America's sporting events provide some of its biggest and best spectacle. But what would a spectacle be without a musical interlude for the half-time show? The most recent one that had people talking was Pitbull, Ne-Yo and Chris Brown at the NBA All-Star Game. However, the granddaddy of them all is and always will be the Super Bowl. This year saw controversy yet again with the half time show featuring Madonna, LMFAO, Nicki Minaj and MIA; a big brouhaha generating the most significant chatter since that thing with Justin Timberlake & Janet Jackson. But you know what? At least it's something to talk about. It's better for a halftime show to generate some controversy to add to the spectacle than for it to be just plain bad.
Case in point, the halftime shows of Super Bowls past. Although the game itself has always been a major event, it was not always such a prestigious venue for the biggest acts in pop music. At its worst, it was awkward and poorly-chosen filler.
It was January of 1989 and the San Francisco 49ers were taking on the Cincinatti Bengals in Super Bowl XXIII. In the months before, the likes of Bon Jovi, Phil Collins, Guns N' Roses and Whitney Houston were tearing up the charts. But superstars like these were not scheduled to perform. Instead, a singing magician/ Elvis impersonator, by the name of Elvis Presto, performed a giant card trick. Check this out:
There is absolutely no reason for this guy to have to sing his magic tricks – or, rather, lip sync his magic tricks. He doesn't really look like Elvis, either. As far as I can tell, the only possible reason for his shtick could be that he came up with that Presley/Presto pun, and justified it by building his entire career around it.
But the ultimate legacy of bad halftime performances has to be that of Up With People, which Wikipedia insists is an educational organization, yet they keep on dancing and singing. Seriously: Up With People performed during the Super Bowl halftimes for '76, '80, '82 and '86. One man with a narrow sense of entertainment must have been booking the show for the better part of a decade.
If you watchthe performances today, it is amazingly dated, yet somewhat entertaining in a bewildering, ludicrous nature. The tacky fashions of the day, the decidedly uncool choreography, the complete absence of youth; it is the type of pop culture time capsule that makes you think “I can't believe that people once considered this to be the pinnacle of entertainment”.
Of course, it's possible that you're just not jaded or cynical. Maybe you see these Up With People shows as good, old-fashioned, harmless fun. That's okay. But you have to think about this: Why, at America's biggest sporting event, was it decided that the musical entertainment would be an educational organization (sporting bad mustaches and bell bottoms, no less) doing musical theater renditions of other artist’s hits?
Halftime shows, in whatever sport, are always going to tread into some weird territory. Because of the one-time crossover audience, they often book acts that are irrelevant to the average sports fan. I doubt many NFL die-hards are big Madonna fans, let alone enjoy spending their off-nights watching Elvis Presto dazzle the crowds at the local VFW. Still, it's better to do it big and bold, rather than bad and butt-ugly.
Arcade Fire delighted a tiny audience with a surprise set at a hotel in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on early last week. The 45 minute show included covers of The Rolling Stones’ “The Last Time,” Blondie’s “The Tide is High,” Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Who’ll Stop the Rain” and Cyndie Lauper’s “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” in addition to Arcade Fire’s own “Keep the Car Running,” “Rebellion (Lies)” and, of course, “Haiti.”
In honor of this surprise cover-heavy set by one of our favorite bands, we give you five of our all time favorite surprising covers.
1. Hallejulah – Rufus Wainwright covering Leonard Cohen
Cohen’s 1984 “Hallejulah” was poorly received until a number of covers, (Jeff Buckey’s is also classic), brought the song new life. Wainwright called his cover a “purifying and almost liturgical interpretation”
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2. Heartbeats – Jose Gonzalez covering The Knife
José González gave the The Knife’s 2003 dance hit a decidedly more low key feel when he covered the synthy jam on his 2006 album Veneer. Pitchfork Media ranked The Knife’s original version at #15 on their Top 500 Songs of the 2000’s list.
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3. I Will Always Love You – Whitney Houston covering Dolly Parton
Whitney Houston's 1992 mega hit "I Will Always Love You" was written and recorded by country diva Dolly Parton almost 20 years earlier. The rumor is that Whitney’s record company wasn’t a fan of the song’s a cappella introduction, but those music-free opening notes have become the song’s trademark, as has the famous high note that Houston nails later on in the song.
