Offbeat/Unusual Versions of Music that you still consider good

Cafe Society
1

The ongoing thread I started called Musical Abominations has had some great and funny contributions.

This version of Ray Stevens Misty is one that I recognize as being well off the beaten path, but still quite good for my tastes.

I wanted to share it for those not familiar with it but not in the “abominations” category. If you can think of a better way to categorize it and have some example of your own to add to that category, please do.

Ray Stevens is in a class of his own and rarely does shoddy work. This one is special for me, since Misty is one of my all-time favorites.

2

Isao Tomita’s electronic version of Claire de Lune is better than the orchestral version, IMHO.

3

Definitely “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”, by Devo.

4

Also: “Money (That’s What I Want)”, by the Flying Lizards.

5

Is Tomita & Claude Debussy - Clair De Lune the one you meant?

Nice!

6

Joseph Spence’s Santa Claus Is Coming to Town gets me in the Christmas spirit even in mid-May. His version of “Sloop John B” is pretty good, too. No, he’s not insane, this is just what he does!

7

Great choice!

I can think of many:

“Statesboro Blues” – Alice Stuart
“Honky Tonk Woman” – Elton John
“I am the Walrus” – Lol Coxhill. As offbeat as you can get – but I like it a lot.
“The Twelve Days of Christmas” – Straight No Chaser
“Seaside Rendezvous” – The King’s Singers

8

Van Halen’s ***Jump ***as done by Roddy Frame/Aztec Camera.

9

My favorite transformative cover ever is the Afghan Whigs’ version of “If I Only Had a Heart” from the Wizard of Oz. They turned it into a smoky lounge song as sung by a psychopath. Listen here.

DeVotchKa does a cover of the Velvet Underground’s “Venus in Furs” that turns it into this wild Eastern European/Gypsy folksong-esque thing. It’s pretty neat.

10

I have a song that I deliberated between putting in this and the other thread and I’m going to put it here. Begüm Begüm Huuuu is an obviously, purposely ridiculous Turkish parody of Madcon’s cover of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons’ “Beggin’ You”. Thing is I LOVE it. And can’t stop listening to it.

11

Tom Waits’ version of Heigh Ho

12

Alana Davis does a fantastic version of (Don’t Fear) The Reaper.

13

nitpick - it is originally for solo piano. None of the orchestral versions were done by Debussy. Suite Bergamasque, of which Clair de Lune is the third movement.

14

I’m going to go with the Ben Folds version of “Bitches Ain’t Shit” (lyrics are NSFW).

15

Oh, yeah! Thanks for the link. “Snowflakes are Dancing” and “Firebirds” are good too, as is his version of the “Mars” section of “The Planets.”

16

Jazzy J.S. Bach (and others) by the Swingle Singers. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vonJhz2COck

17

Nouvelle Vague does acoustic covers of Billy Idol’sDancing With Myself (the cover that was recovered by GLEE), Blondie’s Heart of Glass, Bauhaus’sBela Lugosi’s Dead and The Dead Kennedy’s Too Drunk to Fuck (NSFW obviously) among others. I like them all.

18

I HATE Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer. But I love Poe’s loungy version of it.

19

I usually dislike this style, but Big Daddy’s version of the Celine Dion hit My Heart Will Go On simply blows me away. They recast it as a bouncy, upbeat Elvis Presley song, with backup:

http://www.musicpophits.com/MainPages/GroupStars/BigDaddy.htm

20

Sir Mix-A-Lot’s Baby Got Back as sung by Jonathan Coulton. So wrong, and yet so right.