The Covers XIV: “Summer Breeze.”

Alright. This is the second of two posts featuring a cover by goth metal legend Type O Negative. They did several more covers, but these are the two I’m familiar with and like. The previous one was “Cinnamon Girl,” originally recorded by Neil Young.

The original recording of “Summer Breeze” was written and recorded by the folk duo Seals and Croft. The album was also called “Summer Breeze.” It was released in 1972.

From Wikipedia:

Seals and Crofts were an American soft rock duo made up of James Eugene “Jim” Seals (born October 17, 1941) and Darrell George “Dash” Crofts (born August 14, 1938). They are best known for their Hot 100 No. 6 hits “Summer Breeze” (1972), “Diamond Girl” (1973), and “Get Closer” (1976).

Here is the original. It’s pretty good.

I really like the opening riff, but I think it is odd. Kind of dark and almost mournful, compared to the rest of the song. Perhaps that is one reason why Type O Negative covered it.

Another reason is of course irony.

Type O Negative was a very very dark band with many songs that have quite disturbing lyrics. Also, the leader of the band, Peter Steele definitely had a sense of humor, and probably thought it would be funny to make this song really heavy and dark.

I first heard this cover on the soundtrack for the 1997 horror film “I Know What You Did Last Summer.” The film was a hit, but I thought it was pretty bad. A dumb slasher movie. If you want to see a good slasher film from the ’90’s, watch “Scream.” It is a classic. And I don’t even like horror movies, generally. Skip the “Scream” sequels though.

The only thing good about “I Know What You Did Last Summer” was this song.

The cover was first released not in 1997, but in 1993, on Type O Negative’s first big album, “Bloody Kisses.” It is often considered to be their best album.

This is the 1993 version, which is a blend of two songs. The other is called “Set Me On Fire.” I don’t remember the second one being on the soundtrack, but anyway.. here it is:

That’s it for tonight. (I always write these posts after midnight. I don’t know why).

More covers to come.