|
| | For subscribers | June 3, 2025 | | 
|
|
|
|
15 surprising show-tune covers for Broadway's big night
15 songs, 56 min 42 sec
 |
| "One Night Only" originated in "Dreamgirls" and was later covered by Sylvester. Richard Creamer/Michael Ochs, via Getty Images |
Dear listeners,
This is Scott Heller, the former theater editor (now I'm on The New York Times Book Review). With the Tony Awards this Sunday, I'm serving up show tunes to Amplifier readers — but not the usual fare.
There are no deathless standards here, like Judy Collins singing "Send in the Clowns" or anything from Barbra Streisand's "Broadway Album." And if you're the kind of person who saves your Playbills, you've already listened to the Pet Shop Boys version of "Losing My Mind" — a lot.
Rather, I'm hoping this edition of The Amplifier is full of surprising covers, and covers of show tunes you may not know as theater songs in the first place. I've mostly stayed away from pop albums designed to market the shows themselves, though I couldn't resist opening with one, from well before "Hamilton" got into that game. And, alas, one of my favorites — Jill Sobule's "Sunrise, Sunset," recorded for the "Fiddler" tribute compilation "Knitting on the Roof" — doesn't seem to be streamable. But you can find it on her website.
Laden with happiness and tears,
Scott
1. Diana Ross & the Supremes: "If a Girl Isn't Pretty"
Who knew? This delightful curiosity comes from a 1968 Motown album on which the trio performed 11 songs from "Funny Girl," a tie-in released just as the movie version reached theaters. Take away the ugly duckling story line and the Brooklynese and it doesn't exactly add up. But who cares when greeted with brash horns, sunny vocals and a group cheer after the unforgettable rhyme, "When a girl's incidentals / are no bigger than two lentils."
▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
2. Luther: "Everybody Rejoice"
Two of many things I learned from the superb documentary "Luther: Never Too Much": Luther Vandross wrote what turned out to be the joyous wicked-witch-is-dead number for the 1975 musical "The Wiz"; and as the lead singer of his own band, Luther, he covered it himself in 1976. No surprise, it's the best version out there.
▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
3. Whitney and Cissy Houston: "I Know Him So Well"
With four No. 1 singles and 10 million copies sold, Whitney Houston's second album was a pop-culture monster. Tucked away at the end, like a ghost of her ballad-heavier debut, is this rendition of the soaring duet from "Chess," the 1988 Broadway musical composed by Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus of Abba along with Tim Rice. Daughter and mother respectfully trade verses, until Whitney takes it to the stratosphere as the ballad closes. A couple of Spice Girls have covered it, too; with the musical returning to Broadway this fall, we'll get to see Lea Michele and a duet partner to be named take their turn.
▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
4. The Peddlers: "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever"
The title song from Burton Lane and Alan Jay Lerner's daffy 1965 reincarnation musical is probably better known than the show itself. And this funky 1968 rethink from a British jazz-soul trio enjoyed its own digital afterlife underscoring a meth-cooking scene in the fifth season of "Breaking Bad."
▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
5. Amália Rodrigues: "Who Will Buy"
That sad lad Oliver Twist sang this aching number in "Oliver!" in 1968, making it ideal material for the queen of fado. I came across it on a 1992 Rodrigues reissue called "American Songs," though it was first released on "Amália na Broadway" in 1984.
▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
6. Queensrÿche: "Heaven on Their Minds"
Plenty of lung-shredding singers have ripped it up onstage, but the veteran metalheads turn the guitars to 11 on Judas's big "Jesus Christ Superstar" number.
▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
7. Act: "I'd Be Surprisingly Good for You"
Another Andrew Lloyd Webber/Tim Rice gem (this one from "Evita"), from the short-lived collaboration between the synth-pop guru Thomas Leer and the German singer Claudia Brucken. The album is called "Snobbery & Decay," and that gets this deadpan tango just right.
▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
8. Lisa Stansfield: "Down in the Depths"
Ethel Merman sang it first, in the 1936 Cole Porter musical "Red, Hot and Blue," which became the title of the 1990 AIDS awareness album "Red Hot + Blue." On a starry compilation of pop covers of Porter songs by the likes of U2 and Annie Lennox, this one is the keeper: swinging, swanky and witty as hell.
▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
9. Sam Phillips: "Big Spender"
A recent discovery is this fiddle-driven version of the hookers' come-on number from "Sweet Charity." No gum-snapping ensemble singalongs here; instead it's Sam Phillips at her wry, weary solo best.
▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
10. Jennifer Nettles featuring Brandi Carlile: "It All Fades Away"
If there's a recent Broadway score that might spin off standards sung 50 years from now, it's Jason Robert Brown's 2014 adaptation of the Robert James Waller novel "The Bridges of Madison County," which had a short-lived (but long-remembered) run. Steven Pasquale, one of Broadway's best voices, sang this wrenching solo then; here it's Jennifer Nettles and Brandi Carlile, triumphing over an arrangement that pushes a little too hard.
▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
11. Tracey Thorn: "Hard Candy Christmas"
Speaking of country, this bluesy charmer, sung by the seen-it-all hookers who work "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas," saw Dolly Parton take the lead when the 1978 musical became a movie. Here the melancholy is in a soft-rock key: the Everything but the Girl singer's twang-free version from her 2012 Christmas album. (Among the other country gals who've done it: Kelly Clarkson, Reba McEntire, Brittney Spencer and … Brandi Carlile.)
▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
12. Lady Gaga: "The Joker"
We agreed, no obvious standards, so no duets with Tony Bennett. But let's not forget that the ill-fated "Joker: Folie à Deux" movie spawned "Harlequin," Lady Gaga's largely ignored companion album, inspired by her movie character Harley Quinn. Amid a jumble of far-better-known songs, I'm picking this one, a saucy Rat Pack meets Carnaby Street number sung by Anthony Newley in "The Roar of the Greasepaint, the Smell of the Crowd" (1965), rendered here as 100 percent American rock anthem.
▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
13. Brittain Ashford: "Defying Gravity"
If the Cowboy Junkies landed in Oz, their version of the "Wicked" earworm might sound like this — dialed down and full of itchy guitars. It's from an album of similarly novel, sometimes twisted versions of show tunes, called "Drama Club."
▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
14. Sylvester: "One Night Only"
In "Dreamgirls" it starts slow and explodes into a dance number, as the title trio go pop. But with a falsetto like Sylvester's (and heavenly background singers), slow is more than enough.
▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
15. Michael Jackson: "Morning Glow"
"Music & Me," from way back in 1973, was among M.J.'s least successful solo albums, though this uplifting Act One closer from "Pippin" makes it worth remembering. Morning glow is here at last!
▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
The Amplifier Playlist
"15 Surprising Show-Tune Covers for Broadway's Big Night" track list
Track 1: Diana Ross & the Supremes, "If a Girl Isn't Pretty"
Track 2: Luther, "Everybody Rejoice"
Track 3: Whitney and Cissy Houston, "I Know Him So Well"
Track 4: The Peddlers, "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever"
Track 5: Amália Rodrigues, "Who Will Buy"
Track 6: Queensrÿche, "Heaven on Their Minds"
Track 7: Act, "I'd Be Surprisingly Good for You"
Track 8: Lisa Stansfield, "Down in the Depths"
Track 9: Sam Phillips, "Big Spender"
Track 10: Jennifer Nettles featuring Brandi Carlile, "It All Fades Away"
Track 11: Tracey Thorn, "Hard Candy Christmas"
Track 12: Lady Gaga, "The Joker"
Track 13: Brittain Ashford, "Defying Gravity"
Track 14: Sylvester, "One Night Only"
Track 15: Michael Jackson, "Morning Glow"
Thank you for being a subscriber
If you're enjoying what you're reading, please consider recommending it to others. They can sign up here. Browse all of our subscriber-only newsletters here.
Have feedback? Ideas for a playlist? We'd love to hear from you. Email us at theamplifier@nytimes.com.
|
|
 | Sign up for the Louder newsletter. A once-a-week blast of pop music coverage, including album reviews, interviews with artists and more. Get it in your inbox |
|
|
No comments:
Post a Comment