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Listapalooza: Cover Songs

There are fewer things in the  world of music that can be so hit and miss, so ying and yang, so Ike and Tina Turner as the cover song. Will we be experiencing a revolutionary new take on an old favorite? Or did someone just defile the Mona Lisa with feces and techno-pop?

Here are a few of my favorite covers:
Song (Original artist) by Cover Artist (Album) — Links go to iTunes

• Common People (Pulp) by William Shatner (Has Been) — The original is good. The cover is better.
• Ain't No Sunshine (Bill Withers) by Adam Again (Ten Stories) — Gene Eugene's plaintive wail fits this song perfectly.
• Nobody's Fault But Mine (Blind Willie Johnson) by Led Zepplin & The 77s — Their versions are pretty similar, but I guess I gotta give the nod to Zep since they did it first.
• Asleep In The Light (Keith Green) by Michael Card (No Compromise: Remembering The Music Of Keith Green) — One of those covers that scarily close to the original, yet still is cool.
• I Won't Back Down (Tom Petty) by Johnny Cash (American III: Solitary Man) — It was a toss up between this and "Hurt", but since Tom Petty sings backup vocals on his OWN SONG for Cash, this one gets the nod. Besides, it's almost like Cash is literally staring down death when he sings "You can stand me up at the gates of hell, but I won't back down."
• Darling Nikki (Prince) by Foo Fighters — Noisy guitars, screaming, and Dave Grohl must make Prince proud.

What covers am I overlooking?

Listapalooza: Business Jargon

Jargon is an interesting thing. I remember one time, me and this guy Dave that I worked with in the computer repair shop in college were giving blood. We’re sitting on opposite gurneys, talking about work. I think half our conversation was in acronyms and numbers. Must have sounded so bizarre to anyone else.

Some jargon is designed to let those on the “inside” know who has been accepted and to keep the unwanted out. Slang from the street certainly fits this category. But what I hate is business jargon that seems to exist just to make you sound more “professional” without communicating anything that “normal” words couldn’t.

Here are some that make red hot flames engulf my vision.

Reaching Out: Oh, how I hate thee. Can’t you just say, “I called them” or whatever? “I reached out to the client and let them know we needed more info.” So. Lame.

Engagement: Let me share an actual quote from work. “We strive to deliver value-added products, resources, services and discounts for our Team Members to enhance their morale and engagement.” Don’t you just mean “so they’ll like their job”?

Needs: When used as a noun. It’s just lazy.

Download: This doesn’t bother me too much, but it’s really just a way of saying “tell”. “I’ll download Bobby about our meeting” vs. “I’ll tell Bobby about our meeting”. Save a syllable here, people.

Critical: Soooo overused. Not even half of the stuff that is deemed “critical” is really critical. “Our ability to deliver on the deep-fried Oreo timeframe is critical.” Consider me not worried. Also: “timeframe”.

Actionable: Basically means “something I can do”. I almost went with “Action Item”, but this is more pretentious. “This plan needs to be actionable.” Well, DUH! Shouldn’t ALL plans be like that? The only reason this word even exists is because people were having meetings that didn’t lead to change. And where do you hear this word used most? MEETINGS!

Recontextualize: Seriously, if you use this word, now you’re just feeling inadequate because you don’t actually know the English language. As ESPN once told my friend Pudge, “Read a book!”

What business jargon do you loathe?

Listapalooza: Songs About Cake

Honestly confused conversation with a friend recently went something like this (my paraphrase):

Me: Yeah, it's one of Laura's favorite Cake songs.
She: How many songs about cake does she like?

Which of course led me to wonder (after clearing up the situation), "How many songs about cake might there be?"

I could only think of one song that mentions cake: MacArthur Park.

MacArthur's Park is melting in the dark
All the sweet, green icing flowing down
Someone left the cake out in the rain
I don't think that I can take it
'Cause it took so long to bake it
And I'll never have that recipe again

If you expand it to include pie, you got "Cherry Pie" by Warrent, "Diner" by Martin Sexton, and probably a lot more. But let's not turn this into a Cake vs. Pie war.

What songs do you know that mention sweet, delicious cake?

Listapalooza: Musical Surprises

All links go to the iTunes Store.

In honor of the newly formed "Music Monday", this week's Listapalooza is about albums that I never expected to be as good as they were. Or are. Or whatever. Musical surprises, if you will.

Also know as, "Albums I Bought On A Whim That Actually Ended Up Being Pretty Good".

