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Covers: The Good, The Bad, The Meh


BizBuzz
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BETTER than the original?  Probably not.  But Britney Spears covering Suzanne Vega--seemingly the most bizarre idea ever--actually kind of works (actually it's "Giorgio Moroder ft. Britney Spears" because it's one of those lame Euro things where a DJ claims main ownership of a song and the person actually singing is second fiddle).

 

That you so much for this - my sons and his friends also became fans after I made then listen to it :) and they love it! A friend was even wondering if it was ripped off of Fall Out Boy, until they realized that no, it was Fall Out Boy paying their homage :)

 

I love it too. And I loved the original. According to my son, that Italian guy who made the remix is "very old and very exclusive". Not completely sure what he means by that, he didn't elaborate and I was busy with work :)   

BETTER than the original?  Probably not.  But Britney Spears covering Suzanne Vega--seemingly the most bizarre idea ever--actually kind of works (actually it's "Giorgio Moroder ft. Britney Spears" because it's one of those lame Euro things where a DJ claims main ownership of a song and the person actually singing is second fiddle).

 

That you so much for this - my sons and his friends also became fans after I made then listen to it :) and they love it! A friend was even wondering if it was ripped off of Fall Out Boy, until they realized that no, it was Fall Out Boy paying their homage :)

 

I love it too. And I loved the original. According to my son, that Italian guy who made the remix is "very old and very exclusive". Not completely sure what he means by that, he didn't elaborate and I was busy with work :)   

In discussing covers in general, last week in honor of St. Patrick's Day I was participating in a FB thread about favorite songs by Irish artists and I posted a video link to Thin Lizzy's version of the Irish folk standard "Whiskey in the Jar" to which someone replied "I thought that was a Metallica song."

 

Facepalm.  Get off my lawn.

(edited)

I'd like to invite everyone on this thread to fall down the AV Undercover rabbit hole of artists covering from a menu of pre-chosen songs that dwindles as the season goes on? They have now down six seasons of 25 songs each time, so there's quite a library. It ranges from awesome to bands seemingly there against their will covering songs they hate. 

Any time GWAR or They Might Be Giants cover something, it is awesome.

My favorite discovery was Hippo Campus covering ELO's Don't Bring Me Down. It's not one that takes the song in a startling new direction, it's just very well done. There are plenty that complete rework the material in interesting ways, of course.

Funniest trainwreck was Sebadoh covering Rush.  One out of the three people in the band was not a Rush fan. See if you can tell which.

Edit: This series has just started for 2016. Here's the announcement of the list: http://www.avclub.com/article/here-it-your-2016-v-undercover-song-list-236487

Edited by Fukui San

Just found this thread!  Like most people I'm still feeling very sad about the loss of Prince, and I would really like to purchase his cover of Crimson and Clover - I heard it one time on the radio (an oldies station on Long Island I'm pretty sure) but it doesn't seem to be on iTunes or anything like that.  Any place I can buy it?  I always liked the original but his version is amazing.

How about when a band covers its own recorded single for the same album the first song appears on?

 

On The Monkees new album, "Good Times!", there is a soft wistful song called, "Me & Magdalena".  Mike Nesmith and Mickey Dolenz do a great job harmonizing and it reminds you of the kind of music Mike was writing during the group's heyday (even though it was written by Ben Gibbard of Death Cab For Cutie).  However, on the deluxe version of the album there's a different version of the song which is a little more uptempo and still very contemporary and radio friendly.  I really hope this song becomes a hit!  

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12 hours ago, roseha said:

Just found this thread!  Like most people I'm still feeling very sad about the loss of Prince, and I would really like to purchase his cover of Crimson and Clover - I heard it one time on the radio (an oldies station on Long Island I'm pretty sure) but it doesn't seem to be on iTunes or anything like that.  Any place I can buy it?  I always liked the original but his version is amazing.

roesha, I don't know if it can be purchased as a single, but Prince's version of Crimson and Clover can be found on Lotusflow3r, which was released in 2009. I'd never heard his iteration of the song, and I'm not sure I really like it, but I do appreciate that he incorporated parts of Wild Thing, which The Troggs covered in 1966.

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12 hours ago, Cobalt Stargazer said:

roesha, I don't know if it can be purchased as a single, but Prince's version of Crimson and Clover can be found on Lotusflow3r, which was released in 2009. I'd never heard his iteration of the song, and I'm not sure I really like it, but I do appreciate that he incorporated parts of Wild Thing, which The Troggs covered in 1966.

Thanks very much, Cobalt Stargazer, I was hoping to find it as a "single" but I guess he didn't release it as such.  

Speaking of "Wild Thing", one of the strangest covers/quasi parodies of the song was covered by none other than Sam Kinison. The actual video included a bunch of '80s rockers and - I'm not sure which female this was - but it was one of those in the '80s associated with scandals. Either Fawn Hall or Jessica Something. (I know there was a Jessica as I recall "Church Lady" on SNL berating a "Jessie". LOL.) Anyway... ETA: Jessica Hahn. Google comes through again. Not sure if this is her or Hall here...

On 7/1/2016 at 1:02 AM, WendyCR72 said:

Speaking of "Wild Thing", one of the strangest covers/quasi parodies of the song was covered by none other than Sam Kinison. The actual video included a bunch of '80s rockers and - I'm not sure which female this was - but it was one of those in the '80s associated with scandals. Either Fawn Hall or Jessica Something. (I know there was a Jessica as I recall "Church Lady" on SNL berating a "Jessie". LOL.) Anyway... ETA: Jessica Hahn. Google comes through again. Not sure if this is her or Hall here...

I'm pretty sure that's Jessica Hahn. She and Sam both appeared on episodes of Married...with Children back in the day; Jessica wound up in a relationship with one of the co-creators of the shows after her appearance--they were together until he died about a decade ago. 

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(edited)

And to give credit where it's due, Sarah Bareilles is good enough that this definitely rivals Dionne Warwick. To me the problem with the Warwick version is that its got some vocal affectations to it that I think slightly hurt it. This version in contrast is very straightforward.

A bit less straightforward is this version, which apparently has been posted for weeks, but from the really low hit count almost nobody cares. It's really not a spectacular way to do this song, but it's heartfelt I guess, even if nobody's seen it.  The world, I think, is tired of Celebrity Sing Along Charity Music Videos, and Broadway is a tough sell on top of that.

Edited by Kromm
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18 hours ago, Kromm said:

This is in no way BETTER than the original. But to even come CLOSE to the original is fairly impressive, and this did.

I'm not particularly a Demi fan. Her voice fails on certain songs.  But not here. And this was only the rehearsal.

Demi is a MUCH better singer than people realize. Have you heard her song "Stone Cold"? She's GREAT!

Yes, I have her most recent album, what of it? :) 

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While Karen Carpenter did have a beautiful voice, I was never really a fan of The Carpenters. However, back in 1994 or so, a tribute album called "If I Were A Carpenter" was released with alternative artists doing their covers of Carpenters songs. And one of the most ironic (due to the amp noise with the lyric "your guitar sounds so sweet and clear") but haunting versions of "Superstar" I heard was by Sonic Youth on that album.

I know Luther Vandross did a cover, too, but I guess I like the gloominess to this one that seems to match the lonely lyrics. See what you think, if you've never heard it before.

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(edited)
3 minutes ago, Accidental Martyr said:

Yeah, see my other post. That's the wrong link but I can't figure out how to delete it after its embedded in the post or just delete that entire post.  Exile in Guyville is a fantastic album.

Sweet. I love me some Bruce Springsteen covers! Also glad you couldn't delete the other - I get to squee over a young Liz Phair as if it was still the 90s :D

 

edit: Walk of the Earth do some great covers almost all of which I like better than the originals. The funniest is Payphone (warning - some swear words): 

Edited by PatternRec
5 minutes ago, PatternRec said:

Sweet. I love me some Bruce Springsteen covers! Also glad you couldn't delete the other - I get to squee over a young Liz Phair as if it was still the 90s :D

Check out this series of articles on Exile in Guyville.

http://www.popmatters.com/post/174386-strange-loops-liz-phair-stratford-on-guy/

2 minutes ago, Accidental Martyr said:

Check out this series of articles on Exile in Guyville.

http://www.popmatters.com/post/174386-strange-loops-liz-phair-stratford-on-guy/

Awesome. Bookmarked! 

Another good cover - Frank Zappa does a live version of Allman Brothers' Whippin' Post

Zappa is an acquired taste for many, and because of his humor people sometimes mistook him for "making fun of" this song, but I don't think that's the case. He takes any song and just Zappa-fies it when he does a cover. 

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Quote

Top 10 Cover Songs That Sound Completely Different Than the Original

Apparently watchmojo forgot about the song "Mary, Mary" by The Monkees (written by Mike Nesmith) and the 1988 remake by Run DMC.  In fact, Run DMC changed the lyrics completely, but it's the same melody line so it counts right?

For the record, the Paul Butterfield Blues Band recorded the song first, and for a while, it was believed Mike Nesmith didn't write the song because he wasn't credited on the original album!  

Had to de-lurk once I found this thread. I love a good cover.

Mrs Robinson  The Lemonheads

In Your Eyes  Jeffrey Gaines

Last Kiss   Pearl Jam

Every Breath You Take   Juliana Hatfield

I Fought the Law   Green Day

Can’t Help Falling in Love  Lick the Tins (Some Kind Of Wonderful Soundtrack)

I’m A Believer   Weezer

Big Yellow Taxi   Counting Crows w/Vanessa Carlton

American Girl   Goo Goo Dolls

Burning for You   Shiny Toy Guns

All You Zombies  Sandra

Ring of Fire   Social Distortion

Love Song    Jack off Jill

Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood   Santa Esmeralda

Titanium   Madilyn Bailey

Llorando   Rebekah Del Rio     (Roy Orbison's ''Crying'' with this Spanish a cappella rendition)

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