I have a feeling this will be somewhat a generational thing.
Which version of the 80s classic “Come On Eileen” do you prefer…the original by Dexy’s Midnight Runners, or the cover by Save Ferris? I may be in the minority, but I much prefer the Save Ferris version…more uptempo, MUCH better vocal…instrumentation is more consistent and coherent (the original sounds very disjointed to me).
Your thoughts? Or do you prefer one of the lesser known covers?
There can be only one, and that is, of course, the original.
But then, I’m old.
I heard the Save Ferris one first, and still like it better. This is often the case with covers - the version you hear first is the one you subconsciously think of as the “original”, and the actual original seems like a lame copy.
Pretty much me as well. Of course I like Save Ferris in general so that probably doubles my bias, that and the horn section rocks in the Save Ferris version.
I’m not sure why, but I dislike this song intensely. I’ve not heard the Save Ferris version, but I can’t imagine any group would make me like it.
Who or what is a “Save Ferris”?
I was at a B&B in London, chilling with a fiend and listening to Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon, when the B&B owner’s 12-year-old daughter came in and said, ‘Would you like to listen to a good record?’ My fiend said, ‘Well, we’re listening to this.’ Undaunted, the girl put on DMR’s Come On Eileen. She played it a couple/few times. Hated it. Back in the States I thought we were well away from it. Nope. A couple of weeks later it was getting a ton of airplay. :smack:
I can listen to it now, but I prefer the version by Save Ferris.
Ska band from the mid-'90s. Good band. I liked them. (Still do.)
Never heard of Save Ferris, much less their cover of Come On Eileen. I doubt I would like it better.
Fiend? That explains why you would like Save Farris better then DMR. <gives Johnny L.A. the evil eye> 
Although I find the DMR version better, I voted for Save Ferris. The summer I met my future wife she was really into Save Ferris and always had that album playing. So for personal nostalgia reasons o vote Save Ferris.
Plus she really has a great voice.
—nevermind
Not sure why, but that Save Ferris version almost sounds like it was inspired by the Vengaboys, We Like To Party, aka The Vengabus.
I was a big fan of Save Ferris back in the summer of ska. Voted for them accordingly. Monique Powell delivers a great vocal performance.
I love a good ska cover of pretty much any song, though. Reel Big Fish’s take on “Take On Me” is my favorite cover of all time. It even improves on the original in one small area IMO, moving the segment of the chorus in half-time to the first half (“Take on me/ take me on”), and then switching back to the normal meter for the second half (“I’ll be gone/ in a day or two”). The original song does the vice versa. RBF’s version creates a stronger entry into the chorus, as the meter change jars the listener briefly, and then builds up a perceived crescendo as the drums kick things “back” toward double time.
Plus, they do the flight of the bumblebee bit as a guitar solo!
The Save Ferris version is exactly as good as the Alien Ant Farm version of “Smooth Criminal”. Which is to say, not very.
They’re about equal, which is a compliment to Save Ferris because usually cover songs are much worse, if I’ve heard the original first (on the other hand, when I’ve heard a cover first, sometimes the original is just as good or better when I actually hear it.)
I like the uptempo return in the Save Ferris version (where they just sing comeoneilieen as fast as possible), but I prefer the buildup that comes before it in the DMR version. The rest of the songs are about equal. I don’t generally like ska, but the ska-ness of the cover makes it better, only to be brought down again by the grungy guitar, which does emphatically not work in this song.
A couple months ago I hear an a capella cover of COE which did the buildup even better than DMR did. But the rest of the song was worse.
Dexy’s by a wide margin, and I liked Save Ferris.
Also, this would seem to be a good place to post a link to the best mashup of all time.
Dexy’s Midnight Runners vs. Public Enemy
It just wouldn’t work with Save Ferris.
Both those videos reminded me of the days when music videos were fun to watch.
Musically, I much prefer Dexy’s. I love that sound of a shaky singing voice that is used in just the right way to put across a feeling in song.
Monique Powell’s voice is just to perfect-sounding. She is a might attractive woman, though. (Nice wobbles on camera.)
There is only one version, as far as I’m concerned.
No, I really mean that. I’ve never even heard of Save Ferris, much less heard them do that song.