The BossHoss

In a comment to my Covers post, Heather Awen wrote that she was surprised when people knew of a German band called The BossHoss. I take it for granted, because I think everyone who lives in Germany has at least a passing familiarity with this band from Berlin. But as I thought about it, I realized that this band, like other good bands from Germany and other countries, might not have yet found their way to more global audiences. It occurred to me a few minutes ago that although the readership for my blog is not large, it is actually quite global (a combination I am very happy with!) … so I thought I would post a few more music videos here and give people around the world a taste of a band that is not shy about mixing musical genres under a sort of Texas-Biker-Punk-Cowboy-from-Berlin style. Fair warning: for a first dose, I think you either like this band or you don’t; but be careful if you don’t like them, because they do start to grow on you after a while – I speak from experience ;-)  Depending on your work environment, these songs / videos may not be ideal to play while on the clock.

I Like It Like That

Last Day

Dos Bros

… and my personal favorite, My Personal Song

Covers – a bit of frivolity

Since posting about the intended remake of The Craft, I’ve not been able to get the Letters to Cleo cover for the Cars’ Dangerous Type out of my head. I have a sort of love-hate relationship with cover songs … the majority of them, I truly dislike; but for the few that I like, I like them better than the originals. I have decided to add this song to the list of these few cover songs.

• Johnny Cash’s cover of Nine Inch Nails’ Hurt – it’s Johnny Cash, and he’s singing Nine Inch Nails in a way that makes the listener believe the song might have been written by Trent Reznor for Johnny Cash. This isn’t a knock against NIN … I think it’s just a foregone conclusion when Johnny Cash wants to sing a song you wrote about pain and suffering, that he’s going to make it his.
• Soft Cell’s cover of Gloria Jones’ Tainted Love – a classic cover, and for very good reason!
• The BossHoss’ cover of Dolly Parton’s Jolene – this one had to grow on me, as I think Dolly Parton’s voice, especially when she didn’t go all-out, is to this day not easy to top. Also, it was an adjustment to hear the male voices from The BossHoss in this song … but in the end I think the song and the video are good enough that I do prefer them over the original.
• Joan Jett and the Blackhearts’ cover of AC / DC’s Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap – this is my all-time favorite cover, hands-down. The funny thing is, I grew up listening to some of their music (as well as AC / DC) and didn’t stumble across this song until much later in life. I generally enjoy AC / DC’s music and was shocked to see a woman taking over the vocals – for this, of all songs! – but all I needed was the first half minute of the song to realize that Joan Jett took this song, made it hers, and improved upon it in ways I guess only she could have done. That she had a superb band backing her up certainly helped; but it was her vocals that really made this cover stand out. It’s not the only song they covered; but in my opinion, even the ever-popular I Love Rock ‘n Roll cover doesn’t come close to this.
• and now, Letters to Cleo’s cover of the Cars’ Dangerous Type.

What are some of your favorite cover songs?