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Avg: 2.5 (7 ratings)
- Date Released: November 29, 1994
- Genre: Rock/Pop
- Style: Commercial Alternative
- Label: Pravda Records / The Orchard
-
We Say...
To some bands, the idea of a cool cover is to take some guilty-pleasure tune and play it at either high-octane speeds or super-sloppy, as if to suggest that the whole pursuit is nothing more than the wink of a musical eye. Other bands (the Minutemen, the Clash, Van Halen) have paid homage to the original artist by infusing a song with their own style to create something far more memorable than a drunken encore. You can file the highlights of Star Power! under the latter category. It's a collection of great artists who have (in some cases) radically re-packaged songs you already know but might not admit you love.
Southern Culture on the Skids present the Shocking Blue's immortal 1969 hit "Venus" as a fuzzified lounge-swing that would fit the playlist of some dark burlesque club in the bad part of town. The pop-punk take on "Starsky and Hutch" co-star David Soul's "Don't Give Up On Us Baby" as delivered by Brown Betty is catchy enough to dilute the saccharine we remember, which helps the song to avoid falling into the trap described above. The A-Bones' take on the disco classic "Rock The Boat" may sound nightmarish to those of you who used to strut to the original back in the day or rocked it at a karaoke bar somewhere, but their Bo-Diddley-in-the- basement-club swagger creates an entirely new beast. "The Night That the Lights Went Out in Georgia," as re-imagined by Vic Chesnutt, becomes a much more moody affair framed by the haunting piano introduction and the somber organ in the chorus.
Not every song on here hits the mark, but the best songs on Star Power! are more than just curiosities. If you've got a couple of spare downloads this month, here's a good place to burn 'em. -
They Say...
Star Power is the third in a series of compilations featuring indie bands doing seventies K-Tel and AM radio covers, a gimmicky concept that has some occasionally wretched results. There are, of course, a few scores on the record: Southern Culture on the Skids raunches up the classic "Venus," and Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet do a typically amazing job with "Popcorn" -- but for every decent track like Red Red Meat's version of "I'm Not in Love," there's a lamentable attempt at wackiness like Fig Dish's cover of "Kung Fu Fightin'," or an attempt to let the oddity of the recombinations make up for the lack of musical substance (the Dick Nixons doing "One Tin Soldier," or Big Fish Ensemble covering "I Am Woman"). This is the sort of compilation that really doesn't need to exist, and even its finer moments can't overcome this obstacle.
-
You Say...
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| 01. |  |
Venus
|
3:46 |  |
| 02. | |
Welcome Back
|
2:47 | |
| 03. | |
Spiders and Snakes
|
3:22 | |
| 04. | |
Mama Told Me Not to Come
|
3:52 | |
| 05. | |
The Night the Lights Went out in Georgia
|
4:34 | |
| 06. | |
Kung Fu Fighting
|
3:42 | |
| 07. | |
I'm Not In Love
|
4:57 | |
| 08. | |
Popcorn
|
2:17 | |
| 09. | |
Don't Give Up On Us
|
2:40 | |
| 10. | |
How Do You Do
|
3:07 | |
| 11. | |
Ode To Billy Joe
|
6:20 | |
| 12. | |
One Tin Soldier
|
2:53 | |
| 13. | |
White Bird
|
4:50 | |
| 14. | |
Rock The Boat
|
3:12 | |
| 15. | |
Half Breed
|
3:18 | |
| 16. | |
I Am Woman
|
3:49 | |
| 17. | |
Give Me Just a Little More Time
|
3:23 | |
| 18. | |
A Horse With No Name
|
4:11 | |
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Credits
