Search - Alan O'day :: Undercover Angel 2001

Why meddle with good things?

12/24/2005

(1 out of 5 stars)

"Alan O'Day is probably best known for the original version of his 1977 #1 hit "Undercover Angel," which was quirky yet infectiously simple pop. He also wrote songs for a variety of artists (Helen Reddy, Three Dog Night, and others). He obviously didn't exhaust his songwriting skills, as I guess he still currently writes and I was quite surprised to learn he wrote for "Muppet Babies" (admittedly, I can't remember any of the songs from the show, only the theme, which I'm not sure if he had a hand in writing) and some other shows later on in the '90s, including some Disney stuff.



I read somewhere that he was inspired to re-make his old hit due to the inclusion of the original in the Charlie's Angels soundtrack. Well, less re-make than butcher and bastardize. We get pseudo-rapping coupled with hilariously stupid pro-social "love one another" lyrics, and somewhere in all this garbage, the chorus of the new version is vaguely familiar. Really, the only worthwhile factor in the song are the lyrics about giving Eminem an enema.



The main problem is that the title track lacks all sincerity. I realize O'Day meant this as an unserious rap parody, but it's not really rap other than the vocals (O'Day, ever the try-hard, throws in some "Whazzups!" before the chorus...) It's very '80s sounding and synth-driven poor man's R & B, sounding like someone trying to badly emulate New Edition or a minor '80s Motown artist. True parody artists like Weird Al at least study their material, and even if it ends up being silly, stupid, or behind the times, it still has effort behind it. This seems empty and vapid, but it's pre-meditated enough where I can't just dismiss it as clowning around in the studio. As for the lyrics, they end up being insipid in their delivery even if the underlying message is decent. The average Raffi song is much deeper, and is at least being played by a guy not trying to insult my intelligence.



The rest of the songs aren't as bad, but unfortunately by putting the worst first, a bad light is cast on already average songs. "WWW Dot Lonely" is another sad attempt to stay current lyrically. "Creative Me" and "Allergies" are better attempts at quirk and humor, but they're nothing special. "Raining More Than Rain" uses the same sort of reggae/R&B vibe that fails on the title track more successfully, but there are compatability issues. The song would probably be a good dance number if not for the easygoing vocals (everything else aside, O'Day does nice vocals). It sounds like it was recorded with mostly programmed instrumentation and synths (I can't tell about the backing vocals), which lend it an inorganic feel. Considering the simplicity of the music, this is not a good thing.



It's tragic that in trying to be humorous and current, O'Day effectively had to destroy his best past work. Ditch the title track, and the others would make a passable demo CD-R, or perhaps bonus tracks on an upcoming album (if there's any such release, I'd have to sample it thoroughly before even considering buying it).



Older songwriters needn't hang up the hat (Paul Williams and Rod McKuen are dead proof of that) in a world ruled by vapid pop and commercialism. They shouldn't feel obliged to have to keep penning the kinds of works that made them famous, nor should they feel they have to progress any further than what they want. But let this be a lesson, that trying to stay current is less important than trying to stay yourself, wherever you might find your musical path takes you."