Paul Simon’s You Can Call Me Al will never fail to put a smile on my face. Â It’s irreversibly associated with summer streets and long-ago friends and general youthful goofiness.* Â Issued in ’86, this is the original that everyone knows:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsEjsIbWq88[/youtube]
Now, I’ve never had an ear for covers of this song, but I ran into one today that had me thinking about them. Â This is not it:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMkEXVyqnrI[/youtube]
That was Inspection 12. Â Not bad, I think. Â And really, I can see how this could be a kickass concert cover. Â Alas, YouTube never captures those very well. Â But what got me thinking about this? Â A very simple cover with a bass line:
Paul Simon – You Can Call Me Al (Cover-dance remix) Dj Rebel and FTW by Mixes and Mashups #22
This has been playing all.day.long.
*Of course, 25 years later, the opening lines gain a new appreciation.
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The last one is really only appreciated if you’ve got real speakers attached to your computer.
Joy
No real speakers – will have to play it again when I’m in my office.
Totally brings me back to high school and my first real boyfriend. The video was always the best part, though.
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The best part of my PC set up are the speakers + subwoofer I bought in . . . 1998? They’ve certainly outlasted every other piece of that machine. Much of what i post relies heavily on having decent speakers, and not listening from a laptop.
(My once-very-expensive home audio system was long ago relegated to being a glorified tv sound system)
Joy
Well, then, excuse me mister fancy-pants, I will stop listening to your links then!