Cover Versions

[emmelinemay]

There are few truly excellent cover versions. They're probably rarer than really good sequels.

But here are a few that I think are bordering on genius, and possibly actually better than the originals.

Elvis Costello covering Christina Aguilera's 'Beautiful'

Snake River Conspiracy covering The Cure's 'Lovesong'¹

Queen Adreena covering Dolly Parton's 'Jolene'

The Futureheads covering Kate Bush's 'Hounds of Love'

Apologies for the you tube links, but I can't give you links to MP3s for the following reasons:

a - I don't know how

b - I only own the last one linked to there

c - that's technically illegal, right?

If anyone can rectify this by sending me directions on how to legally obtain MP3s of the first 3, that'd be awesome. I've only ever heard 2 and 3 in clubs, and I only heard the Elvis Costello one about 5 minutes ago for the first time.

Do you have any favorite cover versions?² Or any contenders for the *worst* cover of all time?

[1] - SRC's cover of how soon is now is also pretty awesome
[2] - and can you link to somewhere I could listen to it?.

Comments

[spoox.livejournal.com]

The guns of Brixton by Nouvelle Vague is most excellent.

[publicansdecoy.livejournal.com]

Magazine - Goldfinger

-x-

[a1exxandra.livejournal.com]

I put mine here:
http://mrs-slink.livejournal.com/531230.html

2 of them are the same as yours though!

[emmelinemay.livejournal.com]

I ♥ Dolly Parton too, but that cover just punches you in the face and runs away while you sob on the floor.

I've not heard the Divinyls cover, I have the original (I remember singing it with school friends on sports day when it came out!). Would love to hear the cover!

[lara-not-croft.livejournal.com]

My favourite two covers are:

1. P!nk covering Me & Bobby McGee by Janis Joplin (orig. Kris Kristoffersen)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2Xw-ihiHSI
(there are soo many recordings of this cover but I just went for the first one I found)

2. The Atari's covering Boys of Summer by Don Henley
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIfiQePVbqU

[emmelinemay.livejournal.com]

That cover of Boys Of Summer is made of WIN!!!

[lara-not-croft.livejournal.com]

Oh, and pretty much anything by Richard Cheese .. but not sure if that counts as a 'cover' as such.

Richard Cheese cover of Closer by Nine Inch Nails - genius
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BavqDspO3k8

[emmelinemay.livejournal.com]

Richard Cheese is a genre all of his own!

I like his version of Disturbed's Get Down With The Sickness - brilliant.

[icecoldinalex.livejournal.com]

Radiohead covering Nobody Does it Better (http://youtube.com/watch?v=kHe-iwAI9BE)

Suede covering Brass in Pocket (http://youtube.com/watch?v=AxbtqJ6Sn8Y)

both classic.

[icecoldinalex.livejournal.com]

Oh man, and Sinead O'Connor's version of nothing compares 2 U (http://youtube.com/watch?v=JVdfPo00OxM) of course!

[emmelinemay.livejournal.com]

oh god...Terry Christian...Dani Behr...it's all coming back to me with a horrible technicolor set...

Looking back, I guess The Word was no more irritating than T4 is nowadays. ..

Great covers, those. I actually think I remember Suede doing that! Hadn't heard the Radiohead one before, good stuff.

[mattydesade.livejournal.com]

The Power by H-Blox
Wicked Game by HIM
Feeling Fine by Muse
Jolene by Sisters of Mercy (obv. a good one to cover)
Billie Jean by Chris Cornell
Hurt by Johnny Cash


There's some good (and some bad) on here too.
http://www.gomusic.ru/album.aspx?id=56955
http://www.gomusic.ru/album.aspx?id=56956

Teenage Dirtbag by Girls Aloud is better than you could have hoped for but Lullaby by Editors surprisingly doesn't quite cut it.

Can you guess I'm a bit of a fan and collector of covers? :-)

[emmelinemay.livejournal.com]

I love cover versions!! That Muse cover is AMAZING, I love it. Anything Girls Aloud do is fine my me too, I ♥ Girls Aloud :)

[lara-not-croft.livejournal.com]

Forgot about Disturbed's cover of Land of Confusion. I like that a lot too :) Much better than their cover of Shout.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KW8DRSvEoQ

Amazing vid, too!

[emmelinemay.livejournal.com]

There is nothing about that which is not made of huge, massive and insurmountable WIN.

[publicansdecoy.livejournal.com]

Oh, and I absolutely cannot stand Girls Aloud's version of I Think We're Alone Now. It's just so unblievably lazy.

-x-

[exliontamer.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, that's horrible! They took all the sweetness (and indeed all the appeal) out of that song!

