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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.
A "blue moon" is regarded as the second full moon in any given month and happens roughly once every 2.7 years. The last such occurrence was on July 31, 2015. The next will happen on January 31 and it will be not JUST a "blue" moon. It will also be a "super blue blood moon" being shaded with a red tinge on account of the effects of a total lunar eclipse and will be at its closest relative distance to the Earth. So with the heavenly bodies near alignment, this week our Third Sunday Throwback to the 20th Century features another down-tempo treat, named after one of these rare astrological events, and yet really has nothing to do with it:
Course of Empire - Blue Moon (Connie Boswell)
Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart penned the song that would become Blue Moon under contract from MGM studios in 1934. The song is believed to have first been written as Prayer for the 1933 picture, Hollywood Party, which was to be sung by Jean Harlow. The studio decided against using it and while the lyrics can be found, it was never recorded at that time. Shortly after, the song was re-written as The Bad In Every Man and was performed by Shirley Ross in the 1934 film, Manhattan Melodrama. This was after an already rejected rewrite that was intended to serve as the film's title track. After the film's release, the studio felt they could make a commercial hit of the track if it were a bit more romantic and had a different title. Hart is said to have been reluctant to make yet another set of lyrical changes, but clearly he acquiesced. The first known recording of Blue Moon was in January 1935 and performed by Connie Boswell who was considered one of the best jazz vocalists of the time. It wasn't the smashing success the studio had hoped, but they weren't giving up on it. Year after year they licensed covers until Billy Eckstine made a notable Billboard hit of it in 1949. Covers continued to be recorded through the years: Elvis Presley, The Ventures, Billy Holiday, Dizzy Gillespie, Rod Stewart, et. al. There are over a hundred vocal covers of the track (many with a variety of lyrical variations) and twice as many instrumental covers.
Course of Empire, an alternative/post-punk band from Texas, released their dark and cosmic version of Blue Moon as a B-side on their 1997 single The Information (the A-side used on the soundtrack of Dark City the following year.) They released their third album Telepathic Last Words in 1998 and the cover was included as its thirteenth track. The album was produced by This Mortal Coil's John Fryer, whose goth-industrial-centric credits date back to 1980 and includes work with such artists as Nine Inch Nails, Love and Rockets, His Name Is Alive, White Zombie, Stabbing Westward, Gravity Kills, Ashbury Heights, and many more. Course of Empire sadly broke up before really making much of a name for themselves despite having worked in such close proximity to said talents.
With so many covers of this song in existence, it's entirely possible there is another as dark or as danceable somewhere out there, but I've yet to find it, and it seems fortuitous that Course of Empire crafted this gem before becoming practically as rare as its celestial namesake.
(Embedded YT player includes the album's hidden track, Anonymous Call To An Unknown Woman. There are other places to find the isolated track on YouTube but this is the one that may offer monetization to the actual band members or their label. Blue Moon runs from 0:00 to 3:45.)
The Cover:
The Original:
Next week:
Today's entry was not really about the moon so it seems fair that the next entry will not really be about the sun! We'll pick up the tempo with something... "pop-industrial?" Is that a thing? Might be, but you'll have to come back for the body and beats to find out how!
Feel free to tell me what you think about today's cover! Comments, suggestions, discussions, etc... welcome!
(You do NOT need a Dreamwidth account to comment, but all comments are screened for spam prevention.)
I'm spinning one more Friday night in January. Details for that and upcoming February dates are up on my schedule if you've any interest and ability join in these revels! ಠ‿↼
Explore the darkness,
-Xero
Previous DisCOVERies
Jan 14 - Buried Things ft. Shari Vari - Cowboys (Portishead)
Jan 07 - Klack - Pump Up The Jam (Technotronic)
Dec 31 - Electric Riot - Personal Jesus (Depeche Mode)
Dec 24 - Misters of Circe - Clanging Chimes of Doom (originally Do The Know It's Christmas? by Band Aid)
Dec 17 - Armageddon Dildos - Everyday Is Like Sunday (Morrissey)
Directory of All Previous DisCOVERies
a weekly exploration of goth, industrial, & dark alternative cover songs!
First time here? Click here for details from first entry.
