Bust Outs: Movie Theme Covers

The Karate Kid Set (The Karate Kid) – Perpetual Groove, 10/31/2008

Perpetual Groove always pulls out the stops for their Halloween shows, but they simply outdid themselves this time: an entire second set devoted to Daniel-san, Johnny Lawrence, Miyagi and the Cobra Kais.

With Brock, Hruby & Albert in Cobra Kai uniforms and Adam dressed as LaRusso, the set kicks off with samples of sensei John Kreese demanding knuckle push-ups and the Cobra Kais chanting “kill” during Twist. Next, PGroove layers samples of Miyagi dropping knowledge on Daniel-san throughout Gorilla Monsoon. From there comes the highlight of all highlights, the cover of the Bananarama gem Cruel Summer which plays an integral role in the movie. Then come a couple tribute songs in Sweep the Leg and TTFDS (Tribute to F*cking Daniel-san), before wrapping up with the obvious showstopper, You’re the Best.

Pretty in Pink (Pretty in Pink) – The National

Leave it to the indie band to do a serious rendition. The National drill their cover of “Pretty in Pink” by the Psychedelic Furs from the classic 80s brat pack film by the same name. The National busts this tune out on occasion in their live sets, but this particular version comes from an unreleased rarities and studio B-sides collection I snagged off their message board a couple years ago.

Ghostbusters Theme (Ghostbusters) – Lotus

Lotus drops one of the more popular movie theme covers given its Halloween relevance, but their electronic, all-instrumental approach translates marvelously, particularly in the buildup to the “I ain’t ‘fraid of no ghosts” segment.

Magic Dance (Labyrinth) – The Brew

The Brew wins the prize for digging the deepest as they bust out a David Bowie cover from the epic fantasy film Labyrinth, with the Magic Dance. Given the sheer awesomeness of this selection, we’ve figured out how to synch these up (well, sorta). Start the Brew imeem version and wait exactly ten seconds, then start the YouTube clip (and turn down the volume). Dark Side of the Moon and the Wizard of Oz ain’t got nothin on the Brew and Labyrinth.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hACHP-gIFFo[/youtube]

Eye of the Tiger (Rocky IV) – ALO 10/22/05

While Eye of the Tiger makes the occasional appearance from a number of other bands (i.e., moe.), ALO crafted a purposefully corny accordion-driven zydeco rendition. According to the notes for this show, drummer Dave Brogan made his way out from behind the stage to do a reenactment of Rocky with some “Elvis Kung Fu” moves, before returning to the kit for a solo.

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Home Alone Narration (Home Alone) – Steez 11/24/2007

During the slow breakdown of Hot n Sweaty, Steez guitarist Steve Neary breaks into a narration of highlights from the Macaulay Culkin holiday classic Home Alone, including references to “les incompetent,” “Old Man Marley,” and of course, “I made my family disappear.” These segments are generally pretty funny with other renditions including the Wayne’s World “gun rack” segment or the Chubbs parts from Billy Madison.

Always Look on the Bright Side of Life (Monty Python’s Life of Brian) – moe. 8/31/2008

This classic movie cover gets outshined a bit as the moe.down 9 encore, because it followed up Rob’s hilarious Homer Simpson stunt, but this Eric Idle song provided a fitting finale to the show as the band had previously announced the dreaded word “hiatus.”  Hence, the Monty Python tune of ironic optimism gave fans a good feeling to leave on and sure enough, moe. came back as promised after their post-moe.down break with a big 2009 and there are no further signs of slowing down in sight.

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