Covers...good or bad...and everything in between...

Let's face it, artists / musicians / bands love to cover other people's songs. This is true in any country around the world, even with Filipino artists. No, Pepe, they don't necessarily become a showband just because they covered this and that song. Some people would say its close to musical sacrilege if a band does a bad cover because it's not a note for note rendition of the original song. Some say that if you're covering a song, it better be as close to the original so as to give it justice. But, on my part, I love cover songs that are sometimes as far-off musically from the original...I like it when the bands give it a certain distinct difference. It may be raw, or inferior even, but they made the song their own.

Most cover songs that bands make in the motherland are done in small gigs...most of them, no matter how great sounding, never even makes it to the recording studio. The nice thing about it is that the bands usually chooses the songs that they like to cover, usually it's one of their influences and/or fave songs. Just imagine having a copy of a small club gig performance of Dean's December singing U2's 'Bullet The Blue Sky' with additional ad libs from Binky Lampano. Or what about Eraserheads doing a Knack song? Have you heard The Youth's version of Echo and The Bunnymen's 'Killing Moon'? well, that sounded great when I saw them perform it in Club Dredd. How about Cocojam doing songs by The Police...or Tropical Depression doing a Bob Marley favourite in Mayric's or Color It Red jamming with Karl Roy performing Iggy Pop's 'Candy' in the early 90s? Who can forget Kapatid's version of 'Pagbabalik Ng Kwago', or Half Life, Half Death's rendition of Sharon Cuneta's 'High School Life' (which were both officially released), or Identity Crisis trying out X-Mal Deutschland's 'Matador'. I'm pretty sure that there are a thousand or more songs that were covered by different artists...from amateurs to indie peborits to major label releases...foreign or local covers...let's try to hunt them down.

Ofcourse everybody has an opinion about a cover song...some negatively but who the #$@&*% cares. I just like watching bands enjoying themselves...and sometimes when you see them playing their choice of covers of their favourite artists and you see them having FUN...the least you can do is enjoy the moment and have fun with them, because a time will come when there will be at too many cooks joining them in the kitchen (managers, lawyers, major label heads, etc.) and start messing with their pots, and they can't do and won't do any of these cover songs anymore. So let's mark the 25th of each month as a covers day. Just like you, I'd love to hear these rarities...songs made officially, or practice sessions, live songs, radio sessions, etc. It's no use keeping them hidden in your cabinet or basement or under your bed...you'll lose it eventually or that rare bootleg tape of yours disintegrates after several years...so bring it out here and let the fans hear them and if it's quite a rarity, I think the artists would appreciate hearing their old songs too (covers or not)...but cross your fingers just in case.

So here's the first of a thousand, I hope...

Cover Cober Cover Kober Cobers DAY TODAY!!!

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Eraserheads - Manila (Hotdog cover)
(originally from BMG compilation "Bandang Pinoy, Lasang Hotdog" CD)