Other People's Songs

As long as I've lived in San Diego, I've wondered about this graffit covered wall for the Artist Supply store that you can see from the freeway across from the airport. A month ago, I was driving home from downtown and I decided to finally end all the mystery and check it out. If there were any classes being offered, I would sign up for one but at the very least I could see how everything compared to a bigger name art supply store (just a few blocks closer to downtown actually). My biggest discovery turned out to be the neighboring store ("DJ Accessories, Pro Audio, Vinyl Records, Production Gear"), which at first glance appeared to be nothing more than an equipment rental place for people who play at weddings and bar mitsvahs, but I took a peak inside anyway. The first thing I noticed was the underground hip hop playing and the wall of ESDJCO T-shirts. Underneath the windows in the picture above there's a long line of turntables you can sample new vinyl on while watching the freeway traffic go by underneath you. I stopped in the entrance to look at the concert posters by the door and pick up some free magazines on the floor. My wife noticed a handwritten flyer advertising a "DJ 101" class. She told me I should go for it, I signed up at the register, and the rest is history.

There was never a class though. For the past month, I've been taking private lessons from One Man Jazz (click on the link and he's the guy pictured on the left) at the California Sound & Lighting store next door to the art supply place. Don't expect to see me spinning at house parties anytime soon though. I still haven't bought any equipment and I don't even see myself as a performer. I wish I had the talent to compose original material but for now I'm just intrigued by the prospect of tweaking other people's songs, either through hands-on mixing or laptop software. Other people have done nothing more than that and hearing them do it has brought me great pleasure. Take for instance my top ten lists for covers and mixes below. I love versions of popular tunes that go in a completely different direction than the original, but still sound definitive. Mixes can improve the songs they're based on, not by changing the singer or anything else for that matter, but by extending the best parts or breaking down what's already there to begin with. If I ever come up with anything of my own to contribute, I'll post it here first.

My Top Ten Covers (in alphabetical order):

1. "Blue Moon" - Elvis Presley; covered by over 40 different artists since it was written for blonde bombshell Jean Harlow to sing in the 1933 movie, Hollywood Party, but my favorite version is by Elvis, played on the movie Joe Versus the Volcano

2. "Born Free" - The Mormon Tabernacle Choir; best-known being covered by Roger or Andy Williams after it was written by film composer John Barry for a 1966 movie of the same name

3. "Fantasia's Confidential Ghetto: 1999/Once in a Lifetime/Coconut" - P.M. Dawn; on this medley of covers, you get not one but three different songs by three very different artists; a 1983 party jam by Prince, a segue into the 1980 Talking Heads marionette video song, and another seque into the 1971 Harry Nilsson calypso number after quoting the "la la" chorus from "Flying" by The Beatles (1967)

4. "La Vie en Rose" - Grace Jones; the 1946 signature song of French singer Édith Piaf covered by almost 70 different artists since, including Louis Armstrong which is heard on WALL-E

5. "Lay Lady Lay" - Magnet (feat. Gemma Hayes) is the love theme on Mr. & Mrs. Smith, covered by dozens of artists since it was written by Bob Dylan in 1969

6. "Lovely Day" - Out of Eden; I heard this contempo Christian group before I heard the 1977 Bill Withers original, covered by a dozen others

7. "Moose the Mooche" - Joshua Redman (who up until last year served as the artistic director for the SFJAZZ collective); THE most exciting song I heard in my college "History of Jazz" course, named after the drug dealer of bebop saxophonist Charlie Parker
8. "Play That Funky Music" - Vanilla Ice; did you know that "Ice Ice Baby" was just the B-side of this single??? originally performed by Wild Cherry

9. "Safety Dance" - The Echoing Green; the Men Without Hats' 1982 song has been parodied by "Weird Al" Yankovic, Shrek the Third, and The Beastie Boys

10. "Trench Town Rock" - Sublime; this 1975 Bob Marley song has also been referenced by Dead Prez, Jack Johnson, and O.A.R.

My Top Ten Mixes (in alphabetical order):

1. "Down (Praga Khan Jungle Mix)" - Gravity Kills; Belgian New Beat guy behind Lords of Acid

2. "Fumbling Toward Ecstasy (Junior Boys Mix)" - Sarah McLachlan; Junior Boys' new album comes out April 7

3. "Girl (Octet Remix)" - Beck; French electronic pop duo

4. "Home (Grantby Mix)" - Depeche Mode; the best DM mixes are the dubby ones and this one's the dubbiest

5. "Hyperballad (Brodsky Quartet Version)" - Bjork; just so you don't think that I think that mixes have to be electronic; I'm a sucker for string quartet tributes to pop artists

6. "Love To Hate You (Bruce Forest Mix)" - Erasure; great considering I dislike the original; the mix smacks of Star Wars

7. "Out of This World (Paul Oakenfold Remix)" - The Cure; you've heard him all over the place

8. "Scream (Louder - Flyte Time Remix)" - Michael Jackson; will always remind me of the Dallas Galleria mall, where I bought this maxi-single

9. "Shame (Bent Mix)" - BT; English duo of sampler extraordinaires

10. "Waiting for the Siren's Call (Planet Funk Mix)" - New Order; Italian electronic dance group

OUT TODAY ON DVD: LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (Swedish vampire import)