Saturday Covers #23 (late, whatever)

I appear to be getting into a habit of posting late. It's all justified by my business, just be glad there's a Saturday Covers this week at all. On with the show.

Today's song is actually Since You Been Gone (UK residents: you know, the one on the noodles advert), with Rainbow's recording being considered a classic nowadays. It's unfortunate that people know the song for the cover, because silently in the background is the songwriter and original performer going barely credited.

So, who is the original performer? you may ask. It's Russ Ballard, lead singer and guitarist from rock band Argent. I'd say he's one of the most underappreciated figures in rock: not only did he write Since You Been Gone only to have it covered by Rainbow with barely any credit, he also composed Kiss classic God Gave Rock And Roll To You, again with no credit. It's a pity.

What can be said about the original version then? The most immediately noticeable difference from Rainbow's cover is the intro is played on piano, as opposed to guitar. The music accompanying Russ's voice is far more active, with little synthesised twiddly bits (technical term, I know), including a "twiddly bit" solo half way through the song. The little vocal riffs at the end of the chorus are also different, and in my opinion far more interesting. It's definitely not a disappointing original version.

Russ Ballard - Since You Been Gone (mp3, 2.6mb)

Though Rainbow are frequently labelled hard rock, this song... isn't. Maybe it's going a bit too far to call it pop, but it's definitely verging on the definition, which is a surprise when you consider the hair they had at the time. But less talk of the hair, what about the cover? It's not worth going into too much detail, as this is the version of the song that everyone knows. One interesting thing I did pick up on, though - listening to Russ Ballard's version, then directly after, this one... Ballard's is by far superior. It's just a lot happier, it feels like he really means what he's singing (which of course, he doesn't). Nothing like the original, despite Rainbow's being far more popular, eh?

Rainbow - Since You Been Gone (mp3, 3.8mb)

Master Blaster are a little-known "group" from the UK, specialising in remixing old songs and trashing them. In fact, that's a little harsh. It's just not the type of thing I really listen to, that's all.

Their cover of Since You Been Gone (which they have incorrectly titled Since You've Been Gone) isn't so much a cover, as a mashy-smashy remixy thingummyjig* of Rainbow's cover. It's got the same riff, vocals, and all that, but it's also got some lovely little hippityhoppity noises over the top of it. It comes complete with some rather repetitive percussion added by Master Blaster, and in the chorus you also get some rather odd squeaky noises at regular intervals. I suppose I'm not really flattering it. All joking aside, although I don't really enjoy listening to it, it's an impressive bit of remixing, and while it may not take musical talent to do, it does take talent on some computer programs I won't even pretend to know anything about. So, credit where credit's due: it's not bad at all.

Master Blaster - Since You've Been Gone (mp3, 1.4mb)

*It's not really my scene, so excuse me if the words I use aren't entirely correct for the genre.

Support
Russ Ballard -- Rainbow

Buy
Russ Ballard (International) -- Rainbow (UK) (US) -- Master Blaster (UK) (US)