The Andrews Sisters Meet Morrissey
Browsing at Borders for a CD the wife might enjoy, I stumbled across this little curiosity from The Puppini Sisters, a close harmony vocal trio modeled on The Andrews Sisters. It includes covers of some well-known 40s era tunes ("Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy," "Java Jive," and the like) and also of some unexpected recent numbers, such as Blondie's "Heart of Glass," Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive," and (my favorite) The Smith's "Panic." (See here for a live performance of the latter, unfortunately truncated a bit.) The effect is totally surreal, and I think entirely successful. I don't know if it's art, but I like it. But then, I must be the one reactionary Thomist in the world who listens to Steely Dan, so what do I know?
Every now and again someone comes up with some list of things "red staters" and "blue staters" can allegedly agree on. I never believe a word of it, and you shouldn't either. Still, if there's anything that fits the bill, it might be The Puppini Sisters.
Comments
Great stuff, Ed! I actually have an Andrews Sisters LP in my music collection... Their stuff still sounds great 60 years later.
Posted by: Stephen W. Carson | September 24, 2007 12:49 PM
Hi Stephen,
Yes, I've always loved them. What's interesting is how well their style holds up, and how it can be adapted to a very different lyrical sensibility, as the Puppini Sisters' stuff shows. The result is not just novelty songs which are good for a laugh, but something which stands on its own and is worth listening to for its own sake. In some cases it's even an improvement on the source material. E.g. check out this clip of their take on Kate Bush's "Wuthering Heights":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1cHfzmi5Ic
The original Kate Bush version was pretty goofy IMO, but the Puppini version is, I think, simply lovely.
Posted by: Edward Feser | September 25, 2007 12:05 AM
I'd like to hear "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" with them, but I'll pass on "I Will Survive." :-)
We have several Andrews Sisters CD's around here and love them. Eldest Daughter does a pretty good imitation.
Posted by: Lydia | September 26, 2007 2:26 PM