Thursday, November 18, 2010
In South Africa the 6th Edition of Idols (ptui!) recently closed with a character named Elvis Blue being declared the winner. Now I usually don’t care about this drivel but there are a few things I feel I need to talk about to all 6 people who read this, thanks Mom… (actually if my mother reads this I’ll be very impressed ha ha)
I once interviewed the singer of a local band called The Spoonfeedas. They were relatively successful in SA having a few good singles and some radio play with good sales and a fantastic live performance. The singers, Peter Guthrie, told me how he auditioned for the first SA Idols and never made it through the first round. By the second Idols the contestants were singing one of their songs in the final rounds. It’s a pretty clear indication of where real success comes from, and it isn’t from sms votes…

What made me really mad about this latest outcome is that the “winner” is singing a version of “Things My Father Said,” by Black Stone Cherry. I love Black Stone Cherry, and funny enough I discovered this song shortly before my father passed away 2 days before my wedding on 11 December 2008. It is a brilliant piece of music and BSC deliver it so well. The song was released in 2008 so it is still very recent in the music world. South Africa hasn’t cottoned onto this band and I had to buy the album off Amazon and import it.
Then this twit from Idols releases his version as a single. Now I’m not fully against him, or cover versions but I do feel that a cover version that is arranged exactly the same as the original is a silly idea. I also reckon releasing a cover as your first single isn’t the best way to launch your career.
Let me knock the latter point out the park first. If your first release is a cover, you will gain fans for someone else’s sound. Do you remember Alien Ant Farm? And their cover of Michael Jackson’s, “Smooth Criminal?” Did you hear any more from them? I remember one song and then they disappeared. Even the fact that they did the song justice with their arrangement didn’t help them because it did not allow the fans to get familiar with their particular style. All that happened was a group of closet Michael Jackson fans got to enjoy the song in public. Fall Out Boy also recently covered a MJ song, “Beat it.” They too had some success with it with one difference. They were already established and their fan base grew by those same few closet MJ fans. The only artists I know of who have success with releasing only covers are the crooners and those who sell to old ladies. Michael Buble stands out because his follow up releases, especially his own work were very good and he has earned the respect of this writer…
Seether recently released a cover of Wham’s Careless Whisper. They added their own Seether twist to it and their fans enjoyed it. As well as a few closet Wham fans as well. Micheal Flower covered Oasis’ Wonderwall and arranged it unbelievably well. It makes the original sound like a cover. Alas this isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. Jimi Hendrix made All Along the Watchtower his own as did Garth Brooks with Bob Dylan’s To Make You Feel My Love. Jose Feliciano and the Doors’ single Light my Fire. They all made it in their own style. If it were done according to the original arrangement all credibility would have been lost.

Why would any artist bother making an audio “photocopy” of someone else’s music? Especially as a first release. Please, be intelligent and learn from the mistakes others make.

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Donovan Banks
Durban, KZN, South Africa
I am a musician who does anything and everything else. I write about what I do and how I do it. Enjoy and feel free to comment.
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