Sometimes I think there is an evil genius sitting in a dingy lair somewhere deep in a volcano coming up with Machiavellian plots to get me to part with even more of my hard-earned cash on records than I do already.
Case in point: Juliana Hatfield Sings Olivia Newton John. I mean, to be fair, I pretty much buy anything Juliana Hatfield puts out anyway, but when she confessed to being a huge ONJ fan as a teenager and decided to record an entire album of covers... well, I think my heart may have skipped more than one beat.
The great thing is, she's not mucked about with these songs too much. Her voice is obviously a bit more indie than ONJ's, and she's turned up the guitar a little as you'd expect, but otherwise these are pretty faithful renditions. And yes, she's done Xanadu, Hopelessly Devoted and even Physical! Probably a good thing she didn't wear a leotard for the video... it'd be more than a 46 year old man's heart could stand.
The only disappointment is that she didn't do a cover of Summer Nights or You're The One That I Want with Evan Dando... but I wouldn't be surprised if the Grease people didn't allow here the rights.
Hear the full album at Bandcamp if you're so inclined. One dollar from the sale of every album will be donated to the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Wellness & Research Centre (ONJ Centre), a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing patients with cancer access to leading medical treatment, breakthrough research, and the best in wellness and supportive care.
I'm patiently awaiting the Ben Folds Sings Barry Manilow LP... do you hear that, evil genius?
This works for me.
ReplyDeleteI had not picked up a Hatfield album in ages,
ReplyDeleteBut this one was pre-ordered weeks before it came out. Works for me too.
Something for the boys, and not ones with dicky tickers obviously.
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