Confidence Man have covered DJ Sammy’s dance version of Bryan Adams‘ ‘Heaven’, performing it in-studio for the ‘Like A Version’ segment on Australian radio station triple j.
The cover was broadcast earlier this morning (September 2), and saw co-frontpeople Janet Planet and Sugar Bones don sunglasses known within Australian vernacular as “speed dealers”. The performance also featured choreographed dancing from the two – a key part of the band’s live performances since their inception.
Watch the band’s cover of ‘Heaven’ below:
In a post-performance interview, Planet said that they wanted to cover a song that had a “’90s rave vibe”. “We’ve played it in… DJ sets a few times, and it’s been going off,” she said. Bones then succinctly added: “It needs to come back, so we’re bringing it back.”
The two also confessed to having not heard the Adams original prior to selecting the cover. “We didn’t actually know [it was a cover],” said Planet. “Stu, our manager – who’s old – told us that. We listened to [the original], and it’s not that good.” Watch the full interview below:
In addition to the cover, Confidence Man also performed their song ‘Holiday’, a single from their most recent studio album ‘TILT’. Watch that below:
With this performance, Confidence Man are the third act to do ‘Like A Version’ with what is, ostensibly, a cover of a cover. In 2017, Australian singer-songwriter Alex Lahey performed a cover of the Natalie Imbruglia version of ‘Torn’ on the segment – itself a cover of the 1995 Ednaswap single. The following year, garage-rock septet West Thebarton covered Florence + The Machine‘s version of ‘You’ve Got The Love’ for the station, a song originally by The Source and Candi Staton.
Bryan Adams released ‘Heaven’ in 1983, as part of the soundtrack to the movie A Night In Heaven. It was later included on the tracklist of his fourth studio album, ‘Reckless’, the following year. The song reached Number One on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1985.
Some 15 years later, DJ Sammy’s version was released in November of 2001. The cover was done in collaboration with the German DJ Yanou, who co-produced it, and with the Dutch vocalist Do. This version also reached Number One, topping the UK singles chart in November of 2002.
Earlier this week, Confidence Man announced their ‘RE-TILT’ remix EP for release later this month. They also shared the EP’s lead single: a reworked version of their song ‘Angry Girl’, featuring Japanese band CHAI.
It comes ahead of the band’s upcoming tour of the UK and Ireland, which the band will embark on in November.