Janie’s Got A Gun – Not The Midnight Mass
Janie’s Got A Gun – Not The Midnight Mass
Not The Midnight Mass
If you ever thought that an acapella group couldn’t rock, try get hold of Not The Midnight Mass’ CD ‘Mass Hysteria’ (not as easy as it may sound as it is out of print) and take a little listen to their cover version of Aerosmith’s ‘Janie’s Got A Gun’ (the cover of Led Zep’s ‘Whole Lotta Love’ is another rocker on the CD).
Terence Reis takes the lead vocal on this version and gives a venomous performance while being underpinned by the rest of the groups’ vocal gymnastics do a brilliant job of emulating the original version’s blasting instrumentation.
Acapella is not a style that has been widely done by white South Africans, but Not The Midnight Mass are quite clearly the most successful group of that genre in the country (note, I did say White South African as we all know about the success of Ladysmith Black Mambazo who far outstrip the Midnight Mass in terms of sales) and given their great arrangements and expertise with which they pull off songs like ‘Janie’s Got A Gun’ it’s no surprise really.
Where to find it
Mass Hysteria – Not The Midnight Mass (1996), BMG Records, CDBSP(WL)7010
1001 South African Songs You Must Hear Before You Go Deaf 
I’ve played their version of Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love” on the local radio here in the Netherlands and the people loved it!