Addicted To Love

Cover version of the month #91
Sonic Youth / Ciccone Youth cover Robert Palmer

Have you ever wanted to hear Kim Gordon singing Robert Palmer's monster hit Addicted To Love? Even if you haven't previously, I bet you do now!

If asked to think of a 1980's music video, Robert Palmer's Addicted To Love might be the first one you think of. It's certainly up there with Jackson's Thriller and Dire Straits Money For Nothing for me. The Addicted To Love video become pretty iconic with the singer backed by a band of female models, his blow dryed hair (he sure didn't take 2 bottles into the shower!), white shirt and black tie, with his band of models stoney faced with bright red lipstick, hair slicked back and all in black - it still looks incredible. So powerful and it has been mimicked many times.

Palmer released the song as a single in 1986. Produced by Bernie Edwards from CHIC, it is a brilliant slice of pop rock. Brash drum beats kick things off, followed by buzzsaw distorted guitar and stabbing horns. Palmer begins to list things that are going wrong due to his addiction.

You can't sleep, you can't eat

There's no doubt, you're in deep

Your throat is right, you can't breath

Another kiss is all you need

We've all been there, haven't we? Head over heels, can't think about anything else, craving that fix of love, touching and feeling. Then the monster chorus with the kiss off hook kicks in. It's a great tune, I imagine this song would generate a positive response in almost any DJ set. It's fun, powerful and has a great feel to it.

Whoa, you like to think that you're immune to the stuff, oh yeah

It's closer to the truth to say you can't get enough

You know you're gonna have to face it, you're addicted to love

Ciccone Youth, a side project of Sonic Youth, began life in 1986 when the bands friend Mike Watt (formerly of Firehose and Minutemen) jammed with them and they recorded a cover version of Madonna's Burning Up, released as Burnin' Up on a 7-inch record.

Eventually, The Whitey Album was released in 1989, a year on from breakthrough album Daydream Nation, compromising of songs recorded between 1986-1988. The quality of the recordings is pretty mixed to be honest, as is the quality of the songs or experimental noise the band created. 

However, it definitely sounds like they had fun! J Mascis guests on a song with the utterly brilliant title Two Cool Rock Chicks Listening To Neu!  Sadly, the 'song' isn't as good as the title! 

Sonic Youth's cover version was allegedly recorded in a karaoke vocal booth. Kim Gordon sounds breathless, cool and super sexy. If the recording was DIY then so is the video, completely the opposite of Palmer's iconic shoot. Gordon dressed a little like Madonna, dancing and miming in front of a video screen.

Sonic Youth may well have been the coolest independent band on the planet at this point. The aforementioned Daydream Nation album and Teen Age Riot single had stamped their mark and expanded their audience. Next up was 1990's Goo album, their first for a major label. But here they were having fun with their friends and covering Robert Palmer. Super cool! You'll also hear Thurston Moore covering Madonna's Into The Groove if you do check The Whitey Album. But I prefer Kim singing Palmer.

The Robert Palmer original and Sonic Youth cover version are added to my Everything Flows Cool Cover Versions playlist on Spotify which also features all of the songs below. Search for the title or CLICK HERE

Addicted To Love - Robert Palmer official video

Addicted To Love - Ciccone Youth official video

Previous covers of the month blogs

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

34. I Don't Want To Grow Up

35. Serious Drugs

36. Dancing With Myself

37. How Does It Feel To Feel?

38. Love Buzz

39. ABBA-esque
40. Jumpin' Jack Flash

41. Discoland

42. Varshons 2 by The Lemonheads

43. The Langley Schools Music Project
44. Witchi Tai To
45. Our Lips Are Sealed
46. Sunshine Of Your Love
47. Here Comes The Sun
48. I Think We're Alone Now
49. Don't Let Me Down 
50. It's Oh So Quiet
51. Alcoholiday 
52. Summer Holiday
53. Who Do You Think You Are?
54. Head On
55. Nothing Compares 2 U

