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Cover Me

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Hi; this is Cripto once again.  One frequent question I'm often asked is, "Why do the songs you cover sell better than your original music?"  I really don't know why that is, to be honest.  Our fans appreciate us writing original songs, especially instrumentals, but the fact is, some of the songs we've done cover versions of have sold much better.  I can't figure out why that is; I think that's purely a coincidence, but it's true.

This leads to the second question: "Why do you cover Sonic the Hedgehog music?"  Our highest selling single to date is our take on the two songs associated with the level "Lava Reef Zone" from "Sonic & Knuckles," or "Sonic 3 & Knuckles" if you have the lock-on cartridge that allows you to play the two games as one, as the creators originally wanted.  Act 2's song is slightly different from Act 1's song, and we put the two together and named the song "Fire."  (Super C started jokingly calling it the official theme of himself and all the G-52s with fire-based superpowers.)  It led us to wonder sometimes we why weren't just playing video game music to start with, but we're on mainstream radio, and not everybody likes video game music.  On the other hand, we are that rare example of playing video game music on mainstream radio.  David Satterfield and His Wolfpack don't do it.  Paul & the Powercats don't do it.  Rock 'n' ROAR! doesn't do it.  The Bengal 9 (the band with WARCAT's younger brother, Tom, as the drummer) don't do it.  As far as I know, even the Ragnarok Cats don't do it!  (They wouldn't anyways; they're a Viking metal band.)  We are the ones that do it!

As for why we cover Sonic music, 1) being a G-52, and the rest of my band being allies, implies that we follow the Code of Conduct, so we have to be picky about what we sing when we have a choice, and 2) the people who own the rights to the music actually wanted to hear us do it.  For instance, many of my favorite Sonic songs are by the band Crush 40, and they originally asked us to record our own take on the song "It Doesn't Matter," Sonic's personal theme from the first "Sonic Adventure" game, released for the SEGA Dreamcast.  (My brother and I first played it as the updated version, "Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut," for the Nintendo Gamecube.)  They helped us go through all the hoops you have to go through in order to legally do a cover, and they also attended the recording session.

Upon the success of the song, they said us, "If you want to do more of our stuff, go for it!"  And we have, mainly by popular request.  (Sometimes at a live show, people will ask for requests, and sometimes we'll have to improvise it because we've never sang the song before.  If it goes well, more often than not it pops up on the next album.)

Also, one extra trivia tidbit for you: the first video game we ever covered that was not a Sonic song was the song "Mining Melancholy" from "Donkey Kong Country 2."  (I never played that one, but my brother has, and just last month, he finally beat it.  He collects, buys, and sells games of all consoles, past and present, but he balances it out with his day job and his other priorities.  He's not a hardcore gamer; it's just his way of making some extra cash.)

I should point out that since they came to our real world, it's more common to see Sonic JAM (Sonic and his friends) playing their own music, but when the hedgehog celebrated his 30th anniversary this past June, we were the go-to band for recording a special album of Sonic music for the milestone, and as you might have guessed, it is our highest-selling album to date.  Included in it is a new version of "Fire," which (naturally) holds the record now for our highest-selling single.

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But that's not the only reason I sometimes have the nickname "the cover guy," and that's a nickname my fans have given me.  I'm also "the cover guy" as a superhero or when as my cowboy self.  In other words, I have to cover for somebody if the battle takes a turn for the worse, or if somebody is otherwise unavailable to lead or play a key role in the attack (or counterattack, as the case may be).

I think the best example of that would come from way back in the earlier days of the G-52s, even though many of us felt we deserved to be the laughing stock of the world.  Nobody was aware that CNG was masterminding the groupthink issues of Wildcat City, and within the G-52s, Super C's flawed leadership was showing a bias towards the United States in his numbers of recruits, and ultimately letting me have all the glory as the ultimate superhero.  (As a result, I let it go to my head, and it hurt!  Hurt like the dickens, as a matter of fact.)  But now that everybody knows CNG was the cause, and is virtually the cause of everything because it will rule the world until it is entirely destroyed, it can explain so much.

One way of CNG making idiots out of people is the use of the pot calling the kettle black.  Though we are not allowed to speak of it in full detail, we are allowed to state that Super C (though this was way before the numbers started to get huge) once did the now-forbidden act of cross-dressing in order to apprehend the coyote outlaw, Dead Hand Dan, an act "Callahan Cody" Belachman has never forgiven him for (as far as I know; chances are he has now), because, as he said, "Y'all's taken away my glory!  He ain't y'all's enemy!  He's mine!"  It was a miracle he didn't shoot at the Cat of Steel.

