2000 Great Songs #1457: Reviewing The Situation

This one's admittedly an anomaly on the list. British singer Sandie Shaw is best known as a 60s orchestral pop star, not exactly a rocker, but she mixed it up a bit on 1969's Reviewing The Situation, a little-known record that's a personal favorite. In contrast to the more throwback Bacharach-styled vocal pop of hear prior work, the album had a fascinating mix of cover selections--alongside some Beatles, Dylan, and Bee Gees, she throws in more left field tunes like "Sympathy For The Devil" and Zeppelin's "Your Time Is Gonna Come." And she gives everything a slightly more hipster, psychedelic vibe than the straight pop she built her career on.

Despite an abundance of rock covers (I love those latter two!), I'm most drawn to the surprising title track which opens the album. The song originates from the musical Oliver (a movie which still gives me nightmares, half a century since seeing it on tv as a kid). And while the original was a somewhat amusing set-piece by the Fagin character, one of the musical's rare lighter moments (at least as far as I can recall), Shaw's version sounds more like a sex-ed up, knowing James Bond theme-type work of mildly psychedelicized faux lounge pop, Nancy Sinatra with a touch of strangeness.

The Oliver version:

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