- The A-Bones - Producer // The A-Bones - Performer // The Silos - Producer // The Silos - Performer // Jim Robinson - Bass // Jim Robinson - Vocals (Background) // Vic Chesnutt - Piano // Vic Chesnutt - Vocals // Vic Chesnutt - Producer // Vic Chesnutt - Performer // Love Battery - Producer // Love Battery - Performer // Walter Salas-Humara - Guitar // Walter Salas-Humara - Vocals // Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet - Performer // Eric Ambel - Vocals // Eric Ambel - Vocals // Eric Ambel - Producer // Eric Ambel - Producer // Eric Ambel - Slide Guitar // Eric Ambel - Slide Guitar // Billy Miller - Vocals // Big Fish Ensemble - Performer // Dick Nixons - Producer // Dick Nixons - Performer // Loud Family - Performer // Southern Culture on the Skids - Producer // Southern Culture on the Skids - Engineer // Southern Culture on the Skids - Performer // Susan Voelz - Guitar // Susan Voelz - Violin // Susan Voelz - Vocals // Susan Voelz - Producer // Susan Voelz - Performer // Susan Voelz - ? // Susan Voelz - Mixing // Susan Voelz - Bass Programming // Jozef Becker - Drums // Bruce Bennett - Guitar // Bruce Bennett - Vocals // Albert Caiati - Drums // Albert Caiati - Vocals // Dave Clair - Guitar // Dave Clair - Vocals (Background) // Keith Cleversley - Producer // Brian Deck - Drums // Brian Deck - Engineer // Brian Deck - ? // Brian Deck - Casio // Sheila Doyle - Bass // Bruce Fairweather - Bass // Leigh Finlayson - Horn (Baritone) // Jason Finn - Drums // Zeus Freidman - Editing // Rob Gal - Producer // Rob Gal - Engineer // Glenn Girard - Guitar // Kenn Goodman - Executive Producer // Daren Hess - Drums // Tim Hurley - Bass // Tim Hurley - Vocals // Mikko Lankinen - Guitar // Mikko Lankinen - Vocals // Michael Lorant - Drums // Rick Miller - Guitar // Rick Miller - Vocals // Scott Miller - Guitar // Scott Miller - Vocals // Scott Miller - Producer // Ron Nine - Guitar // Ron Nine - Vocals // Dan Prater - Bass // Steve Price - Bass // Craig Ross - Mixing // Tim Rutili - Keyboards // Tim Rutili - Vocals // Paul Schwartz - Guitar // Paul Schwartz - Vocals (Background) // Jay Sherman-Godfrey - Guitar // Jay Sherman-Godfrey - Vocals // Jeremy Tepper - Guitar // Jeremy Tepper - Harmonica // Jeremy Tepper - Vocals // Kevin Whitworth - Guitar // Paul Wieneke - Keyboards // Paul Wieneke - Engineer // Opal Foxx - Vocals // Red Red Meat - Performer // Wanna Bees - Producer // Wanna Bees - Performer // Tom Freund - Bass // Doug McBride - Tambourine // Doug McBride - Vocals (Background) // Doug McBride - Producer // Doug McBride - Engineer // Chris Searles - Drums // Joshua Shapera - Engineer // Jim Weber - Engineer // Fig Dish - Producer // Fig Dish - Performer // Mary Huff - Bass // Mary Huff - Vocals // Miriam Linna - Drums // Miriam Linna - Vocals // Peter Linzell - Sax (Baritone) // Jerry Anderson - Drums // Siam - Drums // Siam - Vocals (Background) // Rex Daisy - Producer // Rex Daisy - Performer // Rob Veal - Organ // Rob Veal - Bass // Rob Veal - Piano // Zachary Smith - Guitar // Ian Schneller - Guitar // Ian Schneller - Vocals // Sheila Sachs - Design // Dave Hartman - Drums // Dave Hartman - Finger Snaps // Dave Schmitt - Producer // Barrett Jones - Engineer // Mike Ruekberg - Guitar // Mike Ruekberg - Vocals // Jon Sanchez - Vocals (Background) // Thomas Hedquist - Producer // Thomas Hedquist - Engineer // Charles Leftwing - Bass // Kent Musser - Guitar // Kent Musser - Cello // John Radical - Saxophone // John Radical - Vocals // John Ridenour - Bass // Kirk Springstone - Guitar // Kirk Springstone - Vocals // Mitch Straeffer - Bass // Brian Connelly - Organ // Brian Connelly - Guitar // Liam Watson - Engineer // Mike Willison - Bass // Mike Willison - Vocals (Background) // P-A Sonic - Guitar (Rhythm) // P-A Sonic - Keyboards // P-A Sonic - Vocals (Background) // Lars Espensen - Sax (Tenor) // Falstaff - Producer // Falstaff - Performer // JC - Guitar (Acoustic) // JC - Guitar (Rhythm) // JC - Vocals // Blake Smith - Guitar // Blake Smith - Vocals (Background) // Guitar Pete - Guitar // Guitar Pete - Guitar (Rhythm) // Reid Diamond - Bass // Andy Hamilton - Drums // Andy Hamilton - Vocals (Background) // Bill Cameron - Guitar // Bill Cameron - Vocals // Brown Betty - Producer // Brown Betty - Performer // World Famous Blue Jays - Performer // Mark Smith - Percussion // Mark Smith - Producer // Mark Smith - Engineer // Tom Shover - Drums // Mark Luecke - Executive Producer // Tom Jasek - Drums
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