But then Super C and Leo the Patriotic Lion somehow accidentally stumbled upon a cross-dressing festival in the world of Noah (a place we don't talk about much, if ever, so we apologize to Aslan and his crew; they're also allies to the G-52s), and they let their tempers loose.  They were punished accordingly, and for Leo, the punishments just kept on coming.  Both voluntarily put themselves on probation for about a month or two, and Super C uttered the now-famous words to me, "Cover for me, Cripto."  As a result, I spent that period in his position as the boss of the G-52s.  At the time, though, there weren't even close to as many as there are now, and I hadn't angered Zanta yet by joining the National Guard at the insistence of Zax Arctic (although the white kitten has forgiven me for that once he learned why I joined, and he felt better knowing I received an honorable discharge, but he still banned the rest of my squadron from ever entering Eterna).

The old Bendraqi was still at large, but even then, he and Dr. Eggman had a feud going because they were stealing one another's ideas and claiming them for their own.  I was close to ending my time as the temporary boss, but even though I was having the problems I was having, primarily letting the autism control me instead of me controlling it, I still managed to take charge and prove myself that I can lead when the scenario calls for it.

I think it accidentally helped my cause that the creatures we were battling were nightmares and other creatures from Zanta's world, but since I had the other G-52s with me, I was giving instructions.  "D.W., you take the ones over there," I said (and I'm summarizing because I can't speak about it in full detail).  "Grease, go that way.  T2 and Crush, get your vehicle ready.  And T.F. (Thunder Fox), you and Super Slash follow me.  It's going to take all of us to put an end to these nightmares!"

I have to admit, I have a bad memory when it comes to some of these battles, though my therapist says that's actually a result of PTSD (and I was identified as one that suffers from it).  It's also possible the D-19 may have asked me to voluntarily wipe out some of these memories permanently; I don't know.  But all I am allowed to know is that I did manage to pull off the victory because I had the team helping me do it.  It did take one of my energy-draining hero strikes (and they do drain me fast, so I don't do them unless there is literally no other way out of it, and it still happens) to end the whole thing, but please note I gain my energy back within 48 hours.  The boss (Super C) usually asks me to take a week or two off when that happens, as do the nurses and doctors in the event I end up in a hospital as a result of the hero strike.  (That doesn't always happen, but it did the last time.)

On the anonymous occasion I am referencing here, I did not go to the hospital.  D.W. and T2 just took me back inside my house (because all the main American G-52s have a key to my house due to my basement being the favorite hangout spot of the group, and serving as the "lobby" that leads to the G-52 HQ in Dark Wolf's castle) and laid me down on my living room sofa.  I didn't wake up until the next morning, but I wasn't sick, and I wasn't close to dying.  That's just my superpowers protecting me from what worse things may have been happening to me.

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Anyway, flash forward.  The probation ended, Super C and Leo both congratulated me on holding the position of "commander pro temp," and then reworked the systems out so that instead of me and the lion sharing the position, I am now Super C's sole "number one."  In other words, if anything were to happen to him, I become the commanding officer of the G-52s.  But the world's not ready for that, and I'm certainly not.  The Cat of Steel is a valuable assest to this universe, and it really is a better place than it could be because he's in it.  We saw this when people sent him massive letters, texts, and letters of praise during last year's big celebration, marking 50 years of the G-52s.

I'm still a long way out from reaching the status of legendary hero that His Majesty, King Leo V of Kriegland (also known as Captain Kriegland) has reached, but he has reached it, and he says I can get there.  I just pray I don't get a big head from it, because the comments people made about me were tempting me to do just that.  

"He learns from his mistakes," King Leo said.  "He has better control over his powers.  I have faith he'll reach that point in the end.  He always gets to the goal, even if it takes him longer than most people."

"People ask why not me because I was the first G-52 ever recruited," D.W. added, "but even I say it's Cripto.  If anybody deserves to inheirit the title of commanding officer from the boss, he's the one.  However, let's not lose Super C just yet.  I don't want to imagine what the funeral would look like."

"I do admit I had my flaws, and I'm working hard to correct them," Super C commented, "but some do argue that the best thing I ever did was add Cripto to the organization.  Why?  I saw potential in him, for one thing, and I knew he was destined for much more than what the first 17 or 18 years of his life gave him.  Those years gave him nothing but misery and possibly suicidal thoughts.  But his 18th birthday proved to be the pivotal turning point of his life.  Who knows what the future brings?  I don't know.  But we're sure going to find out!"

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I can't guarantee I'll always be there, but because the G-52s are so numerous nowadays, each of us knows what to say when help is needed and circumstances prevent the hero in question from doing his or her duty: "Cover me!"

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THE END