Tempted by the foot of another?

Following up to yesterday's post, I got to thinking about Brandon taking on Tempted, and I came to the same opinion that this fellow expressed in the comments:

Oh yeah! I was wondering when someone else in Squeezeland would notice the song "Tempted" being used on this show, and the contestant Brandon either screwing it up horribly, sending people (and Squeeze fans alike) running for the relief of the original song, or nailing it beautifully, gaining new fans for the wonderful Squeeze catelog of good music! Either way, it's publicity for a Classic act. I love Squeeze, and always will!

Cross your fingers folks, it's gonna be crazy.

He or she is right, this is great for Difford/Tilbrook.

Well, I can't sing a lick, so I won't comment on Brandon's ability to sing Tempted, it didn't seem to be in his range and it's hard to be critical of a guy for that.

He does have to take some flogging, though, for mucking up the lyrics. I could chalk up flubbing some of the lines in the song, but not the chorus. Dude, it's "tempted by the FRUIT of another," not "foot," "flute," or whatever you were saying.

In any event, the INXS guys didn't seem impressed, but there seemed to be other singers who did worse, so Brandon might "squeeze" though this week.

Brandon has a blog, go check it out.

The show's web site sums up his performance like this:

Brandon gets points for bravery tonight. Responding to INXS's request that he stretch out and get melodic, he chooses Squeeze's 1981 single, "Tempted." It's a tough song, one that requires a light touch. An homage to The Temptations (hence the title), even Squeeze knew it demanded a singer of singular gifts and drafted Paul Carrack (who sang Ace's 1975 hit, "How Long," and later joined Mike & The Mechanics) to supply the vocal. Considering his Michigan roots, Brandon sounds terribly uncomfortable assaying the Motown-styled song. It's not that he has trouble with the song's range. As Dave comments, his voice is all over the place, sharp and flat from one note to the next. Jon adds that he's just really struggling with the song.

I've never heard that about the "homage to the Temptations" before, I'll have to consult Squeeze: Song by Song. I do remember off the top of my head, though, they didn't recruit Paul Carrack to sing the song, Elvis Costello (song producer) suggested it in the studio, and the rest went along.