Trans Volta
Disco Computer b/w You Are Disco
scum stats: there’s a bunch of variations of this thing, all seemingly available at reasonable prices
I love soundalikes. I have FOND memories of being in the backseat of my mom’s car on a last-minute, school night adventure to the northern world of Frankenmuth. My brother had started making mix tapes and popped one of his creations in. And I was so stoked to hear a Beatles song I’d never heard before. “Lies” (by the Knickerbockers) is so 100% quintessentially biting on every last bit of Beatles trademarks, I was incredulous with my brother when he explicitly told me that the Fab Four was not the group on the recording. The ensuing argument lasted for a handful of interstate miles at or around the speed limit in a 1995 Ford Taurus.
(side note: Bronner’s and Zehnder’s and the Birch Run outlet mall were all closed by the time we got up there, probably 7:30-8pm on a weekday. We stopped and ate at Halo Burger, which claims to be the oldest burger chain in the country, then went to the gas station next door and loaded up on snacks and trinkets that all seemed different from what we were used to seeing two hours south in Detroit. And then drove all the way home. My mom felt like she failed, trying to do this spontaneous, grand gesture and ultimately landing on fast food and a Mobil. But to a one, me my siblings and I had a BLAST and to this day I still reminisce about this unique adventure)
The idea behind a soundalike is what really gets me thinking. Were the Knickerbockers explicitly trying to sound like the Beatles? And if so, did they have a specific or general reference point? And say now, almost sixty years later, is sounding like the Beatles even a thing? Or are the Beatles just considered “good music”?
I know nothing about Trans Volta except they sound a shit ton like Kraftwerk. To the point where there’s no real doubt, they were trying to ape the groundbreaking German combo.
That being said…I still quite like it. I mean, Kraftwerk is genius, using that as a template, there’s a lot of built-in perfection.
This 45 goes straight in the DJ box and I fully anticipate folks asking “What the hell is this?” - OR - “What Kraftwerk album is this on?”
Mention your favorite sound-a-like in the comments, with some sort of description or story (or not) and I’ll send someone a free record that may or may not sound like something else.
Emitt Rhodes’ self-titled LP. The best McCartney record never made by McCartney. I have to actively convince people it’s not Macca whenever I spin it. “Here’s the cover. Yes, that’s what’s on the turntable. No, I’m not kidding. Yes, I promise that’s not McCartney.”
This immediately made me think of Queen and Bowie’s Under Pressure and Ice Ice Baby. Never exactly sure which one it’s going to be when you hear that intro on the radio.
I got excited that Black Lips made it to mainstream radio in Paducah a couple years back. Nope. It was Cage the Elephant.
I always loved the song itself, but I got in an argument years ago over Edwyn Collins’ ‘A Girl Like You’, as I was convinced it was a post-Stooges attempt by Iggy Pop to make a commercial pop track. Turns out the drums were sampled from ‘1-2-3’ by ‘60s soul singer Len Barry, so it did have a touch of that authentic period sound. I still think Edwyn’s singing voice is a dead ringer for Iggy’s to this day. As a side-note, Paul Cook from the Sex Pistols apparently played the vibraphone on it. Not sure why I find this strange, but I do.
It worked in reverse order for me. I read a quote from I believe Angus Young thatsaid something in the nature of “the only two acts worth mentioning as influences are chuck berry and the sensational Alex Harvey band”. I obviously knew of Berry but hadn’t heard of the SAHB so I checked them out and influence is used pretty loosely. I’d go as far as saying that Bon Scott lifted his whole personna and the way he wings from Alex Harvey. With that said, I guess early AC/DC is my favorite Sensational Alex Harvey Band sound a like. The tongue in cheek aspect of songs like big balls and dirty deeds is taken straight from the likes of Next and Gang Bang. Another small tidbit about the SAHB that is unrelated but really cool that I came to find out is that they had a guitarist that dressed as a mime. After his stint with Harvey, he joined Nazareth.
The tragically hip sound exactly like, well, the tragically hip. I know this might get my Canadian citizenship revoked, but every one of their songs sounds exactly the same as the others. I have no idea how they were so loved for generic dad rock that all sounded the same. Maybe because they referenced Canadiana.
Chronophage by ninth moon black the girl drummer is my high school classmate and friend . I always wanted to be in a touring band and she consistently does and is
recalling nearly 2 decades ago… a buddy (knowing I’m a Zeppelin freak) told me that “this guy sounds like Zep in this song” and he played some song called “Little Bird” by some 2-piece nobody. Well, it didn’t really sound like Zep so much to me, but I really dug it (love that slide) and ended up buying the album 1st chance i got. Turned on a whole ‘nother world for me. Gotta be my favorite ’sounds like’ moment. And hey I’m diggin this Transvolta bit too, love yer style… miss you on chat :(
oh, and speaking of beatles soundalikes- “There’s No Home for You Here,” amirite?
first soundalike to come to mind is Stealers Wheel – Stuck in the Middle. i’ve heard so many stories about the how/why of the Bob Dylan soundalikeness, but i don’t know what the truth is.