Which cover versions improve on the original?

I used to think it was the greatest thing ever; now, not.

Maybe it was b/c of its use on the episode of "The OC" where Seth was sailing across the Pacific Ocean or whatever.....

http://www.geocities.com/telephonepolesmusic

Thanks, Brian Hall.

'Gloria' - Patti Smith
'Black Steel' - Tricky
'Only Love Can Break Your Heart' - Saint Etienne
'Your Song' - Billy Paul
'By the Time I Get to Phoenix' - Isaac Hayes
'My Favourite Things' - John Coltrane
'Song to the Siren' - This Mortal Coil
'Hallelujah' - Jeff Buckley
'Hurt' - Johnny Cash
'Heartbeats' - Jose Gonzalez

If you want to hear it sung by a man instead of a boy, try John Cale's version.

and the newer 'sunglasses at night' sounded better that the original

Meh. This is another case of "Oh, someone's turned a pop song into an acousticy earnest number, so it's good," innit?

And does anyone remember the Slappin' Mammy's? New Jersey group (I think) in the early '90s released a disc Blackface In Bondage featuring thrashin' versions of Al Jolson cuts.

http://plaatjes.hemisphere.nl/007782.jpg

I liked this entire disc better at the time and probably still might because I heart metal and could give a shit about Al Jolson.

A third vote for Siouxsie's Dear Prudence, which is amazing.

Kiki and Herb do a very unusual cover of Total Eclipse Of The Heart that almost, but not quite, frees the song of its soft-rock ballad associations.

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.

Kiss - Age of Chance

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

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.

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

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?

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"

boyce & hart - jumpin' jack flash

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"

Vampire Weekend's Exit Music over the original anyday.

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.

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

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.

(from the spiney-shivery thread)

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

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.

Yeah, I like CCR version better too.

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ex4D-L0cLZA