To vote, and/or download the finalists, please visit: http://www.coverville.com/idol
Here’s what’s on the show tonight:
| Title | Artist | Original Artist |
| Dream On | Rebecca Turner | Aerosmith |
| Kodachrome | Dave Von Bieker | Paul Simon |
| Kodachrome | Randy Peterman | Paul Simon |
| My Old School | Miles Cool | Steely Dan |
| No Quarter | Shane Carey | Led Zeppelin |
| Papa Was A Rolling Stone | Andrew Rothman | The Temptations |
| Search And Destroy | James Eric | The Stooges |
| The Ocean | Christoph Drosser | Led Zeppelin |
| Still…You Turn Me On | Uncle Seth | Emerson, Lake and Palmer |
70 minutes | 
Digg me! (please!)
May the best songwriter win. There is some heavy competition here 🙂 Lots of good contributions. Good luck to all,
James Eric
Much better than the first Idol, prolly because you did complete songs.
Randy Peterman’s Kodachrome was, how shall I put this, godawful. Jeez, it’s like he was trying to be as bad as possible. I’d say he stunk, but that would give a bad name to fecal matter.
Uncle Seth’s ELP cover was great. I was apprehensive, I got the ELP remasters last week and have been listening to them. I was afraid the cover would ruin the song, but it’s a very worthy cover of a great song.
And the correct song title is “Still You Turn Me On”.
Great Coverville Idol show! Both playing the whole song and the inclusion of a live judges helped the show significantly.
Ouch, Jim! That was a little harsh, dontcha think? I liked his take on it – especially the bold choice of slowing it down to an unexpected tempo.
And, yeah – the ELP track is “Still…You Turn Me On”, but that’s the way Uncle Seth sent it to me, and they’re the performers. They could have called it “Listerine and M & M’s” if they’d wanted. (When I report it to BMI/ASCAP, I’ll give them ELP’s title and composer)
Nah, if they’d called it “Listering and M & M’s” people might have confused it with my cover of “Homemade Jelly & Birth Control Pills”. Great episode this time – my faves (aside from mine) were von Bieker, Drosser and Miles Cool. Oh, and Turner’s was good nice also.
Hey folks, thanks for the kind words about our ELP cover, and Brian, if I did give you the wrong title it’s because I’m an idiot. The title should indeed be “Still… You Turn Me On”, if you want to change it in the show notes please do.
And Jim, didn’t know about the ELP remasters, I’ll have to check those out. Would you believe I actually have the original vinyl of Brain Salad Surgery complete with the wacky gatefold? Good times!
Cheers,
Jay from Uncle Seth
Hey folks, thanks for the kind words about our ELP cover, and Brian, if I did give you the wrong title it’s because I’m an idiot. The title should indeed be “Still… You Turn Me On”, if you want to change it in the show notes please do.
And Jim, didn’t know about the ELP remasters, I’ll have to check those out. Would you believe I actually have the original vinyl of Brain Salad Surgery complete with the wacky gatefold? Good times!
Cheers,
Jay from Uncle Seth
The artist responsible for the Brain Salad Surgery gatefold cover? None other than H. R. Giger, who designed the alien in Alien, as well as the album cover for Blondie’s KooKoo. He also designed the ELP logo, which they used for most of their career.
And the title of the ELP album cover: “Landscape XIX – Work Z16”
Help! My copy of the show cuts off at about 25 minutes. I’ve tried downloading from the “Download & listen” button but that does the same.
Another fun fact about the design is how the woman’s face is laid out on the middle of the label of the original LP, so when you place it on the turntable it looks rather, err, suggestive. Totally an intentional joke by Giger and the band, who legend has it shared some pretty sick ideas about the design that they didn’t think they’d get away with.
Great show. Much better (with one exception) hearing the whole song.
For my taste the Uncle Seth cover is the run away winner. By far the best vocals and very clean production.
How did you all manage to listen to the whole show?! The file in the iTunesfeed and on the site is only about 25 min (23 mb).
The saddest part was that most of the esteemed judges had not heard the original version of And Still, You Turn Me On. Just shows what an old git I am – I bought the original on vinyl. Anyway, the cover version was great in that it was much darker, a clever change from the original. Am I the only person who liked Rebecca Turner?
