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seedarklyxeroWelcome to SeeDarkly Sunday DisCOVERies:
a weekly exploration of goth, industrial, & dark alternative cover songs!
First time here? Click here for details from first entry.
Before we get to the cover, I'd like to share a little something about myself. (It's relevant to the cover, promise.) Sometime in the late 80's, I spiked my hair, threw on a lab coat and went to my boarding school Halloween party dressed up as Kurt Valaquen, lead singer of the synth-pop freestylers Information Society. Most of the other students thought I was "that weirdo from The Cure" despite the fact I had been playing their Star Trek-infused self-titled cassette every chance I got in our dorm. But we didn't have TV on campus and my reference for Valaquen was from the liner notes (see end of post) even more than the video for their hit single, What's On Your Mind, which few of them had even seen yet. I guess it was understandable to mistake which weirdo I was. Later I found out that "Valaquen" was an alias Kurt Harland assumed, inspired by the works of Anne McCaffrey and J.R.R. Tolkien! With music so uniquely influenced by sci-fi and fantasy, it's no wonder I've always felt a sympathetic draw to Information Society...:
Information Society(w/ Ayria) - Heffalumps And Woozles
In December of 1968, Walt Disney Productions released the animated short, Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day, attached to the feature film The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit. The adaptation of A. A. Milne's book showcased five songs written by the Sherman Brothers including Heffalumps And Woozles performed by "The Mellomen." The Mellomen, who worked under a few different names, were a singing quartet founded in the 40's by Thurl Ravenscroft, a man whose image might remind you of a creepy Vincent Price villain. And true to that image, he and his quartet were called on a fair number of times whenever Disney needed someone to sing an especially eerie or odd tune. Ravenscroft was also the vocalist behind the classic, You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch.
And truly the scene featuring the song from Blustery Day -a fever dream of Pooh's brought on by the fear his honey might get stolen by heffalumps (elephants) and woozles (weasels)- is rife with a sense of foreboding and disturbing psychedelia under the veil of an innocent animation that could enchant children with wonder or potentially induce nightmares!
The song has been included in a couple of other Pooh films and, aptly, A Disney Halloween.
Over the course of more than 30 years, Information Society has done covers of Prince, Madonna, U2, ABBA, and recently a tribute to David Bowie. Just over a week ago, InSoc released their latest album, Orders of Magnitude, comprised of all covers from a variety of 70's and 80's artists that have influenced their music and lives: including tracks from Gary Numan, Heaven 17, Sisters Of Mercy, Devo, Human League, Sesame Street and more. They leaked a video for Heffalumps And Woozles about a month before the album release.
Their version of Heffalumps And Woozles features additional vocals from FOI (Friend Of Insoc) and futurepop artist, Ayria, (who recently parodied B-52's Rock Lobster as Goth Lobster with Bella Morte on the 2014 Gothic Cruise.) It dispenses with the instrumental waltz centerpiece of the original and they've restructured the arrangement of lyrics somewhat but it's every bit as playfully catchy and sinister as the original, if more stompy-industrial in essence. To borrow from the the song, if fun is what you covet, you're surely gonna love it:
The Cover:
The Original:
Next week:
Normally today's entry would have been a "Third Sunday Throwback" but I decided to push it forward a week for a "Fourth Sunday Flashback." And because it falls on Easter, it'll make blatant reference to scary things returning from the dead. ;)
Comments, suggestions, discussions, etc... welcome!
I spin next in Cambridge next Sunday and the following Tuesday in western Mass. Check my schedule for details and RSVP if you're inclined to come out. ^_^
Explore the darkness,
-Xero
Previous DisCOVERies
Mar 13 - Cosmetics - Black Candy (Beat Happening)
Mar 06 - Erotic Elk - Wicked Game (Chris Isaak)
Feb 28 - A7ie - Bad Romance (Lady Gaga)
Feb 21 - Orgy - Blue Monday (New Order)
Feb 14 - Lovage - Sex (I'm A...) (Berlin)
Directory of All DisCOVERies
Still have it from back in the day...
a weekly exploration of goth, industrial, & dark alternative cover songs!
