TROPICAL LOVELAND
Martin and the Moondogs
MY LOVE MY LIFE
Bike
ON AND ON AND ON
Tall Dwarfs
KNOWING ME KNOWING YOU
Superette
from:
Abbasalutely: A Flying Nun Tribute to the Music of ABBA
Flying Nun : 1995
Out of Print
Abba are much better than Green Day, Offspring, American Music Club, The Cranberries & Graham Brazier because they had good tunes and an effortless ability to encase 'em in pretty damned stunning pop arrangements. Sure, they had some stinkers, not as many as Alex Chilton or Syd Barrett, much much less than Paul McCartney or The Muttonbirds, far far far fewer than Michael J. Presely and his good wife and perhaps about exactly the same number as King Loser & The Dead C combined. Plus Bjorn played the coolest electric guitar in the history of rock - a white ovation electric just like mine (& Colin Newman's & David Cassidy's), Agnetha had a voice in a million & they sold alot of records. That they were hugely popular in Australia is unfortunate & "Abba-The Movie" is ossum! I would not be seen dead on a Gram Parsons tribute album.
-Chris Knox, Tall Dwarfs
I'd actually agree with most of that, but really, who the hell would put The Cranberries ahead of Abba? Fuck the Cranberries. And not because that Linger song is the worst shit I ever put in my brain, but because lead singer (and otherwise pro-lifer) Dolores O'Riordan wants to see public hanging reintrodcued to Britain. No really she does. And that was before the bombings. Shes going to go nuts now, like post-9/11 Ron Silver nuts. I digress.
I'm not normally a fan of tribute albums. They are usually stale, all form, no content. But Abba songs are tamper-proof. No one could suck the life out of an Abba song. Except The Cranberries. And I couldn't think of a better label to trust such a project with than New Zealand's legendary Flying Nun, who in 1995, still had some amazing horses in the stable. This is a pretty fantastic compilation, though there are definitely some misses. Most of these misses are by the bands with female lead singers. The sheilas come across far too earnest, but then these girls all grew up wanting to be just like Agnetha. Not too many guys grew up wanting to be just like Benny, and if they did, they aren't saying. But the bulk of the covers here are creative and without sarcasm. Maybe its because Abba's music makes people do silly, happy things. Like The Tall Dwarf's Chris Knox singing "On and On and On" from the point of view of a man, creating something blissfully homoerotic in the process:
Over in the corner I could see this other guy
He was kinda flirty, he was giving me the eye
So I took advantage of the fact that I'm a star
Shook my hair and took a casual stroll up to the bar
And as sure as hell this guy was coming up to me
He said, "Who am I and who are you and who are we?
What's our situation, do we have some time for us?"
I said I was not exactly waiting for the bus
He said, "If you're going somewhere can I come along?"
I said, "Keep on rocking baby, 'til the night is gone"
Bike's Andrew Brough (ex Straitjacket Fits) works "My Love My Life" into a lush but bristling valentine. Superette get kudos for making "Knowing Me Knowing You" even more preposterously self-serious ("Memories... memories, good days... good days, bad days... baaaad daaays..")
But I pin the blue ribbon on Martin Phillipps and The Chills (aka Martin and the Moondogs). His cover of "Tropical Loveland" is the only effort that actually improves on the original song.
Other noteworthy efforts:
Breast Secreting Cake's hilarious all-in take on "Ring Ring" ,
Chug's goth interpretation of "Money Money Money" ,
Shayne Carter (ex Fits again) trying his hardest to make "The Name of the Game" high-strung and grimey,
and Robert Scott and David Kilgour of the Clean (showing up as Cloth) performing "Waterloo"
The CDs out of print but you can probably pick one up online for $20 or $30.
The Tall Dwarfs tour New York in a few weeks. Dates here
