Pop/Rock/Alternative covers of showtunes

Cafe Society
1

I need a distraction right now.

I’m listening to the Pet Shop Boys’ cover of ‘Somewhere’ from West Side Story and it’s bizarre but I’m enjoying it.

What are your favorite rock, alternative or pop covers of showtunes? Even if it’s not super good, what are some that you know of? ‘Classic’ showtunes are most what I’m thinking of, but covers of more recent showtunes are also welcome.

I’m not interested so much in jazz versions – I have a lot of those, for one thing, and I’m looking for more ‘transformative’ covers, if that makes sense.

2

Does Sublime’s heavy sample of “Summertime” in their song “Doin’ Time” count?

3

The Beatles did a version of “Til There Was You” from The Music Man

Janis Joplin also did “Summertime.”

4

Maybe the Jackson 5 cover of "Corner of the Sky from “Pippin.” I’m not sure I’d really call it all that transformative, though. It’s fairly similar to the original, minus the fact the original is piano-based.

5

A couple from West Side Story:

Alice Cooper’s “Gutter Cat Vs. The Jets” from School’s Out incorporates the Jet Song

Todd Rundgren’s Utopia covered Something’s Coming

6

My Favorite Things by Outkast

7

West Side Story has been fertile ground for rock covers. Yes and Todd Rundgren both did “Something’s Coming” (with the Yes version incorporating a bit of “Tonight”), the Nice did “America” (albeit as an instrumental), and Alice Cooper did the “Jet Song.”

8

Anyone remember The Ramones doing the whole of Pirates of Penzance?

/ jk
// but wouldn’t that have been awesome?

9

Me First and the Gimme Gimmes have done a whole bunch of punk covers of musical tunes: here’s Tomorrow from Annie.

10

Tom Waits has also done a lovely “Somewhere”.

11

The Lemonheads did a great cover of “Frank Mills” from Hair.

12

A “mixtape” (actually remixed covers) of tunes from Hamilton is coming out soon. Link here.

13

I like that one a lot! Thanks for reminding me.

xnydler, thanks for that, that will be eagerly anticipated by me.

These are all great (although ‘Frank Mills’ is my least favorite song from ‘Hair’), keep 'em coming!

14

I went down the rabbit hole with that one: My Favourite Things. I’m also fond of Forerunner’s metal cover of My Favourite Things.

15

“Try to Remember” from The Fantasticks has several covers, among which are ones by Roy Orbison and Harry Belafonte. Belefonte, naturally, gave it a bit of a calypso feel.

Eva Cassidy did a great cover of “Over the Rainbow”.

16

Somehow I have missed these guys, bless you!

17

Two obscurist ones.

Queen performs a snippet of ‘New York, New York’ during the driving scene in The Highlander. It’s not on their ‘A Kind of Magic’ album and for years there were rumors that they did the whole song. The band denies it, though.

Queen also used to perform ‘Hey Big Spender’ from Sweet Charity live and there are several takes on it available on live releases.

18

This is the perfect marriage of performers and material, right here. Love it!

19

Good catch, I forgot that one. (And **blondebear **ninjaed me on most of the rest.)

Traffic did “Feelin’ Good” from The Roar of the Greasepaint, the Smell of the Crowd. Annie Haslam did “If I Loved You” from Carousel.

20

Captain Sensible, the guitarist in UK punk legends** The Damned**, did a relatively (actually virtually totally) straight cover of Happy Talk from South Pacific as a solo artist. It reached number one in the UK Charts.

TCMF-2L