No particular reason for posting this, except it came up on my iPod shuffle the other day and I wound up laughing out loud on the bus to Jersey. Got some odd looks, actually.
Incidentally, when this originally came out in 1979 it sounded a lot nastier and a lot more radical, at least to my ex-hippie ears. Now it barely even registers as a parody; in fact, it just seems like an imaginatively energetic cover version.
You know -- like rock 'n' roll.
UPDATE: I didn't know the Dickies had covered one of the founding texts of power pop -- The Left Banke's "Pretty Ballerina" -- in 1995.
And I certainly didn't expect it to be as good as it is. Seriously -- it's not on the same level of gorgeousness as the original, but as you can hear they play it straight and it rocks.
The things you can learn if you have a little time on your hands and a fast internet connection...
12 comments:
Much better, and much sillier!
Never heard this before, good find.
And it does rock, guess I like wise asses better then southern California singer songwriters.
Just started listening to Keith's autobiography on audiobook, how about another royalty statement (tm) or jukebox addition soon.
ROTP(lumber)
I'm reminded of the group Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, the punk supergroup who make a specialty of snotting up 60s and 70s Top 40 hits. A good song with a solid structure will survive this kind of treatment. "Nights in White Satin" does not.
I like it!
It's been one of my favorites for years. The definitive version and takedown of the Moody Blues. What you're missing is the 45rpm picture sleeve with them dressed in satin KKK robes posed like a 50's doo-wop group.
Alice Cooper covered "Pretty Ballerina" on the Dirty Diamonds album -- and it was a surprisingly straight cover as well. Very out-of-left-field for the rest of the album.
I remember seeing the Dickies in 1988 with Murphy's Law. I was 18 and a hardcore kid. So, I didn't get them at all. However, growing up my Mom played a lot of Moody Blues and I remembered this song. So here was this skinny bald kid mouthing the lyrics and getting the strangest loks from everyone around me. Good times...
Have you heard The Dickies' "Epistle To Dippy?" Another winner.
LOVE the "Pretty Ballerina"! Yes, good material really does tell.
dickies "Pretty Ballerina" is seriously good, another great find I didn't know.
Thanks guys
ROTP(lumber)
Ditto on this version of Pretty Ballerina.
The Banke's She May Call You Up Tonight is potentially an epochal cover for somebody.
Me First's bar mitzvah CD is to die for.
AP
"She May Call You Up Tonight" was excellently covered by Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs on their first "Under the Covers" album. And a great album that is, too!
Thanks for the tip!
AP
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