Nothing funny about feldspar

While I can’t do Scalzi’s meme (rate five cover versions of the same song), I was reminded of something that popped up on my iPod yesterday — the only source of easy music in the house since the hard drive holding my iTunes library went belly-up.

Tainted Love performed by Coil.

According to the wikipedia entry for the song (who does this stuff?), it was first recorded in 1964, but I’m most familiar (as are most of us) with the version by Soft Cell.

Soft Cell’s version was sooo ’80s — upbeat and poppy for all the angst in the lyrics. Coil’s version is lugubrious and lethargic. It’s not really in minor key, so it doesn’t make you feel like you’re going to fall into an open grave (except for those churh bells tolling in the beginning), but you want to splash the band with a bucket of cold water to wake ‘em up. Also, if you’re gonna sing that slowly, you’d better learn how to hold the notes.

The other other version I have is Marilyn Manson’s. It sounds like he and his band listened to the Soft Cell version and replicated it (but with more screetchiness and less bop), similar to Nine Inch Nails’ cover of Adam Ant’s Physical. No big surprise, I think Manson’s album was produced by Trent Reznor.

Hm. Writing this post reminds me of a related topic: when did songs become better known for who sang them than who wrote them? If you hear Kate Bush Tori Amos* singing Smells like Teen Spirit, you think “why is she doing that Nirvana song?” and compare it to the original recorded version (or maybe its parody by Weird Al). But if Joan Jett sings Let’s Do It, Let’s fall in Love, you think “why is she doing that Cole Porter song?” and don’t compare it to anybody else’s version. Is it radio airplay? Record sales? Is it all Bing Crosby’s fault?

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* Sorry, Plagioclase. You know I always get the girl singers mixed up.