Twelve songs that raised a Gen X kid in the late '70s and '80s, covered straight, no irony — New Wave, post-punk, jangle-pop, run through one guy, one room's worth of gear, and a lot of years of carrying these around.
These songs made promises about the future. Some came true. Some didn't. A few saw it coming better than anyone gave them credit for at the time.
Tracklist — originally performed by:
01. Turning Japanese — The Vapors
02. And She Was — Talking Heads
03. If You Leave — OMD
04. Save It for Later — The English Beat
05. I Melt with You — Modern English
06. Cars — Gary Numan
07. Blister in the Sun — Violent Femmes
08. Drive — R.E.M.
09. Rush — Big Audio Dynamite
10. Train in Vain — The Clash
11. Don't You Want Me — The Human League
12. There She Goes — The La's
All twelve covered under mechanical license (Harry Fox). Songwriter/publisher credit lines: pull exact text from the license paperwork, not from this draft — don't have those confirmed precisely enough to print as legal credit.
Recorded at home.
Credits
PERFORMANCE / PRODUCTION
Brian Edwards — vocals, acoustic guitar, banjo, mandolin
Recorded and produced at home in Waco
Production: Bitwig Studio
COVER CREDITS — sourced via web search (Wikipedia/Songfacts/PRS/SecondHandSongs), cross-check
against your Harry Fox paperwork before publishing; three publishers below could not be
confirmed via search and are flagged rather than guessed.
01. Turning Japanese — originally performed by The Vapors.
Written by: David Fenton. Publisher: not found in search — verify against HFA paperwork.
02. And She Was — originally performed by Talking Heads.
Written by: David Byrne. Publisher: Index Music, Inc. / Bleu Disque Music Co., Inc.
(administered by WB Music Corp.) — credit varies slightly by release/reissue.
03. If You Leave — originally performed by OMD.
Written by: Andy McCluskey, Paul Humphreys. Publisher: Famous Music Corp.
04. Save It for Later — originally performed by The English Beat.
Written by: Dave Wakeling, Roger Charlery, Andy Cox, Everett Morton, David Steele
(whole-band credit). Publisher: Concord Music Publishing LLC / Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
05. I Melt with You — originally performed by Modern English.
Written by: Gary McDowell, Michael Conroy, Richard Brown, Robbie Grey, Stephen Walker.
Publisher: Beggars Banquet Music Ltd. / Momentum Music Ltd.
06. Cars — originally performed by Gary Numan.
Written by: Gary Numan. Publisher: Universal Songs of PolyGram International, Inc.
(also listed: Sony/ATV, BMG Rights Management, Concord Music Publishing — multiple
territories/deals, confirm which applies to your license).
07. Blister in the Sun — originally performed by Violent Femmes.
Written by: Gordon Gano. Publisher: Gordon Gano (self-published per available sources).
08. Drive — originally performed by R.E.M.
Written by: Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills, Michael Stipe (standard full-band credit).
Publisher: Night Garden Music, administered by Unichappell Music, Inc. (BMI).
09. Rush — originally performed by Big Audio Dynamite II.
Written by: Mick Jones. Publisher: not found in search — verify against HFA paperwork.
10. Train in Vain — originally performed by The Clash.
Written by: Mick Jones, Joe Strummer (Jones wrote the bulk of it; both hold co-writer
credit). Publisher: not found in search — verify against HFA paperwork.
11. Don't You Want Me — originally performed by The Human League.
Written by: Philip Oakey, Adrian Wright, Jo Callis. Publisher: BMG VM Music Limited,
Domino Songs Limited, BMG Platinum Songs US, V2 Music Publishing.
12. There She Goes — originally performed by The La's.
Written by: Lee Mavers. Publisher: Go! Discs Music Ltd. / Songs of Kobalt Music
Publishing — credit varies by release.
Mechanical license: Harry Fox, confirmed in hand for all twelve tracks.