Some people feel like they've turned into their father when they start having to wear a suit to work. Not a problem for me because neither my father nor myself have ever had to do that. Other people feel like they've turned into their father when people start calling them "Mr. (Surname)", but my dad was never Mr. Broome. He was always Coach Broome. No, for me, I start to feel a little like I've turned into my dad when I start recording Kenny Rogers covers.
But I learned some interesting things prepping this one, one of which was ZOMG THE ENGLISH BEAT TOTALLY STOLE THE ALBUM ART FOR ONE OF THEIR RECORDS FROM KENNY ROGERS!!!11!!1 But it doesn't stop there. I have more affection for the other Mr. Rogers than a lot of folks might, and of course "I Just Dropped in to See What Condition My Condition Was In" is mighty mighty, but The First Edition sounds in some ways almost interesting enough for me to get really into them... I just coincidentally found out a thing or two about their drummer Mickey Jones, and then there's the fact that Rogers was also their bassist, and they sound really great in that '70's rhythm-section way I've started to really dig over the past five or ten years. And that it was none other than Glen Campbell rocking that backwards guitar on "Condition". There's the oddball subject matter on a lot of their tunes, their network variety show, and... well, it all sounds pretty intriguing. If you're me.
Of course my first thought on how to cover this was massive psychedelic dub. There are some wiseass moments on this recording that make me squirm a bit. I try to play my 39-40 with a straight face and "jokes" can read as contempt for the material. I don't want that, but at the same time, I was pretty angry about this that and the other thing today, so my filters were down, I guess, and it was something new, so I left them on there this time.
Personnel: Rex
Embodies big chunks of a couple of other tunes again. References available upon request.
Revisiting this months later, the first thing I notice is that I have a larger nose than anyone in either The First Edition or The English Beat, as all the world can now clearly see.
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