Composer you are!

The other day, I was on The Napster* looking for Let's Active's "Every Word Means No." All I found was a cover by Smash Mouth (from the second "Friends" soundtrack, apparently). I reluctantly played it. To my surprise, it didn't make me want to strangle someone, which their version of "Why Can't We Be Friends?" certainly did. They did a pretty good version of "Can't Get Enough of You Baby" by the Four Seasons (via ? and the Mysterians). Actually, they were a pretty fun band overall, but "All Star" was the very definition of overkill. That song is more worn out than "Hey Ya" will ever be, and that's saying something. Though whenever I think about "All Star," I get the image of my father dressed up in a PA Dutch (or PA German, more accurately) outfit.

Let's Active was a band fronted by Mitch Easter, who is probably better known for producing all of R.E.M.'s early stuff (Reckoning was his last). They were part of the arbitrary genre of "jangle-pop" along with the dB's, the Feelies, and Guadalcanal Diary (more about them later). "Every Word Means No" is probably their best-known song, and certainly one of the catchiest tunes ever. The band also gets a prize for being one of the few bands named after Engrish, at least of which I am aware (and this was in the early '80s, before it was all collected on one website).

(*I use the term "The Napster" to indicate the current, corporate form of Napster, which Penn State students receive for [mostly] free.)