DiScussion: what's the worst cover version you've ever heard?
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- Patti Smith »
Raz on The Raz @ Jack Daniel's Birthday
Cover versions are a funny beast. On the one hand they're a way for youngsters to learn their craft, whilst also seeming talented to your average pub gig going idiot. On the other hand they can be a refreshing reinterpretation-as-tribute or expose a different dimension to a tired old song.
Blogs seem to be jam-packed with covers, be they ripped off of daytime Radio 1_ from Jo Whiley's Live Lounge (evidence), bootlegged from gigs (people seem to like covering Postal Service's 'Such Great Heights') or simply recorded for fun/b-sides (Rihanna's 'Umbrella' is a popular choice; I quite like this Au Revoir Simone covering 'Paris' by Friendly Fires).
I was just reading Aussie radio station Triple J's news feed and saw a story about Patti Smith and The Drones covering 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'. It's an intriguing concept, so I fired up _YouTube (home of loser generated content) and found this dodgy bootleg of Patti doing it on her own:
Seriously? Patti is two thirds otherworldly genius but one part crazy lady who reminds me a helluva lot of my old science teacher who was into caving and growing turnips. I can't grasp why she'd want to do it. I'm not sure I can listen to Horses in the same light again but hopefully my curiosity won't completely kill her for me.
It got me thinking, in an age where anyone can (and does) do a cover and upload it to the internet, what's the worst thing you've come across on YouTube? Or seen live? Be it by a 'professional' or even legendary musician or just someone firing up iSight on their Macbook. Has a cover ever ruined a song for you? Has a cover ever quashed your love and respect for an artist? And has a cover ever made you laugh this much...
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Patti Smith
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Love Will Tear Us Apart
why oh why oh why?
fucking hell
i cant be arsed to write it now
bugger
covering teardrop by massive attack, and then same gig (support slot i should hasten to add) decided to try his hand at Love Will Tear Us Apart.
For his audacity alone he should have been strung up, let alone the grinning ginger hash he made of both songs.
B*no's
cover of Love Will Tear Us Apart
Cannot. Listen. To. It. Ever. Again.
Take That covering Smells Like Teen Spirit
Youtube it and see the horror.
I love covers
they usually have some redeeming qualities. The worst thing I've ever heard recorded was myself doing sweet and tender hooligan, and beyond that the numerous guitar only covers on youtube. Nobody cares that you can play guitar.
I like the Patti Smith cover...
also, cant find the Take That version on Youtube, this has to be bollocks, link please...
and this
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=18264438
mechanical bride's umbrella
machine head
message in a bottle
bwahahahaha!
I've heard a live version of U2 covering
Love will tear us apart that really hurt my ears! yak
P'pies
http://www.myspace.com/nevermindthepanpipes
Good but bad.
haha
this is brilliantly awful
Bon Jovi...
doing London Calling at Wembley stadium (mercifully Joe Strummer was already dead). Avril Lavigne apparently did 'chop suey' by SOAD live. Duran Duran doing '911 is a joke' was special. I never worked out if Audio Bullies version of 'out of space' was very good or very not.
James Blunt doing Dylan's 'I Want You'
There used to be a clip on YouTube, truly nauseating.
I think my main problem with covers...
...is how little people seem to care about covering extremely personal songs.
Immediately springing to mind is the cover of Big Yellow Taxi by Counting Crows and some harpy - "late last night i heard the screen door slam and the big yellow taxi took away my old man".
or Fast Car
"You see my old man's got a problem
He live with the bottle that's the way it is
He says his body's too old for working
I say his body's too young to look like his
My mama went off and left him
She wanted more from life than he could give
I said somebody's got to take care of him
So I quit school and that's what I did"
As covered by:
R.E.M., The Flying Pickets, Swimming With Dolphins, Hundred Reasons, Xiu Xiu, Vertical Horizon, Even Nine, Darwin's Waiting Room, Jesse James, The Love Project, Amazing Transparent Man, Matchbox Twenty, The Wilkinsons and by solo singers Kristian Leontiou, Wayne Wonder, Tristan Prettyman, David Usher, Mutya Buena and Hitomi Yaida.
