The other day “Sebastian”, although he may going by original name now that the summer is over, (long story, but anything involving a pseudonym usuallly is) requested I forward him this Morrissey track. It's a cover of “That's Entertainment” by The Jam. Which is the only song I can name from The Jam myself, so this isn't going to be one of those posts that educate about The Jam, or about Morrissey for that matter. But it's a good song that I've also heard covered by Ted Leo (sort of) on WFMU. He went on to suggest maybe I should listen to The Jam, and maybe I should.
This track appeared on the Just Say Anything compilation released in 1991. This CD also introduced me to the song “Another Girl, Another Planet”, which I had no idea at the time was a cover, but completely realized what a great song it was. The Only Ones were the original artist by the way, The Mighty Lemon Drops do a nice job with it though. I've heard some live Replacements performances of this track as well.
MP3s:
Morrissey – That's Entertainment
The Mighty Lemon Drops – Another Girl, Another Planet
This is awesome. I love the original so much I clicked with the hope that Morrisey would do it justice. Figgered he might… he's a talented fella as well, and Larzini never steers me astray (ahem… Shonen Knife remains a point of divergence in taste) but covers can range from a fine but pointless imitation to a travesty to so amazing that the cover artist then “owns” it… the Jam still owns this one but Morrisey's cover does it justice and then some… actually, he's even enabled me to understand a few of Weller's brilliant lyrics a little better, as sometimes ol' Paul's accent can be a smidge cryptic for me. Thanks for this, Larz… FYI, the original is beautifully featured in the film “Stranger than Fiction” which was so good it actually surprised me by making me appreciate Will Ferrel (no small task there). Actually I suspect that the lead in that film is really Albert Brooks doing a cover of Will Ferrel. (what??)
concluding on note of wierdness,
Peter Sebastian (pseudonymical compromise for now)