56. Hey Jude

57. Seven Days Too Long

58. L.O.V.E Love

59. Into Your Arms

60. Heart Of Glass

61. Take Me To The River

62. We Can Work It Out 

63. Talking In My Sleep

64. Lola

65. Lost In Music

66. My Little Red Book

67. Isn't It A Pity

68. Walk On By

69. Walk Away Renee

70. Tainted Love

71. Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

72. Listen The Snow Is Falling

73. Mrs Robinson

74. He's Gonna Step On You Again

75. In My Life

76. Caravan Of Love

77. The Only Way Is Up

78. Dancin' Round & Round

79. With A Little Help From My Friends

80. Killing Me Softly

81. Ain't No Mountain High Enough

82. Drop

83. Sittin' On The Dock Of The Bay

84. Sympathy For The Devil

85. I Bet That You Look Good On The Dancefloor

86. Love Will Tear Us Apart

87. Indian Rope Man + bonus Strawberry Fields Forever + This Wheels On Fire

88. Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You

89. Love The One You're With

90. Cum On Feel The Noize

Never Ending Mixtape 27

Smudge have 4-songs added to the playlist

As my mixtape (spotify playlist) heads towards 700 songs I find myself listening to it more and more. I travel quite regularly with work, so this is a perfect companion, whether I stick it on shuffle or scroll to the end for latest additions or to a certain section. I hope those of you that check it out enjoy it as well.

This month's update to the playlist has loads of indie guitar gems; The Pastels make another appearance (and it won't be the last), Frank Black is in with a solo number, Sonic Youth show us how it is done, Smudge have 4 numbers that highlight what a brilliant and unique songwriter Tom Morgan is and the fuzzy guitar pop of The Amps is a noisy delight.

R.E.M have a couple of gorgeous songs, James feature with the classic Sit Down recorded live at the G-Mex and early effort Johnny Yen. I remember the G-Mex concert came out on VHS in the summer I broke my leg as a teenager and I sat and watched it endlessly, marvelling at the way the band and audience seemed as one and the incredible response to Sit Down which is brilliantly capture on the film and also on the 12-inch vinyl I own.

If you check out one song, then check out Oh Happy Day by The Edwin Hawkins Singers, a live gospel recording that just oozes with feeling and soul.

Arcade Fire, Kathryn Joseph, The Clean, Felt and Velvet Crush are also included. Dig in.

Search for Everything Flows Never Ending Mixtape on Spotify and play from the start, click shuffle or scroll to the end to find the latest additions. Or CLICK HERE

Yellow Grass (Hamburg 1967 recording) - The Monks
Teen Age Riot - Sonic Youth
Sir Rockaby - Frank Black
Tipp City - The Amps
Everything Now - Arcade Fire
Wake Up - Arcade Fire
Comin' Through - The Pastels
Johnny Yen - James

Sit Down (Live at G-Mex) - James
Near Wild Heaven - R.E.M
Me In Honey - R.E.M
Down About It - Smudge
Scary Cassettes - Smudge
Tenderfoot - Smudge
It's Over - Smudge
Circles - Les Fleur De Lys
In The Summer Time - The Idle Race
All Or Nothing - Small Faces
Tin Soldier - Small Faces
Oh Happy Day - The Edwin Hawkins Singers

Middle America - Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks
I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight - Richard and Linda Thompson
From When I Wake The Want Is - Katryn Joseph
Stars - The Clean
Primitive Painters - Felt
Sunlight Bathed the Golden Glow - Felt
Magellan - Felt
Star Trip - Velvet Crush

Superstar by Sonic Youth

Cover of the month #28   Sonic Youth cover The Carpenters

Superstar and Yesterday Once More are songs I discovered when a split single by Sonic Youth and Redd Kross was released back in 1994, taken from The Carpenters tribute album If I Were A Carpenter.

Superstar is yet another cover of the month where I found that the original version of the song wasn't recorded by who I thought it was. The original version was released as Groupie (Superstar) by Delaney and Bonnie and I had never heard their version until I started researching and writing this blog.

The original title gives a lot away. This is a love song from a groupie to a superstar and it is pretty heartbreaking. She has been used, told that it was love, promised he would be back and reality and loneliness are kicking in. It is a beautifully written and performed song with gorgeous vocals. The chorus soars with great harmonies and horns kicking in.

The Carpenters version slows things right down to really emphasise the heartbreak in the song - especially the lines

Your guitar, it sounds so sweet and clear

But you're not really here, it's just the radio

The Carpenters version still has a soaring chorus, but you feel the heartbreak so much more, especially on the kiss off line; I love you, I really do. The strings that follow also bring a real sombre mood leading into Karen singing loneliness is such a sad affair.

It's beautiful, it is stunning and it is heartbreaking. There seems to be an extra oomph behind the second chorus and it is immediately repeated

On to Sonic Youth with Thurston Moore really sounding heartbroken. There is an effect on his voice that makes it sound a little psychedelic and the feedback used in the instrumental between the first chorus and the second verse definitely stamps Sonic Youth's mark on the song.

They (rightly) don't rip the song up and try to do anything outrageous, which, being Sonic Youth in 1994, is probably something you would have expected. They respect the song and it is interesting to hear it sung by a male - more of a fan boy than a groupie?