Can all the above relate to the lyrics? Really?
Take That. Oh the beautiful horror.
Here's Gary Barlow trying to rock out to Nirvana.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=URZzIRwhw3U
And here's their inspirational take on Another Brick In the Wall. http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=7Pf-tFMzAN4&feature=related
Never have mine eyes and ears been so abused. Love it.
Three words
Mark friggin' Ronson.
If we're talking great covers as apposed to offences to music
Hurt blatantly wins.
truly awful
Arcade Fire butchering Talking Heads' This Must Be The Place
The Killers' cover of Shadowplay by Joy Division..
god awful, seriously. The original is haunting and beautiful and they transformed in some kind of pop-song without any substance. Especially that chant in the chorus: taa-taa-taa-tuu-tie-tuu-tuu...blahhhh!
R.E.M were also responsible
for an absolutely pointless cover of Academy Fight Song (Mission of Burma). Dreadful. Why!
Recent bad one
is Travis' Sing, sung by Glen Campbell.
I hate the song anyway
but Sheryl Crow's version of Sweet Child o' Mine.
Oh and Madona's American Pie.
Celine Dion and Anastasia
Covering ACDC's You Shook Me All Night Long (or whatever that song is called)
Complete with air guitar from Dion.
wow
this is ace! Who is this?
scouting for girls
butchering "London calling" at the olympic handover ceremony on the telly last month.i stood there ,mouth agape and actually rubbed my eyes to check it wasnt some cruel trick being played by steve penk or some other twat.click it if you must
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=je42Gp9y_aM
the horror...the horror...
Weird Al totally
does parodies, not covers. Shite ones at that!
Gym Class Heroes
doing "Leave Before The Lights Come On" was just horrible and cringeworthy.
All the poxy "emo" covers of Michael Jackson
Especially Fall Out Boy and... not Papa Roach, the other one nobody gives a shit about anymore... Alien Ant Farm, that's it.
Fall Out Boy's cover is worse, althought I
have only heard theirs. I don't even like the original much though. I'm full of fail.
I love it!
I'm getting my tickets to see them on the 31st ^_^
Agreed.
Va-alla reee eeee eeeee
I have to refrain myself from throwing radios out of windows. Motherfucker.
I used to like
Weird Al, but that made me laugh less than the original R Kelly track.
Sugababes & Girls Aloud
doing "Walk This Way". Shoulda been awesome.
Wasn't.
If it hadn't been Sugababes...
Girls Aloud can do no wrong.
More pointless than covers, are covers of bad songs ahem Mark Ronson
and anyone who thinks Metallica's version of Loverman is utterly wrong. No one does it better than Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds. Fact.
GTFO!
It's awesome, especially when they played it at Manchester Academy, plus it introduced me to Talking Heads.
Django Spears
Yes, I admit, I'm in them. We do covers of 90's pop trash and rehash them. We've played at loads of festivals the last couple of years, some of you may have seen us? www.myspace.com/djangospears. So what do you think? Come on, I can take it, we've been heckled since the start, all good fun though. One of my favourite covers is Mechanical Brides version of 'Umbrella', Lauren from the 'aformentioned Bride once sang 'Groove is in the heart' with us actually, not her, or our, finest moment. Worst? Think i heard a John Mayer cover version of 'Kid A' that just really didn't have to happen (and No Limit did?). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmfZXZronW8
"Brand New Love" by Sebadoh
being done by Marilyn Manson wannabes Deadsy http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=pSuFmXB7L2U
Take on Me - A1
How Soon Is Now? - by that lot that did the Charmed theme tune.
Though the TaTu version seems to strangely work, even if it does sound like Pinky and Perky at the local Karaoke.
talking of fall out boy...
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ibvas-K2Noo
The cheek of it.
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