I’m happy to announce the final track selection for my covers album – ‘It Must Be Obvious’.
The album will be mastered by Robin Schmidt on April 9th. Robin mastered the ‘Mountain King’ album and has an impressive clientele. Consequently, we’re looking at a May release date for the album. I’ll also start sharing the tracks with you from late April.
THE TRACKLISTING
| # | Track Title | Originally Performed by | Year |
| 01 | It Must Be Obvious | Pet Shop Boys | 1990 |
| 02 | Uprising | Muse | 2009 |
| 03 | Tomorrow Never Knows | The Beatles | 1966 |
| 04 | Crystal | New Order | 2001 |
| 05 | Do You Believe in Shame? | Duran Duran | 1989 |
| 06 | The Love Cats | The Cure | 1983 |
| 07 | My Doorbell | The White Stripes | 2005 |
| 08 | Messages | Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark | 1980 |
| 09 | I’m Waiting for the Man | The Velvet Underground | 1967 |
| 10 | Space Oddity | David Bowie | 1969 |
| 11 | Enjoy The Silence | Depeche Mode | 1990 |
| 12 | Space March | John Barry | 1967 |
THE OMISSIONS
As you can see, there have been a few departures from my initial thoughts on songs to cover four months ago. The reasons vary…
Whilst I was happy with my version of ‘Jack the Lad’ by Pet Shop Boys, I felt I couldn’t in all conscience, release an album called ‘It Must Be Obvious” and not cover this track. I said to myself – I’ve got to cover this song and I’ve got to do it really well! I believe I’m the first person to cover this song which is always a good thing!
I found myself struggling with Duran Duran’s “Friends of Mine” and felt I wasn’t going to come close to something as good as the original. So I looked for a song that would be more sympathetic to the Space March sound. I decided on one of their lesser known singles from the underrated ‘Big Thing’ album called “Do You Believe in Shame?”, and I’m really happy with how it’s turned out. I think I’m only the second person to cover this song too.
After realising Susan Boyle’s 2011 covers album, contained both Tears for Fears “Mad World” and Depeche Mode’s “Enjoy the Silence”, I knew one of them had to go… sorry TFF!
As for The Smiths “How Soon is Now?” – great song, but (rightly or wrongly) I lost my confidence to perform the track. Maybe some day when I’m feeling more bullish…
THE PROCESS
As you know, the album took longer than than I originally anticipated.
Since the covers album market is saturated by winners of singing contests, and given my voice is at best a character voice, I knew it was going to be a tough gig! I couldn’t fallback on my core strength as a songwriter. I knew I had to compete with artistry and great production. I deliberately picked songs that would challenge me in different ways, and I have learnt from the process. All in all, I produced about 24 songs for the album to varying levels. As it stands, the licensing costs for a 12 track album will be quite substantial, so I do need to limit it to 12 songs, alas!
The thing I found most interesting was that some of the less obvious song choices seem to have been the most successful covers. You never stop learning…