February 2009
27 posts
I'm Yours - Jason Mraz Cover with Brendan Kennedy
Any song with a vaguely “island” beat kinda drives me crazy. I think it was my freshman roommates who played Bob Marley and Jimmy Buffett for an entire year that drove me away from that tropical sound. So when I’m Yours became the song I would hear in every store in NYC, it was my personal nightmare. It sounds like a song that has actually been in the collective...
January 2009
32 posts
FLASHBACK FRIDAYS: U + Ur Hand - Pink Cover by...
This song is one in my hidden list of super pop songs that has a really kick ass drum track that I love. The straightforwardness of the drum playing style. The use of a cowbell (which I chose not to use in my version). The long snare rolls. The strength and anger in her singing. But also her sense of comedy. It’s a complete package. My version was created using the infamous Yamaha DD65...
Love Story - Taylor Swift Cover by Jim Andralis
I never meant to fall in love with the music of Taylor Swift. It just…sort of…happened. I heard her singing “White Horse” on some awards show and knew I wouldn’t be able to resist the allure of her new record for long. So I bought it and just love it. Taylor and I still have some things to work through- that surprised look she gets whenever people applaud after...
Tell 'Em - Soulja Boy Cover by Neal Medlyn
Hi. It’s me, Neal, again. Today’s number is my cheap-keyboard cover of ‘Soulja Boy Tell Em’ by Soulja Boy Tell Em from the album iSouljaBoyTellEm. One take, folks! Punk rock! I really think too much about this Soulja Boy Tell Em fellow. Not a hundred percent sure he goes by that full name but I like it so that’s what I say his name is. I also sometimes spell the...
If You Seek Amy - Britney Spears Cover
If You Seek Amy - Britney Spears Cover The powers that be in the world of radio have deemed this song to be too racy for the airwaves, so they have forced Britney’s record label to re-release it as If You See Amy. What do they have against the letter F? But honestly, without the phrase spelling out FUCK, the song makes no sense. Everybody wants to FUC Amy? And who the hell is Amy?...
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MEDLEY MONDAYS- Rehab- Rihanna/Amy Winehouse Cover
MEDLEY MONDAYS - Rehab-Rihanna/Amy Winehouse Cover Okay okay, this will be the last medley that is of two songs with the same title…I swear. As it moves closer to the end of the first month of this project I am realizing how hard it is to come up with (hopefully) inventive ways to cover songs. I plan in the coming months to move from Garageband to Logic, so production will...
Mr. Carter - Lil' Wayne Cover by Neal Medlyn
GUEST POST BY NEAL MEDLYN So this afternoon I started working on my spoken word album. It is spoken word versions of all the songs on “Tha Carter III”, Lil Wayne’s unbelievable recent album. This is the second track from that album, a duet between Wayne and Jay Z on the original and in this version, a duet between myself and Apple Talk, the ins and outs of which I was schooled...
Heartless - Kanye West Cover by Clint Michigan
GUEST POST FROM CLINT, MICHIGAN Just like every over cover Amy and I have attempted, we haven’t realized how well written a song is until we break it down and make it depressing!! Rather than go the white people attempting to rap route, we have chosen to take out most of the homies (all but 1), the yo’s, and the quick “hey’s” that Mr. West likes to throw in the...
FLASHBACK FRIDAYS -Like a Virgin Cover with...
So for Flashback Fridays we have a live track for the first time! Bridget and I used to do this cover in our show At Least It’s Pink before it became an all original musical. Bridget recently sent this to me and even though it is live and has a story in the middle of it that may or may not make sense, I think it has an energy to it. I’m not a Madonna fan but then again,...
La La Land - Demi Lovato Cover
So the star of Camp Rock and a rising Disney product puts her two cents in on fame. It seems like the self-reflective single is the new black. Lily Allen, Pink, etc. It seems to me a bit silly to be owned by Disney and talking about how awful Hollywood is treating her. C’mon Demi! Mickey Mouse never complained! Kenny Mellman Click to Download: La La Land - Demi Lovato...
My Life Would Suck Without You - Kelly Clarkson...
