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Carmine Appice


Carl

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Carmine is the drummer for Vanilla Fudge, and co-wrote Rod Stewart's hits "Young Turks" and "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy." We spoke in December 2004. Carmine had some great insight into those songs, and talked about how Vanilla Fudge reworks songs with chirpy melodies but deep, emotional lyrics into more congruent musical pieces to change the feel of the song. The famous Fudge cover in this style is "You Keep Me Hangin' On." You may have danced to The Supremes version at your prom, but a close listen to the lyrics reveals the pain of heartache, which Carmine and The Fudge tried to extract.

History has a funny way of getting distorted, and no Rock band has been distorted as much as Led Zeppelin. What we know is that Led Zeppelin played with Vanilla Fudge and Spirit when they first came to the US. Legend has it that they "blew away" Vanilla Fudge and became an instant success. Carmine explained that the first date was already sold out when Zeppelin was added, and that Page, Plant and company put up with what any opening band would have to deal with - an audience that was unfamiliar with their songs and wanted to get to the headliner.

According to Carmine, Led Zeppelin was a little green when they came over, and playing with The Fudge was a big part of their evolution into legend. Carmine and John Bonham became good friends, and Carmine turned him on to oversize Ludwig drums. About 6 months later Zeppelin and Fudge toured again on an equal bill, and as Carmine says, "We played with Hendrix, Cream, The Who, and at times, we blew everybody off the stage. We were a very hard act to follow, we were known for being very aggressive live and different from anyone else. We were wondering who was going to blow us off - it was Led Zeppelin."

Here are some great Songfacts to check out with stories from Carmine:

D'ya Think I'm Sexy - Rod Stewart

Young Turks - Rod Stewart

You Keep Me Hangin' On - The Supremes

People Get Ready - The Impressions

I Want It That Way - Backstreet Boys

Dogs Of War - Pink Floyd

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Carmine is the drummer for Vanilla Fudge, and co-wrote Rod Stewart's hits "Young Turks" and "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy." We spoke in December 2004. Carmine had some great insight into those songs, and talked about how Vanilla Fudge reworks songs with chirpy melodies but deep, emotional lyrics into more congruent musical pieces to change the feel of the song. The famous Fudge cover in this style is "You Keep Me Hangin' On." You may have danced to The Supremes version at your prom, but a close listen to the lyrics reveals the pain of heartache, which Carmine and The Fudge tried to extract.

This is one of the best covers I've ever heard. They totally turn the song on its head and give it much more meaning.

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