Showing posts with label cool cover version. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cool cover version. Show all posts

Thursday, 5 November 2026

Hang On Sloopy


Cover version of the month #126 

The McCoys cover The Vibrations

I was planning to feature Hang On Sloopy by The McCoys in my regular Trust Me feature ... then I found out that it is a cover version! This classic song was written by Bert Russell and Wes Farrell, and originally performed and released as My Girl Sloopy by The Vibrations in 1964, reaching number 26 on the Billboard charts.

The Vibrations original live recording still has the same riff and groove that The McCoys would amplify, speed up and transform, but The Vibrations version is slower, souful and sultry. They throw in a nod to The Beatles version of Twist and Shout, there are horns, percussion and enough there for the song to become a staple for garage bands in America and beyond.

In 1965 The Yardbirds, featuring Jeff Beck, recorded and released a 5 minute 36 seconds version, keeping the song title. They stretch out the groove, add in the Twist and Shout build up and mini freak out, before sliding back into the groove. 

Meanwhile, and I think most people would agree with me that The McCoys recorded the definitive version. Previously known as Rick & The Raiders, the young group changed their name to record Hang On Sloopy after a band called The Strangeloves decided against releasing it as a follow up to their smash hit I Want Candy. They had heard that The Dave Clark Five (who they were touring with them) were also going to record it and feared that they would have the greater success.

Young Rick Zehringer was flown in to record his vocals over The Strangelove backing tracks. As it turns our, The Dave Clark Five version has never been released! Talk about a Sliding Doors moment for Zehringer!

The McCoys summer 65 release has got that special kind of raw, unpolished energy that stands the test of time. The opening primal beat is followed quickly with a simple yet super cool guitar riff, creating a real groove, something instantly recogniseable. Then it's straight into the chorus within 8 seconds. The McCoys voices and harmonies sound incredible.

Rick Derringer's (his new stage name) vocals, recorded at the tender age of just 17, stretch beautifully when he sings everybody in the second line of the first verse, and then he keeps it all measured before he rises for the and so I say now line into the chorus.

Sloopy lives in a very bad part of town

And everybody, yeah, tries to put my Sloopy down

Sloopy, I don't care what your daddy do

'cause you know, Sloopy, girl, I'm in love with you

And so I say now

The chorus is ridiculously simple and even cooler than the guitar riff. Just three words, the order changed, then repeated. The first hang in each line rings out as haaaaang. It sounds super exciting and completely universal, Sloopy could be anyone.

Hang on Sloopy, Sloopy hang on

Hang on Sloopy, Sloopy hang on

Shouts of yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah are traded and then Derringer demands give it to me and then The Strangeloves guitarist (I just like to think it is Derringer) lets rip with a soaring electric guitar solo over the cool groove that remains constant throughout. 

The shorter third verse is probably my favourite:

Sloopy let your hair down, girl

Let it hang down on me

Sloopy let your hair down, girl

Let it hang down on me, yeah 

Things break down and build as Derringer urges come on Sloopy and his band mates respond with come on, come on backing vocals. Derringer then talks about how it feels so good, then shake it shake it Sloopy before a primal scream into a final chorus and plenty of yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah shouts of encouragement and excitement. This is a garage band sounding cool, thrilling and full of teenage lust, the energy is extraordinary. The song, the recording and performance easily stands the test of time.

My Girl Sloopy by The Vibrations, The Yardbirds version and the Hang On Sloopy version by The McCoys are added to my Everything Flows Cool Cover Versions playlist on Spotify which also features all of the songs listed below. Search for the title or CLICK HERE

Previous covers of the month blogs

13. Hurt
39. ABBA-esque
40. Jumpin' Jack Flash
64. Lola
82. Drop
87. Indian Rope Man + bonus Strawberry Fields Forever + This Wheels On Fire
101. Shout!
123. What Is Life? plus bonus If Not For You




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Friday, 23 October 2026

Dub Be Good To Me

Cover version of the month #125
Beats International cover The S.O.S. Band

Love is a game of chances

So I'll take my chance with you

Earlier this year I started a new night / club/ event / community called Uddingston Vinyl Lovers Club (find us on Facebook/Insta). The first night was held at The Rowantree Inn on a Saturday back in May, and then returned for a Sunday Social, afternoon into evening in August.  September saw an incredible night of music and dancing in the Cricket Club with Gerard Love and Mark McAvoy as guest DJ's playing some incredible records. All three events wildly exceeded my expectations and we have already formed a friendly, supportive and passionate wee community which is amazing. 

