The Baseball – Strike

The Baseball – Strike
Warner Music Group

Most people have now heard of the Baseballs, a three-piece German band who take modern pop songs and give them a rockin’ make-up with doo-wop vocals and double bass slapping away. I know there will be detractors throughout the rock ‘n’ roll circuit, but there’s room for more than just Charlie Feathers tribute bands. Anyway, what’s wrong with covering pop songs. The history of rock ‘n’ roll is saturated in souped up versions of pop standards - what was Blueberry Hill, etc. Anyone who doesn’t approve of the sound, must surely acknowledge that the look is good. Three young lads, one who’s hot (the wife’s opinion not mine) - you can’t have too many quiffs on the charts!

The Baseballs are a bit of fun and sound more doo-wop than rockabilly. To me, they sound a bit like some of the Jets stuff, and there’s nothing wrong with that. I don’t know any of the original songs here except Angels and Don’t Cha.

I Don’t Feel Like Dancing has a more pronounced double bass than most songs here and it works really well. Their adaptation of Robbie Williams’ Angels is superb. It starts off like When and the vocals are so much better than the Port Vale Poseur. Don’t Cha is another gem, given a wonderful doo-wop opening. Johnny Maestro would approve. When my misses sees Sam the tall one singing “don’t cha wish your boyfriend was hot like me”, I can see here nodding in approval. Bitch.

Don’t get your head mixed up about whether Hank done it this way. He didn’t, but what the hell. This is fun time music which might just find a way into the charts. If Jack rabbit Slim can come in through the back door, great – but someone has got to get that door cranked open first.