Another pop-culture question for the audience: Jason Hare, in the course of recapping a Top Ten from 1985 makes a shrewd observation:
"Sussudio" was a damn catchy song in 1985 and while nobody will admit to liking it now, I guarantee you that once an indie band covers it, Stereogum will lose their shit.
So, the question is, who should cover it? I'm not going to be terribly strict about the "indie" classification, as I have trouble keeping track of who has sold out these days, so let's leave it open:
Some band working today is going to cover Phil Collins's "Sussudio," and it's going to be awesome: who is the band for the job?
Alternatively, if you find the thought of Phil Collins covers too horrible to contemplate, suggest another cheeseball but catchy song from the 80's, and a band that would do a kick-ass cover version of it.
(My default answer for any "who should cover this song" question is whatever band Greg Dulli is fronting at the moment (Twilight Singers, Afghan Whigs). I'm not sure how "Sussudio" can be made to sound sinister, but I bet they could manage it...)
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Nouvelle Vague, obviously.
Hayseed Dixie!
I think Marc Cohn could do a bangup "Hero".
Raspberry Beret was covered well (better?) by Warren Zevon and REM (minus Stipe).
Agreed - everything Greg Dulli touches turns to gold. Who'd have thought anyone could cover Hyperballad by Bjork, for god's sake???
Although, now that I think about it... I think Sussudio would be just fine as a really stupid-fast pseudopunk Green Day song.
I like Ol' Dirty Bastard's "version of it; and though they didn't include it on Murdering the Classics, I know Yo La Tengo covered it as some point during one of those telethons.
Also, if Dulli covered it, he'd go sultry, not sinister, a la "My World Is Empty Without You" or "Dark End of the Street."
I like Ol' Dirty Bastard's "version of it;
That's kind of freaky.
I don't think it really counts as a cover, though. I mean, he just lifted the chorus, and stuck it into a totally unrelated rap.
Also, if Dulli covered it, he'd go sultry, not sinister, a la "My World Is Empty Without You" or "Dark End of the Street."
I don't know about you, but I definitely think the Whigs version of "My World Is Empty Without You" has a sinister edge to it. Ditto "Dark End of the Street." "Sultry" is not the first word that comes to mind.
Which is not to say he couldn't do a sultry version-- they managed to make "Lost in the Supermarket" sound sexy, after all. I guess it would depend on whether he was in Gentlemen mode, or 1965 mode-- in the former, I could easily imagine "Sussudio" coming off like a stalker song.
I remember back in 85 even while I was sick of Mr Collins, thinking that in a few years when we'd gotten over being bombarded by them, his stuff would be seen as dead catchy good pop songs. I'd love a decent cover of any of his hits.