A Whole New World - Grace Knight & Jackie

Welcome to everyone who is visiting Covering the Mouse for the first time today as a result of hearing my involvement of the most recent Coverville Podcast! I was very happy that Brian invited me to take part in this roundtable discussion.

Every Friday is a special day over here with weekly features. On the third Friday of each month I post a Terrible Track. This month's Terrible Track is A Whole New World by GRACE KNIGHT and her son Jackie.

Grace Knight was a founding member of the popular Australian pop group EUROGLIDERS which was a powerful force on the Australian charts in the 80s. The group disbanded in 1989 after releasing their fourth album.

But Grace wasn't through with music yet. She went on to become one of the best selling jazz singers throughout the 90s in Australia! Most recently, Grace and Bernie Lynch reformed Eurogliders and recorded a new album in 2005, started touring in 2006 and released another album in 2007!

In 1999 she and her son Jackie recorded a cover of the Aladdin ballad, A Whole New World for the album DUETS: A FAMILY CELEBRATION, a collection of famous Australian artists singing with their children. This track is terrible due to Jackie's awful singing. Some of the tracks on this album get the cute factor but not this one. It's almost too painful to listen to. And Grace's vocal work isn't stellar here either.

A Whole New World Grace Knight & Jackie 1999

Baby Mine - Debra Byrne & Arja

Over here in North America we don't really hear about famous Australian musicians. In fact, I have a whole CD of Disney music by famous Australians and I haven't heard of any of them! But a little bit of research reveals that these artists are very accomplished and should be made known to the world. DEBRA BYRNE is one of those artists. Debra started her career on an American Idol style talent show for youth that produced a record contract and a hit single in the 70s. She has acted in many Aussie productions and more recently Aussie Broadway productions like Cats and Sunset Boulevard.

Debra's version of Baby Mine, taken from DUETS: A FAMILY CELEBRATION pairs her up with her 19 year old daughter Arja. The two voices are very similar and it sure seems like Arja has had some training from mom. However, the vibrato in their voices causes me to not like the parts they sing in unison. Separately they would be fine and I'm sure they would sound great in harmony.

This cover draws heavily from Bonnie Raitt's version that appeared on the STAY AWAKE compilation album from 1988. I haven't posted that version yet so you'll have to go elsewhere to compare (It's better).

Baby Mine Debra Byrne & Arja 1999

Pooh Bear Medley - Tommy Emmanuel & Amanda

Hi everyone! Jamie here from Fong Songs guest-posting for a third time at the gracious invitation of Kurtis. Today I've got a Winnie the Pooh cover for you. Meanwhile Kurtis is moonlighting over at Cover Lay Down today with even more Pooh covers from a folk perspective. To complete the round of coverblog musical chairs, Cover Lay Down's Boyhowdy has taken over Fong Songs for the day.

While on my recent trip to China, I found this 1999 CD (not a bootleg!) called DUETS: A FAMILY CELEBRATION featuring Australian artists performing Disney covers with "their children, parents, or siblings". I am unfamiliar with the artists involved, but maybe you'll recognize them: Monica Trapaga, Joe Camilleri, Martin Plaza, Vika & Linda Bull, Red Symons, Debra Byrne, and Grace Knight. Guitarist TOMMY EMMANUEL, who carries the title of "Certified Guitar Player" as dubbed by Chet Atkins, sings a quaint version of the Winnie the Pooh theme with a couple surprises.

Simply dubbed Pooh Bear Medley, the liner notes describe the song as "Up, Up and Away / Winnie the Pooh". I figured Up, Up and Away was from one of those recent Pooh feature films that seem to crop up every couple years. The song kicked off and seemed oddly familiar, though I couldn't quite place it. Then as the chorus hit I realized with joyous wide-eyed wonder that he was in fact singing the theme song to the television series The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. You know "Pooh Bear, Winnie the Pooh Bear, wherever you go, won't you take me please...". The show originally ran from 1988 to 1991, just long enough to bury itself in my subconscious at an early age. The theme was written by Thom Sharp and Steve Nelson, though oddly I can't find any mention of it being called "Up, Up and Away" anywhere other than this CD. Tommy also covers the original theme song and interspersed throughout is his daughter Amanda reading excerpts of Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree. Enjoy!

Pooh Bear Medley Tommy Emmanuel & Amanda 1999