The covers thread vice versa: what Lindsey songs certain people SHOULD HAVE covered.

[face of glass]

Sorry if I seem too active in this forum, but I’m on a secret mission to make the Lindsey forum catch up with the Stevie forum in the amount of threads before she releases her next solo album and everybody goes nuts again.
This is connected with the “quotation” thread and the other “covers” thread. Gerald said that Lindsey not only borrows from himself, but also from others. Of course something like “Running Up That Hill” being an inspiration to “Big Love” seems a bit weird to me, but other than that I think Lindsey sometimes wants a piece of his to remind of something from the history of rock’n’roll, but in a way that it still seems like it’s coming through his mind and isn’t a pale imitation.
So, when it was boring at work today I started to think of imaginary LB covers, some of his songs that remind me of other artists. And also songs of his that other artists SHOULD have done. “I know you don’t agree”, but I still wanted to write these down.

Keep in mind, though, that some of these covers just wouldn’t be possible, because either the artist passed away or Lindsey released the song way too late.

“Don’t Let Me Down Again”: Lynyrd Skynyrd. Their three guitars would sound great in this.

“Monday Morning” and “Second Hand News”: These are sometimes described as power-pop, so I think they would sound good in the hands of Cheap Trick.

“I’m So Afraid”: Unknown Pleasures-era Joy Division. The bass and the drums are in their place. Just make the solo a bit clumsier, obfuscate the lyrics even further and put Ian Curtis in the vocals and you’re all set.

“Never Going Back Again”: Any great picker who can also sing at the same time.

“Go Your Own Way”: This would be a treat for The Who. Keith Moon could have come up with a drum arrangement as great as Mick. I guess John Entwistle should have helped Pete Townshend with the harmony vocal, because Pete’s voice would be too whiny for this one.

“What Makes You Think You’re The One”: Elvis Presley could have done this with Bill Black and Scotty Moore in his early days. It wouldn’t have been as aggressive, but would have rocked the house anyway.

“Walk A Thin Line”: So mellow that it would fit the Friends-era Beach Boys like a glove.

“Johnny Stew”: The guitars sound so Talking Heads-like that it would work on either More Songs About Buildings And Food or Fear Of Music.

“Holiday Road”: Another one for Elvis. He used to do a lot of novelty tunes and this song beats at least 99% of that genre.

“Play In The Rain”: Kate Bush was another Fairlight experimenter on the other side of the Atlantic. She could have done an entire side-long suite of this song (like “The Ninth Wave” on Hounds Of Love), adding more and more stuff to it as she goes along.

“Time Bomb Town”: This sounds like the late-period Talking Heads to me, with a similar simplicity to it. Also, Lindsey’s vocals on it remind me of David Byrne’s paranoia.

“Caroline”: Like I said in the other thread, perfect stuff for Roy Wood.

“You And I, Part One”: The Pet Sounds- or Smile-period Beach Boys would just do amazingly well on this.

“Soul Drifter”: Lindsey spoke of it as a Tin Pan Alley-type tune, so who could be better for it than Frank Sinatra? This should have been the Voice’s swansong, not those stupid Duets albums.

“Street Of Dreams”: Closer-era Joy Division. Their song “The Eternal” reminds me of this one. Once again, obfuscate the lyrics, put a minimalist industrial dirge in the background, have a synthesizer imitate the rain and it will work.

“Someone’s Gotta Change Your Mind”: This and “Save Me A Place” have both a very typical chord structure and their success depends on the production. But if we stripped the songs to their bones, then only a few would be worthy to sing them. The late Johnny Cash comes immediately to mind, after Lindsey of course.

“Murrow”: Any old respected bluesman would do here.

“Red Rover”: If Brian Eno wanted to start making those crazy pop songs of his again, this would be a perfect one for him. Although something like “Third Uncle” or “Kurt’s Rejoinder” doesn’t really sound like it, they both have an incredible hyperactivity, just like “Red Rover”.

“Come”: When I first heard this I thought that the solo sounded hair metal-like and it freaked me out for a while. Then I understood that it should be like it, after all it just adds brutality to the song. But then again Lindsey said that it’s supposed to be a funny one too. So I’d give it to David Lee Roth-period Van Halen. The song has so much exaggerated macho-like qualities, that only David could do it justice, after all he always had a tongue in his cheek when he sang his lyrics. And I’d still rather hear EVH replacing the solo with his rhythm work. That was always more fascinating to me than his solos.

Hope I didn’t take the best ones yet.