Musical covers - dead ringers

Sac Arrow

Sac Arrow

Touchdown! Greaser!
PoA Supporter
Joined
May 11, 2010
Messages
20,708
Location
Charlotte, NC
Display Name
Display name:
Snorting his way across the USA
Okay, so I back the car out of the garage at zero dark thirty, feeling a little groggy, turn on the radio, and Toto's Africa plays. Nice. But that's an odd choice for my alternative rock station. Not out of the question, but oldies are uncommon. Then I see the display on the radio flash "Weezer." Now that is really odd.

It is really odd because the song title/artist display is an attribute of the song file itself, it wasn't mistakenly put there by an errant DJ plus they don't have DJ's on this station to begin with. Must be some sort of flub. It sure as hell ain't no ******ned Weezer.

Then, I started thinking about it. It sounded like Toto. But, Weezer could sound like that if they wanted to. Then there was the signature keyboard riff near the end - okay, this is definitely a different version. Fast forward to now, I did a quick Youtube "Google" (Google owns Youtube, so that counts, right?) And sure enough, yep, it was in fact Weezer. For most of the song you can't tell them apart, unless you listen to them side by side critically.

 
Voice tone is definitely different. So is the backing percussion. So is the chorus, so is...well...

I'd never mistake it for Toto w/o even listening to them side by side. But I also play a couple instruments so I hear things a lot of people don't.

But, not a bad cover.
 
PPC1052 said:
I'm not afraid to admit it. I kinda like Weezer. I get their sense of humor, I guess, and their music is pretty good.
Click to expand...

Honestly the only song I know by them is Buddy Holly - which is catchy.
 
EdFred said:
Voice tone is definitely different. So is the backing percussion. So is the chorus, so is...well...
Click to expand...
Agreed. Totally different song. But it is easy for me to tell since I have been cursed with musical talent and taste. :(
Not a bad cover. Just vastly different. Right from the start.
Interesting, never knew that Weezer did this. Thank you for bringing it to my attention. Now I will try to "sneak" the wife with it. ;) But she's good too. I bet it won't take her more than a few seconds to go "huh?" :)
 
I once bought a cassette tape in a truck stop for a buck. I thought I was getting Johnny Cash. When I read the label, I got the "authentic reproductions of Johnny Cash".
 
I actually like Weezer, by the way. For the most part. Say it ain't so and Island in the Sun are my favorites. And yes I do like the cover of Africa.
 
my guess is weezer lost a bet to another band and this was the result.
 
I think I read some story about how some folks on reddit or something banded together to try to petition Weezer to cover Africa. Weezer then trolled the reddit guys by covering another Toto song before finally relenting and covering Africa. Don’t know if true or if I even remember what I heard correctly but kind of funny if it is.

Edit: google appears to agree
https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-...aign-meme-a8374186.html?utm_source=reddit.com
 
Weezer, 48 year old singers writing and singing the same stuff when they were 18.
 
Something I appreciate about good musicians, is their ability to actually do a lot of different kinds of music, not just "their" music.
 
Last edited:
Really good cover. Definitely very different though. I'm impressed with the back-up vocals. The harmonies were pretty much dead on, though not as loud in the Weezer mix. Guitar distortion in the chorus is very different, with a more grungy feel. Drums are way heavier. Then of course that keyboard solo is the big kicker, as mentioned. I liked it though, and I'm a fan of both bands.
 
You guys don't know the story behind this?

They had a fan begging them to cover Africa for quite some time.

So they trolled her...

And covered Rosanna instead.

Then, they finally appeased her and covered Africa, which, honestly, I think is better than the original.

https://mobile.twitter.com/weezerafrica

http://abcnewsradioonline.com/music...fan-campaign-by-covering-rosanna-by-toto.html

@Sac Arrow, when I read the title of this thread, this is exactly the song I thought of even before opening it.
 
Last edited:
I have no musical talent, and couldn't tell that was a cover until the refrain.

This is not a cover... but does his voice remind youse guys of anybody?
 
They sound just like James Brown

Nauga,
who says, "haeeeeyyyyyhhhh"
 
A good cover but I could tell right off it wasn't Toto. Mostly the voicing support. Toto gonna be here in Oct, tickets on sale tomorrow. Hope I can snag some good seats. :D


Lynyrd Skynrd making bucks touring as such with only one original member. Would they be a cover band? :popcorn:
 
Last edited:
Shepherd said:
Something I appreciate about good musicians, is their ability to actually do a lot of different kinds of music, not just "their" music.
Click to expand...
A year or two ago we stopped in Nashville for a few hours. The band at this particular bar was pretty good, and looked like older guys, studio guys.

It was still early, so there weren't too many people in the place. The band played something while the lead guy took the tip jar from table to table getting requests.

He wrote the requests on a napkin, got back on stage and showed the list to the other guys. They mumbled a bit about keys and timing, then started playing. They nailed.every.one. It was one of the more impressive things I've seen.
 
It seems like covering older songs is becoming a big thing in the Hard Rock crowd these days. Disturbed and Five Finger Death Punch have both done a number of cover songs, and the cover of the Cranberries "Zombie" by Bad Wolves is very popular on the charts today.
 
midwestpa24 said:
It seems like covering older songs is becoming a big thing in the Hard Rock crowd these days. Disturbed and Five Finger Death Punch have both done a number of cover songs, and the cover of the Cranberries "Zombie" by Bad Wolves is very popular on the charts today.
Click to expand...

Yeah, here's a couple by Shinedown, pretty good.


 
jkaduk said:
And that's different from every other band how? I'm sure the Stones still do Brown Sugar.
Click to expand...

I think he means more on the writing side of thing. A lot of bands, for lack of a better word, mature with their lyrics/style. 18 year olds writing about teenage angst is expected. 50 year olds, not so much. But yeah, for concerts they are always going to play early hits, unless they swap lead singers a la Van Halen.

caveat: I don't know much about Weezer's lyrics.
 
Godsmack
I like it when bands "metalize" old songs. I'd love to hear some hard rock versions of Chuck Berry.
 
There have been a few hard rock covers of Johnny B Goode, but they arent very good IMO.
 
I prefer the covers that don't like dead ringers. It does take a lot of talent to pull that off, but I actually prefer hearing a little different take on the original (of course, sometimes they are not very good.)
 
There was a short lived show called "Cover Wars." There were 3 cover bands and they'd be told a song while standing on stage and be given something like a minute or two to talk it out and then they'd perform it. Some bands were awesome, some not so much. I thought the concept was cool. Apparently nobody else did. When you play in a cover band you learn a ton of songs, or at least learn how to fake it with common progressions.
 
jkaduk said:
I like it when bands "metalize" old songs.
Click to expand...
I think they always sound bombastic, but then again I'm not a big fan of metal to begin with. I prefer the opposite.


Nauga,
who says, "Don't stop skankin'"
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top