The Models, “Bend Me, Shape Me” 45 (1966)
Originally written by the Outsiders as a deep cut for their self-titled 1966 LP, the version above is the first cover of the song, and subsequently later popularized by the American Breed with their own version in 1968. The Outsiders keep the original super-short and sweet, clocking in at a minute and fifty-seven seconds, an opens with the piano banging out the primary chord structure of the song. Horns pop-up at the chorus, but are tonally darker than subsequent versions and not the focal point of the mix; the emphasis here is on the lyric, the rawness of Sonny Geraci’s vocals, which plead with the song’s intended recipient to help him change. There’s a neediness here that feels urgent, and in the American Breed’s version, totally absent.
In theirs, the pop-oriented, slick production and arrangement joins almost too nicely with the conceit of the song, in a way that causes me to raise an eyebrow about the subject’s joyous willingness to submit. In the Models’ version the psych-noise interludes, uncleanly punched in, mostly come in towards the ends of the choruses (and also breaking up the final chorus, line by line), tend to disrupt the flow of the song. It’s disorienting at first, but quite lovely, leaving me to wonder if they’re approaching the song as the object which is being changed.
Where the American Breed perceives love and submission as something that’s fluid, malleable and instantaneous, the Models version shows that change can be quite difficult. The Models serve as a nice companion to the original, in understanding that an important element of change is awareness and the consequences of what can be lost.