Cheers, Grant
You’re definitely not the only one. Dan liked her, and I’ve been a fan of hers since I played one of her tunes on the Not Lame Podcast.
I liked this show a lot more than the last idol. I liked the inclusion of whole songs. I liked the live judges (nice to have someone to argue with). I loved the fact all those people put in so much effort in producing the songs. Even those that weren’t to my taste.
No Grant you’re not the only one who liked the Rebecca Turner version of Dream On. She was in my top 3 along with the Dave von Bieker version of Kodachrome and the Uncle Seth version of Still…You Turn Me On (even though I’d never heard the original of the song before either).
Finally listened today.
I actually liked Rebecca Turner too. Personally I though the 1986 show had far stronger songs, but I am a mid-80’s guy and was, like Brian, 4 in 1973, so have not got the same attachment to this year. As a Brit, I was a little dissapointed that there were no Glam Rock covers, because i’m sure that Slade etc were up and running then, but then this is a mostly USA-centric show.
Loved the judges. I especially thought Tina was very good and I’m not just saying that to suck up to Brian. Her opinions were well thought out and well delivered. This show also proved that Nora and Dan should do a “couple” cast – set the world to rights!!
Just regarding American Idol, the Coke product placement lasted just the first show, now the coke image is blurred out! I believe, in the UK, this type of product placement in a competition event would be banned, though it does not stop the obvious Fed-Ex type references in movies. Watching “The devil wears prada” last week, there could be no doubt a chunk of Steve Job’s money went into that movie!
Listening with my young kids until the sick jokes started. Nice version of Dream On and it gets ripped. Hope Paul Simon didn’t hear those Kodachromes. Yikes
Yeah, I was too harsh on Randy Peterman’s Kodachrome. After 5-6 listens it really grew on me. It’s funny. Songs/albums I like on first listen I tire of quickly. Those that take several listens tend to be enduring favorites.
And Seth, I too have the original Brain Salad Surgery LP, with the gatefold. They also talk about the turntable metal dealie a bit in an interview at the end of the BSS remaster CD. It’s pretty funny.
Still, great show Brian.
Hey! Great show!
I don’t generally wax nostalgic, but this took me right back…
1973 was the year I graduated from high school, so the original tunes are seared into my memory…
Anyway, I thought Dream On was an excellent cover – spare and pretty – I thought your judges kinda missed on their assessments for that one. My 16 year old daughter thought the same thing though. On a deal like that, one wonders if we were listening to the same song.
And Still…You Turn Me On is just a good song.
In college it was great fun to listen over and over and over to Brain Salad Surgery under the black lights with the headphones on.
Someone get me a ladder!
Yikes what a lyric…
Nick, I always laugh at that lyric too, actually the complete line is funnier:
“Everyday a little sadder, a little madder, someone get me a ladder”
I actually really love Greg Lake’s writing, but he does try to beat you to death with his rhyming abilities sometimes.
And I’m totally there with the headphones! 🙂
This was much better. I had some reservations about another Coverville Idol and I was rather harsh in my previous comment for that show. I must just hate the American Idol idea. I enjoyed some of the covers very much. I disagreed with the judges in most cases, at least for the 2 or 3 song comments I listened through. Thankfully, I had a scroll wheel to skip through the remarks to get to the music or skip through the songs I could care less about like the two Kodachromes. This is the kind of show which confirms to me no two people have exactly the same taste in music and why opinions concerning taste in music should often be kept to oneself.
But that is not why I am writing. I enjoyed this show much more and will rescind my request that you not do another Coverville Idol. I will look forward to the next one especially if it is available as an AAC with chapter marks between introduction, song and judge remarks. I also want to thank you and the artists for making the songs available as standalone downloads. Please keep up the great work.
I have to say I really enjoyed the show but often disagreed with the judges. It might be helpful to explain at the beginning of the show what the judging criteria is. If like the TV Idol, they are judging on vocal ability and arrangement, fine. But some of the renditions the judges disliked were much more spirited, energetic, and well played then the ones they liked. Remember, making a song different does NOT make it better. IMO, making a cover song your own and capturing the vitality of the original is critical in transforming it. Let’s also give the artists props for musicianship and production.
My faves: Uncle Seth, Andrew Rothman, Shane Cary
Thanks for keeping me musically entertained.
I must have listened to this at some point, but I just don’t remember it.