Suggested Polydor covers compilations

[Monty]

After chatting with Iain in a private message I said how the Polydor 'covers' albums I found always had some tracks I quite enjoyed but others ('Eastenders' etc) that did not appeal to me or some that I rather detested !

it's all arguable re track listings and probably there would be enough decent 'covers' for a second such collection but If I were doing Shads 80's era compilations of covers (a sort opposite of 'Shadstrax' CD set) I would try to go for some of the better melodies (to me anyway) and I came up with this suggested 20 tracks to begin with:

1.Queen of Hearts
2.Every Breath You Take
3.Theme From Miami Vice
4.Albatross
5.Time is Tight
6.Memory
7.Dancing in The Dark (12 inch single version)
8.Hello Mr. W.A.M.
9.Riders of The Range
10.Indigo
11.Walk of Life
12.If You Leave Me Now
13.More Than I Can Say
14.All I Ask of You
15.You Keep Me Hangin' on
16.Strawberry Fields Forever
17.Sealed With A Kiss
18.Nights in White Satin
19.A Whiter Shade of Pale
20.Raunchy

I think this would make an enjoyable 'Polydor Years' covers compilation, with quite strong melodic numbers ...and as I said there would be room for a 'volume two' set

[Monty]

While maybe a 'Volume two' CD set might consist of these covers:

1.Riders in The Sky '90
2.Chi Mai (Theme From 'Life and Times of David Lloyd George')
3.The Third Man
4.Hello
5.Imagine / Woman
6.Farewell My Lovely
7.Sailing
8.Up Where We Belong
9.Candle in The Wind
10.Diamonds
11.Moonlight Shadow
12.One Day I'll Fly Away
13.You Don't Have To Say You Love Me
14.Every Little Thing She Does is Magic
15.Hey Jude
16.He Ain't Heavy...He's My Brother
17.Something's Gotta Hold of My Heart
18.Some People
19.Going Home
20.Equinox (Part Five)

[howarddobson]

What about suggestions for a new album

Angels would be a good one.

[iefje]

"Riders Of The Range" and "Farewell My Lovely" can't be called 'covers', because although these weren't written by The Shadows, they were written for The Shadows.

[iefje]

What about suggestions for a new album

Angels would be a good one.

A new album would be really great, but I think it will never happen. Hank will probably release a new album, but the Shadows chapter has largely come to an end. I have fond memories of the concerts I saw in Norwich, Amsterdam and Rotterdam in 2004, 2005 and 2009 respectively. It's great they reformed in 2003 to do their own final tour in 2004 and 2005 and in 2008 to do the reunion final tour with Cliff in 2009 and 2010.

I still hope Parlophone Records will release some live recordings, which are still in the can: the 1967 concert in Japan, the complete reunion concerts with Cliff from 1978, 1984 and 1989 and their complete performance at Knebworth in 1990. Also, an anthology of their radio and television appearances.

[Monty]

Even if The Shadows did not write a number themselves the fact is they ARE covering another writers material, even if written for them , so I would say they WERE 'covers' of material not composed within the band itself...

as for suggestions for a NEW album - why not start a thread re that idea ?

[Moderne]

1. Queen of Hearts
2. Indigo
3. Equinoxe Pt V
4. Third Man (a guilty pleasure!)
5. Theme from 'Missing'
6. Runaway (live at Abbey Road)
7. Going Home
8. You Don't Have to Say You Love Me
9. Time is Tight
10. Moonlight Shadow
11. Walking in the Air
12. All I Ask of You
13. ...I'm struggling now!

I should add that there a few others I would include on the strength of Hank's guitar on its own (e.g. their version of Diamonds off XXV) but I can't cope with the 80s arrangements. This doesn't just apply to The Shadows...I guess there were a lot of good songs around in the 1980s ruined by unlistenable productions...

[iefje]

Even if The Shadows did not write a number themselves the fact is they ARE covering another writers material, even if written for them , so I would say they WERE 'covers' of material not composed within the band itself...

as for suggestions for a NEW album - why not start a thread re that idea ?

I guess that depends on how one defines a 'cover'. To me, a track is a cover, when an artist records a track, which was first released by and/or a hit by another artist. "Wonderful Land" and "Atlantis" were both written by Jerry Lordan, but first recorded by The Shadows, who also first had a hit with them. "Apache" was also first a hit for The Shadows, but Bert Weedon recorded it first and released it later. The same applies to "Riders Of The Range" and also for instance "Hammerhead" and "The Saturday Western".

[JimN]

The phrase "cover version" was coined for one purpose and one purpose only. It meant a recording made and released to cash in on the success of the same piece of music already released by someone else and already showing signs of success.

Note the phrase "cash in". It implies that the original version is a commercial hit or likely to be one. With the greatest of respect to him, that would never have applied to Bert's Apache, no matter how good some of his other records were.

There were two principal ways in which genuine cover versions were made. One way was to keep a a scouting ear out for songs likely to be a hit (whether in their own right or because they had been recorded by a star), then to make another recording of the same song (often in a very similar style) and release it, usually in a different territory. This method was frequently resorted to by UK record companies in the time between a hit in America and the release of the hit American record in the UK. Examples include Bobby's Girl (Marcie Blane in USA, Susan Maughan in the UK) and Venus In Blue Jeans (Jimmy Clanton in USA, Mark Wynter in the UK), but there are many dozens of similar covers which could be cited.

The other form of the cover version was the record label which specialised in cover versions - often nowhere near as good as the originals, usually recorded hurriedly and frequently only approximating the performance quality of the version being copied. In the UK, the Embassy and Cannon labels operated solely in this market, with value being offered by the low prices of the records (about 40% of a standard disc price). Embassy Records are fascinating for many reasons, but not many fans would prefer them to the originals.

The phrase "cover version" simply NEVER applied to recordings of standard songs and was not meant to. If Frank Sinatra recorded of a song originally from a Broadway or Hollywood musical - and he did, in spadefuls - it would be churlish to label it a "cover". It would indicate a failure to understand what a cover version really is (or was, since they are rarely made today).

Similarly, it has become normal to refer to a group or band which does not write their own material as a "covers band". Again, that represents a misuse of the term and conveys a belief that musicians are somehow lesser beings if they don't write their own material. Used as a cultured term of abuse, it would even apply to the London Symphony Orchestra.

[Derek Mowbray]

Yes the term cover is misused most of the British hits of the 1950`s and 1960`s were covers of American hits as we did not have enough original material of our own.Most American hits were released before we had a chance to hear them.Cliff`s first record was cover of an American hit called Schoolboy Crush,and as far as I know Bert Weedons Apache was not released until The Shadows had a hit record so really his record company were cashing in on The Shadows success.Everything in the record industry is fair game, a record made years after the original is not a `cover `
version.