Ten Cover Songs I Love: Border Radio (#9)

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Time for another great cover version of a great song! Oh, did you think these would all be “big hits”? Y’all know me better than that. Maybe I should have warned you about that. Okay, there’s only one other “hit” on the list. Meanwhile, here’s today’s great cover of a great song. #9: Border Radio - Kelly Willis & Bruce Robison It’s no stretch to say you’ve probably never heard of this husband and wife team, either with their duet albums or any of their solo work. Kelly Willis had the “bigger,” ahem, career of the two, scoring a few country hits in the mid 90s. She abandoned the rock-based sound and decided to make authentic country music, which made her drop off the mainstream radar too quickly to talk about. As for Robison, he’s never been a mainstream success; however, he’s quite popular in the Americana/alt-country world. And, speaking of Americana/alt-country, “Border Radio” originated in 1981 with the great L.A. based post-punk (cowpunk, whatever you want to call them) band the Blasters. Formed by Dave and Phil Alvin, the band combined roots rock, punk, and country into a great, original sound. (Dave was later a member of the band X and their spin-off band, the Knitters.) “Border Radio” was on the second, self-titled Blasters album in 1981. The original Blasters version would probably be a little “too country” today, but man, what Kelly & Bruce did to it on their terrific duet album Cheater’s Game in 2013!! Straight country!! The song is about a woman who’s missing “her man” and calls one of those powerful Mexican radio stations to “request an old song’ to send a message to him. Either version is dynamite. Border Radio Written by Dave Alvin Originally recorded by the Blasters, 1981 Covered by Kelly Willis & Bruce Robison, 2013 This song comes from 1962: