Such were my closing words in my review from July of 2024. Of course, I knew that a cover version was coming and I was confident that it was going to be an absolute trainwreck. Call it an educated guess.
Last time, I was keen to point out that despite the problematic nature of "Silhouettes", it was a good song with a cute little payoff at the end. ("Oh, the drunken jealous stalker dude got the wrong house: that makes it okay!") I have no such similar goodwill with this Herman's Hermits cover. The group — which may or may not have included a young session ace named Jimmy Page — chose to take all the unease of out the original in order to make it into a jaunty little romp instead, as if we should all be in on the joke right from the get go.
Nah, that's giving lead singer Peter Noone, the other Hermits and producer Mickie Most way too much credit. I'm not even convinced that they were aware that "Silhouettes" even has a punchline. Rather, as a band whose mandate was to be as family friendly as possible, they were just going to be zippy and charming and moronic no matter the material they had. Let's examine some of the qualities of "Silhouettes" that Herman's Hermits missed out on.
✓ Jealousy — Dude is taking a walk one night and just happens to cruise past his best girl's place when he discovers her silhouette getting might cozy with another guy. His sadness turns into rage as he pounds on her door.
✓ Paranoia — His nibs' imagination runs away with him without much prompting. Ever hear about giving someone you supposedly love and trust the benefit of the doubt? No, neither have I.
✓ Stalking — Of course we all believe him when he says that he just happened to be in the area. Totally an isolated incident that has never occurred before or since.
✓ Being a Drunken Arse — It's an unspoken element of "Silhouettes" but everyone who has reached adulthood (and perhaps even those who are a bit younger) ought to have realized that that the "hero" of this story is totally wasted. Not being able to recognize the right house while being on the wrong street is the first giveaway. Overall lack of self-awareness is another.
✓ Idiocy — Wasted or sober, this dude is a massive idiot. In this respect, the Hermits might have been the band best suited to a cover of "Silhouettes" since no one in British pop could do 'winning simpleton' quite like Noone.
For a song that has been covered on several occasions throughout the last seventy years, you'd think that someone would have been able to get something out of "Silhouettes" to at least match the quality of The Rays' original. Assuming Noone even knew what the song was about, he may have simply been trying to imprint his usual cheeky self on to a record with a problematic narrative. Somehow or other this very pedestrian cover gave them another big hit around the world. Proof that the public was inevitably going to lap up any old shit just so long as it happened to be British. Herman's Hermits were only just getting started.
Score: 3
No comments:
Post a Comment