Total Coverage: Motörhead Does The Rolling Stones, Hurtsmile Does Groucho Marx
Cover songs are a personal favorite of mine, so the fact that two distinct and bizarre (notice I didn’t not specify ‘good’) covers have popped up on my news feed in the last five minutes is a pleasure.
The first is Motörhead covering the Rolling Stones classic, “Sympathy for the Devil,” which totally works for them. The song’s upbeat satanic motifs and classic rock jangling works well the band’s sound, and Lemmy describing himself as “a man of wealth and taste” feels entirely appropriate. Even Lemmy’s slurring does the song’s title character justice. Listen below:
Meanwhile, Hurtsmile, the band fronted by ex-Extreme/Van Halen frontman Gary Cherone, has made a video for their cover/reinterpretation of “Hello, I Must Be Going,” a song from the classic Marx Brothers’ movie Animal Crackers, and it’s, well, pretty shit. It’s a lot of dad-rock posturing and Enuff Z’Nuff style lite metal, and strips the madcap original of all its weird, zany atmosphere. I was hoping for a “Play With Me”-style bouncy free-for-all, and instead, we have, well… take a look.
There you have it. Let’s just pray Rob Zombie doesn’t put this Hurtsmile cover in his movie.
Maybe next time, we should just have Motörhead cover Groucho. It’d be very much like Lemmy to sing, “Whatever it is, I’m against it!”
