# Disc-Covering: The Worst Covers **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 29, 2017, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disc-covering-the-worst-covers/797600 "2017-09-29T17:42:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2017, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disc-covering-the-worst-covers/797600/21 "2017-09-29T22:29:59Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > I hope you were just using me as a starting point, because I love the BBers. I had the album when it was new. I wouldn’t criticize them at all. I meant the generic “you”, sorry if that didn’t come across. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2017, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disc-covering-the-worst-covers/797600/22 "2017-09-29T22:32:30Z")
One Tin Soldier-Killdozer Sounds like the son of Meatloaf and Rod Stewart after gargling with Drano. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/4fwecSVzeY0/hqdefault.jpg "Killdozer - One tin soldier (The Legend of Billy Jack)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fwecSVzeY0) ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2017, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disc-covering-the-worst-covers/797600/23 "2017-09-29T23:14:27Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > They need to take The Blues Brothers off that list and add [Crispin Glover](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKoP_hM_nUc). Good lord, that is…something. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2017, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disc-covering-the-worst-covers/797600/24 "2017-09-29T23:58:28Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > They need to take The Blues Brothers off that list and add [Crispin Glover](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKoP_hM_nUc). > [@TroutMan](#): > > Good lord, that is…something. I kinda liked it. Solid backing track, maybe a tiny bit too hysterical singer, and a disfunction of the mixing desk on fade-out. I’ve heard worse in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2017, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disc-covering-the-worst-covers/797600/25 "2017-09-30T00:58:25Z")
The covers that bug me are the ones that there’s nothing wrong with, other than that they add almost nothing new to the song. Phil Collins’ cover of “You Can’t Hurry Love” is a good for-instance. Why bother doing a cover like that? (Besides money, of course.) It’s one thing for a bar band to do covers that are as close to the original as they can manage. But it’s a whole 'nother thing when it’s being done by a well-known artist whose songs automatically get airplay. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2017, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disc-covering-the-worst-covers/797600/26 "2017-09-30T01:57:16Z")
well at one time when the artist/group were new or just had a hit single they didn’t get to pick their songs until it was proven they’d stick around for a while or did really great sales So as shown in "that thing you’d do " the company would give them a book and say "heres what we own the rights to you can pick you want for the next album? " mike Nesmith of the monkees said when they talked to him about a new record that’s exactly what they did except sometimes you got one or two of your own songs on it that’s why certain record companies acts sounded like cover bands … ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2017, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disc-covering-the-worst-covers/797600/27 "2017-09-30T02:11:14Z")
I didn’t read the article, because the link locked up my computer, but in any case, here’s my contribution. 1. Pat Boone’s album of heavy metal covers, performed in Pat Boone style. Not even good for the novelty value. 2. That dreadful “Free Bird/Baby I Love Your Way” mishmash that was a massive hit in the late 1980s. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2017, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disc-covering-the-worst-covers/797600/28 "2017-09-30T10:32:47Z")
> [@Lost4life](#): > > > [@nightshadea](#): > > > > mike ness from social distortion doing johnny cash … > > They want examples of bad covers 😉 I came in to reply. Yeah, I love Mike Ness/Social Distortion’s cover of Ring of Fire - played it in a band for years!! Also love Ness’s cover of Dylan’s Don’t Think Twice off his solo album _Cheating at Solitaire_. Now, **Sid Vicious** doing **My Way**? Not so much. Oh, another one that really scallops my potatoes is **Motley Crue** making **Anarchy in the U.S.A.** a staple on their touring set list. Fuck you. I _hate_ the “What’s really Punk?” debates, but damn, Vince fuckin’ Neil, bloated pig sellout that he is, selling a punk song? Fuck that. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2017, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disc-covering-the-worst-covers/797600/29 "2017-09-30T15:05:09Z")
One cover that I loathe is Dylan and Johnny Cash croaking out **Girl From the North Country** on the Nashville Skyline album. There are tons of jazz covers of pop songs, both instrumental and vocal, and a lot of them just plain suck. No specific songs come to mind, but in general it’s when someone decides to uptempo a ballad and turn it into a lounge song. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2017, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disc-covering-the-worst-covers/797600/30 "2017-09-30T19:49:52Z")
