Cover to Cover

I hope this topic hasn't been done too recently here: Well-done cover versions.

Calexico - Alone Again Or (original by Love)
The Church - Hiroshima Mon Amour (Ultravox)
...And They Will Know Us By the Trail of Our Dead - Back in NYC (Genesis)
Luka Bloom - No Surprises (Radiohead)

"I'm Not Like Everybody Else" Peter Perrett in The One (The Kinks)

Los Straitjackets' instro version of "My Heart will Go On" (the Titanic tune). A clear Joe Meek thing going on--a real "Telstar" vibe to it.

oh my...

where to start


all along the watchtower (bob/jimi)
Suzie Q (CCR/DAle)
Soul Kitchen (doors/x)
I wanna be yr dog (Stooges/SY)
stop (howard tate/james gang)


RIP Dominec Troiano



Post Edited (05-27-05 20:25)

Take Me Home Country Roads (John Denver) -- Jason and the Scorchers
Oops I Did It Again (Britney Spears) -- Richard Thompson (saw him live, would love to get a copy of it somehow)
Gin and Juice (Snoop Dogg) -- The Gourds
Steppin' Stone (Monkees) -- Sex Pistols (and not much of an improvement, actually. It was already a great song)
Lucille (Kenny Rogers) -- The Prairiemen (my old band, we made it sound like Gang of Four) sorry to drop that in, but we were very proud of it. Almost as much as the Devil Went Down to Georgia Medley, which had The Devil playing Love Rollercoaster and Johnny playing MMM Bop. He goes to hell, so we had to throw in Highway to Hell at the end.
Peace, Love, and Understanding (Nick Lowe) -- Elvis Costello

OK Split. Wing is truly a find.
Beatles Classics by Paul McCartney and...Wing !
Wing Sings The Songs You Love!
My William Hung collection just went to the county landfill.



Post Edited (06-18-05 15:19)

There are hundreds, imo, but to be a little more obscure and off the top of my head:

Manfred Mann - Blinded by the Light (Springsteen)
Lush - Hey Hey Helen (Abba)
Pavement- No More Kings (Scholastic Rock); Killing Moon (Echo Bunnymen)
Wedding Present- Box Elder (Pavement)
Pixies-Head On (Jesus Mary Chain)
Band of Susans - Child Moon (Rolling Stones)
Boo Radleys-Faith (New Order)
Leatherface- Message Bottle (Police)
Jesus Mary Chain-New Kind Kick (Cramps)
Siouxsie Banshees - the Looking Glass LP (iggy, billie holiday, television)
Bowie- portions of the Pin-Ups LP (kinks, van morrison, who, etc.)
Meat Puppets- Tumblin Tumbleweeds (Sons Pioneers)

The list of BAD cover version is thousands long

NP
Kinks - Are the Village Green Preservation Society



Post Edited (06-04-05 11:59)

Social Distortion did a great "Ring Of Fire."

some of these are obscure but that's the way it is...

Dickies-Paranoid (Black Sabbath), Nights In White Satin (Moody Blues)

Peer Pressure-Eve of Destruction (came out on a limited 7" a few years ago--recorded in '79 and the best version I've heard of the song)

Didjits-Call Me Animal (MC5)

Devo-Satisfaction

Born Against-Resist Control (cover of another New York hardcore band, Lifesblood)

Clash-Police On My Back, Armagidion Time, I Fought The Law

SLF-Doesn't Make It Alright

Killdozer-Cinnamon Girl, I Am I Said, La Grange (live only)

New Bomb Turks-Mr. Suit (Wire), Job (Nubs)

Teengenerate-Shake Rattle & Roll

Distractors-Don't You Just Know It (by Huey Piano Smith--done ripping garage punks tyle)

Suicide Kings-Bad Boy (Larry Williams via the Beatles)

Hellacopters-City Slang (Sonic's Rendezvous Band)

Breeders-Shocker In Gloomtown (Guided By Voices)

Sex Pistols-Steppin' Stone (as someone already mentioned... Minor Threat also did a kickass cover of it)

Damned-Help

Skrewdriver-Won't Get Fooled Again (yes, I know they were nazis... well, Ian Stuart was. This is off their first 'non-racist' album "All Skrewed Up")

Another good one - Jonatha Brook's version of the Alan Parsons Project's "Eye in the Sky" - she manages to turn a hunk of early 80s cheese into an emotional punch in the gut.

