Cover Wars: Fame (David Bowie)
Two weeks ago we announced on Twitter – and also right here on HT – that we were taking suggestions for future editions of Cover Wars. Last week, we took the lead from ChefRobD’s suggestion and examined five covers of The Crunge by Led Zeppelin. This week, we took the request of DrewPeiner and are looking at covers of Fame by David Bowie. Written by Bowie with a little help from John Lennon, it was released on the 1975 album Young Americans.
The Contestants:
Artist: Addison Groove Project
Album: 4-24-2004
The Skinny: Leading off this week’s edition is a cover of Fame from Addison Groove Project, a band that is unfortunately no longer on the road. This recording is from their first-ever trip to San Francisco back in 2004.
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READ ON for more covers of David Bowie’s Fame…
Artist: Duran Duran
Album: Starman: Rare and Exclusive Versions of 18 Classic David Bowie Songs (Uncut)
The Skinny: Duran Duran turns in this fast-paced, almost proggy sounding cover. This is not Duran Duran’s first Cover Wars appearance, they also were in the Femme Fatale edition.
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Artist: The Eurythmics
Album: Touch (Remastered Edition)
The Skinny: Released as a bonus track on the re-release of The Eurythmics 1983 release Touch, this brief, synthed-out cover clocks in at a cool 2:40.
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Artist: The Feelies
The Skinny: So I thought this one would be a fun one to include, even though we generally do not use incomplete covers. The Feelies performed as a band playing at a high school reunion in the 1986 movie Something Wild, though they are referred to in the flick as The Willies.
Artist: God Lives Underwater
Album: 15 Minutes (Soundtrack)
The Skinny: This cover, that got some radio play, was recorded by God Lives Underwater in 1998 and then also included in the 2001 film 15 Minutes. You’ll see that video below.
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Artist: Infectious Grooves
Album: Sarsippius’ Ark (Limited Edition)
The Skinny: Funk metal band Infectious Grooves makes good use of distortion and plenty of other guitar effects (Auto-Wah or Talkbox maybe?) in this studio cover.
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Artist: Roster McCabe
Live Show: 5-1-2010
The Skinny: When the request came in on Twitter, it didn’t just request that we do a Fame Cover Wars, it asked that we check out this version by Roster McCabe. And it’s damn good. Tight, with some shredding guitar too.
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Artist: Umphrey’s McGee
Live Show: 3-6-2011
The Skinny: Umphrey’s McGee first performed Fame on 12-30-2005 at The Aragon Ballroom in Chicago with a little help from show opener Keller Williams. The band has only played the cover a handful of times since, often with help from Keller. This version is just from Umphrey’s proper and it is from March of this year.
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Video of the same performance:
Checking in on last week’s The Crunge Cover Wars, Joshua Redman has just narrowly beaten out Gov’t Mule to take the title.
The live version from Nassau Coliseum ’76 released in the Station to Station remaster is just awesome. Killer tune.