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• Ron-
  Thank you so much for getting back to me about the Moti Giladi album. My mom was thrilled when I told her that I had found her a copy! She's looking forward to hearing it and dancing around the living room like she used to. It's too bad that so many great old songs are being forgotten because the recordings haven't been updated to CD.
  Jenny

• sure, this (at left) is the moti giladi album that those songs are from. it's one of my favorites--as you can see here.

  i've emailed you to figure out how you might get a copy. :)

• Hello, I saw the list of favorite cover songs that you posted on your site, and I saw that you included songs sung by Moti Giladi. I remember that album- I had it as a kid, and my mother has been searching everywhere for it. She tried all the websites that sell Israeli music, but no one carries it. Do you have any idea where I could find it?
  Thanks,
  Jenny

• I was wondering why it had been so long since I'd received an Erasure CD. I just noticed that quite a few have been released since the last one arrived in the mail. I just figured it was because you got married :)

• there you are! i haven't seen you on YIM in weeks.

  too funny: someone else JUST told me--3 days ago--that RDMH was a cover. (and yes, of course i own it.)

  actually, erasure has tons of covers. in fact, the version of "Every Day" that i listed above is from their album called "Other People's Songs." (not to mention their "Abba-esque" EP.) i even thought about keeping with tradition and mailing you a copy of "Other People's Songs," but international mail is so flaky...

• I recently discovered that Erasure's song "River Deep, Mountain High" from The Innocents album was originally performed by Ike and Tina Turner. Of course, you probably already knew that, and I'm sure you already own it.

• Oy, what you just started!

  I got curious about the "I Touch Myself" cover, so decided to download it. I have dial-up. Very slow download. So I set it up and hopped into the shower. With the radio on. What I had forgotten is that once something downloads on my computer it starts to play automatically. So there I am, minding my own business, when a chorus of prepubescent female voices starts singing. At the same time as the radio is playing "When Doves Cry" by Prince. I was laughing so hard I could barely hold on to the shampoo.

  Which reminds me- Tom Jones covering "Kiss", but His Royal Purpleness. OK. I'm done now, once and for all time.

• OK- a bit of geek history for you on TBHOTR. It's not so much a covered song as it is a cover itself. Of a song called "John Brown's Body". The John Brown in this case being the abolitionist who led the raid on Harper's Ferry. It was a rallying song for the abolitionist movement. Over time, they kept the music, ditched the lyrics, and it became TBHOTR. Sarah Vowell does a very funny piece on this whole story on "This American Life" that somehow also manages to work in the "What Would Jesus Do?" question. I happened to hear this piece right before the 4th of July, and it totally perked up all the bandshell concerts we went to that year. Check it out:

  https://www.thisamericanlife.org/pages/descriptions/03/239.html

• good stuff. (as expected, from you!) i'm gonna hit iTunes and see which of those i can find.

  one technical note: i'm leaning towards disqualifying "the battle hymn of the republic," since it's not a covered song, per se--it's really a traditional piece which has no original performer. there are many traditional (particularly irish) songs which i decided i couldn't list here for that very reason.

  that said, i have to add this:
  (a) i happen to love TBHOTR, and
  (b) flutists are dear to my heart,
  so i'm definitely going to look this one up.

  thanks for the leads!!

• well i've held off commenting for as long as i could... covers are what we're after, let's start with two great obvious ones: "all along the watchtower" covered by jimi hendrix, originally done by bob dylan. dylan prefers hendrix version for the record. "alabama song (whiskey bar)" covered by the doors, originally written by bertolt brecht & kurt weil.
  two slightly stranger covers: "the battle hymn of the republic" performed instrumentally by noted jazz flute player herbie mann. "istanbul (not constantinople" covered by they might be giants originally perfomed by the four lads.
  and one of the most bizarre covers i can think of... "fernando" origially performed by abba. instrumentally covered by sex mob - avante garde jazz meets audio pornography meets syruppy sweedish pop. and those are just to name a few.