Covers Gallery, Volume IX: From The Partridge Family to Nick Lowe

It’s been a while since I’ve featured a playlist with some fun, offbeat & notable covers, so here’s volume IX of Covers Gallery:

1. I Woke Up in Love This Morning by Doug Powell – A Partridge Family tune re-done as a guitar oriented rocker? You bet, and it works very nicely. From the (sadly) out of print Not Lame Records compilation entitled Right To Chews: Bubblegum Classics Revisited.

2. Why Can’t This Be Love? by Gigolo Aunts - Speaking of re-imaginings, here’s a Van Halen tune done as a British Invasion style rocker, by New York’s own Gigolo Aunts. It’s from a 1997 tribute album called Everybody Wants Some (of Van Halen).

3. Freedom by The Davenports - The WHAM! hit becomes a power pop tune, courtesy of The Davenports. From this year’s excellent release, Here Comes The Reign Again: The Second British Invasion, a collection of 80s British pop hits from the MTV era, covered by some of today’s best indie artists. The 2 disc set has a lot of great tracks, and is worth seeking out.

4. Love Is All Around - R.E.M. tackles The Troggs hit, with lead vocals by Mike Mills, on this live cover, from Unplugged 1991/2001 – The Complete Sessions.

5. It Never Rains In Southern California by Pete Yorn - Rocker Yorn covers Albert Hammond’s 70s AM radio staple, from the soundtrack to the 2003 film Stuck on You.

6. The Mighty Quinn by Merry Clayton - Well known backup singer Clayton, whose story was featured in the 2013 film, 20 Feet From Stardom, takes Bob Dylan’s song to church in this gospel-ized version. It’s from The Very Best of Merry Clayton.

7. Better Things by Fountains of Wayne. A Kinks cover from the guys who brought you “Stacy’s Mom” and a host of other clever power pop tunes. This track is from the 2002 disc This Is Where I Belong: The Songs of Ray Davies & The Kinks.

8. The Boy From Ipanema by Diana Krall - Jazz icon Krall takes the Astrud Gilberto classic, gender switches it and makes it her own in this version from the 2009 album Quiet Nights.

9. Cruel To Be Kind by Kurt Baker from Got It Covered - Faithful rendering of the Nick Lowe hit from Baker, who’s one of the best rockers working in today’s power pop genre.

10. Late For The Sky by Joan Osborne - Ms. Osborne’s beautifully done reading of the Jackson Browne classic is on the 2014 tribute album Looking Into You: A Tribute To Jackson Browne.

11. Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! by Yngwie Malmsteen - Pop goes heavy metal on the celebrated guitarist's awesome take on an ABBA tune. It's on his collection The Best of 90-99.

12. Sorrow - David Bowie's excellent version of a song originally recorded by The McCoys can be found on his 1973 covers album, Pin Ups.

Bonus Track - Get Down by Marykate O’Neil - As we end another Covers Gallery selection, we close with another track from the Right To Chews: Bubblegum Classics Revisited collection, as O’Neil rocks out on this version of the Gilbert O’Sullivan hit.