Ooh Bettie

Dutch types Bettie Serveert are a band I very much associate with the 1990s (more specifically, the mid-90s), so imagine my surprise when learning earlier today that not only are they still very much going, they also have a new album coming out this week! Well strike me roan, as Alf Stewart would doubtless have it were he not a) an Australian in his late sixties with little or no knowledge of the Bettie Serveert oeuvre or modern European indie rock in general and b) a fictional character.

Anyway, the album in question, Pharmacy of Love, is released tomorrow (23rd March), and here's the first single from it, the rather rocking Deny All - along with some classic Serveert product of yesteryear, Geek, from 1997's Dust Bunnies LP.

Bettie Serveert - Deny All mp3

Bettie Serveert - Geek mp3

Mildly Diverting Pop Fact: Bettie Serveert, which translates as "Bettie Serves", took their name from from a television programme of that name hosted by Dutch tennis player Betty Stöve, who made it to the Wimbledon Ladies singles final in 1977, where she very considerately lost to home favourite Virginia "I'm not South African really - honest!" Wade, in what was some old queen's jubilee year or something. Oh yes, Stöve was really cooking on gas that year.
*boom* *tish*

Three of a Kind #47

A selection from the 1994 compilation LP If I Were A Carpenter today; which isn't, surprisingly, a tribute to the skilled woodworkers of the world, but rather to the brother-sister duo who set the pop charts ablaze with their cheesetastic easy-listening hits in them thar seventies.

The album brings together what'd be best-described as a largely college radio-friendly bunch of artists: American Music Club, Shonen Knife, Sonic Youth, The Cranberries, Bettie Serveert, Dishwalla (I must confess I'd never heard of this bunch before), Sheryl Crow, Johnette (Johnette?!) Napolitano with Marc Moreland, Redd Kross, Babes In Toyland, Cracker, Matthew Sweet, 4 Non Blondes, and Grant Lee Buffalo - all performing, perhaps unsurprisingly given the nature of the album, covers of classic Carpenters cuts (alliteration alert!).

But are any of them up there with the originals, I don't hear you ask. Well, mostly, no. But it's a pleasant enough listen. Here are a few of my favourites - with pride of place going to Shonen Knife's frankly inspired take on Top Of The World!

Shonen Knife - Top Of The World mp3

Babes In Toyland - Calling Occupants Of Interplanetary Craft mp3

Bettie Serveert - For All We Know mp3

(mp3s available for a week)

The album seems to have long since gone out of print, by the way, so it looks as if places like eBay and Amazon Marketplace would be your best bet for tracking a copy down now. If you're interested, like.