MY NOMINATIONS FOR WORST:

Joy Division - Sister Ray

Stray Cats - Aqualung (just kidding)

Bryan Ferry or Lou Reed doing any of their own songs sans their original respective bands

Roxy Music - In the Midnight Hour

Sugar Ray - Is She Really Going Out With Him?

Black Sabbath - Blue Suede Shoes

No Doubt - It's My Life (does anyone besides me hate this band?)

.....and if there's a band out there thinking about covering "Heroes," please pause and think again......


BEST:

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Kicking Against the Pricks (the whole LP, mas o menos)

Aretha - Respect

Jimi - Watchtower (out of the ballpark - should be embedded in Voyager II)

Lyres - I Confess (??? would love to know original artist)

Social Distortion - Backstreet Girl

Fairport Convention - Percy's Song

Uncle Tupelo and Doug Sahm - Give Back the Key to My Heart

Motorhead - Lost Johnny

Butthole Surfers - American Woman

Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah

willie the pimp wrote:


>
> Lyres - I Confess (??? would love to know original artist)
>



the great garagsters, chicago's New Colony Six

and the wonderful poke called one of his splinters the new conolly five!



Post Edited (05-30-05 16:45)

Some of the worst (at least from people who generally should know better):

Danielle Dax - Tomorrow Never Knows

Moby & Heather Nova - Straight to Hell

The entirety of Surprise Your Pig: A Tribute to REM

The entirety of Dwight Yoakam's Under the Covers, with the exception of Train in Vain, which was kind of interesting

Lords of the New Church - Like a Virgin

Mandy Moore - Senses Working Overtime (some songs just aren't meant to be dance numbers by teenage hotties, no matter how well intentioned. But she gets points for trying and for being just so ungodly cute. The rest of the album really isn't half bad.)

Psychedelic Furs - the soundtrack version of Pretty in Pink. How can a band butcher their own song so horribly?

Sparks - I Want to Hold Your Hand - the only reaction to it is WTF???? Which quite possibly was the point. But I'm afraid it may not have been.

Any UB40 reggaefied hit for a soundtrack.

Duran Duran - White Lines

the Jody Grind - Peter Gunn (with vocals - huh??? where'd that song get lyrics?)

Boomtown Rats - Under their Thumb is...Under My Thumb



And a few more great ones:

Wall of Voodoo - Ring of Fire

Kronos Quartet - Marquee Moon

The Flying Lizards - Money (That's What I Want)

Low - Transmission

Henry Kaiser - The Fishin' Hole (Theme from the Andy Griffith Show)

Shang Shang Typhoon - Let It Be

Bananarama - No Feelings

Nirvana - The Man Who Sold the World



Post Edited (05-30-05 21:46)

shaun cassidy - rebel rebel

I know a lot of people (Byron Coley, et al. - et al is latin for me too) hate some of Mr. Kaiser's more sentimental slop, but can't we all agree that the fuckin' best cover ever is the cover of some Okinawan pop song by Messers. French, Thompson, Kaiser and Frith? Now I wish I had kept the album and left my left nut in hock...Catchy as all get-out.

Yeah, that one is great - Shoukichi Kina's "Haisai Ojisan." Luaka Bop put out a Kina compilation about ten years ago with the original on it, which is well worth tracking down.

Thanks for the details! Yep, I used to have that Luaka Bop CD too...Where do these things disappear to???

Yeah, it's absolutely brilliant. From the same album, their version of Surfin' USA is pretty fun, too. The background singing on the chorus -- "Inside, Outside/ USA" -- may be the funniest thing in rock history. I have a covers album from the Phillipines that completely justifies the existence of My Heart Will Go On, too. Dread Zeppelin had some great, fun covers, too. And are really nice guys. Was it Mick Jagger who said it was the singer, not the song?

Linda Ronstadt's mewling versions of ANYTHING...........



"A Wop Bop A Lula A Wop Bam Boom"

no one's gonna know this but...

