If you've visited the fun Siobhan Evil Clones page, you've seen that there are many celebs who look like our lady Fahey. As sort of a companion/ripoff to that site, here is a list of songs that seem to be trying to SOUND like my favorite band:
New! Dancing Barefoot -- Patti Smith: Mucho thanks to Dean for sending me the mp3 of this. One of Siobhan's admitted influences, Ms. Smith is a music legend and this song is incredibly beautiful with a great dark guitar. Siobhan also named this one of her top ten favorite tracks. Thank you, Dean. :)
Dirty Water -- Made in London: Now this one is scary. The first voice you hear on this sounds exactly like Marcy wailing. Then we get a deeper voice, guitars and bass, and snarky lyrics. There's a little bit of Spice Girls in here but it's not too terribly intrusive. It's startling!! Thank you to Warren for turning me on to this! :)
Columbia and Magenta from The Rocky Horror Picture Show -- This Halloween my friend Desertwind viewed the cult classic and told me these two creepy ladies are shoo-ins for this list. Columbia is the top-hatted girl with Marcy's haircut, and Magenta is the maid who makes Shuvvie-faces for much of the movie. Des tells me these two sing curiously like SS too!!
Maria -- Blondie: The sexy 70's band resurfaced last year with this Sister-like hit, and Andrei tells me the video looked like 'I Can Drive' too. Thanks again, guy!
Alisha's Attic: Andrei does it again: this girl band has a Hormonal sound and seems to fly to the 'Stay' planet in their 'Indestructable' video, not to mention the possessive name: Alisha's, Shakespear's. :)
Barry Manilow?!!?!?!! : Amazingly, the final chorus from Sister's fantastic 'Suddenly' seems to be lifted from Barry's hit 'Can't Smile Without You'!
Sunchyme - Dario G. : Andrei also alerted me to the fact that this aboriginal song seems to repeat the 'Hey-a-ma-ma-yo' line heard in Sister's 'Run Silent'. (Also Hardy sez that Dream Academy's "Life in a Northern Town" has the same chant -- thanx Hardy. :)
Black Eyed Boy; Say What You Want -- Texas: The lead singer of this melodious band sounds startlingly like Marcy Detroit, who coincedentally released a song called Boy on her Feeler album. Thanx Andrei for this suggestion!
All The Young Dudes -- Mott the Hoople: Did Siobhan copy the chorus from this rock classic for her single 'I Can Drive'? Does it matter? Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, ya know. Thanks Mariano for this suggestion!
Face To Face -- Siouxsie and the Banshees: Andrei reminded me of this gem, heard on the Batman Returns soundtrack. Siouxsie has a cool Siobhany voice too, and of course the song is (sort of) about Catwoman!! Thanks Andrei!
No Doubt -- I thought people were kidding when they said Siobhan sounded like Gwen Stefani. But it's true! Siobhan particularly revisits Gwen's funny warble in 'Go' and others from the 'I Can Drive' batch of tracks.
Ladykiller -- Lush: A rapid-fire slam against pretty boys (Pretty Boy!) from a voice that sounds like Shuv after too many cappucinos. (Nobody's submitting so I thought I'd add this old one.)
Moloko: Mariano has said that Roison Murphy, the lead singer of this band sounds very much like Siobhan. I've never heard them, but now I'm going to get a CD and give it a listen. It's my 1st suggestion for this list, so in it goes! Roison also rivals Siobhan for coolest name -- Shuv's nickname is a violent action verb, and Roison as in poison?! :-)
Female Of The Species -- Space: A weird little techno lounge song. It kind of sounds like SS. But I like the witchy lyrics, which could be describing Siobhan in 'Stay'.
Comfortably Numb -- Pink Floyd: Another wishful remake. The video alone would have been worth it! Siobhan as the lunatic running the asylum, Marcy as the tortured mental patient! Plus the high/low harmonies would have worked great with their voices. Trivia: Producer Chris Thomas worked on both 'Dark Side of the Moon' and 'Hormonally Yours', twenty years apart.
Hold On -- Sarah MacLachlan: Sarah has another lovely sky high voice. But I picked this because of the lyrics, in which she begs God to take her dying lover. It sounds like she's describing the 'Stay' video! She even uses the phrase, 'only time will tell'. Another eerie similarity!
Jewel -- Marcella Detroit: Her first post-Sister album was true to her funk and soul tastes, but the title track had the most residual SS sound. It almost sounds like something she was kicking around while still in the group, though I could be mistaken. It's kind of cheating to list her since she was IN the band, but this song is so SS-like I had to list it. 'I Believe' got the attention, but this was my favorite off that album.
When You Were Mine -- Cyndi Lauper: Cyndi tries hard not to sound like anybody, but since SS came along after 'She's So Unusual' it's not her fault. This song was written by Prince, which may account for its early SS sound; a review I read once said that Siobhan and Marcy were fans of Prince.
No. 1 Crush -- Garbage: Actually, every Garbage song sounds like SS. But I remembered this one because the backing vocals sound exactly like Siobhan and Marcy harmonizing! Garbage's 2nd album, 'Version 2.0', also seemed a lot like 'Hormonally Yours' in its structure and sound. (An eerie sim: SS's 'I Can Drive': 'All the pretty people that I used to see/Have died or moved away/Or they're in recovery.' Garbage's 'Dog New Tricks': 'Everyone I know has gone away/Died or left or just forgot to stay.')
Running Up That Hill -- Kate Bush: I know that many SS fans are Kate Bush fans as well. No disrespect, but the first time I heard this I thought it was Julie Andrews! It has that chilly English sound so prevalent in 'Black Sky' and the rest of 'Hormonally Yours'.
Hypnotized -- Fleetwood Mac: Not so much a soundalike as a I-wish-they'd-remade-it song. You can almost hear Marcy's 'uh-oh, uh-oh' during the bridge. Spooky lyrics, very cool.
Boy Or A Girl -- Imperial Drag: Drag-queen lyrics, spacey Catwoman-like sound effects. Even though the singer's a guy it's a legit addition to this list.
My Love Is For Real -- Paula Abdul: I know, Paula Abdul?!! But give it a listen. She attempts a low whispery growl like Siobhan's, then does a startling impression of Marcy's operatic wail.
Middle Of The Road -- The Pretenders: No kidding, the first time I heard this song in '93, I hadn't yet bought 'Hormonally Yours' and I thought this was 'Catwoman'! The harmonica is very similar to the one on 'Let Me Entertain You'. Siobhan has often named Chrissie Hynde as one of her musical influences.
More will be listed as I get them. Even
thought this list comes after Mariano's site
I'm not trying to rip anyone off; I've
been compiling this list in my head and on
tapes since about 1996. Also, I hope this
isn't seen as trying to cheapen the works of
these artists; particularly Cyndi Lauper and
Garbage, I've loved them on their own terms
for years. I just thought these were kind of
neat. If you know a song that belongs on
this list, drop me a line and I'll consider
it. Thanks!
