jbrotherlove

My two rules with music covers is to bring something new to the song and preferably, cover a song that wasn’t a big hit. It’s disheartening to see so many artists simply retread what’s already been done. In my opinion, there’s no great accomplishment in recreating a song note-for-note that was already a hit. Any good karaoke singer can do that.

Enter Jazzanova from 2008′s Of All The Things. As a huge fan of Morrissey and The Smiths, my immediate reaction to a cover from 1988′s Viva Hate was outrage. However, Jazzanova’s arrangement and Paul Randolph’s vocals give the song a completely different feel. Even when lyrics like “do as I do and scrap your fey ways” feel incongruent to the new sound, their take is a perfect example of a great cover. I don’t like it better than the original; I like it differently.

Dial – A – Cliché by Morrissey
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Dial A Cliche (Feat. Paul Randolph) by Jazzanova
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