Click to Download: My Life Would Suck Without You - Kelly Clarkson Cover UPDATE: Please Re-download. Put up early version by accident! Also, you can just listen to the covers in the player at the bottom of each post. Okay, back to Lost Unfortunately it is American Idol time again! Unfortunately because I have to admit that though I should not be watching it, I am. Last night there was a...
Circus - Britney Spears Cover
Click to Download: Circus - Britney Spears Cover Inauguration day. Would love to feel all the hope in the world, but with Rick Warren and all I am feeling a bit skeptical. So Britney it is! Everytime I think we’ve heard the last of Britney, she rises again. She is like Jesus, who I think was mentioned and invoked too many times at the inauguration for my taste. But seriously, you...
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Medley Mondays:I Kissed a Girl - Jill Sobule/Katy...
Click to Download: I Kissed A Girl - Jill Sobule/Katy Perry Cover Medley Mondays! I’m sure I’m not the first person to combine these two songs with the same title. I hadn’t listened to the Jill Sobule version since it first came out. It actually holds up pretty well. But why not replace the chorus in that one with the chorus from the Katy Perry version? Kenny
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My Girls - Animal Collective Cover
Click to Download: My Girls - Animal Collective Cover Homemade Saffron Marshmallows and a dog barking at her reflection in the slow cooker all day makes Kenny rush through a cover. Great song but only got two minutes of it done… Kenny
Pussy Monster - Lil' Wayne Cover by Neal Medlyn
Click to Download: Pussy Monster - Lil’ Wayne Cover by Neal Medlyn For today’s pop song, Our Hit Paraders, I propose this SAT style syllogism. This guitar bit I wrote in the 90s. I liked pussy then. Lil Wayne was alive in the 90s. Apparently, he likes pussy. He wrote the words to this song. I like this song. I recorded this cover. Therefore, Lil Wayne likes my pussy. Neal Medlyn
FLASHBACK FRIDAYS! My Life - Billy Joel Cover with...
Click to Download:My life - Billy Joel Cover by Bridget Everett Guest Post by Bridget Everett! my life. my life? my life??laid-off this wednesday. the zipper closed wednesday. and i killed my computer. but that’s ok. next week, i’m getting my ovaries partially removed and going on unemployment. see? things are looking up. got me thinking back in the 80’s… when...
Smell Yo Dick - Riskay Cover with Bridget Everett
Click to Download:Smell Yo Dick - Riskay cover with Bridget Everett What is there to say? This song should have been a top hit of 2008 but the language and subject matter made that impossible. Riskay tried to put out a ‘clean’ version called ‘smell that chick’, but that didn’t do anything for the song or Riskay’s career. The balls out vulgarity carries the...
The Zipper Factory is closed and we are sad
Found out today that the Zipper Factory has had its doors closed. It is a truly sad day for New York City and for Our Hit Parade. The Zipper’s staff was so warm and welcoming, so supportive and well, just plain fun. So to everyone who worked at the Zipper, a big big big big hug. Thank you for everything from the sound to the drinks and everything else in between. Kenny, Bridget and Neal...
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Whatever You Like -- TI Cover by Lady Rizo and...
Click to Download: Whatever You Like - TI Cover by Lady Rizo and Moby On special days ourhitparade.com gets a track made in a real studio! Taking a break from working on their own music, our friends Lady Rizo and Moby laid down this cover Guest post by Lady Rizo I first heard this whimsical gem when TI performed it as a live video shoot with a miniskirted busty vide-ho in hand on the...
Gives You Hell - All American Rejects Cover
Click to Download - Gives You Hell - All American Rejects Cover One of my favorite songs is Jonathan Richman’s Hospital. In the song the narrator walks down a street where his ex-lover lives and finds he has tears in his eyes. Gives You Hell seems to present the viewpoint of the ex-lover, who hopes that when his ex walks down the street, she feels nothing but pain, like in the original...
More Fun in The New World/Wake Up America -...
Click To Download: More Fun In The New World/Wake Up America - X/Miley Cyrus Cover It’s Medley Monday! Went to Joe’s Pub last night to see John Doe and Exene from X perform an acoustic set. Boy was it amazing! They were both in fine voice and the acoustic arrangements of the X and Knitters songs were perfect. Some idiot at the bar kept screaming out “More Fun in the New...
