By STEVEN JUPITER
BRANDON—With a wildly varied song list that included material from such disparate acts as Elvis, Sinatra, and Bowie, the contestants in Brandon Idol took the competition into the 50s & 60s on Saturday night at Brandon Town Hall.
Venus Diamandis performed the classic “House of the Rising Sun,” made famous by The Animals in 1964. The impassioned ballad, sung from the perspective of someone whose life went irreparably awry “down in New Orleans,” offered Diamandis an opportunity to show off her range in a languorous 6/8 time signature.
Tonya Granger offered her take on “Hit the Road, Jack,” which was a big hit for Ray Charles in 1961. Always a crowd-pleaser, the song tells the story of a man kicked to the curb by a woman who’s sick of his nonsense. Granger imbued it with the spirit it needed to really come alive.
Tonya Granger hits the road with Ray Charles’s “Hit the Road, Jack.”
Baker LaRock took the show into crooner territory with his swinging version of Frank Sinatra’s “Fly Me to the Moon,” conjuring up all the vibes of the mid-1960s Rat Pack: Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr. LaRock’s smooth styling got him picked as Fan Favorite by the crowd.
Peggy Sue Rozell sang the small-town anthem “Harper Valley PTA,” a huge success for Jeannie C. Reilly in 1968. The song tells the story of a woman who turns the tables on a judgmental Parent-Teacher Association when she bursts into one of their meetings and runs down a list of the members’ own indiscretions. Rozell was able to tell the story with the righteous indignation it needed.
Logan Shaddock sang a defiant “You Don’t Own Me” by Lesley Gore
Logan Shaddock took to the stage with “You Don’t Own Me,” popularized by Leslie Gore in 1963. The song was remarkable in its day for its lyrics: the singer insists that she is not her boyfriend’s property. “I’m free and I like to be free,” is one of the song’s iconic lines. Shaddock delivered it with verve and confidence.
Irene Simmons started a slow burn with “Son of a Preacher Man,” the sultry Dusty Springfield classic that tells the tale of a woman’s first physical experience with a boy: the titular son of a preacher man. Simmons expertly slithered her way through the tune, which rests mostly in a breathy lower register.
Baker LaRock crooned the Sinatra classic “Fly Me to the Moon.”
Rachel Spellman took on “Bring It on Home to Me,” a 1962 classic by Sam Cooke. Written in distinctive 12/8 time, the bluesy song is a plea to the singer’s lover to “bring it on home.” Gospel-inflected tunes like this one allow the performer to put some soul into it, and Spellman didn’t waste the chance.
Gunnar Tinsman rode close to the edge of the era with David Bowie’s 1969 “Space Oddity,” a psychedelic tale about a space mission with the iconic lyric “Ground control to Major Tom…” Tinsman got to take the show in a groovier direction with his acoustic guitar on this early Bowie mind trip.
Bethany White brought the audience back to 1961 with Elvis’s ballad, “Can’t Help Falling in Love.” A deceptively simple melody leaves the singer nowhere to hide and White delivered a charming rendition with all the sweetness of the original.
Peggy Sue Rozell told it like it is in “Harper Valley PTA” by Jennie C. Reilly
Shannon Wright delivered an electrifying version of “Delilah” by Tom Jones, a song that requires real lung power. The lyrics recount a man’s violent jealousy when he learns that his woman—Delilah—has betrayed him. Wright got the audience to sing along and ended up with the first standing ovation in Brandon Idol history.
And as an added bonus, Brandon resident Doug Ross treated the crowd to an entertaining non-competition performance of “I’m a Believer” by The Monkees.
The Brandon Idol Band—Ross Edmunds, Bryan Billado, and Kenny Cifone—managed to capture the unique spirit of each song while letting the singers shine.
The next installment of Brandon Idol will be in April: 70s and 80s music! Stay tuned!
