Dave says TVOTR can be Heroes

David Bowie’s “Heroes” is one of my favorite songs. Not even its inclusion in a Microsoft commercial a few years ago could dim my love for it. Nor was I discouraged by The Wallflowers’ dreadfully faithful cover that accompanied the doomed 1998 Godzilla movie.

Now comes the critically acclaimed TV on the Radio with their own brave cover. I don’t think I like it, but I’m struck by how thoroughly they’ve failed to deconstruct it despite what seems like a valiant attempt. It starts with a skeleton beat and a nicely re-imagined vocal. But Eno’s synthesizers have been entirely copied, and Tony Visconti’s guitar hook is still there, although not as shamelessly deployed as in the Wallflowers cover. Sure, they hobble the inimitable bass line for much of the song, but it returns in full glory near the end.

My point is, TVOTR tried to mess with it as much as possible, but they ended up having to replicate most of the song’s hooks. Including the call and response vocals and the R-E-S-P-E-C-T bass crib. Listening to Bowie’s version, much of the song sounds like mere ornament built atop a sturdy structure. But TVOTR’s admirable cover attempt makes me think it’s just the opposite. Bowie singing the damn song by himself probably wouldn’t be all that compelling. And it might be impossible to cover the song without Visconti’s and Eno’s parts. I think TVOTR may have tried. After all, their cover is essentially a remix. They’ve extracted and separated all the parts and rebuilt them. My guess is they tried a more skeletal, less faithful mix of the song and it sounded like shit.

Almost makes me think the Wallflowers had it right. Just copy the damn song and cash in. Because TVOTR didn’t do much better. If you can’t escape the original it’s probably best to leave it alone. Of course, that would defeat the whole point of the record from which the cover is drawn. Like every other artist on the War Child benefit compilation, TVOTR was picked to do the cover by the original artist, Mr. Bowie himself.

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So what else is going on?

• Beach House’s cover of Queen’s “Play the Game” was left off February’s other blockbuster benefit, Dark Was The Night. But you can hear on it on Myspace and iTunes. It’s not that great, but it does sound like a Beach House song.
• Allmusic.com Blog runs down their favorites from 1988. I’d be lying if I said I was actually listening to any of that in 1988. Well, maybe G’N’R Lies.
• Most of my fellow NAPpers probably already know Jesus Lizard is reuniting and playing the Pitchfork Festival in Chicago. I’d be lying if I said I cared about Jesus Lizard. I know, I should. But I never have.
• WTF: Steve Albini is producing Jarvis Cocker’s new record. Or rather, has already produced. I’m a huge Pulp fan, with much love for their ‘90s output. But I can’t for the life of me figure out what Cocker’s doing here. He’s always been one for dense pop soundscapes. Same is true for Albini, right? Right?!! But the pairing is at least interesting. I know I’m a lot more excited to check it out. And of course, the “drum sounds will be good.”
• Finally, I neglected to participate in the recent “make your own random album cover” meme on Facebook. But yesterday I came across this random album cover generator that does all the stupid work for you. Check out My Album Generator, via DadHacker.

Original image from Flickr user soft_ball2008