Tag Archives: cover song

“(I Just) Died In Your Arms Tonight” (Cutting Crew Cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Welcome, welcome to yet another edition of Jim Fusco Tuesdays here on the best music video blog ever created.

Now, I’m sure you’ve been wondering why week after week I write, “Welcome, welcome” to begin my posts here on the music blog.  Well, it’s the famous opening to Groucho Marx’s show, “You Bet Your Life.”  “Welcome, welcome to You Bet Your Life.  Say the secret word and the bird will come down and give you a hundred dollars.”  So, that’s the story!

Tonight, I bring to you another one-hit-wonder group with a Number One single on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart in 1987.  “(I Just) Died in Your Arms Tonight” was a Number 1 for two weeks and it’s a really “eighties” sounding song.  So, what was my response?  To make an acoustic cover version of the song.  These videos tend to be my most popular.  I’ll keep you posted on the progress.

I’ll admit that before tonight, I only really knew the chorus to this song.  I then got the song and listened to it about 15 times (the people next door must’ve thought I was in some sort of a mood tonight.  But, then again, I do live with 24-hours-a-day-music-Moore…).  It really is a great song, after all.  I’m always a sucker for over the top eighties production, and this song has a great guitar solo both in the middle and especially at the end.

My version has a bit of a uniqueness to it, as I made my own version of the opening synth part on acoustic guitar.  It’s nothing special, but I really like the sound.  It definitely beats just strumming it and letting your imagination fill in the gaps.

It’s late now and Dana is really keeping me awake over here with stories, etc.  I’m not complaining- we always have a good time down in the new computer room.  It’s funny- I never spent much time down here until I got the new computer.

My trip this weekend was a lot of fun.  We went up to Lake Champlain and stayed at the Hilton in Burlington, VT.  We wen to Ben & Jerry’s factory, sampled Cabot cheese, and got candy and fudge from the Lake Champlain chocolate factory.  We also got to walk around the wonderful Church Street market, where we had a ton of great food and went to some pretty cool shops.  I’d love to live near a place like that.  Our hotel had an indoor pool, which was nice, especially during the winter in Vermont.

Plus, on Friday, right before I left, I was greeted at home with the painting of the album cover to “Halfway There”, my new album!  It’s officially nearing completion now and the cover went a long way.  I’ll be revealing it online soon!  The painting is amazing.  It was done by a great young artist named Ben Quesnel.  In exchange, I’m making him a website, and after the job he did, I’m really gonna make a great site for him.  This album cover really takes my production to a new level!

Okay, off to bed- a very busy week this week.  Everyone has the week off from school (I’m constantly surrounded by teachers), so everyone thinks that they can just start hanging out and taking more of my time than usual.  I usually don’t mind, but honestly, there’s just too much to do to fit everything in.  have a great week and enjoy tonight’s Laptop Session!

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“My Last Mistake” (Dan Auerbach Cover)

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For Dan Auerbach chords/lyrics, CLICK HERE!

By Chris Moore:

Hello and welcome to another installment of “Chris Moore Monday.”  It is my priviledge and responsibility to start off each week right, usually with a selection that is in “new music” news.  I figure this is appropriate, since tomorrow is “New Music Tuesday” – what better role is there than to turn you on to great new music?

Okay, so tonight’s song is technically a week old…

Dan Auerbach is better known as one half of the blues rock music group the Black Keys.  The band formed in Ohio in 2001, and in less than a decade, they have accumulated an impressive resume — including opening for Beck and Radiohead, playing on Late Night with Conan O’Brien and The Late Show with David Letterman, and receiving accolades from Rolling Stone such as one of the “10 best acts of 2003.”  Although the band has not broken up, this year has found Dan Auerbach making a name for himself by releasing his very first solo album titled Keep It Hid.  I almost transcribed and played this, the title track, but I couldn’t resist “My Last Mistake,” the subsequent track.  Auerbach might agree with this choice of songs to record and play, as he performed “My Last Mistake” on the Friday, February 13th episode of Conan O’Brien.

So, you may be wondering how I heard of this release.  Well, aside from receiving a coupon for the first-week purchase in my favorite email each week — the Newbury Comics e-newsletter!! — I was tipped off to the release by someone who has his finger on the pulse of all things modern and alternative rock.  (So, thank you again, Geoff!)  He’s the same person who strongly suggested I check out the 2008 albums of Beck and Cold War Kids, both of which I would never have purchased on my own.

And I would have missed out!

Now, they’re not my favorite records of the year, by any means, but there are some killer songs that would have passed me by entirely.  So, hopefully I’ll continue to receive new rock music insight from Newbury Comics, Geoff, and who knows who else!

Speaking of new music, I constructed a fairly impressive “Albums of 2008” iTunes playlist.  It contains 341 songs, ranging from the Barenaked Ladies children’s album to Ben Folds’ album (which was certainly NOT kid-friendly!).  I hadn’t really listened to the playlist since the New Year, but I just turned it on yesterday and fell in love with it again.  I’m listening to it now, and even now, Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida” just faded into Brian Wilson’s “Oxygen to the Brain.”  Where else can you find that sort of variety?!  I cling to my playlists and albums these days, as the popular media has only embraced an extremely small and profoundly unrepresentative sample of what modern rock music has to offer.  Take the aforementioned Coldplay, an overrated and — until recently, in this writer’s opinion — mediocre band.  Chris Martin and his band have received more Grammys than all of my favorite bands combined.  No kidding!  Meanwhile, Brian Wilson got a Rolling Stone article for his amazing 2008 album That Lucky Old Sun, and that was all.  I understand that he is older and there perhaps isn’t a market for his music, but I find it sad that more people couldn’t have been exposed to the bright, brilliant, and uplifting rock tunes that pour forth from that album.

