Which cover versions improve on the original?

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

Not all messages are displayed: show all messages (216 of them)

God, Buckley's Halleluja shoulda been aborted. "Look, I have a histrionic warble! I'm the male Mariah Carey! I put notes where they don't belong!" Cale fucking nails it, though, with this sense of resignation and weariness that makes the hallelujahs so powerful.

And I've gotta mention the Spacemen 3 cover of Rollercoaster by the 13th FLoor Elevators. They make that song everything it would have been if Erikson could have just gotten enough acid.

― js (honestengine), Friday, 13 January 2006 14:36 (7 years ago) Permalink

the BOWIE originals rocked but i prefer these covers.
def leppard - ziggy stardust
culture club - starman
midge ure / nirvana - the man who sold the world.
and some hazell dean / erasure/a*teens abba covers were better than the rorginals.

― retrokid, Friday, 13 January 2006 14:52 (7 years ago) Permalink

Them - "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue"

― zaxxon25 (zaxxon25), Friday, 13 January 2006 14:53 (7 years ago) Permalink

blondie "ring of fire"

― retrogurl, Friday, 13 January 2006 15:57 (7 years ago) Permalink

checked the thread to make sure i aint dropped my obvious one :

Kiss - Age of Chance

as great as the orig is .. this version still holds a lot of power over my psyche.

― mark e (mark e), Friday, 13 January 2006 16:06 (7 years ago) Permalink

"Surrender" by OX (Vancouver's Will Oldham analog)

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Friday, 13 January 2006 16:08 (7 years ago) Permalink

Melvins "Going Blind"

― Brian O'Neill (NYCNative), Friday, 13 January 2006 17:26 (7 years ago) Permalink

tears for fears' cover of robert wyatt 'sea song'

Not heard this, but I find it hard to believe, seeing as the original is the greatest 8 minutes of music ever committed to tape. And the fact it's by TFF.

Buckley's Hallelujah is lush, but yeah, Cale nails it.

Talking of Laughing Len, Antony has been doing an almost unbearably gorgeous The Guests on tour. Like his Candy Says, it's possibly the equal of the original.

― stew!, Friday, 13 January 2006 17:43 (7 years ago) Permalink

The Pet Shop Boys' "Always On My Mind" absolutely kills Elvis's.

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Saturday, 14 January 2006 04:13 (7 years ago) Permalink

Oh, and Bauhaus's "Ziggy Stardust."

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Saturday, 14 January 2006 04:14 (7 years ago) Permalink

Bryan Ferry: The "In" Crowd.

― Cunga (Cunga), Saturday, 14 January 2006 05:01 (7 years ago) Permalink

claudine longet owns this thread - see esp. "let's spend the night together" & that inspired Jealous Guy/Don't Let Me Down medley. Genius!

― prof. felchenstein, Saturday, 14 January 2006 05:01 (7 years ago) Permalink

the birthday party's version of 'loose' is way more unhinged and awesome than the stooges original

i like us maple's 'lay lady lay' a lot more than dylan's

― 6335, Saturday, 14 January 2006 08:42 (7 years ago) Permalink

Gloria' - Patti Smith

Patti Smith rarely improves on anything

'Black Steel' - Tricky

Tough one. Certainly arguable, especially since the PE song goes on for way too long.

'Only Love Can Break Your Heart' - Saint Etienne

Absolutely.

'Your Song' - Billy Paul
'By the Time I Get to Phoenix' - Isaac Hayes

never heard

'My Favourite Things' - John Coltrane

boring, but the original is hardly unfuckwithable to begin with. Weak inclusion.

'Song to the Siren' - This Mortal Coil

Absolutely

'Hallelujah' - Jeff Buckley

y'know, I'm not sure if I've ever actually heard the original, but Buckley certainly did a fantastic job of making the song his own (unlike Rufus Wainwright, whose version makes me want to punch myself)

'Hurt' - Johnny Cash

Again, arguable, though I still probably prefer the original (and without the video, might not even be a contest)

'Heartbeats' - Jose Gonzalez

Of course not. Do people actually think this?

― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Saturday, 14 January 2006 08:47 (7 years ago) Permalink

M. Ward's version of "Let's Dance" is pretty damn stunning.

― Drew Daniel (Drew Daniel), Saturday, 14 January 2006 08:53 (7 years ago) Permalink

I doubt many of you will agree with me, but I vastly prefer REM's version of "Strange" to the Wire original.

― pfaff, Saturday, 14 January 2006 10:02 (7 years ago) Permalink

The Slits' Heard it Through the Grapevine rules

― Dr X O'Skeleton, Monday, 16 January 2006 12:37 (7 years ago) Permalink

fugees "killing me softly"

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Monday, 16 January 2006 18:16 (7 years ago) Permalink

All improvements:

Donna Summer - "MacArthur Park"
Boys Town Gang - "Can't Take My Eyes Off You"
Cyndi Lauper - "When You Were Mine"
Pet Shop Boys - "It's Alright"
Miss Kittin & The Hacker - "Dirty Talk"
Alcazar - "Crying At The Discotheque"
Peaches - "Keine Melodien"

― LeRooLeRoo (Seb), Monday, 16 January 2006 20:49 (7 years ago) Permalink

The Slits grapevine rules, but the Marvin Gaye original is pretty rediculous as well. I think the Smashing Pumpkins "Landslide" is a little better

― Stephen C (ihope), Monday, 16 January 2006 20:54 (7 years ago) Permalink

just heard the original Jr. Walker version of "Do You See My Love for You Growing" for the first time, the Dirtbombs' version is definitely more good.