I'm going to include a second cover version of the month seeing as I discovered both of them at the same time. The Carpenters Yesterday Once More is a beautiful song, but it's a bit more MOR than Superstar. Karen Carpenter still pulls on the heart strings, but (at least for me) it doesn't have the raw feeling that Superstar delivers, it's a bit too clean cut. Even the live version below is just a bit too contained/restrained - if you get my meaning.

Redd Kross do a kind of punky karaoke version and just about get away with it. They also remain pretty faithful to the original and scuzz and fuzz it up a little, adding a little rawness to the mix.

So Sonic Youth win this duel of Carpenters cover version for me. They really get into the song, they become part of it. For a full list of artists that featured on If I Were A Carpenter CLICK HERE

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

Never Ending Mixtape Part 5

There's not a British artist in sight for this months additions to the Never Ending Mixtape.

A lot of the songs on the mixtape relate to my teenage years when I was discovering all kinds of music - new and old. I remember buying a 7-inch in the old Missing Records in Glasgow cause I liked the cover of a beat up old car and the song title Babe Come Down. I've loved this song for over half my life but really don't know much about the band Sammy at all. Slacker indie guitar that just sounded glorious to a young teenager living in a small town 20-miles from Glasgow that might just as well have been 1 million miles.

Sammy split up way in 1996, way before the era of the internet. So there's not much about them online at all. Just a few references to their debut album and Babe Come Down from other people who happened to discover them.

It was such a different time back then. For independent bands from America the thought and fact that teenage kids in Glasgow were somehow picking up one of their limited edition 7-inch singles must have been slightly mind blowing.

I never got round to buying the Sammy album, or maybe it never for around to arriving in Glasgow. But it is now on Spotify and their slacker style indie guitar music is filling me with teen spirit.

And on that note; I've added in Sappy by Nirvana, a song my friend Craig and I discovered on a bootleg Nirvana CD over 20-years ago following Kurt's sad passing. He would have been 50 today,

Check the Never Ending Playlist from the start here. All of this months songs are listed below.

Walk On The Wild Side - Lou Reed
Lou Reed was known for his experimentation; I like his experimentation with pop and melody more than his noisier material. This is perfect; the groove, flow, stories, hook, backing vocals...

Here Comes Your Man - Pixies
Like Lou Reed's stuff, it is the copier stuff of Pixies that I like. Some of my friends are Pixies daft (as is half of Glasgow) - this is by far my favourite song of theirs.

Start Choppin' - Dinosaur Jr
Ah J Mascis playing guitar - what a sound. I had some guitar lessons when I was 18 and I asked if I could be taught this riff!

Soul and Fire - Sebadoh
Lou Barlow aches over the sound of chiming guitars. One of the singles I fell for so much that I own on multiple formats.

If I Can't Change Your Mind - Sugar
Bob Mould knew that his Sugar project was a good one and that Copper Blue would open doors. It certainly opened mine. This is power guitar pop perfection.

Cut Your Hair - Pavement
Crazy, fun, clever and sounding great. Slacker indie pop perfection.

Cannonball - The Breeders
See above for crazy and fun. The groove and flow, rises and falls in this song, the hook.....ooohh so good that 2ManyDj's dropped it into their sets.

Sugar Kane - Sonic Youth
Blistering guitar - just superb to hear.

Babe Come Down - Sammy
See opening paragraphs. Slacker indie guitar pop heaven.

Web in Front - Archers of Loaf
More American guitar indie brilliance. The mid-90's was an amazing time for discovering music from across the ocean.

Sappy - Nirvana
Ah yeah - what could have been. The demo's that Kurt left behind and the amazing Unplugged performance....what would Nirvana have done next.....

Everything Flows Podcast 3

Everything Flows Podcast #3

Pure guitar pop, a trippy psychedelic remix, soaring and searing punk rock, classic soul, disney-esque wonder, new teenage guitar music from Ayrshire and brilliant modern pop.

Tracklisting below, click HERE to listen.

Velocity Girl - Primal Scream
Soon (Andrew Weatherall mix) - My Bloody Valentine
Sugar Kane - Sonic Youth
California Soul - Marlena Shaw
It Is You - Natalie Prass
Bring You Home - November Lights
1995 - Molly Nilsson

Previous Everything Flows Podcasts

Podcast #1 featuring Teenage Fanclub, David Bowie, Dr Cosmos Tape Lab, Brian Wilson, Dennis Wilson, JR Green, The Undertones

Podcast #2 featuring The Troggs, Happy Meals, Rose McDowall, The Frank Popp Ensemble, Fun Boy Three, Jo Mango and The Pictish Trail, Miaoux Miaoux, Yo La Tengo