In the spirit of the worst covers, how about the best? I’ll submit:
“Baby I want you back” Graham Parker
“Another Girl, Another Planet” The Replacements
“It’s My Party” Bryan Ferry (great because he doen’t change the gender refs, a [straight] guy singing about another guy)
“Like a Virgin” Teenage Fanclub
“Rocketman” Me First and the Gimme Gimmes
“Mrs. Robinson” The Lemonheads
“The Spiderman Theme” The Ramones
Ian Dury’s “If I Was With A Woman” sung by Cerys Matthews of Catatonia. I positively melt when I hear her sing that song, which was already one of my favorite Ian Dury tunes.
Dammit, Purd, you and Snooooopy better stop coming in here and beating me to the punch!
OK, number two, I guess, would be “Superman” by R.E.M.. I’ve heard the original by the Clique, and it doesn’t even come close.
And I’ll agree with Demo’s assessment of MF&tGG’s.
The Jonny Quest Theme by The Reverend Horton Heat White Room by The Bobs (but only when Janie used to do it live, the studio version isn’t quite as good) New York City by They Might Be Giants SenSurround by Blue Peter Schnitzel
Swans-Love Will Tear Us Apart(Joy Division)
Hate Dept-Spin me Around(Dead or Alive)
Bigod20-Like a Prayer(Madonna)
Rammstein-Stripped(Depeche Mode)
Cut Rate Box-Behind the Wheel(Depeche Mode)
Save it for later - Pete Townsend
Heard it through the grapevine - The Slits
Strange weather - Marianne Faithfull
You make me feel (like a natural woman) - Aretha Franklin
The Hunter gets captured by the game - Grace Jones
Money - Flying Lizards
Smoke gets in your eyes - Bryan Ferry
best cover band of all time, bar none, is the isley brothers. ever heard them do ‘summer breeze’? yeah, summer breeze by seals and crofts. they are friggin miracle workers, im tellin ya. they do a bitchin ‘lay lady lay’, too. and a ton of others. ‘ohio’ comes to mind.
‘girl from the north country’ by joe cocker and my hero leon russell, offa ‘mad dogs and englishmen.’
but, and i am personally astonished by this, the best cover song of ALL TIME is hendrix’s ‘all along the watchtower’.
Song to the siren - This Mortal Coil
This masquerade - Carpenters
Torn - Natalie Imbruglia
Suzanne - Peter Gabriel
The first time ever I saw your face - Roberta Flack
Blinded by the light - MMEB
Nothing compares 2U - Sinnead O’Connor
and last but by no means least:
The whole “As time goes by” CD - Bryan Ferry. Awesome.
A mighty nod to This Mortal Coil’s version of Song to the Siren.
Also:
Dancing Barefoot - U2
Shake the Disease - Hooverphonic
Thank You - Tori Amos
Tangled Up in Blue - Indigo Girls
There’s A Light That Never Goes Out - Divine Comedy
(It’s lovely in a depressing kind of way. They managed to out-Morrissey Morrissey.)