All posts by Christopher Arnott

Chris' Record Collection, Lists

R.I.P. Michael Brown: Fifteen Best “Walk Away Renee” Covers

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• Willie Loco Alexander and the Baboon Band. From the Boston Incest Album released by Sounds Interesting Records in 1980. Alexander was a keyboardist who dabbled in baroque pop himself with The Bagatelle back in the ‘60s.
• Billy Bragg. A story-song, using the “Walk Away” melody as the soundtrack. Stunning.
• The Four Tops. A genuine hit for the group, which they were still doing when I saw the last Levi Stubbs Tops tour in 1999.
• Arrows. Mid-‘70s British band who had the original hit with “I Love Rock ’n’ Roll” in 1975. Their “Walk Away Renee” is very close to the Left Banke version, just a touch rockier. Heavier drum sound.
• Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes. Lush in ways Michael Brown did not consider: bluesy lead vocals, female backing vocals, melodic bass lines…
• Linda Ronstadt. Folksy, with prominent acoustic guitar and, I guess, cello.
• Vonda Shepard. If Nina Simone had covered this song, it might have gone like this. Rangy vocals and all piano.
• Gabor Szabo. Mournful instrumental classical-guitar rendition.
• Somerdale. Wondrous stadium-rock-anthem style version. Hard to know what to make of this; it’s just overwhelming.
• Les Fradkin. By changing a few inflections and scansions, Fradkin shows you how regimented the lyrics to this tune are. Then the guitar breaks free too.
• Terry Reid. Takes the whole thing apart and puts it back together as a Brit-blues exhibition.
Dummy. Loud and fast and gnarly. Kind of wrong.
• Alvin Stardust. Horribly dated—not in a baroque pop kind of way; in a ‘70s studio-pop tricks way.
• Willie Bobo. Hipster jazz rendition. Nothing baroque about this one.
• Karla DeVito and The Roches. Overblown production with soaring vocals and obtrusive horns.
Carol Noonan. Lyrical and sweet and slow.
• Jive Bunny and the Mixmasters. One of those “Stars on 45”-style medleys matched to a steady propulsive dancefloor beat. This one’s made up of Four Tops hits, including “Walk Away Renee.”

It should be noted that there’s a Louisiana band called Renee and The Walkaways, and a 2011 documentary titled Walk Away Renee, about a road trip the filmmaker Jonathan Caouette takes with his mother Renee.
Interesting that most, though hardly all, covers of “Walk Away Renee” choose to retain the violins. Yes, the original coined the whole concept of baroque pop, but the song itself is rather straightforward and could be taken in a number of directions.

Rock Gods

Rock Gods #371: Adventures in Our Little Music SceneThe Sticker-Heads have a gimmick.

Perhaps you can guess what it is. You’re right, and it’s what got them kicked out of a club last Ash Wednesday. They’re hoping for a better, stickier reception Thursday at the Bullfinch.
The latest designs:
“Don’t Kiss Me Here.”
“My Other Forehead is an Ass.”
“Post No Bills.”
“I’m the Face.”
“Get Off of My Face.”
“I’m Looking Through You.”
“Stuck Up.”

Tonight : Our new favorite duo, Ted the Pink and Rogers the Fink, at the Bullfink… No Lift Lines, a ski-rock band, at Hamilton’s in what’s becoming the off-season… An Evening with Avowals and Denials (denying that they’re on the way down) at D’ollaire’s, for more than they charged when the band was still popular…

Archie

Riverdale Book Review

Rhyming titles in World of Archie Comics Double Digest #48
Snack Attack
Bell Spell (or The Lunchback of Notre Dame)
Team Theme
Brood Mood
Jolly Folly
Skill Chill
Bat Chat
In a lovely titular symmetry, the hat-themed story “Put a Lid on It” is followed by one called “Bad Hair Day.”

Lists

R.I.P Michael Brown: Five Best “Pretty Ballerina” Covers

• Jason Falkner. Upbeat and poppy, without sacrificing the nuanced keyboards.
• Alice Cooper. On the unsung Dirty Diamonds album. Paying great respect, in that inimitable Alice growl.
• The Dickies, a punk wall-of-sound effort, with guitars carrying the melody and some real glam danger.
• Aqua Velvet. Earnest female vocals and trenchant percussion.
• Eels. Raw live version, but neatly balanced. A bonus track on the Live at Town Hall album.

Rock Gods

Rock Gods #370: Adventures in Our Little Music Scene

We know you’ve been wondering whatever happened to the little girl who lives across the street from The Bullfinch.
Well, she still lives there, still hangs out on the stoop. She still draws with talk on the sidewalk. She still has not taken our advice that she should start a band. Instead, she takes her chalk and sketches the bands she’s seen coming and going from the club. She draws clothes she wants to wear when she finally forms her own band. She draws herself and her friends playing their #1 rock song “Sun Butter and Mango Jam.” She draws and draws.
Tonight: Sword of Wood at the Bullfinch. Manic percussion… Christendom in Dublin at Hamilton’s for Irish Nite… An Evening With Brave New Family (not so new anymore, eh?) at D’ollaire’s…

Archie

Riverdale Book Review

When Chuck Clayton, cartoonist, goes to comic book conventions there are invariably references to real-life Archie artists. In Archie’s Pals ’n’ Gals #197, when Chuck drags his girlfriend Nancy to the Centerville Comic Convention, he gushes “Oh wow! There’s Dan DeCarlo who draws Josie and the Pussycats!… and he’s with fellow artist Stan Goldberg!” Archie editor Victor Gorelick critiques Chuck’s drawings; there’s a huge Archie banner behind him, which Chuck and Nancy don’t seem to notice bears a likeness of their high school classmate. A more obscure reference is when Chuck thinks a woman with a camera is going to take his picture, only to have her rush past him calling “Oh, John! John Lucas!” John Sterling Lucas was an artist who contributed to the Katy Keene revival of the 1980s.