First off, just wanted to say I’m sorry for missing Sunday’s newsletter. I had some big life events over the weekend that had my schedule all out of wack. I got engaged! Woo!!! We’re back on schedule and I’m bringing back the ‘It’s not always what it looks like’ series since it was a hit last time. Hopefully I can blow some of your minds again..
Let’s see..
Girls Just Want to Have Fun - Cyndi Lauper (Robert Hazard Original)
We all know Girls Just Want to Have Fun as Cyndi Lauper’s breakout hit…but most people don’t realize… it wasn’t originally hers.
The song actually started with a dude named Robert Hazard, a Philly musician hustling his way through the late-'70s music scene. Hazard wrote and recorded the song in 1979. It had a totally different vibe. It was rough, new-wave punk rock demo that never really took off.
Fast forward to 1983, Cyndi Lauper gets her hands on the track and flips the whole thing on its head. She reworks the lyrics, makes it her own, and transforms it into one of the biggest anthems of the 80’s. A timeless classic.
Cyndi Lauper Cover Version + Music Video
Robert Hazard Original Version
Blinded by the Light - Manfred Mann’s Earth Band (Bruce Springsteen Original)
This one had me fucked up to! Completely flipped the script on me.
Bruce Springsteen wrote and recorded it first. It was actually the opening track on his 1973 debut album Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. Most people barely noticed it.
In 1976, Manfred Mann’s Earth Band took the song, cranked up the synths, polished the production, rearranged the structure, and gave it a more spaced-out, arena-rock feel. It resulted in a number-one hit in the U.S. Shockingly, it was the only Springsteen-penned song to ever top the Billboard Hot 100 (and Springsteen himself didn’t even do it). It’s all good though becauce Bruce quietly pocketed the royalties and kept building his empire.
Manfred Mann’s Earth Band Cover (Live Version)
Bruce Springsteen Original
Dazed and Confused - Jake Holmes (Led Zeppelin ‘Cover’)
If you know Dazed and Confused, you know it as one of Led Zeppelin’s most iconic tracks. Jimmy Page famously played guitar on the track with a violin bow. If you watched Becoming Led Zeppelin, there’s a scene in there from their debut Los Angeles show where Jimmy enters a different universe playing this song with the violin bow. It’s a great watch. Anyways, this song is not entirely theirs..I may be biased by Led Zep’s version absolutely shits on the original.
The real story starts in 1967 with a New York folk singer named Jake Holmes. Holmes wrote and recorded Dazed and Confused for his album The Above Ground Sound of Jake Holmes. His version? Dark, stripped-down, bluesy, think more coffeehouse paranoia than stadium-shaking rock. The song’s got the same title, the same core melody, and the same general vibe.
Here’s where it gets dicey: Jimmy Page was playing with The Yardbirds around that time. They opened for Holmes at a gig in '67. Page heard Dazed and Confused, and then the Yardbirds started playing their own version of it live shortly after. No credit, no formal acknowledgment.
Fast forward to 1969: Led Zeppelin records Dazed and Confused for their debut album, transforming it into the heavy, psychedelic epic we all know. It’s credited solely to Jimmy Page. Jake Holmes is nowhere to be seen.
For years, Holmes stayed quiet, but eventually, he filed a lawsuit in 2010. It didn’t make huge headlines, probably because they settled out of court. But after that, Zeppelin’s later releases of the song now list it as "Inspired by Jake Holmes". Tough break.
Led Zeppelin “Cover” Version
James Holmes Original Version
Quote of the Day
“Music is a language that doesn’t speak in particular words. It speaks in emotions and if it’s in the bones, it’s in the bones.”
Video of the Day
In honor of Led Zeppelin, I’m sharing this rare, 10 minute live version of Dazed and Confused. The chemistry and musicianship is off the charts. This video clearly highlights why Led Zeppelin was and will continue to be one of the greatest rock bands of all time. I hope you enjoy this performance as much as I do.
Photo of the Day
Continuing on the Zeppelin train..this image is of Jimmy Page guzzling whiskey backstage in 1975. “Weirdly, I was the Jack Daniel’s drinker in the band,” John Paul Jones said in the new book “Led Zeppelin by Led Zeppelin.” “It was probably my bottle that he’d just half-inched”. Sadly, John Bonham passed away from essentially drinking himself to death in 1980.
That’s it for today folks, see you on Friday!