Well, I never said it was going to be fair! With a little help from Mike Gordon, the Benevento/Russo Duo ran away with last week’s Cover Wars, which featured seven versions of You Enjoy Myself.

Today marks the ninth installment of Cover Wars, and I figured it was about time that I picked a Talking Heads’ song. I’m operating with a few less brain cells than normal having seen four shows in four days, traversing well over 900 miles in my car while of course working Thursday, Friday and Monday. With that in mind I chose a Talking Heads’ tune that only a few bands on the Archive have covered: Making Flippy Floppy.

If you’re only getting 30-second clips of these songs, you must first register/log into Imeem.

Read on for the scoop on this week’s competitors…

MFF appears on the Talking Heads 5th official release, the 1983 album Speaking In Tongue’s and of course on one the greatest music DVDs of all time: Stop Making Sense.

YouTube Preview Image


Addison Groove Project: AGP has welcomed Trey Anastasio for a performance of this tune during the final days of the original Higher Ground in Winooski, VT. But that’s not the one I chose, as I wanted to give you a straight-up AGP version. For a little cross-Cover Wars pollination, you can check out the Umphrey’s show at CBGB in 2006 where Rob Marscher joined the band on an already tiny and crowded stage for the fitting cover given the history of rock in the room. But enough about other versions of the song, the one I selected is also real good and you can of course: Check out the whole show on The Archive.

God Johnson: I’m not too familiar with these guys and I’m not going to lie, I was skeptical if they were going to hold up against this week’s competition. But I was blown away at their arrangement of this tune after downloading it. Without a doubt the closest voice to that of David Byrne in this week’s contestants. Check out the whole show on The Archive

Scarecrow Collection: No doubt still fuming from their defeat to Mr. Blotto in the 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover Cover Wars, SC hopes to re-enter the race with a bang. The synth tones in the chorus are great in this one. Check out the whole show on The Archive.

Umphrey’s McGee: UM recorded it for the tribute album Up All Night: Jammin’ To The Talking Heads and first performed the song live at The Skyline Stage at Navy Pier in 2004. Since then it’s been a staple in their cover repertoire, and most certainly a fan favorite. The version included was released as part of Podcast 19 and the outro jam features some improvised lyrics courtesy of Brendan Bayliss. Check out all of Podcast 19

That’s it, I’m taking it easy on you this week as there’s only 4 versions to choose from. Be sure to vote once at home and then again at work.