Under Cover: Take Me Home Tonight

PK "Take Me Home Tonight" (Eddie Money)

High-energy, scrappy indie-pop quintet, PK, have premiered a cover of Eddie Money's classic "Take Me Home Tonight" with AltPress. Listen to their rendition of the song here. The band released their sophomore studio project, The Lost Boy Sessions on May 29th. Sonically described as "The Killers meet Vampire Weekend," PK has been compared to such acts The Cure, U2 and The Gaslight Anthem. ­­Purchase The Lost Boy Sessions on iTunes here.

When asked about covering the song, singer Travis Hawley, says, "It was actually the music video that inspired us to cover this song. Ladder hits, an empty stadium, a mullet and a howling sax solo. All the main ingredients for the best music video of all time. We attempted to take the 'be my little baby' part out of the song, but every time we'd mention which song we were covering to our friends, they would immediately break into falsetto and squeal that part. No one seems to remember the rest of the song. We decided it had to stay."

Hailing from San Luis Obispo, California, PK is made up of Travis Hawley (Vocals), Matt DePauw (Guitar), Mikel Van Kranenburg (Bass), Nick Fotinakes (Guitar) and Rico Rodriguez (Drums). While the members initially met in high school, vocalist Hawley was born in the United Arab Emirates and lived in England for five years before moving to the U.S. His brief stint in the UK deeply affected his vocal style and he has often been compared with emotive British artists such as Robert Smith, Bono, and Danny Elfman.

After releasing their first full length Into the Roaring, PK was immediately hand selected and published by Rolling Stone Magazine as 1 of 16 top unsigned artists in the United States. In the past year, the band has opened for such acts as Angels and Airwaves, Twin Atlantic, Aerosmith, Shiny Toy Guns and Youngblood Hawk and has garnered attention from the likes of Nylon Guys, Alternative Press, Pac Sun Music, RCRDLBL, Filter Magazine and Dianna Agron of GLEE's blog, "You Me & Charlie." PK recorded their new EP The Lost Boys Sessions at the famed Red Bull Studio in Los Angeles.

PK released The Lost Boy Sessionson May 29th (see our review here). For more information, go here.

Review: Eddie Money "Love and Money"

AOR master Edward Joseph Mahoney (Eddie Money) has quietly been churning out records since his huge comeback in the 80s. We've already covered the early 90s effort, "Right Here" and his shot at the "unplugged" bandwagon (read it here), and now we have 1995's "Love and Money".

I was pleasantly surprised by "Right Here" so was excited to get "Love and Money" on a swap for cheap. The record failed to chart and produced no Top 100 singles, and I hate to to say it, but I'm not surprised. This record is really flat and one of the weakest collection of songs the "Money Man" has ever brought to the table. Eddie really isn't rocking much on this one, there is no meat to the tracks, and the ballads are just boring. Overall, I had to struggle and compromise just to find 3 tracks worthy for (probably temporary) import onto the iPOD. Sorry Eddie, but this record left me feeling "short-changed".

iPOD-worthy: 1, 6, 7

Eddie Money - Official site.

Rare CD: Eddie Money "Where's the Party" and "Playing For Keeps"

There are two Eddie Money CDs that have been long out of print and fetch a decent price on ebay. "Playing For Keeps" can get you $30 if you're lucky, and "Where's the Party" can usually get you even more.

A copy of this one recently sold for $46.00 on ebay (13 bids).

2-18-08: One sells for $79.45 on ebay (27 bids).

3-3-08: One sells for $50.99 on ebay (15 bids).

Used on Amazon.com now for $59. Check now.

12-20-07: "Playing for Keeps" sells for $29.66 on ebay (23 bids).

1-27-08: "Playing for Keeps" sells for $29.00 on ebay (9bids).

Used on Amazon.com now for $44.96. Check now.

UPDATE: 4-13-08
"Playing for Keeps" sells for $51.89 on ebay (15 bids)

"Eddie Money CD "Playing for Keeps" Bryan Adams, Journey
FOR AUCTION IS USED CD IN GOOD CONDITION EDDIE MONEY "PLAYING FOR KEEPS" RECORD LABEL COLUMBIA RECORDS CATALOG NUMBER CK 36514 YEAR OF RELEASE 1980/1988 UPC BARCODE NUMBER 7464-36514-2 MADE IN USA DISTRIBUTED BY CBS PRODUCED BY RON NEVISON CD IS FROM EARLY ORIGINAL U.S.PRESSING ON COLUMBIA NINE SONGS AND 36 MINUTES OF AMERICAN POP/ROCK FROM BROOKLYN NEW YORK"

Review: Eddie Money "Right Here"

This was nowhere near as boring and dull as I thought it might be! The "Money man" released "Right Here" in 1991, which was DOA in part due to the rise of grunge. AOR was in rapid decline, and AOR is Eddie's specialty. Everyone seemed to be routing for this underdog during his famed comeback in the mid-80s, but he started losing his hold on the charts by 1990.

Eddie's had an enviable career in music and "Right Here" would have been a huge record if it arrived a few years earlier. Instead, it peaked at a lousy 160 on the album charts with only the single "I'll Get By" (video) cracking the top 40. This power ballad is not what I would have released first, and we all know, for better or worse, that the first single can make or break a record. It would have been better as a 2nd or 3rd single.

While the tunes do sound dated, the melodies and harmonies are surprisingly good. You get what you expect lyrically from Eddie Money, as evidenced in the dribble from the failed second single, "Heaven in the Back Seat." But putting that aside, I had fun listening to this record.

Official site.

iPOD-worthy: 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

On another note, there is a "companion" EP release to this featuring Money doing several tracks acoustically, called "Unplug It In" (1992). He also pulls some others from his catalogue for acoustic renditions, even "Trinidad" from 1980's "Playing For Keeps." It is worth checking out.