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4. Blinded by the Light – Mannfred Mann covering Bruce Springsteen
"Blinded by the Light" was the first single from Bruce Springsteen's 1973 debut album Greetings from Asbury Park N.J. The boss’ version was unsuccessful and the song was mostly unknown until Mannfred Mann’s 1977 cover made us all wonder if he was actually singing “wrapped up like a douche.” The lyric is actually “revved up like a deuce.” Springsteen has joked that it was not until Mann rewrote the song to be about a "feminine hygiene product" that it became popular.
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5. Hurt – Johnny Cash covering Nine Inch Nails
Music icon Rick Rubin, producer of Cash's American series and a friend of Nine Inch Nail’s Trent Reznor, suggested the song to country legend Cash. The line "crown of sh-t" was changed to "crown of thorns" to make the song more appropriate for the highly religious Cash.
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Be sure to check out:
Vitamin String Quartet Tribtue to Bruce Springsteen
Available now at iTunes and Amazon
The String Quartet Tribute to Nine Inch Nails
Available now at iTunes and Amazon
Ah the 80’s, you simultaneously shame me and make me want to break out into dance. 80’s covers have always sort of been horrible, why is that? I’m guessing that has to do with the overall quality of music in that time period. No one seemed to know what the hell was going on (except Michael Jackson). Here’s a list of some odd covers coming from some odd bands in the last 10 years.
10. Dinosaur Jr. “Just Like Heaven” (The Cure)
Every band has covered this song, but no one makes it their own like Jay Mascis. The amount of distortion and sloppy shredding going on before the lyrics come in is truly inspiring. It’s the most ballsy a Cure song has ever sounded.
9. Kings Of Convenience "Free Fallin’” (Tom Petty)
This is one of those songs that guy at the party who brought a guitar always plays. Luckily, these guys do it so well, that you’re free to smash that guy’s guitar and play this instead.
8. Postal Service "Against All Odds" (Phil Collins)
The first time I heard this cover I almost thought it was an original until I heard the chorus. Postal Service does it so well, adding a good amount of desperation in a way only Ben Gibbard can.
7. She & Him "Please Please Please, Let Me Get What I Want" (The Smiths)
I’m admittedly not a fan of sad British pop music from the 80’s, but I do love me some Zooey Deschanel and I very much enjoy this cover that was set to 500 Days Of Summer’s soundtrack.
6. Band Of Horses "You Make My Dreams Come True" (Hall & Oates)
Come on, you knew I wouldn’t make a list like this without some Hall & Oates, the king and queen of the 80’s (I’ll let you decide who the queen is). This song makes me want to get up and just kick the air.
5. David Byrne "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" (Whitney Houston)
David Byrne makes this song funky, not that it already didn’t have a good rhythm for dancing. I remember my sister all scrunchied up dancing to this song back in the day.
Hearing Ceelo sing this song works, but it’s really all about the xylophone, and Danger Mouse does the Femmes proud here. Yes he can play instruments, no he’s not just a DJ anymore.
3. The Lemonheads “Skulls” (The Misfits)
This is one of my favorite covers of all time, and I’ve spent many weeks attempting to find it after it disappeared from my iTunes. While most of the Lemonheads’ other work doesn’t quite hit me, hearing Glenn Danzig’s song about mounting skulls on his wall sung so sweetly is just perfect.
2. Gary Jules "Mad World" (Tears For Fears)
Thanks to Donnie Darko, Gary Jules came under most peoples’ radars with his whisper soft cover of this totally 80’s hit. This version just makes a bit more sense to me without a lot of overused synthesizers.
1. Tori Amos "Raining Blood" (Slayer)
Yes, this really happened. I actually don’t like Tori at all, she’s very much a diva and is not polite to those she doesn’t know. But, behavior aside, this is one of the more interesting covers of any band ever. I wonder if Slayer enjoyed it?
Honorable Mentions:
Gossip "Careless Whisper" (Wham!)
Boy Least Likely To "Faith" (George Michael)
The Flaming Lips “Borderline” (Maddona)
The Arcade Fire “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” (Cyndi Lauper)
What are your favorite covers of songs from the 80's?