Sunday, October 20, 2013

Sweet and Hoffs Cover the '80s

It was a year ago I mentioned the terrific news that Susanna Hoffs and Matthew Sweet were working on a third volume of 'Under the Covers,' and this time they would be taking on tunes from the '80s. Well, the date is set and just around the corner. Here is a quick look at the final tracklist for Nov. 12 release. Like the first two volumes, grr, there are bonus tracks on iTunes.

'Under the Covers, Vol. 3' Tracklist:
1. Sitting Still (R.E.M.)
2. Girls Talk (Dave Edmunds via Elvis Costello)
3. Big Brown Eyes (The dB's)
4. Kid (Pretenders)
5. Free Fallin' (Tom Petty)
6. Save It For Later (The English Beat)
7. They Don't Know (Kirsty MacColl)
8. The Bulrushes (The Bongos)
9. Our Lips Are Sealed (The Go-Go's)
10. How Soon Is Now? (The Smiths)
11. More Than This (Roxy Music)
12. Towers of London (XTC)
13. Killing Moon (Echo and the Bunnymen)
14. Trouble (Lindsey Buckingham)
Bonus Tracks on iTunes Deluxe Version:
Train in Vain (The Clash)
You're My Favorite Waste of Time (Marshall Crenshaw)
I Would Die 4 U (Prince)

Outside of maybe the Petty and Buckingham songs, I think it's an inspired list. OK, the pick from the Smiths is kind of obvious, but I have to admit I'm curious about how it will sound. One of my favorites here is "They Don't Know." If you're an American, you may recall the smash hit by Tracey Ullman from 1983. It's a bit poppier than MacColl's original (which, by the way, was released in the summer of '79, not in the '80s, hmm), but both takes are fantastic. Kirsty, what can I say? You are missed. Hey, wait a minute, wasn't the Edmunds' version of "Girls Talk" released in '79 as well? Oh, who cares...

Kirsty MacColl - They Don't Know (mp3) (Buy)
Tracey Ullman - They Don't Know (mp3) (Buy)

1 comment:

Brett Alan said...

That is indeed pretty inspired. I suggested (via Popdose, which took interview questions) "Somewhere Near Japan" by the Beach Boys, which I still think would have been great, but they weren't interested. I'd have also loved it if they did something obscure--oh, what they could do with "Cold Heart" by the Jasmine Minks. I can understand why they wanted to keep it more familiar, though (and it's not like the Bongos and the dBs are in heavy rotation on classic rock stations!). Lots of great songs here. Looking forward to this, and hopefully more volumes to come!