craft

Oh good! I can make fun of Morrissey here instead! No, seriously, for the life of me, there will be some things that I never fully understand, one of them is how a song that is, on some level, an ode to the Manchester gay club scene of the 1980s ended up being a theme song for witches? Seriously, is it “I am a summoner, of nothing in particular” line? Is it just the awesome guitar riff (which is sampled to much better effect in Soho’s 1990 single “Hippiechick”), which is somewhat overdone in the cover? Is it just the sense of impending doom and dread that floats through the song? I have never fully been able to figure this one out.  I’ll take theories in the comments.

5). “Sexual Healing” by Soul Asylum from their 2006 live album After the Flood: Live From the Grand Forks Prom, June 28, 1997

(OK, the album was only released last year, but it’s clearly a 1997 cover, so we’re rolling with it.) As a Detroiter (ok, as a Detroit suburbanite), you grow up with Motown in your blood. Not just baby boomers, for whom the music represents their youth, it’s easily one of the few forms of music that Boomers, Gen Xers and GenY’s all seem to be able to roll with (you want scary, 32 freshmen who not only know the words to “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”, but are singing along.) Anyway, Marvin’s a legend, and it would be impossible to top what would be any other artists’ magnum opus, which is why Soul Asylum isn’t even trying to in the track. The story is that after the massive Red River Flood of April 1997, in late June, the three Grand Forks high schools had a joint prom in one of the hangars at Grand Forks AFB. Soul Asylum came up to Grand Forks and promised to do what the could to be the best prom band ever. So in addition to playing a number of crowd pleasers out of their own catalog, they also had a number of covers. This one is my favorite, because they just seem to be enjoying playing a great song for a crowd that’s enjoying it fully. Check it out if you get a chance.

6). “Lovers in a Dangerous Time” by Barenaked Ladies from their 1997 single for “The Old Apartment”

The source of one of the all-time great rock lyrics “gotta kick at the darkness until it bleeds daylight”, lifted by Bono for “God: Part II” and one of the first big breaks in their native Canada for BNL, as the centerpiece of the Bruce Cockburn tribute album Kick at the Darkness. (Admittedly, I prefer “If I had a Rocket Launcher” from Stealing Fire, but your mileage may vary.) What’s great about this cover is just how BNL makes it their own song, the dual lead vocals, the cello interplay, and just the general rollicking sensibility, which makes it perhaps a bigger song that Cockburn’s original, but also a unique interpretation.

(the_bad_one adds these fun facts from us and the DVD commentary:

1). A certain group of us inevitably refer to this song as “Lovers in a Dangerous Time of Cholera”, which means we’re just dorks.
2). The video was BNL’s first video ever, and it was financed by the Canadian government through a “Factor Grant” and cost $11,000 Canadian.)
3). It was filmed in Ed’s old neighborhood in Scarborough (you can see Ed’s childhood home) on the two coldest days of November 1991. Steve’s dad is smoking outside the record shop)

7). “There She Goes” by Sixpence None the Richer from their 1998 self-titled album Sixpence None the Richer

Firstly, “There She Goes” original version, by the La’s, is almost certain to end up on my list of perfect songs of the 1990s. (A perfect song, by the guidelines established by Stijl Council and myself, falls under the Potter Stewart rule, which is to say, you can’t define it, but you know it when you hear it.) So even the sweetness overload that comes with this cover by Sixpence None the Richer (a band who owes virtually all of its mainstream success to cover songs when you think about it.) By mentioning “There She Goes”, I also get to discuss that one of my favorite 1990s films, So I Married an Axe Murderer opens with a cover of this song by the Boo Radleys (which is almost impossible to find anymore). Which means I also get to discuss “a secret society of the five wealthiest people, known as the Pentavirate who run everything in the world, including the newspapers and meet tri-annually at a secret mansion in Colorado known as The Meadows.” That really is good chicken. OK, moving on…

8). “Heroes” by The Wallflowers from the 1998 soundtrack for Godzilla

OK, we need to talk about several things here:

1). “Come With Me” never happened. Can we just agree with that and remind Jimmy Page that he should have a much clearer head when signing anything contractual on sampling. (Case in counterpoint: Look at his work with the Black Crowes on Live at the Greek)

2). Actually, can we just forget the whole Godzilla debacle save this song? Thanks!

As a cover track, this works. As much as David Bowie’s original is an exceptional song (and suffers from overplay as a result of it), the Wallflowers do an admirable job of taking this one and making it their own (moreso than the Oasis cover off their single for “D’You Know What I Mean” does, partially suffering from a poor mix.) I love the guitar lines in this fleshing it out, and Jakob’s voice, while not having Bowie’s yearnful pleading, fires the song with a hopeful confidence. The strings in the bridge add to the whole as well, making this just a great cover all in all. We can be heroes, if just for one day. Like Hiro, from Heroes. Or Bono.

9). “I Want You to Want Me” by Letters to Cleo from the 1999 soundtrack for 10 things I hate about you

Admit it, you forgot this band existed after they disappeared like Melrose Place, the source of their greatest fame. But then you were watching one of the better modern spins of Shakespeare (and really, Julia Stiles, come on…) and there they are, playing one of the all-time classics of rock and roll on the roof of Padua High School, with a bit of an up-tempo kick to it. (Contrast with Lindsay Lohan’s version in 2005. There’s no comparison. I shouldn’t have even brought it up.) And sure, “I Want You to Want Me” is one of the rare songs that gets better when played live (the Japanese would tend to agree), and sure, it’s used to wonderful effect at the end of the movie, but there’s something more to the cover than that that makes me like this cover. Oh well, it’s a great song, run with it.

10). “What I Like About You” by The Suicide Machines from the 1999 compilation album Before You Were Punk, Vol. 2

Representing for my hometown here, twice, we have a Detroit power pop band covered by a Detroit-area ska punk band. (True fact, I had 9th grade Earth Science with one time Suicide Machines’ drummer Derek Grant.) Anyway, the original by the Romantics is great, in part for its extended harmonica part (seriously, how many rock and roll songs circa 1980 have an extended harmonica section?) and the whispering, and the clapping, and the driving bass line. It’s some of power pop’s finest. Now, take an already upbeat song and give it to a power ska punk band, and what do you get? A ripping slashing cover, far superior to that done by Lillix for the Freaky Friday soundtrack or as the theme to the show of the same name. (That said, I must cop to being a very ashamed fan of What I Like About You because I think Amanda Bynes is freaking hilarious. I know, I am ashamed, but really, she’s very funny…) Anyway, excellent original, excellent cover. (Wow, I did not intend for this thing to end so Lohan heavy, and yet, there it is. Oh well.)

That’s all I have for this week. I genuinely hoped you enjoyed it, and please come back next week for another edition of “Tied to the 90s”. Until then, this has been Subcommandante Yostal, logging off.