1. William Shatner, Has Been — Now, I know what you're thinking. Shatner. "Rocket Man". The Transformed Man. Forget all that. This is William Shatner, writing with wit, poise, and great self-deprecation. And with Ben Folds producing as well as writing and playing the music. Alternating between funny ("Has Been", "Ideal Woman"), touching ("It Hasn't Happened Yet", "That's Me Trying"), and downright awesome ("You'll Have Time"), it's a tour de force from one of our culture's greatest pop icons. Seriously, just watch him, Joe Jackson, and Ben Folds doing "Common People" on Leno.
2. Tom Cochran, Mad Mad World — I bought this album for the cover. I was perusing the used CD bin at my local reseller, and I wanted something with some electric guitar in it. This looked like my mood, so I bought it. The opening track, "Life Is A Highway" (recently covered very poorly for Cars), was great and off I went. Solid throughout, it's a pretty good rock album from the early 90's.
3. Curious Fools, Curious Fools — I could not tell you why or when I bought this album. Well, other than sometime around when it came out (1994). It was probably the messy (in a good way) cover of Janis Joplin's "Piece Of My Heart" that got me in the door. But from top to bottom, it's a great slice of alternative rock. The album roars out of the gate with "Witness My Death" and goes from there. Their follow-up album, Read, was good, too. But after that, they turned into your run-of-the-mill, boring rock band. Bleh. So much potential.
4. Ashley Cleveland, Bus Named Desire — Geez, apparently I bought most of my surprising music 15 years ago... We were watching Dakota (before they became Dakota Motor Co) in this Christian bookstore in Newport Beach. They'd just gotten back from Cornerstone, and the lead singer said that the best performer she'd seen at C-Stone was Ashley Cleveland. So I bought Bus Named Desire. Wow. You want a woman whose voice may actually smolder? She's your gal. Kind of a cross between Bonnie Raitt and Melissa Ethridge, this album is a good collection of soulful, passionate songs. The title track is probably the biggest standout on the album, but I always enjoyed "Feel Like Falling", "Trust" and "Light At The End Of The Tunnel" as well.

Which of your albums would you put on this list?

Listapalooza: Sitcoms

Welcome to the first Listapalooza. It'll run every Tuesday and feature a list to discuss. Unless you people kill it.

I was inspired by my friend Jeanie, who loves lists. There's the ubiquitous shopping list. And the daily "to do" list. And the list of things to talk about at a later date. And the computer issue list. And so on. For all I know, she may have lists of things to make lists about. Which is probably why she really loves Zen Habits. It's all lists, all the time.

Lists have a interesting effect on our psyche. From the "self-help" side (like Zen Habits), they give us (hopefully) a salient reduction of information that we can easily apply to our lives. Check, check, check, ahh. Sense of accomplishment.

My lists are not going to be like that. They will, most likely, not be helpful. In any way.

Mine will be more like Entertainment Weekly's "50 Greatest Animated Film Scenes Featuring Renal Failure" lists. Ones that could never, in any way, be finalized or agreed upon. They exist to sell media, get people talking, and have no long-term value. That's more my style.

Top 5 Sitcoms

1. The Cosby Show — I really enjoyed this show as a kid. Many fond memories. Then I become a parent and started watching it again. And I laughed at it all over again, but from a different angle. A show that works for kids and adults, that always has a positive portrayal of families that love each other, AND often featured great music (B.B. King, Steve Wonder, etc)? Count me in.
2. SportsNight — The smartest sitcom to ever grace network television. Ever. And wickedly funny. This is where Aaron Sorkin honed his chops for West Wing.
   
3. Cheers — This one always reminds me of my dad laughing. This was one of his favorite shows and I grew up on it. The Kristie Alley years were a little lean, but Woody Harrelson has never been better. The fact that they were all Red Sox fans probably didn't hurt, either.
4. The George Lopez Show — I don't know if it's from living in LA for so long, but Laura and I have a huge soft spot for this show. The acting isn't great, but we're always laughing when watching it and often quoting it later.
5. Friends — I was never a big "Friends" watcher. But every time I turned it on, it made me laugh. Every. Time. So it makes the list.
6. Runner Up: Malcolm In The Middle. Throwing confetti in the wood chipper? Makes me laugh just thinking about it.

So now it's your turn. What shows are missing from my list? I can guess what show Jeanie would dream of adding, and Steve can't type "Seinfeld" fast enough, so have at it!