lenny unencumbered

I remember having an amicable disagreement with a female friend several years ago about song cover versions. I don’t quite remember the exact song we were sparring over, but she thought covers in general sucked while I quite liked them. Not all, mind you.

Most of us gush over popular recordings of songs without realising they are cover versions of other artists’ work, mostly from a bygone era. Rerecordings and different approaches to an original piece can make it stand out, hopefully without offending the original artist. Not always, but more times than not. I’m sure there are many atrocious reinterpretations, and you might agree or disagree with some of these here.

Hopefully you won’t pick a fight with me for suggesting that songs like Red Red Wine by UB40, Nothing Compares 2 U by Sinéad O’Connor, and Papa Was A Rolling Stone by The Temptations are more popular than the originals by Neil Diamond, Prince, and The Undisputed Truth, respectively. These are the first ones that came to mind, but I’m sure there are many better examples. Not great examples I’m sure, but you get the point.

As an audiophile, I’m accustomed to listening to cover versions of famous songs, mostly in an alternate style, reproduced with superior recording techniques and audio quality. I can’t explain the attraction, but let’s just say it’s a thing with us melomaniacs.

This has been a rather roundabout way to introduce a cover I recently heard of Toto’s biggest hit, Africa, by VoicePlay, an a cappella group. They are based in Orlando, Florida, and the current lineup includes Geoff Castellucci (bass), Layne Stein (vocal percussion), Eli Jacobson (tenor 1), Cesar de la Rosa (tenor 2), and J.None (baritone). VoicePlay has been independent artists since 1997 and, to their credit, have shunned a major record label.

The a cappela rendition is unusual, to say the least, and I’m quite digging it. Geoff Castellucci’s bass gives me goosebumps. His cover of The Sound of Silence is on one of my audiophile playlists, and it’s far superior to Disturbed frontman David Draiman’s version. Draiman, of course, can suck it because I’ve written him off as a moral human being since he signed those artillery shells being fired on Gaza by Israel.

Meanwhile, a genuine voice from Africa is Salif Keita who is a singer-songwriter from Mali and is known as The Golden Voice of Africa. Have a listen to his song celebrating Africa here.

It’s a dream, it makes you vibrate
It makes you dance, ooh Africa
It’s a dream, it makes you vibrate
It makes you dance, ooh Africa…