**Dar Williams** does a dreadful version of _Comfortably Numb._ I won’t link it here, because I like most of you people. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2017, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disc-covering-the-worst-covers/797600/31 "2017-09-30T20:17:45Z")
[quote=“E-DUB, post:22, topic:797600”] One Tin Soldier-Killdozer Sounds like the son of Meatloaf and Rod Stewart after gargling with Drano. [/QUOTE] Obviously you don’t have much of a musical ear with those damning words about Killdozer that I thought lacked aplomb and that I take umbrage to. I take it you’re unfamiliar with their scintillating _For Ladies Only_ 7" boxed set, with a wonderfully-sung cover of [“American Pie”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnsam_sHbpU), and, to set matters straight, there’s photos of these [respectable-looking lads (scroll down to second pic)](http://eil.com/shop/moreinfo.asp?catalogid=440497), totally lending credence to how presentable-looking they are, what with those fine shirts and well-done hair. Also from the oft-treasured _For Ladies Only_ - the drummer [Dan’s Kiss Quiz](http://www.swanfungus.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/kd5.jpg) should provide you insight into their much-fawned-over charisma, along with the [answers to Dan’s Kiss Quiz](http://www.swanfungus.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/kd4.jpg). For the cherry on top, here’s their improvement on [Niel Diamond](https://youtu.be/HoejdQQ483E?t=5), from their \*Little Baby Buntin’ \*album. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2017, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disc-covering-the-worst-covers/797600/32 "2017-09-30T20:26:09Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Now, **Sid Vicious** doing **My Way**? Not so much. Oh, I still love it. It’s because when you’re fourteen and hear a song that only your parents like pissed all over by a definitely crazy guy, you’ll love it instantly, and that love never faded. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2017, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disc-covering-the-worst-covers/797600/33 "2017-09-30T20:27:49Z")
Missed edit window. Apologies - I stand corrected - actually [“I’m Not Lisa”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8Z5_jNcKYY) (off the _Burl_ album) is Killdozer’s most exemplary cover to date. I can only hope some ignorance has been leavened, somewhat. ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2017, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disc-covering-the-worst-covers/797600/34 "2017-09-30T21:53:04Z")
In my opinion, there is no cover of any Tom Waits song that tops the original. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2017, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disc-covering-the-worst-covers/797600/35 "2017-09-30T22:07:23Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > When you need to start your criticism with “The guy who wrote and performed this song says it’s the best version of it but nuh uh!”, you should probably just hush up 😛 Naah. They’re entitled to their own opinion (and in the case of _Sweet Jane_, they’d be right) but that doesn’t make them infallible. Case in point: Trent Reznor thinks Johnny Cash’s _Hurt_ is better than his own version. I strongly disagree. Johnny Cash’s version is shit. Yeah, yeah, I know, dying man, awareness of mortality, some sort of music legend, blaah, blaah,blaah. Don’t really care, I’ve heard more emotionally affecting singing from a pair of drunken tuberculotic winos destroying “Show Me The Way To Go Home”. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2017, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disc-covering-the-worst-covers/797600/36 "2017-09-30T23:05:41Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Don’t really care, I’ve heard more emotionally affecting singing from a pair of drunken tuberculotic winos destroying “Show Me The Way To Go Home”. You should write for Hallmark! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2017, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disc-covering-the-worst-covers/797600/37 "2017-09-30T23:43:57Z")
Johnny Hortron’s cover of Jimmy Driftwood’s “Battle of New Orleans”. Forget the list, nothing else in even in the same ballpark. ---
**Author:** ![DooWahDiddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@DooWahDiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DooWahDiddy)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2017, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disc-covering-the-worst-covers/797600/38 "2017-09-30T23:50:11Z")
> [@journeyman\_southpaw](#): > > Elton John’s disco version of “Johnny B. Goode”… Wow, I thought for sure I was the only one who knew that existed. God bless him, he’s so successful when he doesn’t do covers or country… ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2017, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disc-covering-the-worst-covers/797600/39 "2017-10-01T01:20:12Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > When a bunch of guys in a gay bar tell you to turn off Madonna’s American Pie, you known it’s a very bad cover. You should have immediately followed with [this version…by the Brady Bunch!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7peFHjFoblk) ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2017, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disc-covering-the-worst-covers/797600/40 "2017-10-01T04:49:56Z")
> [@installLSC](#): > > You should have immediately followed with [this version…by the Brady Bunch!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7peFHjFoblk) I now believe in hell. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disc-covering-the-worst-covers/797600.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disc-covering-the-worst-covers/797600.md?page=3)