I saw this local band Adam’s Farm (no relation, promise) a few times when I was 15 or so. In the era of mixing bass guitar out of rock music (no thanks, Metallica), these fellows stood out by being having an EP where I could clearly hear all the instruments. It was almost 25 years later that I’d learn that “Girlfriend” in particular is a Modern Lovers cover.
Sidenote: it seemed like this local band was lost to the internet until recently as well. I figured I’d ripped one of the only copies of this CD, but Adam’s Farm music appeared on YouTube recently. Fancy that!
William Shatner’s cover of “Common People” is less difficult to find, but possibly equally obscure. Back in the late ’90s, Shatner did some voice overs on a Ben Folds pre-solo album Fear of Pop. In the mid ‘00s, Folds produced William Shatner’s album of songs with tons of guests doing the singing and Shatner mostly talking about mortality and aging. Again, it was several years before I heard the original of “Common People”.
I rather like these two covers better than the originals. So it goes with a notable cover!
