For a few glorious years when Jimmy Fallon was still honing his craft as a late night host, the show made it a Halloween tradition to have GWAR stop by Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. It’s obvious why that might not fly an hour earlier on The Tonight Show, and current host Seth Meyers seems more like a Vampire Weekend kind of guy. And while it might not become a Halloween tradition, yesterday GWAR stopped by the Howard Stern Show’s wrap-up show for Halloween yesterday. Stern himself wasn’t there, but the show’s hosts Jon Hein and Gary Dell’Abate were.
Stern had his own band in sixth grade, and two of the songs he recorded, “Psychedelic Bee” and “Silver Nickels and Golden Dimes” have taken on a life of their own, with artists covering the songs that Stern has played on his show in the past. Sugar Ray is among the artists that have recorded “Psychedelic Bee,” and when GWAR stopped by yesterday, it was to play a cover of “Silver Nickels.” Stern spoke about it on the air today, as Stern’s website recalls:
“They remade my song that I wrote in the sixth grade,” Howard told listeners. “I’m very honored, by the way, that anybody records my song, but I have to say, they took a lot of liberties with the song,” he continued, initially thinking the band changed up the lyrics. But it soon became clear that while stylistically the form was a bit different, Gwar brought “Silver Nickels and Golden Dimes” into focus with a strong close (as well as the signature intro).
Stern said he liked GWAR’s version better, and Charred Walls of the Damned drummer and Stern Show producer Richard Christy said it sounded great as well. It’s at least as good as Jewel’s version.