Nine Shocks Terror-Romanticist (by the Stalin, Japanese punk band)

[www.wingmusic.co.nz]

Anything this woman does. She was on South Park once...diabolical.

www.splitsville.com

used to check out her site at the car dealership I worked at... grotesque and yet, grotesquer.

Kim Wilde - You Just Keep Me Hanging On
Just after Colourbox did a ripper of a version to boot!

I was over a friend's house last night & he was playing me a bunch of 45s from his collection. One of the 45s that he had, but didn't play, was the Dave Clark Five doing Neil Young's Southern Man.

Great ones here! Just a few to add ...

Good Times (Easybeats --> INXS)
Tears of a Clown (Smokey Robinson --> English Beat)
Baby One More Time (Britney Spears --> Travis)
Alone Again Or (Love --> Damned)
Rio (Duran Duran --> Goldfinger)
Crazy (Pylon --> R.E.M.)

The worst I've heard lately is The Toasters' version of "Sweet Home Alabama." Honestly, re-making it as "Sweet Home Jamaica" was just beyond the pale.



Post Edited (05-31-05 10:40)

Haven't heard the Toasters remake ---- But Toots and the Maytals' cover of "Country Roads" was awesome! "West Jamaica.....mountain mama.."

Post Edited (05-31-05 21:05)

les thugs - moon over marin

Anthrax - Got the Time (Joe Jackson)
Dictators - I Got You Babe (Sonny and Cher)
Dictators - California Sun (Rivieras)
Dictators - Search and Destroy (Stooges)
Didjits - Police Truck (Dead Kennedys)
Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy - California Uber Alles (Dead Kennedys)
Sneetches - He's Frank (Monochrome Set)
Dread Zeppelin - Ramble On (Led Zeppelin)
Verbal Abuse - Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting (Elton John)
Urban Dogs - Human Being (New York Dolls)
Squirrels - Oz '90 (Wizard of Oz medley)
Burning Sensations - Pablo Picasso (Modern Lovers)
Gray Matter - I Am the Walrus (Beatles)
Meatmen - What's this **** Called Love (Pagans)
Ween - Hot For Teacher (Van Halen) - I saw them do this live, can't imagine any studio version would be as good

Used already but too good for me to leave out:
Damned - Alone Again Or
Minor Threat - Steppin' Stone
Clash - I Fought the Law

the Mighty Mighty Bosstones' rip through Metallica's "Enter Sandman"

John Cale's 60's horror movie evisceration of "Heartbreak Hotel"

Stumpus Maximus & the Good Ol' Boy's gleeful gutting of Englebert Humperdink's "Please Release Me". Side-Splitting.

Los Lobos' majestic versions of both Neil Young's "Cinnamon Girl" and Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On".

Iggy Pop's rampage through Eddie Cochran's "C'mon Everybody".

Kim McFarland's gospel overhaul of Aerosmith's "Dream On". Awesome. For that matter, the Blind Boys of Alabamas' versions of almost ANYTHING. Their ghostly reading of Jimi Hendrix' "Drifting" will make your hair stand on end. In the Good Way.

the Dirtbomb's tear through Phil Lynott's "Ode To A Black Man".

Just to name a few............



"A Wop Bop A Lula A Wop Bam Boom"

OK, I need to know where the Jonatha Brooke cover is located.

I got it off ITunes, but it's on her Back In the Circus album.

Went to my niece's high school musical last night (THE BEST OF BROADWAY) and saw some earnest high schoolers do a rendition of "My Favorite Things" and realized how completely, at least for me, that song has become entirely detached from its original context in the Sound of Music and is instead wholly and forever a John Coltrane number.

Nowadays it's not unexpected for an artist to do a cover version of something considered somewhat cheesy or banal - sometimes they do it seriously (the Jonatha Brooke Alan Parsons cover I mentioned earlier in this thread, for example, and arguably the Thompson-Spears cover), but usually it's a "Ha ha, look at us, we're covering a crap song" type gesture - so I can only imagine how bizarre it must've seemed back then before the Age of Irony for Coltrane to decide to do that song, but good God, it's magnificent.

I doubt it was bizarre from Trane's viewpoint. He just loved a good melody, that's all.

The man is a supreme being. Everyone else discussed on this site is a pissant compared to him.