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Post by sean on Feb 9, 2008 15:22:00 GMT
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Post by dem on Feb 9, 2008 17:28:04 GMT
Thanks for the link, Sean. He was brilliant! I remember when they performed this on Top Of The Pops and the next day's letters page in The Sun was dominated with psycho blue rinse Tom Jones groupies who wanted Alex lynched for sacrilege!  |
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Post by PeterC on Feb 9, 2008 17:41:13 GMT
Alex Harvey was terrific, but I've always thought the best example of a horror story told through a pop song is 'Mack the Knife' , sung by Bobby Darin.
When, as a kid, I used to hear that song on the radio I found it really disturbing. I think it's Darin's gleeful rendition that does it.
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Post by dem on Feb 9, 2008 17:48:57 GMT
My favourite version of Mack The Knife is by the Psychedelic Furs - they really make something completely their own of it and Richard Butler's rasping vocal is entirely right. It's a splendid racket!
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Post by sean on Feb 9, 2008 17:56:51 GMT
One of my favourites, is Mack the Knife. Haven't heard the Furs version, I'll have too look out for it! I'm a big fan of the Threepenny opera, and have a few interesting versions from various performances, the best being a crackly one in German from the 1930s, which sounds as creepy as hell. The Young Gods did an album of Brech / Weill stuff, which was pretty good (can't remember if Mack was on it though). And, of course Nick Cave covered it... www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3_2zbZwDlM |
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Post by dem on Feb 9, 2008 18:08:41 GMT
. Haven't heard the Furs version, I'll have too look out for it! It was the b-side to the original Pretty In Pink single (i.e., by the seven-piece Furs and not the re-recorded, Americanized version from The Breakfast Club which gave them their first hit). If you got the 12" there was bonus track, the semi-legendary Soap Commercial, and a P-furs t-shirt thrown in! I'm not sure if it's since been added to one of the CD's but it certainly didn't make any album at the time. Great performance by the mighty Nick! I'd not seen or heard that before! |
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Post by sean on Feb 10, 2008 14:44:44 GMT
The Nick Cave cover is on an album 'Sepetember Songs' I think, and the vid is from the program that went with it. Using my mystical powers (less said the better), I've now checked out the Psychedelic Furs version. It turned up on b-sides CD, apparently. Nice. 'Pirate Jenny' (Seerauber Jenny), also from The Threepenny Opera, is also quite creepy, a nice Vaulty revenge fantasy. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4ppMP48EqQAnd speaking of revenge fantasy songs, Shellac (Steve Albini of Big Black fames current band) have a song called 'Prayer to God' which takes some beating in that category, which contains such wonderful lines as "her, she can go quietly by disease or a blow, to the base of the neck..." and "make him cry like a woman (no particular woman), let him hold out hope that somebody or other might come then fucking kill him..." Trouble down at mill, I suspect... |
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Post by franklinmarsh on Feb 11, 2008 13:35:06 GMT
I have to give Tom's Delilah the benefit of the doubt. I once owned a version by Max 'N' Gal (The Brothers Gonad - or Max Splodge and Garry Bushell) which was truly abysmal. Much as I like The Psychedelic Furs I was never much on their discordant hack at Mack. Brought up on the Darin version, I'd much rather chuck on King Kurt's jolly stab (pardon the pun) at it.
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Post by dem on Feb 11, 2008 15:49:24 GMT
Much as I like The Psychedelic Furs I was never much on their discordant hack at Mack. Where I used to live (no names, no packdrill, it was the isle of dogs, fucking swampland central, etc.), there was a particularly moody pub among moody pubs, populated by professional cockney rednecks who had that whole bigot thing down to a fine art. I hit upon this ritual before I set out for the place which involved downing a potent cocktail of, well, thisandthat and, while it was kicking in, i'd psyche myself up with the Birthday Party or the Velvet's White Light, White Heat or Black Flag's My War (often all three). The last record I played before setting out was always the Furs' version of Mack The Knife, by which time I was so fried I was ready for whatever traditional warm welcome was gonna come my way. A "discordant hack" is the best description of their version I've ever read! |
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Post by franklinmarsh on Feb 12, 2008 8:42:05 GMT
I stand corrected! Riffling through the cd collection last night, I turned up Psychedelic Furs - The Collection (a Castle Communications compilation) - Track 13 - Mack The Knife. Whacked it on and found it to be nowhere near as unlistenable as I thought. To use a sh*te X Factor cliche 'they made it their own.' Also found a King Kurt komp Alcoholic Rat with their (live) version.
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