Rhino’s Got You Covered: Ace Frehley, Flamin’ Groovies, Dee Dee Warwick, and Womack & Womack

It’s Wednesday, so it must be time to take another dip into the Rhino catalog and trot out a new quartet of cover songs that you may or may not have heard before. Let’s get started, shall we?

•    Ace Frehley, “Do Ya” (1989): After leaving KISS behind in December 1982, Frehley started his music career anew as the frontman of a band called Frehley’s Comet, but after two albums, Frehley bid his Comet adieu and released his first proper solo album as a solo artist, TROUBLE WALKIN’. Although it contained almost entirely original material, Frehley did slip in a cover of a classic Jeff Lynne composition, delivering a rockin’ rendition.

•    Flamin’ Groovies, “Werewolves of London” (1979): Although the original incarnation of the Flamin’ Groovies was very much inspired by ‘50s rock ‘n’ roll, but when the band returned from a five-year hiatus in 1976, suddenly they were all about the British Invasion. How a Warren Zevon song found its way into the mix on an LP where the other covers were by artists like the Byrds, Bob Dylan, and the Beatles, we don’t know. But we still like it.

•    Dee Dee Warwick, “Suspicious Minds” (1971): Dee Dee’s career was always in the shadow of her sister, Dionne, but the work she was doing was far better than her commercial reception would indicate. This track never actually made it onto an album – it was released as a standalone single – but it did at least become a chart hit...and her last, as it happens.

•    Womack & Womack, “Angie” (1983): It’s only appropriate that Womack & Womack should have covered a Rolling Stones song, given that Cecil Womack and his brothers Bobby, Harry, Friendly, and Curtis were the ones who had success with “It’s All Over Now” before the Stones did. This cover, however, didn’t score much in the way, since it appeared on the duo’s LOVE WARS album, the title track of which was the LP’s biggest hit.