― tremendoid (tremendoid), Monday, 16 January 2006 21:04 (7 years ago) Permalink

Not sure which was the original but Johnny Cash's version of "Beat the Devil" beats Kris Kristofferson's(who wrote it, but may have wrote it just for Cash, I forget). My favorite Johnny Cash song, actually.

― tremendoid (tremendoid), Monday, 16 January 2006 21:10 (7 years ago) Permalink

caetano veloso's billie jean

― powpowpow, Monday, 16 January 2006 21:41 (7 years ago) Permalink

big black - heartbeat

boyce & hart - jumpin' jack flash

― scott seward (scott seward), Monday, 16 January 2006 21:47 (7 years ago) Permalink

Blue Cheer's "Summertime Blues" just rocks to high heeaven

Japan's "Ain't That Peculiar"

Woven Hand's "Ain't no Sunshine"

The Gurus' "Louie Louie"

Natacha Atlas's "I Put A Spell On You"

― Cliftonb, Monday, 16 January 2006 22:01 (7 years ago) Permalink

Marvin Gaye's "Grapevine" was a cover, too!

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Monday, 16 January 2006 22:20 (7 years ago) Permalink

1 year passes...

Pet Shop Boys' "Where The Streets Have No Name"

― Curt1s Stephens, Wednesday, 25 April 2007 21:12 (6 years ago) Permalink

The Band - Don't Do It
(marvin gaye original i think)

― ógy, Wednesday, 25 April 2007 21:27 (6 years ago) Permalink

4 years pass...

Vampire Weekend's Exit Music over the original anyday.

― lambchopelbow, Thursday, 28 April 2011 18:32 (2 years ago) Permalink

1 year passes...

I'd take 'The Day Before You Came' by Blancmange over the Abba original, definitely. I like the fact that Neil Arthur turns the writer from Marilyn French to Barbara Cartland, that's really funny! But I also think Neil Arthur's delivery is close to perfection -- he adopts a tone somewhere between Neil Tennant and Billy McKenzie and they add lots of percussive and instrumental flourishes which make their version more interesting.

― Grandpont Genie, Saturday, 28 April 2012 16:39 (1 year ago) Permalink

John Coltrane's My Favourite Things (Sound Of Music), Flamingoes I Only Have Eyes For You (think it was a broadway musical).
LOve Little REd Book
Roberta Flack No Way To Say Goodbye, First Time Ever I saw Your Eyes.
several Steeleye Span tracks from the first couple of lps, though the Dubliners' versions are also pretty great and that was presumably the source.
Gun Club Run Through The Jungle or at least I certrainly listen to it more than the CCR track it reinvents
MC5 I WAnt You? another major reinvention as regards the Troggs source, though I do like the Troggs

― Stevolende, Saturday, 28 April 2012 18:21 (1 year ago) Permalink

Coltrane's version is great but I prefer Mark Murphy's.

I Only Have Eyes For You is indeed from 1934 but it was written for this film: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dames

That one is a great suggestion.

― Moka, Saturday, 28 April 2012 18:36 (1 year ago) Permalink

(from the spiney-shivery thread)

Cecil Taylor's "This Nearly Was Mine" (South Pacific)

― Tarfumes The Escape Goat, Saturday, 28 April 2012 20:31 (1 year ago) Permalink

not sure as i never heard the original but i cannot imagine a better version of susie q than the one by creedence clearwater revival.

― alex in mainhattan, Saturday, 28 April 2012 21:38 (1 year ago) Permalink

Yeah, I like CCR version better too.

Still a good time to plug the original. Such a small place the world's been lately.

― pplains, Saturday, 28 April 2012 21:39 (1 year ago) Permalink

Wrong Hawkins pplains. The original is by Dale Hawkins not Ronnie Hawkins and it's miles better than that one you posted. The CCR is really good and I'd also say it's an improvement even tho I love Dale's version.

― Moka, Monday, 30 April 2012 07:45 (1 year ago) Permalink

Galaxie 500's version of 'Ceremony' by New Order

― fishermen are coveted by whores & stoners (Pillbox), Monday, 30 April 2012 09:38 (1 year ago) Permalink

On that tip, I'll add that Luna's version of 'Indian Summer' by Beat Happening.

― fishermen are coveted by whores & stoners (Pillbox), Monday, 30 April 2012 09:47 (1 year ago) Permalink

Aw, Hawkins cousins be cousins.

― pplains, Monday, 30 April 2012 13:57 (1 year ago) Permalink

Love Cave and the Bad Seeds version of "All Tomorrow's Parties." Great squalls of guitar and the frantic drumming...

― kwhitehead, Monday, 30 April 2012 23:19 (1 year ago) Permalink

who is Love Cave? Nick's daughter?

― one dis leads to another (ian), Monday, 30 April 2012 23:43 (1 year ago) Permalink

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.