What Are Your Favorite Covers?
I chanced upon a fun article by The Torontoist yesterday, via Digg. It ‘covers’ (haha… shut up.) an odd and wide array of cover songs, both old and new, way cool and way cheesy (and some that qualify as both). It’s sectioned out into categories like ‘Better Than the Original’, ‘Bizarre and Way Out’ and ‘Updating the 80’s’, each of which has a Top 5 plus a few bonus picks.
Each song also comes with a corresponding mp3 clip or Youtube video. Worth checking out if you enjoy wierd covers. I know I do! There weren’t many on their list I particularly ‘liked’, but the few I did made it worthwhile, and many others were at least ‘interesting.’ Here are the highlights, according to me:
Who knew the White Stripes’ “Jolene” was a Dolly Parton cover?
[audio:cover-clips-jolene.mp3]
Creepy… Tori Amos covering “‘97 Bonnie and Clyde” (by Eminem)
[audio:cover-clips-bonnie-and-clyde.mp3]
Funny… Max Raabe covering “Oops…I Did It Again” (by Britney Spears)
[audio:cover-clips-oops-i-did-it-again.mp3]
Strange… Scala covering “Smells Like Teen Spirit” (by Nirvana)
[audio:cover-clips-smells-like-teen-spirit.mp3]
Awwww yeeahh… Nina Gordon covering “Straight Outta Compton” (by NWA)
[audio:cover-clips-straight-outta-compton.mp3]
Pretty… Iron and Wine covering “Such Great Heights” (by the Postal Service)
[audio:cover-clips-such-great-heights.mp3]
An obligatory Richard Cheese song can be found on there as well. What I can’t believe is that not a single Cat Power song made the list. She has an entire record consisting exclusively of covers! Her covers are quite often “way out” and/or “better than the originals.” Tisk tisk. A few other good covers that pop immediately to mind:
Psychic TV’s “Good Vibrations” (by the Beach Boys)
[audio:Psychic-TV-Good-Vibrations-Beach-Boys-Cover.mp3]
Elliot Smith’s live rendition of “Jealous Guy” (by the Beatles John Lennon)
[audio:Elliott-Smith-Jealous-Guy-Beatles-Cover-Live.mp3]
Lou Barlow’s not at all tongue-in-cheek cover of “Run To You” (by Bryan Adams)
[audio:Lou-Barlow-Run-To-You-Cover.mp3]
Sonic Youth’s “Superstar” (by the Carpenters)
[audio:Sonic-Youth-Superstar-Carpenters-Cover.mp3]
Malcolm McLaren’s “About Her” (reinterpretation of “She’s Not There” by the Zombies)
[audio:Malcolm-Mclaren-About-Her-Zombies-Cover-Kill-Bill-Soundtrack.mp3]
I could keep going, but enough about my faves. Tell me yours.
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I’m not meaning to be critical, but I’m pretty sure Jealous Guy was written by Lennon during his solo career. I may be wrong.
How dare you contradict me in front of the readers! Just kidding. Yep, you’re totally right. Ooops.. Thanks :)