Steve Harnell, Editor Follow me on X (Twitter): @steve_harnell
You should never underestimate the power of a great cover version. Across the decades its pecking order position in the music world may well have changed, but the impact of a well-chosen cover can still stretch far and wide.
Rewind to the 50s and 60s where songwriting epicentres such as London’s Tin Pan Alley and the iconic Brill Building in New York held sway and you would regularly see multiple versions of the same song face off against each other in the pop charts simultaneously.
And that was a trend accelerated by the rise of The Beatles where every morsel that Lennon & McCartney served up was seized upon as a potential hit by countless artists of the day. The concept has disappeared in the modern era but covers remains a superb vehicle for introducing a songwriter’s work to a larger or different fanbase. In the UK, that’s been seen down the years with various Radio One Live Lounge tracks as well as Radio Two’s successful Piano Room.
Our latest cover star Marc Almond is, of course, a master of the art. Many people would argue that Soft Cell’s transformation of Gloria Jones’ Northern Soul floorfiller Tainted Loveinto a synth-pop classic is the greatest cover version of all time and who are we to disagree. As a solo artist, Marc has regularly released albums of covers that put a dazzling new perspective on some well-known but often overlooked gems. His latest studio LP, I’m Not Anyone, once more pinballs around genres and is typical of his adventurous nature.
Only the ever-defiant Marc Almond would have the audacity to release an album that traverses material by the likes of King Crimson, Neil Diamond and Mahalia Jackson within the space of a single recor
