Like many of you, we’re children of the ’80s so we’ve been keeping a close eye on High School Reunion, a covers comp of songs from Me Decade flicks. It’s finally got a release date (12/1), and here via ever-helpful Pitchfork is the tracklisting [Artist - "Song," Film (Original Artist)].
01 John P. Strohm – “Somebody’s Baby,” Fast Times at Ridgemont High (Jackson Browne)
02 Dipsomaniacs – “A Million Miles Away,” Valley Girl (The Plimsouls)
03 Matthew Sweet – “American Girl,” Fast Times at Ridgemont High (Tom Petty)
04 Blank Pages – “Turning Japanese,” Sixteen Candles (The Vapors)
05 The Bennies – “Weird Science,” Weird Science (Oingo Boingo)
06 AM – “Don’t You (Forgot About Me),” The Breakfast Club (Simple Minds)
07 Lori McKenna – “In Your Eyes,” Say Anything (Peter Gabriel)
08 The Smarties – “If You Were Here,” Sixteen Candles (Thompson Twins)
09 Nova Social – “Little Bitch,” Sixteen Candles (The Specials)
10 The Modifiers – “Love My Way,” Valley Girl (Psychedelic Furs)
11 The Atomic Hep Cats – “Bring on the Dancing Horses,” Pretty in Pink (Echo & The Bunnymen)
12 The Commons – “Moving in Stereo,” Fast Times at Ridgemont High (The Cars)
13 The Dresden Dolls – “Pretty in Pink,” Pretty in Pink (Psychedelic Furs)
14 Kristen Hersh – “Wave of Mutilation (UK Surf),” Pump Up the Volume (The Pixies)
15 The Caulfield Sisters – “Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want,” Pretty in Pink (The Smiths)
16 Underdog – “I Melt With You,” Valley Girl (Modern English)
17 The Wading Girl – “Danke Shoen,” Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (Wayne Newton)
18 Frank Black – “Repo Man,” Repo Man (Iggy Pop)
19 PC Munoz – “I Go Crazy,” Some Kind of Wonderful (Flesh For Lulu)
20 Bastards of Melody – “Within Your Reach,” Say Anything (The Replacements)
I’ve never heard of half those bands, but a German cabaret take on “Pretty in Pink” could be cool. Or totally unlistenable.
Previously: Pretty In Pink 2: Duckie’s Revenge.
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I want to hear that Dresden Dolls cover. Kind of badly.
The first time I watched Pretty in Pink I was so upset I went to bed.
Who says there was no good music in the 80s? “I Melt With You” and “In Your Eyes” are two of the best songs in a long time if you ask me. I haven’t heard of most of those bands playing the covers either, but I’d love to get the album just to hear a fresh take on some very cool music.
Damn. They couldn’t even get B-listers for this project?!
Here’s hoping somebody does the same thing in a few years…with some name brand bands. It just doesn’t mean much coming from someone you haven’t ever heard before.
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I still prefer the Ferris Bueller version of “Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want”. Dream Academy, no vocals, nice.
On what planet are Matthew Sweet, Lori McKenna, Kristin Hersh and Frank Black (to start with) “someone you haven’t ever heard before?”
frank black > everyone
i really wanna check this disc out, looks cool
On what planet is 4 even close to being half of 20.
On what planet is “to start with” a claim to “half of 20?”
Frank Black? Wasn’t he in Better Than Ezra?
The Pretty in Pink soundtrack alone is so good it deserves it’s own tribute album.
Sorry about that grammar lapse, y’all.
the caufield sisters (australian) are still around? nice!
i think it’s funny that the snobs that comment here would rather hear “A-list” or “name brand” bands than try and discover something new. typical.
Well, like I said, much of the allure of a cover is hearing what a band you’re familiar with does to a song. It just doesn’t mean anything to have Joe Blow and the Blowtrons covering a song that’s already a standard part of your music make-up.
I mean, come on. Can anyone hear tell me you wouldn’t rather hear what Arcade Fire would do with “Don’t You Forget About Me;” or say, New Pornographers doing “Turning Japanese;” or even Go Team covering “I Melt With You?” Hell, even Cat Power doing “American Girl” would be interesting.
Anybody up for making a fantasy “High School Reunion” cover album? My picks (repeated):
Arcade Fire, “Don’t You Forget About Me”
New Pornographers, “Turning Japanese”
Go Team!, “I Melt With You”
Cat Power, “American Girl”
and maybe…
White Stripes, “Little Bitch?”
Sufjan, “Somebody’s Baby?”
Franz Ferdinand, “Moving in Stereo?”
Not the most ambitious ideas, but better than the record they made.
P.S. hubs, you are now officially “a snob who coments here,” and if you’re so interested in hearing nobodys cover 80s songs, I’ll gladly send you a CD of me doing songs I shouldn never, ever touch.
How about avoiding the embarrassingly obvious covers altogether? “I Melt With You,” “Pretty in Pink,” and “(Don’t You) Forget About Me”… how unexpected! The dream would be covers of great lesser-known stuff like The Comsat Angels’ “I’m Falling” (Real Genius), The Gleaming Spires’ “Are You Ready for the Sex Girls” (Revenge of the Nerds), Sparks’ “Eaten by the Monster of Love” (Valley Girl), etc.
Nice job by Frank Black with the Repo Man cover, though.
I think they whole point was to do covers of the songs that everyone knows, hence the obvious choices.
Hmmm, can’t say I care for any of these songs.
But (and I may be crucified for this), I do addddoooreee the 311 cover of my old Cure favorite “Love Song” that is on the 50 First Dates soundtrack.
i just heard Youth Group do “Forever Young” and i wonder why that was not included,as it was better than the orginal
I’d like “who let the dogs out” to be on that release.
Hey whats wrong with listening to songs by bands that have gotten their name out there, and along the way discovering some really really good music by some new names along the way?
This sounds like a great CD. I have heard of 7 of the artists on this CD, but that doesn’t matter to me. I love hearing a remake, no matter who the artist is – as long as it is a good version. These are all great songs. Sure, i would love to hear the biggest bands in the word do the covers, but what is wrong with this group?