First time here? Click here for details from first entry.
Before we get to the cover, I'd like to share a little something about myself. (It's relevant to the cover, promise.) Sometime in the late 80's, I spiked my hair, threw on a lab coat and went to my boarding school Halloween party dressed up as Kurt Valaquen, lead singer of the synth-pop freestylers Information Society. Most of the other students thought I was "that weirdo from The Cure" despite the fact I had been playing their Star Trek-infused self-titled cassette every chance I got in our dorm. But we didn't have TV on campus and my reference for Valaquen was from the liner notes (see end of post) even more than the video for their hit single, What's On Your Mind, which few of them had even seen yet. I guess it was understandable to mistake which weirdo I was. Later I found out that "Valaquen" was an alias Kurt Harland assumed, inspired by the works of Anne McCaffrey and J.R.R. Tolkien! With music so uniquely influenced by sci-fi and fantasy, it's no wonder I've always felt a sympathetic draw to Information Society...:
Information Society(w/ Ayria) - Heffalumps And Woozles
In December of 1968, Walt Disney Productions released the animated short, Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day, attached to the feature film The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit. The adaptation of A. A. Milne's book showcased five songs written by the Sherman Brothers including Heffalumps And Woozles performed by "The Mellomen." The Mellomen, who worked under a few different names, were a singing quartet founded in the 40's by Thurl Ravenscroft, a man whose image might remind you of a creepy Vincent Price villain. And true to that image, he and his quartet were called on a fair number of times whenever Disney needed someone to sing an especially eerie or odd tune. Ravenscroft was also the vocalist behind the classic, You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch.
And truly the scene featuring the song from Blustery Day -a fever dream of Pooh's brought on by the fear his honey might get stolen by heffalumps (elephants) and woozles (weasels)- is rife with a sense of foreboding and disturbing psychedelia under the veil of an innocent animation that could enchant children with wonder or potentially induce nightmares!
The song has been included in a couple of other Pooh films and, aptly, A Disney Halloween.
Over the course of more than 30 years, Information Society has done covers of Prince, Madonna, U2, ABBA, and recently a tribute to David Bowie. Just over a week ago, InSoc released their latest album, Orders of Magnitude, comprised of all covers from a variety of 70's and 80's artists that have influenced their music and lives: including tracks from Gary Numan, Heaven 17, Sisters Of Mercy, Devo, Human League, Sesame Street and more. They leaked a video for Heffalumps And Woozles about a month before the album release.
Their version of Heffalumps And Woozles features additional vocals from FOI (Friend Of Insoc) and futurepop artist, Ayria, (who recently parodied B-52's Rock Lobster as Goth Lobster with Bella Morte on the 2014 Gothic Cruise.) It dispenses with the instrumental waltz centerpiece of the original and they've restructured the arrangement of lyrics somewhat but it's every bit as playfully catchy and sinister as the original, if more stompy-industrial in essence. To borrow from the the song, if fun is what you covet, you're surely gonna love it:
The Cover:
The Original:
Next week:
Normally today's entry would have been a "Third Sunday Throwback" but I decided to push it forward a week for a "Fourth Sunday Flashback." And because it falls on Easter, it'll make blatant reference to scary things returning from the dead. ;)
Comments, suggestions, discussions, etc... welcome!
I spin next in Cambridge next Sunday and the following Tuesday in western Mass. Check my schedule for details and RSVP if you're inclined to come out. ^_^
Explore the darkness,
-Xero
Previous DisCOVERies
Mar 13 - Cosmetics - Black Candy (Beat Happening)
Mar 06 - Erotic Elk - Wicked Game (Chris Isaak)
Feb 28 - A7ie - Bad Romance (Lady Gaga)
Feb 21 - Orgy - Blue Monday (New Order)
Feb 14 - Lovage - Sex (I'm A...) (Berlin)
Directory of All DisCOVERies
Still have it from back in the day...