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  • Bitch Stole My Look – Song Edition: Cheryl Cole v. Ingrid Michaelson on “Parachute”

    When I was growing up, cover songs were usually by contemporary artists doing remakes of songs that were 15 or 20 years old: Phil Collins singing the Supremes, Club Nouveau singing Bill Withers, Joan Jett singing Tommy James and the Shondells. But back in the 50s and 60s, it wasn’t that unusual for multiple versions of the same song to compete for the same sales and airplay. This was especially true in the 50s when record labels would rush out “white” versions of R&B singles, like Pat Boone singing Fats Domino, or when any number of popular crooners would rush out singles of the latest Broadway hits. In 1955 alone, three different versions of “Unchained Melody” hit the top 10 and a fourth made it to #29.

    Ingrid Michaelson’s ”Parachute”
    But even in the 60s when singles were still the dominant force in pop music, you could hear multiple versions of the same song becoming hits right on top of each other. Less than a year after Gladys Knight and the Pips scored what was then their biggest pop hit “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” – it went all the way to #2 – Marvin Gaye took his own very different version of the same song all the way to #1.

    Cheryl Cole’s ”Parachute”
    But as albums and singer-songwriters became more popular in the late 60s and early 70s, it became a mark of artistic legitimacy to record original songs, to steer clear of covers. Now that singles are back, thanks to digital downloads; and now that anybody – regardless of talent level – can reach a huge internet audience via YouTube – “instant covers” are becoming more popular. So, with apologies to Joan Rivers and her Fashion Police, I’m introducing a new series here called “Bitch Stole My Look – Song Edition”, where two new versions of the same new song take each other on in a blogospheric cage match.

    First up is a song called “Parachute”. The song was written and demoed by quirky indie-pop songstress Ingrid Michaelson during sessions for her excellent 2009 album Everybody, but for whatever reason, it was determined that the song didn’t really fit on the album. Then late last year, the British pop starlet Cheryl Cole, formerly of the girl group Girls Aloud, got her hands on it and included a cover of it on her will.i.am-produced debut solo album 3 Words. In March of this year, it was released as a single and went Top 10 in the UK. Here’s Cheryl’s take on it:

    Cheryl Cole “Parachute”

    Last month, Ingrid Michaelson released a downloadable single of her own version of the song, and put out a pretty awesome video to go with it. Here’s Ingrid:

    Ingrid Michaelson “Parachute”

    Frankly, I love both versions of this song almost equally. Cheryl Cole’s is obviously the slicker version, but I love its sensuality and heightened sense of romance and drama. The vocal arrangements on Michaelson’s are a lot more interesting though and especially coming after her more mainstream sounding album Everybody, it’s a sweet and much more upbeat (to both Cole’s version of “Parachute” and the rest of Michaelson’s album) reminder of the quirky adorability of her first hit “The Way I Am”. I’m split on this one. Ingrid Michaelson v. Cheryl Cole goes into overtime.

  • Awesome Song Alert! Jason Derulo’s “The Sky’s the Limit”

    Here’s Jason Derulo, re-purposing both the chord progression as well as the unabashedly cheesy inspirational vibe of Irene Cara’s “Flashdance… What a Feeling” for “The Sky’s the Limit”, the great fifth single from his self-titled debut album. Track-by-track, Jason Derulo is one of the most likeable pop records of the year. As its promotional sticker states “9 songs. 9 hits.” Here’s further proof. Although the album’s fourth single – the hypothetical love-(and marriage)-at-first-sight ballad “What If” – has so far missed the charts here in the U.S., “The Sky Is the Limit” is already taking off in Europe.

    Jason Derulo “The Sky’s the Limit”

  • New Michael Jackson Album Announced

    I’d been wondering when the new Michael Jackson album was going to be released. Originally, I believe that mid-November was a target date to get new material out there for Michael Jackson fans.

    But according to Michael’s website, the date for the posthumous album is now December 14th and the album is simply titled, Michael.

    In the press release, which I’ve added below, there’s only one song mentioned, titled Breaking News, which was recorded in 2007. That song will start streaming on www.michaeljackson.com starting November 8th for one week only.

    Also, scheduled to be on the website tomorrow is an exclusive teaser. Check www.michaeljackson.com for details.

    New York, NY – The much anticipated album of newly completed recordings from Michael Jackson entitled MICHAEL will be released on December 14 by Epic Records in conjunction with the Estate of Michael Jackson. Tomorrow, an exclusive teaser for the project will appear on www.michaeljackson.com; on Monday, November 8th the world premiere of “Breaking News,” a full track from the album, will stream on the site for one week only.

    The creative process never stopped for the King of Pop who was always planning for his next album; unbeknownst to many fans around the world Michael Jackson was writing and recording songs continuously everywhere from a friend’s home in New Jersey to studios in Las Vegas and Los Angeles with a small group of handpicked collaborators. Now, through the unique stories that will be told about the songs that comprise MICHAEL, fans will get mind-blowing insight into how this artist worked and a chance to hear the songs he most recently created along with tracks that Michael had a desire to bring to fruition.

    “Breaking News,” a never heard before song by Michael that appears on the new album was recorded in New Jersey in 2007 and recently brought to completion. Fans can begin pre-ordering the album on www.michaeljackson.com in the next 24 hours.

    The attached image of the album cover of MICHAEL was created by painter Kadir Nelson in 2009. In the oil painting, Kadir – who is known for story telling through his art – takes us on a journey through some key moments and important people in Michael Jackson’s life.

    Stay tuned for the worldwide launch of the official first single from MICHAEL later this month.