It was one year ago today that I started a Tumblr page called Bedroom Covers. It was an easy bit: YouTube videos of people playing cover songs in their bedrooms. "Song I know. People I don't." Since last January I've done my best to upload two videos to the site every single morning. To date there's over 720 posts, everything from cover versions of Mayhem, The James Gang, and Des'ree to performances by middle-aged men in sunglasses, teenage girls in heavy makeup, and shirtless bros from foreign shores. There's so much great stuff on here I'll personally guarantee that every one of you will find a video you enjoy so much that you couldn't even conceive of your life without it.
So in honor of Bedroom Covers' first anniversary here's ten of my favorite videos from the past year. Thanks for watching. Two more videos will be uploaded tomorrow at seven.
The Smiths - "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out"
YouTube user cataclismo
Bedroom Covers' first post, and a prescient one at that. No band is more tailor-made for closing your bedroom door and turning on your outdated webcam than The Smiths. Fantastic, touching, and sung with accents. Accents!
Lynyrd Skynyrd - "Tuesday's Gone"
YouTube user froggy1954
I sometimes wonder why this guy put this up, and then why he hasn't taken it down.
YouTube user nooneung
Matt and I used to go to this bar in downtown Seattle where we'd drink tallboys of Pabst and the DJ would play stuff like Sepultura and Thin Lizzy. Every now and again we'd hear UFO's "Rock Bottom" and I'd always think, "Goddamn, what a killer tune." Apparently this kid did too. I always love a Bedroom Cover where the guy not only nails the riffs and the ripping solos, but can sing the tune at the same time. nooneung gets extra points 'cause he does all of that and then pipes in those cool MIDI backing samples. In fact, this video is so rad there's no reason it shouldn't have a million more views than it does right now, so please do this guy a huge favor and send this link to Vinnie Moore or Mike McCready or Kirk Hammett or some other guitar dude who's down with Michael Schenker so we can make that happen.
The Go-Betweens - "Rock and Roll Friend"
YouTube user volitapearl
So while I really, really, really like The Go-Betweens, I was never much a fan of this song until I found volitapearl's 4 AM version of "Rock and Roll Friend" and it changed everything. If Bedroom Covers accomplishes one thing I want that one thing to be to talk her into recording a real-deal full-length version of this. This track is exactly the kind of cover I want when I'm plugging in the headphones: it's a little bit lonesome and a whole lot original. I don't think I'd ever notice it was the same song. I love the way volitapearl decided to play the octave power-chords and her voice is outstanding. Check out volitapearl's band's Tumblr page and follow her on Twitter. I think I'll throw her an @, and I might even download her EP off Bandcamp.
Bell Biv Devoe - "Poison"
YouTube user stassman75
Man, I got a TON of hits and re-Tumblrs from this one, and why shouldn't I have? This version not only sounds great, but this guy is serious about having fun with this tune. There's no flubs and, most importantly, no irony. It's perfect. He even recorded it on his iPad. Neat!
Dinosaur Jr - "Drawerings"
YouTube user sarahvideos
Sorry, but I gotta get this misogynist shit out of the way first: this lady's way foxy. I like the glasses and the dark hair and how that spaghetti strap falls off her shoulder the way that it does right there at 0:40. But the real reason this video is great isn't because of any of that, it's because I've listened to "Drawerings" somewhere around a thousand times and I never thought of it as anything other than a J Mascis bit: it wasn't anything but guitar solos and a crackly voice. But when I came across sarahvideos' version (months and months before I'd even thought of starting Bedroom Covers) I remember watching it and thinking, "Wow, this song sounds completely different." And by that I mean it sounded completely new. It was the first time I ever heard "Drawerings" stand on its own merits and not as just another piece of J Mascis lore or mythology. It took me seventeen years and a stranger's cover version before I finally heard this song as a great composition in and of itself. I think that's pretty cool. Thanks, Sarah.
Billy Vera & The Beaters - "At This Moment"
YouTube user andvoice
Family Ties. Such a fantastic show. For my money there was nothing better than the interplay between Michael J. Fox and Tina Yothers. It was truly among the best comedic chemistry TV has ever seen.
Riskay - "Smell Yo Dick"
YouTube user JafeAndTexas
I read about Riskay on VICE and it seemed like there'd be some fun cover versions of "Smell Yo Dick" out there. I've watched a few of 'em, but this is hands-down the best. Damn. Dude's got a good voice and a solid chord hand, and how great is it when that other guy peeks in and says, "Motherfucker"? It makes me clap my hands I like it so much. When I first posted this I would listen to it a couple of times every morning before work and then spend the rest of the day with lines like "dirty-foot bitches" running through my head.
KISS - "Lick It Up"
YouTube user cpkphil
KISS's best song. cpkphil and his pre-programmed Casio makes me want to dance, dance, dance. Wait, who am I kidding here? I'm dancing right now.
Van Halen - "I'm the One"
YouTube user TrevorRules98
I know this'll sound like bullshit, but Bedroom Covers was intended as a celebration. I wanted the site to be a celebration of talent and skill, and of courage and honesty. I wanted it to be fun and inspiring, and even when I post something that I think is terrible or embarrassing I more often than not seek out videos that make me smile and that warm my heart with their sense of pure self-expression. I'm closing the Year in Bedroom Covers with TrevorRules98 first and foremost because "I'm the One" is leaps and bounds my favorite cut from Van Halen I and because I was a full ten years older than this kid when I tried to learn that pull-off riff and I couldn't even come close. But secondly, and more importantly, I'm closing with Trev because this video is just so much fun. No one has done Bedroom Covers more perfectly: there's no pretension and no posturing. I watch this and I know that Trev thinks Van Halen is badass. He thinks the solos in "I'm the One" are badass, and he thinks putting a video of himself playing guitar to the backing tracks on YouTube is super-badass. He probably bragged to all his friends about it for weeks on end. Fuck yeah. It's fucking great. Life is fucking awesome. It's super-badass.
(Follow Bedroom Covers on Tumblr and Twitter. Links are provided under each video for easy re-posting and re-Tumblring!)
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