Towards the end of the first night I found myself flicking through my box of 7-inches in search of something to keep people dancing. I pulled out Dub Be Good To Me by Beats International, stuck it on and it went down a storm! Whether with people of a similar vintage to myself, or younger people in the crowd who may well have been hearing it for the first time. It sounded fresh, cool, fun and vital. I started this blog shortly afterwards and have finally finished it!

Speaking of fresh and fun, the opening section, a sample from the 1983 Johnny Dynell single Jam Hot,  GRABS attention. When the Beats International single came out, everyone was mimicking/singing this in school playgrounds across the country. And people at Uddingston Vinyl Lovers Club (of a certain vintage) were singing it with glee. 

Tank fly boss walk jam nitty gritty

You're listening to the boy from the big bad city

This is jam hot, this is jam hot

Beats International was formed by Norman Cook, fresh from The Housemartins and years before he became known worldwide as Fatboy Slim. Dub Be Good To Me was released as a single in February 1990. I had just turned 14 and I remember thinking it was super cool. The video was all over TV, with singer Lindy Layton looking and sounding incredible, delivering absolute street sass attitude.

Friends tell me I am crazy

That I'm wasting time with you

You'll never be mine

Beats International on Top of the Pops

Cook's ear for riffs, hooks, groove and beats (that he took to the next level as Fatboy Slim) is all over Dub Be Good To Me. Cook samples and layers Paul Simonon's bassline from The Clash's Guns of Brixton over the break from God Make Me Funky by The Headhunters. 

It's all very well to have an ear for cool sounds, but the imagination and skill to splice them together is extraordinary. Punk-dub basslines, spaghetti Western film scores, funk beats, 80's singles ... Cook would go on to do so much more with samples as Fatboy Slim. 

Less than a decade earlier, S.O.S. Band released the original, titled Just Be Good To Me, written and produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. This is pure mid-80's electro soul, synth stabs and slick drum machine beats. 

Over 9-minutes long, there is plenty of time for the S.O.S. Band to stretch out and enjoy the groove. Mary Davis is on lead vocals, in the spell of her lover, regardless of his reputation or if he is seeing other girls. The production is sublime - squelchy bass, crystal clear vocals, drum machine beats ... the song has a really cool groove and feel to it. 

People always talking 'bout, reputation

I don't care about your other girls

Just be good to me

Friends are always telling me, you're a loser

I don't care what you do to them

Just be good to me

After the second verse and chorus, things break down, there is a classic 80's 'thumbed' elastic bass solo over the groove. That third verse when Davis sings and you, I won't try to change gets me every time. Davis follows it up with the incredible admission.

We've talked about it, and

I'd rather have a piece of you

Than to have all of nothing

The third chorus hits harder, it's just straight to the refrain just be good to me, with the added in the morning and in the afternoon and evening afterwards. Davis is off on one, I'll be good to you, you'll be good to me and her voice soars. Beautiful. What a song. What a groove.

The S.O.S. Band original and the Beats International cover version are added to my Everything Flows Cool Cover Versions playlist on Spotify which also features all of the songs listed below. Search for the title or CLICK HERE

Previous covers of the month blogs

13. Hurt
39. ABBA-esque
40. Jumpin' Jack Flash
64. Lola
82. Drop
87. Indian Rope Man + bonus Strawberry Fields Forever + This Wheels On Fire
101. Shout!
123. What Is Life + bonus If Not For You


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Tuesday, 7 July 2026

Just My Imagination

Cover version of the month #122
The Rolling Stones cover The Temptations

I stumbled across The Rolling Stones 1978 album called Some Girls in a lovely bar in the old town section of Malia while on holiday with my wife (then girlfriend) back in 2003. The guy serving behind the bar was also DJ-ing and he played a song that captured my attention.

