Madonna’s brief foray into C & W with The Funny Song was… odd. It was almost as good as her other C & W song, Cook and Fck*, which aired on the Late Show With David Letterman. She described it as her “instructions on how to be a good wife”.
Unfortunately, she can’t cook.
Barbara Streisand’s version of Jingle Bells, which she sings about three times as fast as any rational person would sing it…
More like she’s a 45 and someone keeps switching between 78 & 33-1/3.
The first song I thought of when I saw this thread was the Beach Boys’ “Fall Breaks and Back to Winter (W. Woodpecker Symphony),” which predicetd the Residents’ entire career.
I don’t know, Pete’s a pretty weird guy, and his entire first album was kind of a grab bag of different styles. “Solsbury Hill” was probably the most “normal” cut on it.
Richard Thompson is a lot like that too. Listen to “Rumour and Sigh” – you got rock songs, folks songs, a polka thrown in to keep things interesting, all kinds of different stuff, and then he wraps the whole thing up with a bizarre number called “Psycho Street”.
Didn’t Rush do a tune called “I’m Going Bald”?
It’s been at least fifteen years since I’ve heard it, so don’t quote me on the title. I do remember it was not a particularly good song. I also remember seeing a picture of Geddy Lee around the same time and thinking “That dude’s got some of the biggest hair I’ve ever seen. Bald? How very odd.”
“I Think I’m Going Bald” is on Caress of Steel. It was one of Rush’s early efforts.
I thought that the “rap” section from Roll the Bones was the most “out there” thing from Rush, and that’s saying a lot! (At least they haven’t done a C&W song…)
“What’s Become of Baby?” by the Grateful Dead. They produced it on nitrous oxide and I’m pretty much in agreement with Garcis when he says: “It instantly became complete gibberish.”
I was going to use that song as one of my contributions. Steelerphan is right about the rap portion of the other song, though I always wished I had a way to edit it out, because I think the rest of the song is pretty good.
Also Summer Breeze by Type O Negative it’s uber bizarre.
Sheryl Crow did a song called “Monkey Mind” for Mitchell Froom’s album “Dopamine”. It definitely could be listed as a departure for her style.
Actually this is a cover song originally done by Bull Moose Jackson.
I’m pretty sure that the Sonic Youth cover was from a tribute album which included a number of odd Carpenters covers.
I did not know that! That is some weird and wild stuff! Thanks!
Yep, I’ll admit to owning the tribute album. “Superstar” is the best song on there, by far. Most of the songs are covered by low impact early 90s college rock bands – Cracker, Bettie Serveert, Shonen Knife, and 4 Non Blondes and friends (although Cracker has a stellar pedigree). The Cranberries cover of “Close to You” is not at all out of place for them. But Sonic Youth? One of the founding bands of indie and college music? Doing The Carpenters? Who’dathunk.
That’s the first one that popped into my mind. I’d LOVE to know the story behind that song. I suspect it was just Zep fooling around. It never made an album, but was a b-side to “fool in the rain”, I think. Strangely, as weird as zep doing a country song is, it’s not bad.
“Hot Dog” was on In Through the Out Door.
I don’t see whats so odd about “Hot Dog”, one of the few Zepplin songs I like.
They were always fooling around with rockabilly and 50’s rock and roll styles.
“Don’t Let Daddy Kiss My” by Motorhead was a WTF song. I want to hear Lemmy singing about speed, roadies, and jailbait squeezing his lizard, not Lifetime channel style songs about child molestation.
That should be “Don’t Let Daddy Kiss Me” by Motorhead.
Admit?? I say sing it loud and proud! I love that album. Grant Lee Buffalo’s “We’ve Only Just Begun” is a killer.
As to the OP, I’d nominate “Walk Like An Egyptian” by The Bangles, who by day were a nice little sixties-influenced garage band with sweet jangly guitar crunch and harmonies to make you cream your pants - but by night masqueraded as a novelty act singing nonsense lyrics to a bad drumb-machine beat. I stil don’t get it.
Concrete Blonde’s latest album Mojave has a song called “Hey Coyote” which consists of Johnette Napolitano reading out facts and figures regarding the coyote and its impending extinction. It’s kind of interesting, but couldn’t they have just put a pamphlet in with the liner notes?