Rhino’s Got You Covered: Suggs, Candi Staton, No Way Sis, and The Ocean Blue
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?
• Suggs, “Alright” (1995): Although he’s spent the majority of his career as the lead singer of Madness, Graham McPherson – better known as Suggs – has ventured out on his own a few times over the years, starting with 1995’s THE LONE RANGER. This Supergrass cover originally appeared as the B-side of the single for “The Tune,” and it’s one of those perfect combinations of song and artist that seems to obvious in retrospect that you hear it, smack your forehand, and say, “Well, of course he’d do a great version of this!”
• Candi Staton, “Jolene” (1974 / 2011): Recorded at the tail end of Staton’s stint with Fame Records, just before she signed to Warner Brothers, this Dolly Parton classic was one of a dozen tracks which remained unreleased until they were thoughtfully tacked onto the compilation EVIDENCE: THE COMPLETE FAME RECORDS MASTERS.
• No Way Sis, “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing” (1996): When a band exists solely to parody another band, their career is destined to last no longer than the success of the band that inspired the parody. As such, No Way Sis was in high demand while Oasis was one of the biggest bands in Europe, reaching a point where they were able to release an EP featuring an Oasis-cized take on this New Seekers classic. Come on, Mad Men fans, sing along!
• The Ocean Blue, “There Is a Light That Never Goes Out” (1994): In the wake of their third and final studio album for Sire, BENEATH THE RHYTHM AND SOUND, the band put out an EP entitled PEACE AND LIGHT, its title a combination of their single, “Peace of Mind,” and this Smiths cover.