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I love college: Asher Roth cover - with Brendan...
I love college - Asher Roth - Cover Kenny And Brendan It is hard to believe that this song is one of the most downloaded songs in the universe. It makes me think of a boy I dated in San Francisco who was in the closet and in a frat house. He once had me climb into his room through a 3rd story window to spend the night and then got so freaked out that I was in the frat house that he made me...
Cookie Jar: Gym Class Heroes Cover by Neal Medlyn
Click to Download: Cookie Jar - Gym Class Heroes Cover by Neal Medlyn I really and truly thought, and was correspondingly scandalized, that this song said “i like girls, they like me, they look so good when they 17.” Also, I wonder if Fergie wakes up with cold sweats when she thinks of this style of vocal line and says “My God, what have I done??” Neal Medlyn
FLASHBACK FRIDAYS ! Unpretty - TLC Cover with...
Click To Download: Unpretty - TLC Cover with Bridget Everett Flashback Friday - Back to 1999! It is sad that the death of Lisa “Left-Eye” Lopez makes it impossible for me to enjoy the memory of TLC on some TV show describing when she took her boyfriend’s sneakers, put them all in the bathtub and lit them on fire. Twice. Unfortunately the second time, it was a fiberglass tub...
7 things - Miley Cyrus Cover by Neal Medlyn
Click to Download: 7 Things- Miley Cyrus Cover by Neal Medlyn Guest Post by Neal Medlyn I watch a little bit of Hannah Montana pretty much every night now. Just five minutes or so. I like thinking of it as a five minute sitcom, something that is programmed to pop up while I am flipping through channels. I like to think of some smart computer programmer coming up with a way to monitor the speed...
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Just Dance - Lady Gaga Cover
Click to Download: Just Dance - Lady Gaga Cover I once was at a party and got cornered by a friend’s new boyfriend who’s entire artistic expression seemed to be taking photos of the light shows at Circuit Parties. For a good hour I was forced to look at albums of picture after picture of blurry light shows. WITH NO PEOPLE IN THE PICTURES! Just pictures of light on ceilings and...
Take A Bow - Rihanna Cover by Jim Andralis and...
Click to Download: Take a Bow - Rihanna Cover by Jim Andralis and Larry Krone Guest post by Jim Andralis and Larry Krone Jim: I first heard this song in my rental car in Michigan. Larry: Oh, I didn’t know that (put that in there). Jim: I thought it was so beautiful and sad, so I bought it and learned all the words… Larry: And forced me to listen to it (put that in there). Jim: ...
Video : Wake Up America - Miley Cyrus by Neal...
The Fear- Lily Allen Cover
Click Here to Download: The Fear - Lily Allen Cover with Brendan Kennedy guest vocals Perhaps the most insensitive moment in a pop song this year comes in this new Lily Allen track. And I think that is what makes it pretty genius. Here are the opening lines: I want to be rich and I want lots of money I don’t care about clever I don’t care about funny I want loads of clothes and fuckloads of...
Mrs. Officer - Lil Wayne
Click to Download: Mrs. Officer - Lil Wayne Cover by Neal Medlyn Guest Post by Neal Medlyn! Today’s cover of Mrs. Officer by the inimitable Lil Wayne is entirely Kenny and Brendan’s fault. Well, actually, Kenny, Brendan, rose wine, vodka sodas and Brendan’s flip camera footage of a wonderful place called The Enchanted Forest near Portland, Oregon. I recorded this between 2 and 3:30 am after a...
Beyoncé - Radio
Click Here to Download: Radio - Beyoncé Cover I used to be a crazy Van Morrison fan. When I was 19 I saw him 10 times in one year. He once did a residency at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco. 4 nights. I went to all 4. At the beginning of the third night, some girls were in the balcony drinking and generally being loud. Van yelled at them to shut up and tried to continue the...
The Killers - Are We Human?
Click Here to Download: Are We Human? - Killers Cover First cover of the year. The Killers? Really? Wrote them off as a U2 knock-off. Heard this song on the radio and at first thought it was Pulp-like which is high praise indeed from an old-school Jarvis fan like me. I think now that it is more Blur-like but either way it certainly has that big Brit-pop anthem feeling. I also enjoy the...