- Budgie
- Metallica
- Ningen Isu
0 voters
1 Like
Budgie FTW. i never ever get tired of their version of it. timeless.
1 Like
Yup. The boys from Tiger Bay. Much underrated band.
- Lord Invader
- The Andrews Sisters
0 voters
Lord Invader by a landslide, and not just because his name sounds like a Star Wars character.
5 Likes
I don’t know. Matters of cultural appropriation aside, I think the Andrews Sisters’ version — with its minimalistic arrangement and off-color subject matter — is one of the most distinctive popular recordings of the 1940s.
3 Likes
I grew up in the Andrews Sisters, but yeah, Lord Invader owns that one, and not just because he wrote it. Loved the intro – that is one wickedly intelligent man to get those points in and still make the audience laugh.
Interesting the Cola was a chaser – I’ve only ever heard of it as a mixed drink.
This must be where The Clash got “working for the Yankee dollar” from.
3 Likes
i’m partial to the Andrews Sisters version, but it’s damn fascinating to hear the original and its history. am i hearing him correctly, and he said Morey Amsterdam took credit for it? as in Buddy from the Dick an Dyke Show? whoa.
…and a quick Wiki check bears this out! wow, i learned a great bit of trivia today.
i’ll also add that the Puppini Sisters have a great version of this song, too
4 Likes
That was tough for me. I voted Lord Invader, because the intro was fantastic, and his version doesn’t feel like it glosses over the deeper issues. Plus, he wrote it, which earns him the point.
But, The Andrews Sisters version makes me nostalgic. Obviously, I’m not old enough to remember them from way back when, but when I was a kid our family listened to a lot of big band. We would take boom box with a set of four big band tapes, and roller skate around the tennis courts at a community college on the weekends. My siblings were little, and the tennis courts were fenced off, so everyone could skate or play around without worrying that a little person could wander off. Rum and Coca Cola was one of my favorites, though I didn’t get any deeper meaning at age 7.
5 Likes
I’m glad my post prompted so much thought.
I have a feeling Morey Amsterdam didn’t think he did anything wrong. I suppose from his point of view he “discovered” this music in the same way the Carter Family “discovered” their music.
But his claiming this song as his own work did not go without notice at the time. Many people such as world music devotees, SJWs, Trinidadians were quite upset. This is what prompted Alan Lomax — heard introducing Lord Invader in the recording above — to organize an all-Calypso music concert in New York’s Town Hall in 1946.
This song is probably the first example of Calypso that entered US popular culture. This type of music, or similar, reached its peak of popularity in the US by the late 50s when it was sung by performers such as Harry Belafonte.
There’s also a lot of world history behind this song. The reason the Yankees he sings about came to Trinidad, was because of a US Navy air base. With the opening of this base, and the development of long-range aircraft, there could be for the first time complete anti-submarine air coverage of the Atlantic shipping.
The oil drums left behind by the Yankees were famously turned into steel drums.
10 Likes
Ah, The Robe. Notable for two things:
- First use of the Hypergonar lens in a major Hollywood movie.
- The music.
Definitely not notable for its plot or acting.
Anyway, here are two takes on the score’s love theme — one by its composer, the great Alfred Newman, the other by the great Yusef Lateef. See what you think.
- Alfred Newman
- Yusef Lateef
0 voters
Extreme earworm warning. You will strain your vocal cords attempting this in your shower. But you will try it.
- 0:14 Diana Damraw
- 0:46 Erika Miklósa
- 1:13 Kim Soo-Yeon
- 1:45 Lucia Popp
- 2:17 Cristina Deutekom
- 2:49 Susanne Elmark
- 3:20 Sumi Jo
- 3:52 Natalie Dessay
- 4:22 Joan Sutherland
- 4:52 Luciana Serra
- 5:24 Edda Moser
- 5:54 Edita Gruberová
0 voters
1 Like
I’ve never heard Natalie Dessay sing this particular piece, but I’ve been in love with her voice for at least a decade now, so my guess is that she’ll be my final choice. I’m going to wait until tomorrow to play all of them (they have to each be manually loaded into a new tab, so it’s a laborious process), but I’m really looking forward to this ‘chore’!!
edited to add: Oh how helpful! The video plays for me in the thread, and they’re all in the one!
edited again: I don’t dare vote until I know if I can vote for more than one. Too hard!
- Diana
- Susanne
- Natalie (bien sûr!)
- Edda
2 Likes
I voted Diana Damraw mostly because I got to see her live and it’s so amazing to hear that done in person. Also she does rock it. I liked Lucia Popp and Joan Sutherland. Kim Soo-Yeon was better on a second play than the first time I listened to her. They were all pretty amazing - the notes are unreal to hear anyone sing.
2 Likes
No I won’t. I’m a bass. If I even start to think about singing this one in the shower, it will be transposed down by several octaves into my profondo register. I will make one helluva scary King of the Night…
4 Likes
it’s so catchy. I do it like 5 octaves down to normal soprano.
2 Likes
If you do it 5 octaves down, you’ll be joining me. That will be… impressive.
5 Likes
This is a bit of “Who performed it better?”, as the vocals were often dropped.
- Doctor Ross
- Cream
- Jethro Tull
- Blodwyn Pig
- Blues Saraceno
- The Fraternity of Man
0 voters
Might be a bit of a cheat - Mick Abrahams is featured twice - as Tull’s guitarist, and as Blodwyn Pig’s. (Interesting factoid: Tony Iommi briefly took over as Tull’s guitarist after Abrahams left the band. Iommi left to rejoin the band that would become Black Sabbath.)
2 Likes
I am pleased to see Run-DMC represent. 
In the same spirit, and of the same era, I offer you all this choice:
- Public Enemy
- Anthrax & Public Enemy
0 voters
Hear the drummer get wicked! \m/\m/
2 Likes
Yeah, boy! Public Enemy in tha house!
- P.E.
- D squared
0 voters
4 Likes