Who's Afraid Of The 80's? Pt 5

When I bought this record in the late 70's I knew a few songs by the original and was surprised why so called punk bands cover theses classics. During the next years most every new band covered a well known song from the past (thinking about a new short series about covers, done by punk/new wave artists). First I was confused about what they done to these songs - but not for long. Very soon I recognized that they breathed new life into these songs. And most of them were better than the originals. I remember when I played these new versions to some friends and was sad that they didn't open their ears to new sounds. And it is the same until now. You can read in many panels people posting that they closed their ears in the early 80's and are not willing to listen to something new. Even if it is hot or not.

Devo were one of this artists that shocked with their first LP. They reduced their songs to a minimum. From Satisfaction as known by Rolling Stones it reduced to a rattling rhythm and a nervous chorus.

Devo - Satisfaction

Another band that killed the originals were The Flying Lizards. They made the best version of Money I have ever heard. And they did the same with Eddie Cochran's Summertime Blues. Going away from the Rockabilly sound they used a simple keyboard and almost spoken words to make a very new and unique version of this classic song.

Praise the lord that they put a song by The Skids on this record. It might be on of the first punk rock bands from Scotland and they grabbed me with Masquerade. a classic 2:45 minutes masterpiece. It is simple, exciting, dulcet and on heavy rotation almost 40 years ago. A few years later Stuart Adamson formed Big Country and wrote a lot of great songs. But this is a story I told already.