The Internet-based rap-rock group 58 covers
"Alone Again (UnNaturally)"

What kind of self-respecting rock band records a cover of Gilbert O'Sullivan's "Alone Again (Naturally)"? Perhaps one that doesn't worry too much about self-respect and tries to have fun instead. A band like 58 — Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx's new side project — which has included "Alone Again" on its debut album, Diet for a New America, released on Sixx's Americoma label.

Sixx formed 58 with former Boxing Ghandis member David Darling. After writing a clutch of songs, they added singer Steve Gibb (son of Bee Gee Barry Gibb) and percussionist Bucket Baker. But Sixx didn't think the group had enough original ditties for an album, and Darling agreed. After deciding to add a cover — with the caveat that whatever they chose had to have what Darling calls "a certain creepy humor content" — Sixx turned up O'Sullivan's schmaltzy 1972 chart-topper by doing an Internet search for No. 1 hits from the '70s.

"It's a very bizarre song and it obviously has a great track record," Sixx explains. "I called David and he said, 'Yeah, what a weird song.' When we were doing it, he [added] a Dr. Dre-style piano [melody], and we got this Japanese junkie chick named Stinky to come in; she's singing on part of it, and Dave's singing on part of it, and I'm shouting on part of it. It's just a bizarre way of doing it."

Adds Darling, "It has as close as absolutely nothing to do with this band as you can get." He concurs that "Alone Again" ranks among the weirdest chart hits ever. "I think Gilbert O'Sullivan must have been an acid head or something. But [our cover] turned out to be fun."

Actually, Sixx and Darling are surprised to be putting out a 58 record at all. They initially wrote the songs for fun, and Sixx just posted them on the Internet and encouraged fans to pass them around. "It wasn't like this big thing," the bassist explains. "It was a lot of fun, just seeing how weird we could make the songs sound. But it started spreading like wildfire, and I started hearing back from so many different people in the music industry that were going, 'This is one of the best albums I've ever heard. This is one of the coolest-sounding albums I've ever heard. I can't get those songs out of my mind.' And me and Dave were like, 'But we were just kidding.' It's bizarre."