FB3 cofounder Terry Hall at Coachella 2010 (Michael Buckner/Getty Images)
Two years after [lastfm link_type="artist_info"]the Go-Go’s[/lastfm] broke out with “Our Lips Are Sealed,” cowriter Terry Hall took the song back to his band, [lastfm link_type="artist_info"]Fun Boy Three[/lastfm], and made something better of it.
Rolling Stone called the Go-Gos’ reading of “Our Lips Are Sealed” one of the 100 Greatest Pop Songs of all time. If that’s the case, then Fun Boy Three’s version deserves to be in the Top 10.
Gone with the short skirts and tousled hair “glucosity” of the Go-Go’s version, the FB3 track — with its slightly slower tempo, jungle beat and mildly-effeminate lead vocal — does a much better job of underscoring the mystery and the message of the lyrics. (Yes, I made up the word “glucosity,” but I think it’s a fitting word for the Go-Go’s…).
For your comparing and contrasting pleasure:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q55rOPp10Lg
