Cool cover song of the week...

I've written countless times before that I am a child of the 80s, despite the fact I wasn't a child when the 80s ended. (Hadn't really thought of that before. Hmm...) But regardless of semantics, 80s music still tends to be one of the most resonant genres for me, probably because it served as a backdrop for so much of my life growing up.

Like many, I was a pretty big fan of Wham! in the mid-80s. Their song Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go was tremendously memorable—I remember visiting a camp friend one weekend before my family had cable TV, and we spent most of the weekend watching MTV (remember when they used to play videos all the time?), and that video was on HEAVY rotation. So much so, that I swear we could perform the entire video after seeing it so many times!

But as much as I loved that song, I'd say my favorite Wham! song, bar none, is Careless Whisper. Maybe it was the melancholy of my teenage years, or the fact that I sang it almost constantly, but it has stuck with me all of these years. (Maybe it was the awesome sax riff?) The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks in February 1985, and was later named Billboard's number one song of 1985.

While Careless Whisper has been covered by everyone from Bananarama and Gloria Gaynor to Barry Manilow and Kenny G, Seether's 2009 cover of the song brings a Nickelback-ish, grungy feel to it. As with most cover versions, it doesn't surpass the original, but it's still fun to listen to.

Here's Seether's version:


And to take you back down memory lane, here's the original:


Check out my previous Cool Cover Songs of the Week:

Borderline by The Counting Crows

How Deep Is Your Love by The Bird and The Bee

Life in a Northern Town by Sugarland, Little Big Town, and Jake Owen

I Don't Want to Talk About It by The Indigo Girls

Only You by Joshua Radin

Pure Imagination by Maroon 5

I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) by Blake Stratton

What a Fool Believes by Neri Per Caso

Poker Face by Daughtry

Back to Black by Ronnie Spector

I Will Survive by Cake

The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face by The Stereophonics

Rolling in the Deep by John Legend

Go Your Own Way by Lissie

Winner Takes it All by McFly

What a Wonderful World by Joey Ramone