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About This Author
I am SoCalScribe. This is my InkSpot.
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Blogocentric Formulations
Logocentric (adj). Regarding words and language as a fundamental expression of an external reality (especially applied as a negative term to traditional Western thought by postmodernist critics).
Sometimes I just write whatever I feel like. Other times I respond to prompts, many taken from the following places:
 "The Soundtrackers Group" 
"Blogging Circle of Friends "
"Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise"
"JAFBG"
"Take up Your Cross"
Thanks for stopping by! 
October 28, 2015 at 10:14pm October 28, 2015 at 10:14pm
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** Image ID #2009874 Unavailable **
Song: "Don't Leave Me This Way"
Original: Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes
Cover: Thelma Houston
As much as I enjoy the Communards' cover of this song, I had to go with the Thelma Houston disco classic. This is another one that I didn't know was a cover (full disclosure: I didn't even know who Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes were until I started researching this song), but I've been familiar with Thelma Houston's more recognizable version for a long time.
I'm not a huge fan of disco (like, at all), but there are a handful of songs that I can't help but enjoy and this is one of them. It seems that I'm not alone in that either; it ranked #86 on VH1's "100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders" and #2 on their "100 Greatest Dance Songs." At 69 years old, Thelma Houston is still out there performing and while she never had another hit quite as big as this one, I think a musician can do a lot worse than a single iconic song that helped define an entire musical era.
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October 28, 2015 at 8:55pm October 28, 2015 at 8:55pm
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** Image ID #2009874 Unavailable **
Song: "I Love Rock 'n' Roll"
Original: Arrows
Cover: Joan Jett and The Blackhearts
I love popular songs that everyone assumes are originals and turn out to be covers. For years and years I assumed that Joan Jett's classic "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" was an original hit... but it turns out that this song was pioneered by Arrows, a British band who had 30 hit singles on the UK charts in their brief four-year existence, but no real presence in the United States. It seems that politics and mismanagement might have had something to do with it, though... Arrows is also notable for being the only band to be the focus of two television series over two consecutive years, and to have not released any new material during that time. 
Joan Jett originally heard this song while on tour with the Runaways, and knew a hit when she heard it.
Fun fact: I've always told people that if I ever do karaoke (which will never happen), this would be one of the songs that I sing. I love the beat, the energy, and the lyrics. It's a perfect karaoke song.
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October 28, 2015 at 8:30pm October 28, 2015 at 8:30pm
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** Image ID #2009874 Unavailable **
Song: "Valerie"
Original: The Zutons
Cover: Mark Ronson & Amy Winehouse
I have to admit that I have no idea who The Zutons are. I've only ever know the Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse version of this song, and was actually surprised to find that the version I know was a cover. Long before Mark Ronson hit the mainstream by teaming up with Bruno Mars for "Uptown Funk," he was still collaborating with great artists to do original, energetic songs. There's no question that the world lost one hell of a vocalist when Amy Winehouse died of alcohol poisoning in 2011.
Rolling Stone called this cover the "only notable recording" Winehouse did after her acclaimed Back to Black album (ouch!). I've really enjoyed Mark Ronson's music over the years; I think he's a really talented guy who has a unique sound. If "Valerie" (and "Uptown Funk") are the kinds of things we can expect from him on a regular basis, I think we've got a lot of great music ahead of us.
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October 28, 2015 at 7:44pm October 28, 2015 at 7:44pm
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** Image ID #2009874 Unavailable **
Song: "Hurt"
Original: Nine Inch Nails
Cover: Johnny Cash
I actually like the Nine Inch Nails version of this song better, but I had to include it because, well, how often do you have an iconic country crooner covering an industrial metal band rather than the other way around? Trent Reznor wrote this haunting song for 1994's the Downward Spiral, and barely missed out on a Best Rock Song Grammy (lost to Alanis Morissette's "You Oughta Know"). And even though I love the Nine Inch Nails version of the song, you can't deny that there's something extra haunting about the way Johnny Cash performs it, particularly knowing that it's one of the last hits Johnny Cash had before he died.
The song has been interpreted a number of ways and although there are clear references to self-harm and heroin addiction, audiences seem split over whether the song is intended as a suicide note written by the album's protagonist who suffers from depression, or about the difficult process of finding a reason to live in spite of depression and pain. You gotta love a song that can make people literally take opposite and equally valid interpretations away from a listening experience. 
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October 28, 2015 at 7:17pm October 28, 2015 at 7:17pm
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** Image ID #2009874 Unavailable **
Song: "I Fought The Law"
Original: The Crickets
Cover: Green Day
This was a fun one because the original artist (The Crickets) is actually still active, but the better-known acts who subsequently covered the song (The Bobby Fuller Four and, more notably, The Clash) have both disbanded. Ranked by Rolling Stone as the 175th greatest song of all time, "I Fought the Law" has been covered numerous times by artists that include Hank Williams, the Dead Kennedys, Mike Ness of Social Distortion, Bryan Adams, John Mellencamp, Johnny Cash, Bruce Springsteen, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty, the Stray Cats, Grateful Dead, Alvin and the Chipmunks, and my pick... Green Day.
Green Day was formed in 1986, but their first major album didn't hit until 1994. I was in junior high at the time and remember loving songs like, "Welcome to Paradise," "Basket Case," and "When I Come Around," but also thinking that they might not be around for very long, as a lot of punk-tyle bands at the time were kind of one-hit or one-album wonders. Of course, twenty years, nine albums, and 75 million sold units later, I think it's safe to say I was wrong (and thankfully so) about their longevity. Green Day is one of those bands that constantly seems to be reinventing themselves and really speaking to the issues of the time. I've enjoyed following their career and their music over the years, particularly the years where they released American Idiot and 21st Century Breakdown.
Fun Fact: This song was originally released as part of an iTunes commercial during Super Bowl XXXVIII
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