[exliontamer.livejournal.com]

My contender for worst cover version of all time is Belle and Sebastian's disgusting shiny disco version of a really lovely song, Young Marble Giants' Final Day:
The original, since it's not a terribly famous song
..And the horrendous cover.
It's a shame, 'cause I quite like some Belle and Sebastian..

[emmelinemay.livejournal.com]

oh, god, that is *horrible*.

What were they THINKING??

[sera-squeak.livejournal.com]

I used to hate Queen Adreena's version of Jolene but I lovelovelove it now.
Futureheads suck though! ;)

[emmelinemay.livejournal.com]

Hehe, when I went to find the link to that, I thought 'Sera won't agree' :D

[greeba.livejournal.com]

I love that Disturbed cover too.

Have you seen Alanis Morrisette's cover of My Humps by Black Eyed Peas, complete with video? Bob showed me the Youtube the other week, it launches the ROFLcopter.

That Radio 1 Established 1967 album yielded a few good ones, like Foo Fighters doing Band on the Run by Wings and Editors doing Lullaby by The Cure.

[emmelinemay.livejournal.com]

I saw that Alanis video a while back, and had successfully removed it from my brain, until now :/

[smogo.livejournal.com]

Worst cover ever is probably David Gray's abomination of Soft Cell's "Say Hello, Wave Goodbye".

Talking of which, Soft Cell's version of "Tainted Love" is surely one of the all-time greatest covers ever.

[smogo.livejournal.com]

Oh, other worst covers ever seem to be anything by Eva Cassidy. Doing famous songs really, really fucking slowly, and then dying young, does not make your cover versions "poignant".

[exliontamer.livejournal.com]

Ooh! Devo's cover of Head Like A Hole is really silly and ace though.
http://download.yousendit.com/33645C17404F5F57

[emmelinemay.livejournal.com]

It's like Devo Does Karaoke

I am amused :)

[elle-is-for.livejournal.com]

funniest cover ever: Avril Lavinge attempts System of a Down's Chop suey. yes really.

strangely, I've been collecting umbrella covers recently

biffy clyro
surpisingly good.

plain White Ts - not as good as Biffy

my personal favourite - Gerard Way and MyChem singing it live last summer this is such a MyChem song I wonder why they even bothered selling it to Rihanna.

and the original with a MyChem video super'ed over it. genius

[s0b.livejournal.com]

I collect cover versions - I have hundreds

My favorite is still this one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoHR7m2eiDU

[annomalley.livejournal.com]

PJ Harvey and Bjork - the Rolling Stone's Satisfaction (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MH8wrM0NARo)

Best cover ever, goosepimples every time. And in no particular order:

Ministry - Rod Stewart's Da Ya Think I'm Sexy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dy-7lUqPr8w)

Crippled Black Phoenix - Adam Ant's Physical (not yet recorded, heard it live 3 times and it gets better every time)

The Hoosiers - Billy Joel's We Didn't Start the Fire (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1AUxY_tSDM&feature=related) (but then Irwin Sparkes could sing the phone book at me and I'd swoon)

Marilyn Manson - Soft Cell's Tainted Love

And last but not least a partial but dynamite one: Faith No More - Portishead's Glorybox (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQ4yoYJV_ZY)

[annomalley.livejournal.com]

Better link to the Faith No More One:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoSC6PG-Gy0&feature=related

And of course I meant Revolting Cocks - Do Ya Think I'm Sexy

Cover versions rule ok!

[mr-bizarre.livejournal.com]

I've been collecting them for years! Here are some of my favourites (In no particular order, well alphabetical actually)

1. Bauhaus - Telegram Sam
2. Candy Flipp - Strawberry Fields
3. Chicks on Speed - Give Me Back My Man
4. Christian Death - Venus In Furs
5. Coil - Tainted Love
6. Deftones - Please Let Me Get What I Want
7. Dominion - Shout
8. Dope - The Goonies "R" Good Enough
9. Echo And The Bunnymen - People Are Strange
10. The Lemonheads - Mrs Robinson
11. Life Of Agony - Don't You (Forget About Me)
12. Mark Ronson - Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before
13. Nouvelle Vague - Making Plans For Nigel
14. Pig - Head Like A hole
15. Professional Murder Music - A Night Like This
16. Revolting Cocks - Da Ya Think I'm Sexy
17. Snack River Conspiracy - Love Song
18. Tricky - The Love Cats

Sorry I didn't link any :(

Re: Cover versions rule ok!

[emmelinemay.livejournal.com]

Tricky - The Love Cats

dude - I HAVE to hear this...

[prettyinpunk81.livejournal.com]

'Rusty Cage' covered by Johnny Cash- a thousand times better than the original.