One of the greatest cover songs in the pop-punk genre almost sounded more like Creed - yes, the Christian rock band that, sonically and aesthetically, could not be further from anything remotely resembling pop-punk. That isn’t a diss or a criticism of Creed, as what they offered to the rock genre was significant in the 90s and early 2000s. It’s just odd to try to combine Creed with pop-punk.
Despite this,Sony Music wanted Wheatus to sound more like Creed. More specifically, Sony wanted Wheatus to evoke the spirit of the “One Last Breath” band when crafting “A Little Respect”, the synth pop classic from Erasure released in 1988. Their cover of “A Little Respect” gifted Wheatus with some of the alternative rock band’s earliest breakthrough success, but Sony almost ensured it would sound very different.
It may seem funny on paper, but the disagreement regarding the sound of the Wheatus cover gets to the root of the band’s falling out with their label.
Wheatus' Label Issues Explained
The “Teenage Dirtbag” Band vs. Sony
In 1995, Brendan B. Brown formed Wheatus with his brother Peter McCarrick Brown on the drums, Philip A. Jimenez on numerous instrumentals and production, and Rich Liegey playing bass and backup vocals. Within a couple of years, their time together garnered enough traction to warrant a contract offer from Sony subsidiary group, Columbia Records. While they signed, their relationship with Sony wouldremain strained for the years to come. In an interview withRolling Stone, Brown would reveal that Brown contended with Sony in 1999 when they wanted to release the group’s demos as their album. Brown refused.
TheRolling Stoneinterview also brings to light that Sony pressured Brown to kick Jimenez out in hopes ofmolding the group into a triosimilar to Blink-182 and Green Day, both immensely successful bands during that era. Even during the success of “Teenage Dirtbag,” Brown was in conflict with Sony, who didn’t want him singing the lyric about the boyfriend “who brings a gun to school,” due to the timing of Columbine. They also accused the band of being overweight and needing to “re-sing this song more like a guy, because radio won’t have you singing like a girl.”
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As Brown details withPunktastic, the band’s falling out with Sony reached its zenith during Top of the Pops, the BBC’s music television program. Wheatus were set to make an appearance for a performance, but at the last possible minute, as Brown explains, the label demanded that theylip sync a “TV remix"of “Teenage Dirtbag” that was made without consulting the band first. Instead, the band trashed the stage. Although the TV producers found it entertaining, the record label cited Wheatus' refusal to lip sync as a reason why they refused to release their second album.
Incredibly, Sony Asked Wheatus To Sound More Like Creed
Here’s Why
Sony refused to release Wheatus' second album after the lip-syncing debacle. In his diatribe, Brown would also tellPunktasticthat, in another disagreement with Sony, Brown was asked “by one of the head honchos there in NYC” to re-sing their “A Little Respect” cover for a USA single version, and that the re-recording needed to sound like Creed. This harkens back to Sony’s complaints about Brown not sounding masculine enough on “Teenage Dirtbag.” To Brown’s larger point in the same interview,Sony simply didn’t understand Wheatus.
It sounds like Sony wanted Creed more than they wanted Wheatus, and feeling unwanted was enough to create irreconcilable differences between the two parties.
This was a relationship that was doomed from the start if Sony failed to “get” Wheatus as a band. Sony pointed to Creed’s success, hoping to get Wheatus to duplicate it, and while that isn’t a terrible formula to follow to popularize music, Wheatus didn’t have a Creed-esque sound to make such a duplication possible. For Wheatus to sound like Creed, they would have to completely change their sound to the point thatWheatus wouldn’t be Wheatus. It sounds like Sony wanted Creed more than they wanted Wheatus, and feeling unwanted was enough to create irreconcilable differences between the two parties.
“A Little Respect” Is Still One Of The Greatest Pop-Punk Covers Ever
A Pop-Punk Classic
It’s almost a blessing in disguise to think that Wheatus weren’t able to mend fences with Sony, at least on matters revolving “A Little Respect,” because had Wheatus caved into the label’s demands,fans would be deprived of a pop-punk classic cover. “A Little Respect” by Erasure is a classic in its own respect (no pun intended), laced in more of a pop heavy aesthetic indicative of the 80s boom period of pop music. Meanwhile, “A Little Respect” by Wheatus carries the spirit of Erasure without sacrificing its own punk aesthetic.
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Wheatus collectively does exactly what an ideal cover song should do, and that’s pay respect to the original while also providing a more unique, original vibe of its own. Wheatus updates “A Little Respect” for the 90s in a way that feels punk without feeling too distinct from what came before it. It’s theperfect marriage between new and old. Maybe Sony did not understand how essential such a marriage was to Wheatus' sustainability, hence the Creed request, but the insistence of Brown and co. to buck the system provided the world with a timeless classic.
