Back in the spring I stumbled into a show at Mercury Lounge and happened to catch a really fun power pop band called Bishop Allen. I liked them muchly and picked up their debut album a while back. It's really fun, if you likey the power pop.
However, there's a pseudo-cover of "Eve of Destruction" on the disc. They use a bit of the melody and couple of lines but rewrite the bulk of the song. It's pretty nifty. However, I was poking around their site and read this...
"Eve of Destruction" was a '60s protest anthem, but it was sung by someone named Barry MacGuire, and it was written by P.F. Sloan...We hadn't heard the '60s recording of "Eve Of Destruction" until after Charm School was done; our version is derived from The Dickies' cover of the Sloan song, which was a hit for them in '78. We couldn't understand The Dickies' singer, his being punk and fake-English and all, so we wrote our own words.
Err. There are so many WTFs in that statement that I can't even begin to comprehend it.
Posted by mikewolf at February 12, 2004 05:28 PMIs that the Dickies, or the Incredible Shrinking Dickies? The difference is huge, let me assure you.
The problem I always had w/ that song is that the world never actually blew up. It's kind of like 1999 now. Certain songs have a pre-defined shelf life. Of course, when the world does eventually blow up, somewhere Barry MacGuire and P.F. Sloan will be smiling.
Posted by: Vernam on February 13, 2004 12:12 PM