Me - Who is that?

Barman - The Rolling Stones.

Me - No way?

He passed the CD case across the bar. The song was Miss You, the lead song on (and single from) the album. Kind of disco, kind of soulful, kind of dirty - most definitely cool. I asked him to play it again as soon as it finished.

My wife and I ended up in this wee bar every night. The strip was most definitely not for us, while the old town had quaint little restaurants and bars to chill in. The barman played Miss You every time we went in and often just let the album run on. I bought a copy as soon as I got back to Scotland.

While I most definitely fell for Miss You and the groove of Beast of Burden,  I was also captivated by the Stones cover version of Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me), a song I knew from a soul compilation album I had. 

The Stones are in the zone, they are in absolutely no rush, beautifully lazily loose. Charlie Watts gets a delicious crack from his snare, Keith Richards sounds like he is in love with his phaser pedal and the way his guitar gels with Ronnie Wood is utterly sublime. The Stones sound like the best band in the world - just jamming on a song they love.

The soul of the song is there, but the Stones take it from Motown to a place that maybe only the Stones know how to get to. They throw it under a new light ... or maybe they take it into the shadows, into the darkness. You can just imagine them playing in a dive bar down a gritty side street. 

Many cite the Stones Some Girls album as something of a rebirth, given that it was released in a world of punk and disco. Perhaps that inspired Jagger and co. Miss You definitely has a dirty disco groove and beat, while closing track Shattered is new wave before new wave. 

Setting up camp at Pathé Marconi studios in Paris, the Stones recorded on a 16-track and cut their band back to the bones with no session musicians. This was Jagger, Richards, Wood, Wyman and Watts. Richards felt that session musicians took the band away from their natural sound. As a result Some Girls was a lean, hungry and remarkably aggressive record, returning the band to a tight, street-wise, bar band. And that really comes across on their cover of Just My Imagination.

Jagger sneers and swaggers through the lyrics that sound so innocent in the original. Behind him, his band sound a few beers and smokes in, you can easily imagine bottle resting on amps and fags hanging from mouths as they play. Maybe in New York City, as Jagger changes the words in the final verse from The Temptations of all the fellows in the world, she belongs to me to and of all the girls in New York, she loves me true.

Jagger also ad libs in the second verse and sounds true to himself, rather than The Temptations.

I say I am just a fellow, with a one track mind

Whatever it is I want baby, I seek and I shall find

Listen to him harmonise with Richards on the chorus - ooft. What a band!

Richards fell for a MXR Phase 100 pedal that you can hear across the album. It creates a swirly, dreamy psychedelic effect, though through the interplay with Ronnie Wood and with Charlie Watts crack beat, the the Stones kick up the tempo. The little instrumental after the second chorus is stunning.

Respecting the melody (and band - they previously covered The Temptations Ain't Too Proud To Beg and My Girl), The Stones didn't quite run away with their imagination, but they definitely allowed it to drift enough to put their own stamp on the song. This is a magical cover version, for me, one of the bands finest covers in their massive catalogue.


The original is a Motown masterpiece - one of many!

Released in 1971, The Temptations' original version of Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me) was written by the legendary powerhouse duo of Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong, it is a masterclass in sweet, symphonic soul. A beautiful, fragile orchestral piece of Detroit Motor City magic

Driven by the breathtaking, delicate falsetto of Eddie Kendricks, the track captures the ultimate bittersweet daydream. Lush, cinematic strings and a gently weeping French horn back a daydream of love, a relationship and marriage. It all seems so real that the author/singer is caught up in the romantic fantasy, before realising it is just his imagination.

I tell you, I can visualise it all you see
This couldn't be a dream, far too real it all seems

But it was just my imagination (once again)
Running away with me 

The bridge sees Kendrick lost in his fantasy and praying to the Lord not to take his love away from him, only to snap out of it before he hits the chorus again.

