I Don't Wanna Grow Up

Cover version of the month #34
Scarlett Johansson covers The Ramones/Tom Waits

UPDATE - I usually research the history of a song before writing a blog about a cover version. However I was so confident that this song was a cover of The Ramones that I didn't bother! So thanks to Jamie Keenan from the La Fontaines for pointing out that it is in fact a Tom Waits song, released on his 1992 album Bone Machine.

Check the original version here, before my unresearched blog below. Lesson learned!

I'm not overly familiar with the back catalogue of The Ramones (who may feature in this regular feature again soon with their cover of The Ronettes) at all. Other than owning some of their 'hit' singles on various compilation albums, they are not a band who have inspired me to dig deep into their history.....or buy a t-shirt!

This is yet another song that I discovered through a cover version. I was browsing Scarlett Johansson ....(ahem!) on Spotify and loved the song title so clicked on play.

The almost homemade electro vibe captivated me immediately, and then Scarlett's treated vocals made me fall (further) under her spell.

The lyrics are brilliantly young, naive and innocent, yet at the same time some of them speak out and capture things that everyone thinks about at times.

Nothing ever seems to turn out right

I don't want to grow up

Seems that folk turn into things

That they never want

The only thing to live for is today

The song lists observations about the world and society, cutting through everything from watching the 5 o'clock news, to getting a loan, to hair falling out.

The Ramones version is predictably punk pop and it's great fun. But Scarlett's version would always get my vote as I think it capture that young frustration and is more believable than The Ramones.

She finds extra beauty in the song, in the lyrics and in the melody. And the sparse electro backing modernises the song brilliantly.

Previous covers of the month

1. You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' 

2. Going Back To My Roots

3. Nirvana play The Vaselines

4. Slip Inside This House

5. Top 10 covers by Teenage Fanclub

6. Only Love Can Break Your Heart

7. Time For Livin' 

8. Sound and Vision 

9. All Along The Watchtower

10. I Am The Walrus 

11. Guiding Star

12. You’ll Never Walk Alone

13. Hurt
14. This Guy's In Love With You

15. I Wish I Never Saw The Sunshine
16. California Soul
18. Wonder wall 
19. Dancing In The Dark
20. Always On My Mind
21. Ceremony
22. Heroes
23. Different Drum
24. Wild Horses

25. Respect
26. Mr Tambourine Man
27. I Heard It Through The Grapevine
28. Superstar
29. Twist and Shout
30. Purple Rain
31. Baker Street
32. Not Fade Away
33. Stop Your Sobbing

Never Ending Mixtape Part 2

Welcome to the second instalment of the Never Ending Mixtape that you can check out on Spotify.

14 songs are added to the mixtape and it is an eclectic collection ranging from Nick Drake to The Clash with Hendrix, Marvin Gaye, Nirvana, The Undertones, long lost bedroom romantics Alfie and hmmmm Scarlett Johansson in between.

Time Of No Reply (orchestrated version) - Nick Drake
Just beautiful. I'd only really listened to the classic Pink Moon album until earlier this year. There is a treasure trove of wonder to delve into.

Let Me Get There - Hope Sandoval and Kurt Vile
My friend Alan Clarke turned me on to this. I adore Hope Sandoval, her voice is stunning and I love loads of her stuff; solo, with Mazzy Star and guesting on songs with the likes of the Marychain and Death In Vegas.

Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler) - Marvin Gaye
What a groove, Marvin sounding exceptional. Incredible political and socially conscious lyrics.

Hercules - Aaron Neville
Listen to this on headphones, you can just make out an audible groan of satisfaction right at the start when the groove kicks in. And what a groove! And Aaron Neville just flows with his melody, delivery and poetic genius.

Little Wing - Jimi Hendrix
So yeah, this was released in 1967. Far out, gorgeous, funky, soulful, genius. It sounds mind blowing in 2016, imagine what it was like back then?

Buttermilk - Captain America/Eugenius
Eugene Kelly has written some incredible songs in his time. Captain America was his short lived post Vaselines band, changing names to Eugenius after a legal threat from Marvel Comics. Much loved by Nirvana. I love the guitar riffs and the urgent vocal melody.

Lounge Act - Nirvana
Speaking of guitar riffs and urgent vocals (and flow melody) - what about this gem from Nirvana's classic Nevermind album?! Kurt just gets to the stage where he injects extra ferocity and speed into his guitar and screams his heart out. Just listened to this for the first time in a few years - sensational.

Teenage Kicks - The Undertones
Teenage angst in purest punk pop form.

When You Walk In The Room - The Searchers
Speaking of teenage angst - this is wonderful loving pop music. I first heard this when my friend's Ben and Annisa had it as their first dance at their wedding. A Jackie DeShannon song - well worth tracking down some of the compilations of her songs.

If You Ever Get Your Hands On Love - Gladys Knight and the Pips
Motown at its best - beat, groove, melody, hooks, soul and advice.

It's You - Chris Grant
Recorded in his garage in Liverpool. This is a beautiful lofi love song that deserves to be recorded in Abbey Road with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. His It's Not About War album from 2013 contains several other stunner; particularly I Am The One and Like A 45.

Don't Wanna Grow Up - Scarlett Johansson
Scarlett Johansson does synth pop with childish charm - superb.

It's Just About The Weather - Alfie
I caught Alfie (from Manchester) at King Tut's one time and fell for their lazy charm. They looked like they had just got out of bed and produced gems like this.

The Magnificent Seven - The Clash
Surely one of the best opening tracks on an album ever. The Clash released a triple album with Sandista! and guaranteed that it would sell at normal price! Incredible value for fans and there is so much to take in - reggae, dub, punk, pop.