Mix Tape Friday: Let's Get Funky

While dining at the Scriveners this weekend, my bragging about Stevie Wonder tickets led to a discourse about music (surprising, huh?). The table's consensus: Red Hot Chili Peppers should spend all their studio time covering ‘70s funk songs since Flea is one of the best funk bassists playing today (and because those ballads are crap). Mrs. S., who happens to be a fan of the Mix Tape series, declared:

I must have some funk in my bass!

and thus inspired this week’s mix tape. Funk and R&B from the 1970s is one of my favorite genres. I’ll do a mix tape of originals sometime this fall, but our chat about Flea and his bass put me in that covers mood again.

Here’s to you, Catherine.

Red Hot Chili Peppers: Love Rollercoaster

Van Halen: Dancing in the Street

Rolling Stones: Ain't too Proud to Beg

English Beat: Tears of a Clown

Slits: I Heard It Through the Grapevine

The Strokes: Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)

R.E.M.: Smiling Faces Sometimes

Soft Cell: Where Did Our Love Go

Afghan Whigs: Come See About Me

Roxy Music: In the Midnight Hour

Talking Heads: Take Me to the River

Graham Parker: I Want You Back *

General Public: I'll Take You There

David Bowie: Knock on Wood

Elvis Costello: From Head to Toe

Joan Osborne: Everybody Is a Star

Jack Black: Let's Get It On

Foo Fighters: Darling Nikki

Hindu Love Gods: Raspberry Beret

Fishbone: Freddie's Dead

Red Hot Chili Peppers: If You Want Me to Stay

R.E.M.: Skin Tight

Pete Yorn: Just My Imagination

Pearl Jam: Dock of the Bay

The Replacements: I'll Be There

Yo La Tengo: I’m Your Puppet

Can you name the original artists?

Hindu Love Gods was an aural wet dream for me back in 1990: Warren Zevon with R.E.M.'s Peter Buck, Mike Mills, and Bill Berry, taped while jamming during a drunken recording session. Damn, to be a fly on that wall … or on the shoulder of Zevon’s gray Ralph Lauren T-shirt. The songs aren’t the best, but they’re a helluva lot of fun to listen to; think of it as jamming with your pals after a few brews.

* Thank you, Johnny Yen!


Bonus Tracks!

A handful of tunes honoring some of R&B’s greatest artists:

Van Morrison: Jackie Wilson Said

ABC: When Smokey Sings

Scritti Politti: Wood Beez (Pray Like Aretha Franklin)

Billy Bragg: Levi Stubbs' Tears

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Mix Tape Friday: POP! Goes the Alt Bands

God, I love cover tunes. It’s interesting to hear the songs a band covers — you get a hint about what they're listening to. And it's fun to hear them play a song for a goof (see: Richard Thompson's cover of "Oops, I Did It Again" a few weeks back). As with most music-obsessed folks, I have a huge collection of cover tunes — more than a hundred by R.E.M. alone — so this will be a fun recurring theme on Mix Tape Fridays.

This week: pop tunes covered by alternative and punk bands. Can you name the original artists?

1. R.E.M.: Dragging the Line (Tommy James & The Shondells)

2. Foo Fighters: Baker Street (Gerry Rafferty)

3. Lemonheads: Mrs. Robinson (Simon & Garfunkel)

4. Grant Lee Buffalo: In My Room (Beach Boys)

5. Sonic Youth: Superstar (The Carpenters)

6. Wilco: Thirteen (Big Star)

7. Cracker: Rainy Days and Mondays (The Carpenters)

8. Twilight Singers: Kites Are Fun (The Free Design)

9. The Beautiful South: Dream a Little Dream of Me (The Mamas & The Papas)

10. Hüsker Dü: Love Is All Around (Theme to "The Mary Tyler Moore Show")

11. Decemberists: Think About Me (Fleetwood Mac)

12. Ultrahorse: Stuck in the Middle With You (Stealers Wheel)

13. Johnny Thunders: These Boots Are Made for Walking (Nancy Sinatra)

14. Fine Young Cannibals: Suspicious Minds (Elvis Presley)

15. Stranglers: 96 Tears (? and The Mysterians)

16. Everclear: Our Lips Are Sealed (Fun Boy Three/The Go-Go's)

17. Alex Chilton: Volare (Dean Martin/Al Martino)

18. Coolies: Having My Baby (Paul Anka)

19. Ramones: Needles and Pins (The Searchers)

20. English Beat: Can't Get Used to Losing You (Andy Williams/Chad & Jeremy)

21. R.E.M.: Out in the Country (Three Dog Night)

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