Janice Whaley "Ideas As Opiates"

When a record company person is pitching a song to me (or any other programmer), quite often they'll tell you the artist "has a great story."

And, on some level, I think, "Who cares?"  Either the song is right for mvy, or it isn't.  The story behind the song shouldn't make a difference.

But honestly, it does.  Because the difference between what we do (old school radio) versus just being a jukebox/iPod/logarithm that spits out songs, is that we DJs have the opportunity to give the song context, and give the listener something extra to listen for.

Melody Gardot's story was interesting, because her singing career emerged as part of her physical therapy to recover from a bicycle accident.

Kathleen Edward's story was interesting, because her new record was made with an unusual collaborator, her boyfriend Justin Vernon of Bon Iver.

Dr. John's latest record had an interesting story---Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys had him record it in Memphis instead of New Orleans, and kept him off his traditional piano.

So yeah, a good background story can help a song.

Today's tune, well, I can't say it's so good that I'm going to add it to rotation this week or anything, but the story behind it is so interesting, that I bet you'll click on the video just to hear the song.

It's been put out by Janice Whaley.

Whaley has made a name for herself in certain circles with "The Smiths Project."  Over the course of several years, she committed to cover every single album by The Smiths.

Not only to cover every song on every album---she's done it a capella, creating 20 to 30 layers of vocal tracks per song, to build the tune.

So that's who she is.

Today's tune is not a song by The Smiths.

On this tune, she has a vocal partner, named James Roday.  Familiar name to you?  Perhaps you recognize his face?  He's the lead actor of the TV show "Psych."  And yes, he is actually a really credible singer.

Oh, and the song?  It's a Tears For Fears cover.

So there's the story.  Does it make the song more interesting?


Hear the song on Youtube.