Where Are the Modern Standards?

A few days ago, I wrote about the Great American Songbook. For reasons I talked about there, the question in the title is really a trick question. There aren't modern standards because everybody records mostly fresh material. Songs are repeated and reinterpreted enough to become standards.

Every now and again, somebody releases a covers album that's usually something of a novelty record. David Bowie and John Lennon each released an album of beloved songs of their youth, and Paul McCartney had one just a few years ago. Elvis Costello has released two, one country and one more eclectic. Tori Amos released hers a couple of albums back. Sometimes somebody from another genre will come in and cover rock songs in their "signature" style. Pat Boone, for instance, covered a handful of heavy metal tunes. In his brand new album, Paul Anka reaches back to a style from even before he started his own pop career in the '50s. Rock Swings puts hits of the '80s (or thereabouts) in a big band/swing context. Most of them sound pretty much like you'd expect--you'll enjoy it if you like that sort of thing. Some, such as Lionel Ritchie's "Hello" (does that even count as rock?), Spandau Ballet's "True" (although Anka listens to Ella all night long rather than Marvin), and Michael Jackson's "The Way You Make Me Fell" were never very far from MOR to begin with, so they don't change that much. Anka keeps "Jump" by Van Halen in a quick, peppy arrangement, which isn't as effective as Aztec Camera's slower more ballady cover from about twenty years ago. "Wonderwall" from Oasis may be becoming something of a modern standard, having received a previous overhaul by the Mike Flowers Pops. Although I think the two versions have separate intentions, I prefer the Flowers performance. Perhaps the song getting the most attention is "Smells Like Teen Spirit," since it's the one that's most anthemic to its generation. It's fine, pretty much what you'd expect. How you react probably depends on how much Kurt Cobain and this song in particular means to you.

One song that Anka covers, though, is a revelation. "The Lovecats" from the Cure comes alive in a loungy arrangement with a slight bossa nova feel (although Anka drops the article, for some reason). I'm a big fan of the original (and of the Cure in general), but Robert Smith is nothing if not idiosyncratic. It wouldn't have occurred to me to include it in a collection of this sort, but Anka and his arrangers take what they need from the song itself and build an elegant performance around it. I don't know if that single song makes the collection worth getting, but it makes it worth considering.