Entertainment For Lively Minds
Does anyone still do "answer" songs?
Posted by Richard Lowe on 2 December 2010 - 11:29am.
The inclement weather has reminded of a great old record: Cold Wave by The Daisies, which is a sort of "answer song" to Martha & the Vandellas' Heatwave. I can't think of any recent "answer songs". I suppose they went out with salaried hack songwriters sitting in cubicles staring at a blank page 9 to 5. In this instance, it's Nick Ashford & Valerie Simpson tottering gingerly on the nursery slopes.
- More from Richard Lowe.
- Login or register to post comments
-
F*** You!
How about F*** It (Don't Want You Back) by Eamon and F.U.R.B. (F*** You Right Back) by Frankee? Consecutive UK no. 1s in April / May 2004.
There was a whole album of them earlier this year
"Everybody Was In The French resistance Now" (Eddie Argos from Art Brut and the very attractive Dyan Valdes)
"Jimmy Mack" gets a long overdue opportunity to defend himself
"If that's your attitude
I'm never coming back"
and "The Scarborough Affaire" is really quite lovely
That sounds interesting STD
I do not know Art Brut. How would you describe the music?
They're a fairly standard rock band
Nothing particularly out of the ordinary, but their frontman, Eddie Argos, is great. He sort of sings/talks/shouts simultaneously and lyrically, he's just fantastic. I guess you could say he's the male Lily Allen, but about ten times funnier in my book.
This is from their first record and their best song, I think.
Thanks will check it out
Meanwhile from possibly my favourite genre of music 60/70s Soul. The great answer record "From His Woman To You" Barbara Mason
I wouldn't disagree with any of that
But would add that if you're investigating Art Brut "It's A Bit Complicated" is their strongest and most musical lp IMO.
Also, although the whole "beef" thing can be tedious, hip hop regularly produces answer songs
Beasties' "Fight For Your Right To Party" becomes PE's "Party For Your Right To Fight"
Paris ups the ante following Ice T's "Cop Killer" by recording "Bush Killa"
KRS One responds to Nas' "Hip Hop Is Dead" proclaiming "Hip Hop Lives".
and others I can't remember
"No Vaseline"...
...by Ice Cube is probably the best response to a diss track in hip-hop history. It's incredibly funky, its lyrics just fizz with talent (despite being bloody horrible on a number of levels) and it's so completely on another level from the track(s) it was responding to ("Turn Off The Radio" by N.W.A., although "Efil4zaggin" contains a number of Cube disses) that if I'd been MC Ren, I'd have fled the country in shame at my own moribundity.
They do still pop up from time to time
Witness Camera Obscura, fey Belle&Sebastian-alikes, who relatively recently released "Lloyd, I'm Ready to be Heartbroken" in response to the AYRTBHH's original.
Going back a bit further, there's Billy McKenzie's "Steven, It Was Really Something" in response to The Smiths' original.
So the answer song is alive and kicking (well, twitching) in indieland.
It's my party..
originally a hit for Leslie Gore, a song my little girl and I love singing (she's 11 and has just announced that she wants to play bass).She was delighted recently to discover an answer record called "Now It's Judy's Turn To Cry".
So no, they don't make 'em like that any more but yes, the old stuff's still out there.
Old chestnut
Someone's got to ..so it might as well be me: Lynyrd Skynyrd's Sweet Home Alabama in answer to Neil Young's Southern Man/Alabama.
You might also be interested...
in this album, "The Answer to Everything: girl answer songs of the 60s".