TMC Likes... Kenny Rogers?

With "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town," TMC thought we were just adding on to the long list of Cake songs we loved. We have since realized our affections should be directed elsewhere: to Kenny Rogers and The First Edition. Kenny wasn't the first to record"Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town", but his version is perhaps the most popular. It climbed the charts reaching #1 in the UK and #6 in the U.S.

Before today, TMC was more likely to make fun of Kenny Rogers than to praise him (see his 1985 performance in "We Are the World"). Now, we honor Rogers with his inclusion on this extremely high profile blog.

Here's Kenny Rogers' "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town" and below, Cake's rather faithful cover song that got us hooked in the first place.

Steve Martin, BAMF and Banjo-Player

If you're a celebrity, you can record an album at any time regardless of talent: see Paris Hilton and David Hasselhoff. But if you're Steve Martin, you can release a good album and play a mean banjo. You can also write best-selling novellas (Shopgirl) and a screenplay based on aforementioned novella. Steve Martin released an album in January 2009 called The Crow: New Songs for 5-String Banjo. So if you like yourself some good ol' Americana, check it out.

When I grow up, or more realistically when I grow older, I hope I can be a little bit like Steve Martin.

Here's a performance from 2007 featuring Steve Martin. Enjoy!

Local Natives cover "Cecilia"

Local Natives does what few bands are able to do with covers: they take a song you love and make you love it more. Here's Local Natives doing an amazingly fun backyard cover of Paul Simon's "Cecilia".

Enjoy! (via You Ain't No Picasso)