Tune du Jour: “Love is All Around” – Sonny Curtis
THE CLASH of Cover Tunes: Joan Jett vs. Opal Fox Quartet vs. Husker Du
VOTE, COMMENT, then DO SOMETHING NICE FOR YOURSELF
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The Original
Sonny Curtis:
THE CLASH of Cover Tunes
Joan Jett vs. Opal Foxx Quartet vs. Husker Du
Joan Jett:
Opal Foxx Quartet:
Husker Du:
SPACE
Oh the disharmony! Much like Harlan County there are no neutrals here. It is your solemn responsibility to decide which cover song prevails. In other words … Which Side Are You On!??!
Disclaimer: Votes cast from Florida may or may not be counted.
cover me impressed 
I have an affinity for local poet/singer/philosopher Benjamin Smoke, here with one of his bands Opal Foxx Quartet, but Joan Jett rocks!
Benjamin’s shows were a delightful spectacle. He adored and was inspired by Patti Smith. Shortly before he died in 1997, Benjamin opened for Patti.
Great job by Sonny Curtis conjuring an earworm of a melody with upbeat lyrics vague enough to fit the TV show. Tap dancing Yankees! Opal Foxx? Sounds more like Redd Foxx after swallowing a porcupine. Deacon Lunchbox couldn’t have been far away. In another multiverse Tom Waits has a standing Thursday night gig at Butch & Sadie’s Supper Club. Joan Jett starts with what sounds like the Time Warp riff then throttles along. Sharp, catchy, a rush of adrenaline. But at this pace I long for Shonen Knife vocals. I voted Husker Du. I still have the 45 from ‘85. The A side is Makes No Sense At All. The mix is weird but I like it. Very layered but tinny sound. The drums are cardboard box light, the reverb up. Bib Mould doesn’t usually sing lead on the melodic songs. They’re from Minneapolis so it’s only fair that they prevail.
Interesting that this was written by the same guy who wrote “I Fought the Law”, among many others.
The second act featured a guy who reminded me of Deacon Lunchbox, and I expected to blow some minds by pointing that out.
I assumed I’d vote Husker Du, but they were hampered by poor sound on this clip. Still almost voted for ’em, and I listened a second time to them and Joan Jett.
I’m not normally a fan of Joan Jett, but she earned the vote today. That’s probably the most I’ve enjoyed anything I’ve heard from her.
I’m a huge fan of the Mary Tyler Moore show. I have every season on DVD. I actually got to meet Mary at an event when I was working as the VP for Animal Health at The ASPCA. Years later, when I opened my cat hospital, Georgia Engel came in with her cat. As it turns out, Georgia’s cat was very sick and needed some expensive diagnostics which Ms. Engel hesitated to let me perform, due to financial concerns. She went home to ponder what to do. A few hours later, I received a call from Betty White’s personal assistant telling me to run whatever tests I needed to run and to send the bills to Ms. White. Georgia and Betty remained close friends for years after the show went off the air, much of it based on their mutual love of animals. Mary Tyler Moore, Georgia Engel, Betty White: three huge animal advocates on one show. Gotta love it. Anyway…
I had no idea that the song had these many lyrics, nor did I realize it was written by the same guy who wrote I Fought the Law. It’s hard to even try to disassociate the song from the MTM show and evaluate it just based on its musical merits. But I did my best, and ended up going with Hüsker Dü, a band I’ve always really liked, for their earnest version, complete with lovely harmonies, and of course, the Minneapolis connection.