Bowling For Soup have heaped praise on Taylor Swift for changing the game as they prepare to release their second re-recorded Greatest Hits.
The Girl All The Bad Guys Want pop punk legends are getting ready to drop Songs People Actually Like Vol. 2, which comes nine years after their first collection, on August 25 and they’re grateful for the way Taylor’s Versions have made people realise the state of the music industry.
Pointing out that she can say things ‘most artists can’t’, frontman Jaret Reddick exclusively told Metro.co.uk: ‘A lot of times if you defend yourself or explain yourself in this world we live in now, you come across as whiney or complaining or not appreciative.
‘She just took all of that and went, “F**k that, this is the way it is”. Her fans don’t give a s**t because she’s Taylor Swift, so she doesn’t have to worry about seeming whiney, because sometimes she’s just whiney – but she’s Taylor Swift!’
Her influence on all areas of the industry is wide ranging, including money and relationship with streaming platforms, and her fight against Ticketmaster.
Bowling For Soup aren’t shying away from her impact, and despite first releasing their own batch re-recordings in 2014 to gain control of their masters, they have paid tribute to her with the new record by including ‘BFS version’ in all the song titles.
‘At the time, the public wasn’t really educated on how masters and music work with the relationship between a label and an artist,’ Jared admitted. ‘Taylor Swift came along and she educated everybody!’
Songs People Actually Like Vol. 2 is still a couple of months away, but BFS have treated fans to a re-recording of their megahit 1985, which was originally written by friend Mitch Allen for his band SR-71.
‘I feel like their song was great. I feel like we were able to make it more of something that could be more internationally appropriate and accepted. Our song sounds like something you buy out of a candy machine,’ Jared laughed.
Initially, the singer didn’t really see the song as an instant hit until drummer Gary Wiseman convinced him to get everyone in the studio to record it for what became their third album, 2004’s A Hangover You Don’t Deserve.
Jaret admitted some of the original lyrics didn’t fit quite right for BFS as a band, particularly lines like ‘Never knew George was gay, hoped they’d hook up one day’, and another where ‘the rubber broke’.
‘Can you imagine if that was in the song in 2023? I was like, there’s no possible way,’ he chuckled. ‘That’s who [SR-71] were, they were in your face… but we’re not.’
Thankfully, Mitch urged Jaret to take his ‘outline’ and ‘make it great’, and the rest is pop punk history.
Jaret recalled: ‘The looks on people’s faces the first time they would hear it, you just sort of knew. It’s like Girl All the Bad Guys Want, really. I don’t really know while we’re recording it or even just listening back to it, I can’t sit there and go, “This song is a hit!” ‘
He might not be able to realise in the moment, but Jaret revealed ‘most’ of the best BFS songs that make it into an album ‘come really fast’.
‘Literally, just me sitting down with an idea and 15 minutes later there’s a song – whether there’s a co-write, or it’s just me or whatever. It’s just really, really quick,’ he confessed. ‘If you get hung up one, you just end up forcing something later. The real hits – Almost, Ohio, those songs – they just come out, and there it is.’
When it comes to re-recording the material, the veteran rocker is determined to keep the spirit of the original songs alive, pointing out that there’s a reason fans are so attached to them after so long.
‘I want you to be able to put it in and sing along to it! There’s gonna be little nuances here and there where you go, “Oh that’s different,”‘ he admitted. ‘But the song is in tact, and I think changing the lyrics would be a disservice.’
Next year is a huge one for BFS as they’ll be celebrating 30 years as a band as well as 20 years since A Hangover You Don’t Deserves comes out, and they’ll be hitting the road with ‘touring brothers’ Less Than Jake to celebrate.
‘it will be the happiest tour of your life,’ he promised with a huge grin. ‘The US is spoiled, we do this with Less Than Jake all the time. Now that we’re taking it to the UK, I think it’s gonna be next level, it really is. It is so much fun! And that’s why we do it, right?’
Songs People Actually Like Vol. 2 comes out on August 25. Tickets are available here for the Bowling For Soup/Less Than Jake: You Asked For It tour.
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