Ooh, her love is heavenly

When her arms enfold me, I hear a tender rhapsody

But in reality, she doesn't even know me 

While The Temptations original is a fantastic song and recording, The Stones version is my favourite. It just oozes cool and they really seem to be in the zone.

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

Previous covers of the month blogs

13. Hurt
39. ABBA-esque
40. Jumpin' Jack Flash
64. Lola
82. Drop
87. Indian Rope Man + bonus Strawberry Fields Forever + This Wheels On Fire
101. Shout!


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Monday, 8 June 2026

Get Ready

Cover version of the month #121
Ella Fitzgerald and Ash cover The Temptations

Released on Motown Records in 1966, The Temptations Get Ready, written by Smokey Robinson, is a sub 3-minute gem, with horns, bass, strings and drums creating a driving energetic riff from the off. 

I never met a girl that makes me feel the way that you do (you're alright)

The relentless bassline is the engine for the song, with Eddie Kendriks taking lead vocals, instead of David Ruffin. Kendricks soaring falsetto is exceptional, soaring effortlessly above the collision of brass, strings and the driving beat.

There is an urgency to the song, exemplified by the title and the kiss off hook in the chorus get ready, cause here I come. The lift into the chorus is sublime. Get Ready is the sound of young America at its most vibrant, sounding full of confidence ... unstoppable.

And I'm bringing you a love that's true

So get ready, so get ready

I'm gonna try to make you love me too

So get ready, so get ready

Cause here I come, I'm on my way


Fast forward three years and Ella Fitzgerald is recording a rip roaring version at Olympic Studios in London for her 1969 album Ella. It's an absolute revelation! Driven by Brian Bennett on drums, this is a sweat soaked funk jazz romp, with Fitzgerald sounding like she is having the time of her life. The Temptations original has urgency, but Fitzgerald really does ramp it up a notch or two.

The backing vocals are glorious, understated in the mix, still leaving plenty of room for Fitzgerald - as if she was gonna have it any other way! Her vocal performance is fantastic, fire-y and fierce. The horns help to anchor everything. The riff is just played with a little extra oomph. It's a glorious cover version.

Ash - Goldfinger 
Get Ready was a b-side

Fast forward again, this time almost 30-years and Ash, a trio of teenagers from Northern Ireland, are making a name for themselves with a string of singles. Goldfinger, in April 1996, was the final single to be released, leading to 1977, their debut album, the following month. One of the b-sides was Get Ready - previously released as a limited fan-club 7-inch.

Ash’s version of Get Ready sounds exactly like what it is: three mates in a sweaty studio with Tim Wheeler's fuzzed guitar cranked up to eleven. It's delicious raw garage rock/pop. You can't mess with a melody or riff as strong as the ones Smokey Robinson created. So Ash just put their own spin of teenage exuberance on it. Fuzz, distortion, crashing beats and Tim Wheeler's glorious bubblegum pop delivery. Punk pop perfection.

I am currently in love with this song, particularly the Ella Fitzgerald version, which prompted this blog. Somewhere in my loft is the CD single by Ash. While researching, I also discovered a 21-minute + cover version from 1968 by a band called Rare Earth. It's ... OK ... not as cool as a 20-minute version could be. It begins with a lazy jam before they head into the song, then off on a bass heavy jam to begin with. The beat and bass are probably ripe to be sampled. Organ kicks in and away they go. It's too long for me. Give me the Creedence take on I Heard It Through The Grapevine any day of the week. Rare Earth also released an edited single version, under 3-minutes long. 

The Temptations original and both the Ella Fitzgerald and Ash versions are added to my Everything Flows Cool Cover Versions playlist on Spotify which also features all of the songs listed below. Search for the title or CLICK HERE

Previous covers of the month blogs

13. Hurt
39. ABBA-esque
40. Jumpin' Jack Flash
64. Lola
82. Drop
87. Indian Rope Man + bonus Strawberry Fields Forever + This Wheels On Fire
92. Valerie
101. Shout!
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