A "blue moon" is regarded as the second full moon in any given month and happens roughly once every 2.7 years. The last such occurrence was on July 31, 2015. The next will happen on January 31 and it will be not JUST a "blue" moon. It will also be a "super blue blood moon" being shaded with a red tinge on account of the effects of a total lunar eclipse and will be at its closest relative distance to the Earth. So with the heavenly bodies near alignment, this week our Third Sunday Throwback to the 20th Century features another down-tempo treat, named after one of these rare astrological events, and yet really has nothing to do with it:
Course of Empire - Blue Moon (Connie Boswell)
Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart penned the song that would become Blue Moon under contract from MGM studios in 1934. The song is believed to have first been written as Prayer for the 1933 picture, Hollywood Party, which was to be sung by Jean Harlow. The studio decided against using it and while the lyrics can be found, it was never recorded at that time. Shortly after, the song was re-written as The Bad In Every Man and was performed by Shirley Ross in the 1934 film, Manhattan Melodrama. This was after an already rejected rewrite that was intended to serve as the film's title track. After the film's release, the studio felt they could make a commercial hit of the track if it were a bit more romantic and had a different title. Hart is said to have been reluctant to make yet another set of lyrical changes, but clearly he acquiesced. The first known recording of Blue Moon was in January 1935 and performed by Connie Boswell who was considered one of the best jazz vocalists of the time. It wasn't the smashing success the studio had hoped, but they weren't giving up on it. Year after year they licensed covers until Billy Eckstine made a notable Billboard hit of it in 1949. Covers continued to be recorded through the years: Elvis Presley, The Ventures, Billy Holiday, Dizzy Gillespie, Rod Stewart, et. al. There are over a hundred vocal covers of the track (many with a variety of lyrical variations) and twice as many instrumental covers.
Course of Empire, an alternative/post-punk band from Texas, released their dark and cosmic version of Blue Moon as a B-side on their 1997 single The Information (the A-side used on the soundtrack of Dark City the following year.) They released their third album Telepathic Last Words in 1998 and the cover was included as its thirteenth track. The album was produced by This Mortal Coil's John Fryer, whose goth-industrial-centric credits date back to 1980 and includes work with such artists as Nine Inch Nails, Love and Rockets, His Name Is Alive, White Zombie, Stabbing Westward, Gravity Kills, Ashbury Heights, and many more. Course of Empire sadly broke up before really making much of a name for themselves despite having worked in such close proximity to said talents.
With so many covers of this song in existence, it's entirely possible there is another as dark or as danceable somewhere out there, but I've yet to find it, and it seems fortuitous that Course of Empire crafted this gem before becoming practically as rare as its celestial namesake.
(Embedded YT player includes the album's hidden track, Anonymous Call To An Unknown Woman. There are other places to find the isolated track on YouTube but this is the one that may offer monetization to the actual band members or their label. Blue Moon runs from 0:00 to 3:45.)
The Cover:
The Original:
Next week:
Today's entry was not really about the moon so it seems fair that the next entry will not really be about the sun! We'll pick up the tempo with something... "pop-industrial?" Is that a thing? Might be, but you'll have to come back for the body and beats to find out how!
Feel free to tell me what you think about today's cover! Comments, suggestions, discussions, etc... welcome!
(You do NOT need a Dreamwidth account to comment, but all comments are screened for spam prevention.)
I'm spinning one more Friday night in January. Details for that and upcoming February dates are up on my schedule if you've any interest and ability join in these revels! ಠ‿↼
Explore the darkness,
-Xero
Previous DisCOVERies
Jan 14 - Buried Things ft. Shari Vari - Cowboys (Portishead)
Jan 07 - Klack - Pump Up The Jam (Technotronic)
Dec 31 - Electric Riot - Personal Jesus (Depeche Mode)
Dec 24 - Misters of Circe - Clanging Chimes of Doom (originally Do The Know It's Christmas? by Band Aid)
Dec 17 - Armageddon Dildos - Everyday Is Like Sunday (Morrissey)
Directory of All Previous DisCOVERies
(no subject)
Date: 2018-01-21 07:10 pm (UTC)*plot*