When Michael Jackson Dies, We're Covering "Blackbird"

The title song of The Dandy Warhols' Welcome To The Monkey House contained the lyrics:

"Wire's coming back again,
Elastica got sued by them
When Michael Jackson dies,
We're covering Blackbird.
But won't it be absurd, then
When no one knows
what song they just heard
Unless someone on the radio
tells them first?"

I've always thought these lyrics - the Michael Jackson line in particular - were hilarious; mostly because I'm a huge nerd who loves music industry in-jokes, but also because MJ's death seemed so unimaginable and far off that I figured the band would be covering "Blackbird" in their 70s.

But then he died, and the first things I thought of - aside from Jesus Christ, is this really happening? - were: a) who is going to get The Beatles publishing rights and b) are The Dandys going to make good on their promise?

It's anybody's guess who will get The Beatles publishing rights but The Dandy Warhols cover of "Blackbird" was released yesterday on the band's Beat The World label and is available as a digital download from their site as well as Amazon, etc. Genius!

Earth To The Dandy Warhols

Details of the new Dandy Warhols record are finally here. To start, they're no longer with longtime label Capitol and are self-releasing their new album, Earth To The Dandy Warhols on May 19 as a subscription service. The subscription "will include exclusive digital audio content for one year, including new b-sides and live tracks." It'll be interesting to see how this works for them. No word yet on whether or not there will be a physical release.

The first track from the album is available for free download when you sign up for their mailing list. It's called "The World The People Together (Come On)." Opinion on the net seems to be unsure at best, but I've played it several times and like it a lot. Hopefully it's an indicator of the album to come. I've always loved these guys.

Blonde Redhead, Dandys To Cover The Cure?

Pitchfork posted a news item today about a Cure tribute record that's in the works. I'm not usually that excited by tribute records because they're often full of really uninspired covers. This one has me intrigued, though, due to the presence of a couple of favorite bands.

Blonde Redhead (who made one of my favorite records of 2007) are set to cover "The Funeral Party". They seem like they would be perfectly suited to covering The Cure. I'm glad they didn't choose an obvious track to cover (i.e. a huge single like "The Lovecats").

The Dandy Warhols are tackling "Primary" (another great song choice). I'd guess they're quite capable based on their great cover of The Cult's classic "She Sells Sanctuary".

Sounds like I'll have to wait to hear this as it's not scheduled to be released until late 2008/early 2009. In the meantime, the new Cure album is set to be released June 3rd while Earth To The Dandy Warhols is rumored to be released before the summer.

I'll be seeing The Cure in Denver, Salt Lake City, and New York this summer. I guess you could say I'm a fan.

Here's the Dandy Warhols covering The Cult. It's from a charity record, so I didn't feel right making this available for download. Stream away, and if you like it, buy it!