The Wallflowers' remake of the Bee Gees song "I Started a Joke" has received positive reviews from music critics and fans alike. For instance, Entertainment Weekly magazine reported: "Donna Summer's `Love to Love You Baby,' the Bee Gees' `I Started a Joke,' and the Hollies' `He Ain't Heavy...He's My Brother' get new life thanks to No Doubt, the Wallflowers, and Rufus Wainwright, respectively" ("http://www.ewonline.com"). Also, the Houston Chronicle said, "Perhaps director-star Ben Stiller mixed the faux and the factual to gain ironic distancing from the shallow world he portrays. But his song score, like the film, is better served by moments of genuineness if not sincerity. Most effective in that regard is the Wallflowers' respectful remake of the Bee Gees' hit 1968 ballad `I Started a Joke.' Once warbled tremulously by Robin Gibb, here it gains soulful new life as a rhythmic soft rocker. Yet like so many pre-disco-era Bee Gees songs, it remains melancholy and moving, even for a scene of Stiller's moronic model suffering crises of confidence" ("http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/he...").
The Wallflowers aren't the first artists to remake this classic Bee Gees song. Robbie Williams and The Orb, Faith No More, Vonda Shepard, Richie Havens, and the Beautiful South have also recorded versions of it. In the March 24, 2001 issue of Billboard magazine ("http://www.billboard.com"), published before the Wallflowers' version of "I Started a Joke" was recorded, the Bee Gees were asked how they felt to hear other artists remake their songs. Here's an excerpt from the interview:
BILLBOARD: How do you feel about people covering your hits? Faith No More did a version of "I Started a Joke." BARRY GIBB: I haven't heard that. Most times it's very flattering, but often I'm still not comfortable with it. The Robbie Williams [& the Orb] version of "I Started a Joke" was the kind of thing you hear in a lunatic asylum, fused with . . . ROBIN GIBB: ...an old man with diarrhea. [Laughter] BARRY GIBB: It was almost like somebody took it and said, "How can I destroy this song in every way?" Well, he succeeded. But, usually when anybody famous does one of our songs, it gets us off. MAURICE GIBB: We were blown away when Elvis did "Words."
Hopefully, the Brothers Gibb were also blown away by the Wallflowers' beautiful version of "I Started a Joke."
. . . SAD NEWS
On October 5, 2001, a short message was first posted on Michael Ward's web site ("http://www.michaelward.net"). It read: "To all MW friends all [sic] followers: Michael has left the Wallflowers. He wishes them well. Stay tuned to this site for more news, and thanks for checking in." This message took many Wallflowers fans by surprise, although a few fans had heard rumblings about his impending departure at the conclusion of the Wallflowers/Mellencamp summer tour.
Go To Page: 1 2
