Frank Cardona y sus Alegres Tejanos: Funky Nassau
From S/T (Diamante, 197?)
The Impossibles: Do It (‘Til You’re Satisfied)
From Stage Show (SSP, 197?)
In honor of the forthcoming Soul Sides Vol 2: The Covers CD, I’ve been pulling out some of the quirkier cover songs I’ve come upon in the last few. I wish I could brag about putting the Cardona out there first but the guys at Waxidermy got me beat by a few months. As they note, the Cardona is this random Tex Mex album that’s mostly a bunch of Tejano songs (few of them very remarkable) but then they drop in “Funky Nassau” (by Beginning of the End) out of nowhere. It’s a cool, almost-garage-y version of the tune, especially with that tinny organ wheezing throughout. Like Nassau though, it got soul.
The Impossibles cover of B.T. Express’ classic ’70s jam, “Do It (‘Til You’re Satisfied)” is even stranger. They were a Thai band (though they recorded their best known album, Hot Pepper in GermanySweden) that specialized in playing Western pop songs (along with native language tunes) and though they may seem uber-obscure, the band actually had quite the following, especially given that they toured Europe. Even The Nation knows the deal.[1]
This album sounds clearly recorded live since you can hear the audience that the Impossibles interacting with them (plus the fidelity is hardly studio quality). It’s not a remarkable cover…except that it’s by a bunch of English-speaking Thai guys and sometimes, that kind of backstory alone is enough (see Please’s cover of “Sing a Simple Song” too, for example).
[1] Albeit, we’re talking about The Nation in Thailand, not the American publication as a friend pointed out to me.
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