Mr Wrong – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

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So, hands up if you remember the Ellen DeGeneres box office bomb ‘Mr Wrong’ from 1996? Any takers?

I’ve never actually seen the movie, but after reading a little about it on Wikipedia this afternoon I’m tempted to give it a whirl. Apparently it has a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 7% which is pretty impressive.

But I digress. Why is a Ben Folds Five discography blog digging up an obscure romantic comedy soundtrack from over 20 years ago? Well it’s all for good reason. This soundtrack contains a very early studio recording of ‘Song for the Dumped’.

‘Song for the Dumped’ hit the mainstream in February 1997 as a track on Ben Folds Five’s second album ‘Whatever and Ever Amen’. It was also released internationally as a single at various times between early 1997 and summer 1998.

The album version of ‘Song for the Dumped’ that we’re all familiar with was recorded (in Ben’s house) between September and October 1996. However, the ‘Mr Wrong’ movie and soundtrack was released in February 1996.

This means that the ‘Mr Wrong’ version of ‘Song for the Dumped’ was recorded at least nine months before the ‘Whatever and Ever Amen’ sessions in North Carolina.

This really surprised me, I’d assumed that ‘Song for the Dumped’ wasn’t conceived until the autumn / fall of 1996. That said, Ben himself has said that ‘Whatever and Ever Amen’ was made up tracks that didn’t fit the tone of the first album. It makes sense that many of the tracks were being developed months, possibly years before.

For example, take a look at this set list from February 1996, a full six months before ‘Whatever and Ever Amen’ was recorded:

Shibuya Club Quattro, Tokyo, Japan 24th February 1996

You’ll see that Ben Folds Five were already regularly playing:

One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces
Steven’s Last Night in Town
Song for the Dumped

Song for the Dumped – ‘Mr Wrong’ version

So how does this version stack up against the album version of ‘Song for the Dumped’?

Don’t let me tell you, check it out for yourselves!:

Song for the Dumped – Mr Wrong version

To me, the mix of the track is a little brighter than the one we’re used to. The album version has a much fuzzier, grungier vibe to it. This version almost feels a little too polished. The album version feels like it has more audio layers to it if that makes sense.

Anyways, that’s my two cents. Reach out to me on Twitter and let me know your thoughts.