I’m a big fan of “Not What I Expected.” I like it when people fold, spindle, and mutilate musical things in an interesting way, to render them more interesting to contemporary ears.
Jazz players often get ahold of seemingly mundane pop tunes and take them up a notch. Or if you’re Coltrane, you take My Favorite Things to Saturn and back:
Reggae players specialize in this sort of thing, making things fresh, but still familiar. You haven’t really lived until you’ve heard Toots and the Maytals sing Country Roads, Take Me Home:
Or maybe Pat Kelly singing A Whiter Shade of Pale:
Of course the Not What I Expected approach to music requires a delicate balance of song selection and execution. When it goes wrong, which is most of the time, it can go very, very wrong.
But then again, that last video is exactly what I would expect from two guys who can’t sing and have no rhythm. But letting the record label put it out where the general public can see it is Not What I Expected, surely.
One Response
I have mixed feelings about covers, but that follows from the mixed execution of them. In general, musicians ought to avoid doing them unless they can really bring something to the table that improves on them, or, as you say, provides a fresh approach. Take, for example, the cover of “The Wall”, by Luther Wright and the Wrongs. Now that’s the way to do it. Conversely, I’ve heard some “Jazz” covers of pop/rock tunes, that were immensely boring.
Johnny Cash’s covers of “Personal Jesus” and “Hurt” are very good.
I could go on here, but I shouldn’t ramble on too much in your comments.