Enough ranting for one day’s post…

As a final note, I finally picked up and watched the Sam Jones documentary I Am Trying to Break Your Heart.  I had planned on watching it with Dana last night, but he hadn’t returned home, so I got ready to watch it alone.  Then, Mike texted and sounded interested.  So, before I knew it, Mike had arrived with apple juice and saltines (food for sick people — my personal choice is G2 and wheat toast!) and we cranked up the volume on the big screen.  What a great documentary — not only is the filmography reminiscent of Don’t Look Back, but Jeff Tweedy is looking very Dylan-esque.  Scruffy, bearing harmonica rack, singing poetic lyrics — what more could I ask for?  Also, he seems like he would be a difficult guy to live and/or work with.  But that being said, I like Jeff Tweedy a great deal, and it was really interesting to see him candidly in the studio.  And thanks to Dana and Mike for making last night an event in and of itself — when Jim returns from vacation, I just may have to join them for their late night sessions that I miss so much since I’ve become an “old man” with a wakeup time of 5 or 5:30am…

And now to tie this ALL together…

Wilco switched to Nonesuch records after the Yankee Hotel Foxtrot fiasco (the situation filmed and described in I Am Trying to Break Your Heart), and Dan Auerbach is also on the Nonesuch label.  So, as you see, it all comes full circle…

See you next session!

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“Sex on Fire” (Kings of Leon Cover)

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(Don’t wait to submit your very own Guest Session — submissions are being taken and viewed every day!!)

The video you’re about to watch pushes the limits of the Laptop Sessions format, as it features the abilities of not one, not two, but three performers.  Now, this is certainly not unheard of — MoU united about a year ago and performed four-man videos around Christmastime.  And when it comes down to it, what you’ll find is that tonight’s video includes all the essentials for a great Laptop Session — a predominantly acoustic sound, a great rendition both vocally and instrumentally, and not only a brand new song but also a brand new band to the blog!

So, what more could you ask for?

Tonight’s Guest Session players are The Frets, and they bring you a live, intimate recording of the Kings of Leon’s “Sex on Fire.”  The band Kings of Leon is a relatively new band, having started in 2000.  But, when you really think about it, they’re not that far away from their tenth anniversary — and one decade together ain’t bad, let me tell you!  The Beatles were together for less time…  They are billed as a Grammy Award-winning rock band, and although they are three brothers and a first cousin who hail from Nashville, Tennessee, they’ve seen about 80% of their album sales in Europe.  This is not surprising, as our Guest Sessions cover band tonight is based out of Scotland.  When they sent their video, they wrote very simply:

“Scottish band the Frets doing “Sex on Fire.”

I suppose they’d like their music to speak for itself.  On their YouTube Channel, there is apparently some news about a name change for the Frets, though.  Go ahead, read for yourself:

“GALLAS* SAYS: innovation not immitation.  Keep supporting GALLAS* in the coming 2009 AS YOU DID THE FRETS 2008.”

This is apparently on the heels of a change in lineup.  Well, regardless of the band’s name, we hope you enjoy their Kings of Leon cover song video tonight.  Hopefully they’ll send us another video once they’ve officially re-formed as a new band.

Thank you, Frets, and thank you all for stopping by to watch the latest installment of the Guest Sessions!

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“Where I Find My Heaven” (Gigolo Aunts Cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Not feeling too well tonight (cold), so I’ll keep this a bit shorter.

Tonight, I bring you a great song from a true One Hit Wonder- the Gigolo Aunts!  This band is still playing today- they’re really popular overseas, in Spain, I believe.

You might recognize this song- it was a big hit in 1994.  I know my close friends and relatives will recognize this song instantly, as it was featured in the film (and soundtrack to) Dumb and Dumber.  I love that movie so much and the soundtrack is a great one.  You should really try to find it, if it’s still available anywhere.

This is a high-energy song that has a nice tune and just sounds like a solid mid-nineties rock single.  And isn’t it funny that Chris would do an older song yesterday and I would answer back with a 90s song tonight?  It wasn’t even planned!

Actually, my brother Mike is into the Gigolo Aunts now because it turns out that they’re BIG Dennis Wilson (from the Beach Boys) fans.  They even named their most recent album “Pacific Ocean Blues”, after Dennis Wilson’s “Pacific Ocean Blue” from the seventies.  I haven’t heard the Aunts’ album yet, but Mike tells me it’s great.  Once I get out of my big radio show listening kick, I’ll have to give that album a few spins.

And yes, tonight, I bring to you yet another new artist to the Laptop Sessions acoustic cover (and original) songs music video blog.  You kow, there is now a new Laptop Sessions fan every six minutes of every day?!?!  That’s incredible.  I won’t stop promoting (or encouraging the guys to help promote) until we see a visitor a minute here on the site.  I know it’s possible because just a couple months ago, we would’ve laughed at the notion of seeing up to 322 views a day!  Thanks to everyone for the support and I hope you’ll root for me to get better soon.  I’m going on a trip this weekend- I’m glad the sickness happened now instead of then.  I hope to blog about the trip while I’m there, so stay tuned!  Until then, I hope you’ll look forward to the posts on the blog by Chris and Jeff!

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