For certain, cover songs have it easy.
As any bar band will testify to, cashing in on the nostalgia of an
existing work is an easy way to get your music heard. But throughout
the history of modern popular music, there have been cover songs that have
dared to dream beyond the boundaries of the original version that inspired
it. Some are better than the first take, some compliment and respect
it perfectly, while others often have such a unique, bizarre, or
completely different twist on the source material that becomes something
completely new and wonderful. With the aid of Bradley Mason Hamlin,
and hundreds of retroCRUSH readers we've compiled a list that pays respect
to our Top 100 choices.
#25 "Killing Me Softly"
by The Fugees
ORIGINAL ARTIST: Roberta Flack During a time when rap artists would take a classic beat and
just rap on top of it P Diddy style with zero creativity, The Fugees
hit a home run with this brilliant cover that featured honest to
goodness kickass singing from Lauryn Hill. I wish she'd get
back in the studio and give us some more.
#24 "Bizarre Love Triangle"
by Frente!
ORIGINAL ARTIST: New Order Angie Hart's vocals in this unexpectedly cool cover are so damn
cute you just want to walk up to her window and night and leave her
notes. But take it from me, her fence is a difficult climb and
those doberman pincers aren't there for show!
#23 "Viva Las Vegas"
by The Dead Kennedys
ORIGINAL ARTIST: Elvis Presley Jello Biafra kicks all kinds of ass with this super swell cover
of the Presley classic. It totally makes me want to hop in a
car an drive there with a bottle of Jack Daniels and a gun to shoot
cows along the way. Don't worry, I'll bring a designated
driver.
#22 "Take Me To The River"
by The Talking Heads
ORIGINAL ARTIST: Al Green How in the world David Byrne found enough soul to pull this off
is a miracle to me, but damn if it isn't sweet sweet goodness to
listen to. If you haven't seen the concert film "Stop Making
Sense", do yourself a favor and watch it right now. Seriously,
close your browser, zip up your pants, and go buy it!
#21 "Get It On (Bang A Gong)"
by The Power Station
ORIGINAL ARTIST: T Rex This crazy all star band from the '80s struck gold with this
tune, which features guitar work from Duran Duran alumni, kickass
Robert Palmer vocals, and super underappreciated drums from Chic's
Tony Thompson (who died the same year Palmer did, in 2003). I
wanted to see them tour right after the song came out in 1985, but
Palmer didn't want to go along so they through in B-movie villain
actor Michael Desbarres in his place.
#20 "The Mercy Seat"
by Johnny Cash
ORIGINAL ARTIST: Nick Cave I had to use a lot of restraint not to turn this list into "The
Top 100 Johnny Cash Cover Songs" so I limited them to just a few.
This tale of a prisoner facing the electric chair is chilling in the
hands of Cash, and makes you want to repent for all the bad things
you've ever done. Well, not that one time in Fresno with that
toothless hobo, I have no regrets there.
#19 "Sweet Dreams"
by Marilyn Manson
ORIGINAL ARTIST: The Eurythmics If you took an elevator to Hell, chances are this would be
playing as you descended into the fire (well, maybe with some Hanson
tunes added in for good measure). Manson's devilish croaky
vocals take The Eurythmics original and turn it upside down and
sodomize it with a spiked baseball bat. Sorry, I've been
watching too many horror films lately.
#18 "Country Roads (Take Me Home)"
By Toots and the Maytalls
ORIGINAL ARTIST: John Denver Thanks to my good buddy Keith Lowell Jensen for giving this to
me on a mix tape a year ago, because I love the hell out of this
song. The small lyrical alterations like turning "West
Virginia" into "West Jamaica" are a nice touch, too.
#17 "La Bamba"
by Los Lobos
ORIGINAL ARTIST: Richie Valens The guitar work at the end of this song alone is worth the price
of admission!
#16 "Superstar"
by Sonic Youth
ORIGINAL ARTIST: The Carpenters Written for a Carpenters tribute album, this Sonic Youth version
of Superstar is creepy, cool, and beautiful. Definitely a
unique and brilliant take on an otherwise syrupy classic.
#15 "Hazy Shade of Winter"
by The Bangles
ORIGINAL ARTIST: Simon and Garfunkel
Appearing on the otherwise forgettable "Less Than Zero" film
soundtrack, The Bangles do an amazingly great job with this, with
some foot stomping guitar in the intro. It's too bad the girls
won't get back together and try anything new out. But Susanna
Hoffs just did an album of covers with Matthew Sweet that looks
interesting.
#14 "Walk This Way"
by RUN DMC and Aerosmith
ORIGINAL ARTIST: Aerosmith Both a cover song and a remake all in one, this song made rap
even more popular than ever, and revitalize the career of Aerosmith
all in one fell swoop. And the video remains one of the
coolest ones ever made. I still prefer this one to the
original, and Joe Perry's guitar is far superior in this version as
well.
#13 "One
Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer"
by George Thorogood
ORIGINAL ARTIST: John Lee Hooker I had a tough time deciding whether to list this or Thorogood's
cover of Hank William's "Move It On Over", but they're both so damn
good, just enjoy them both. It's a great fun storytelling song
that I'll never get tired of hearing.
#12 "Twist and Shout"
by The Beatles
ORIGINAL ARTIST: The Isley Brothers With all the Beatles songs everyone and their brother has
covered, it's only fair to let them get some kudos for their fun and
energetic cover of The Isley's "Twist and Shout" which seems custom
made for The Beatles to sing.
#11 "I Shot The Sheriff"
by Eric Clapton
ORIGINAL ARTIST: Bob Marley While reggae covers of pop and rock songs are a dime a dozen,
it's hard to find many good examples where the reverse is true.
Clapton's done a lot of great covers in his day, but this remains
one of my favorites.
#10 "A Natural Woman"
by Carole King
ORIGINAL ARTIST: Aretha Franklin This is one of those rare covers by the original songwriter.
Carole King, America's lyrical legend, wrote this for Aretha
Franklin, who performed it brilliantly, but did her own special
version of it on her Tapestry album and took the song write back.
Speaking of which, I can still listen to Tapestry from beginning to
end any day of the week, and that cat on the album cover is so
fucking cool.
#9 "All Along The Watchtower"
by Jimi Hendrix
ORIGINAL ARTIST: Bob Dylan You'd hardly know this was even a Bob Dylan song if you never
heard the original, cause Hendrix just completely stole this song and
made it his own. Dylan reportedly liked his version so much
that he began performing it Hendrix style afterward.
#8 "A Little Help From My Friends"
by Joe Cocker
ORIGINAL ARTIST: The Beatles Joe Cocker's crazy spazzy twitchy heart attack style delivery of
this at Woodstuck (above) remains one of the most inspired and
energetic covers of all time. It's like his head is going to
explode before the song is over.
#7 "Just A Gigolo"
by David Lee Roth
ORIGINAL ARTIST: Louie Prima Only Diamond Dave has the camp and showmanship to pull off such
a fantastic cover of this Louis Prima gem. You can't help but smile
listening to it. Let's also give credit to Brian Seltzer for his
great version of Prima's "Jump Jive and Wail" while we're at it.
#6 "I Heard It Through The Grapevine"
by Creedence Clearwater Revival
ORIGINAL ARTIST: Marvin Gaye/Gladys Knight The song has an interesting history, as Marvin Gaye was the true
first person to record it, Motown head Berry Gordy chose not to
release it and let Gladys Knight have a crack at it instead.
It did so well that he threw Gaye's out there, too. 3 years
later, Creedence did a swampy twangy version of it that remains one
of the few cover songs they ever recorded. John Fogerty's vocals are
a nice twist on the soulful classic that remains great to listen to.
Hell, all 3 versions of the song are fantastic.
#5 "Respect"
by Aretha Franklin
ORIGINAL ARTIST: Otis Redding Aretha Franklin took a modest Otis Redding song (it never ranked
higher than #35) and thoroughly reinvented it and made it her own.
Redding himself conceded that he could never sing it again after
Aretha made it her personal anthem with an all new arrangement some
of the best female vocals ever captured on record.
#4 "Satisfaction"
by Devo
ORIGINAL ARTIST: The Rolling Stones Devo's "Satisfaction" has to be one of the most unique, twisted,
and brilliant alternate takes of a song ever made. Even Mick
Jagger admits that it's his favorite version of the song. It's
used particularly well in Martin Scorsese's "Casino" film. Otis
Redding has a nice version as well. But whatever you do, stay
away from that abortion of a cover by Britney Spears.
#3 "Hurt"
by Johnny Cash
ORIGINAL ARTIST: Nine Inch Nails This is probably the single most requested song for inclusion by
retroCRUSH readers. And how can you blame them? You can
totally picture Johnny's world crumbling away from him as he sings
this mournful tale of how "Everyone I know goes away in the end."
The video adds an especially eerie touch as June stands by his side,
then vanishes. I don't know how Trent Reznor could ever sing
this song again. It's Johnny's now.
#2 "Proud Mary"
by Ike and Tina Turner
ORIGINAL ARTIST: Creedence Clearwater Revival How Ike and Tina could take the CCR hit and turn it into this
ass shaking foot stomping classic is still a miracle of biblical
proportions. I love how Tina tells you it's gonna start nice
and easy, then it's gonna get nice and rough...and damnit if they
don't follow through. From a talent, performance, and just all
around brilliance perspective, it's the best cover song ever
recorded, but...
#1 "My Way"
by Sid Vicious
ORIGINAL ARTIST: Frank Sinatra ...Damnit if Sid Vicious' cover isn't one of the most
unintentionally brilliant cover songs ever made. Sure, the
choice of song is not too subtle, as Sid groans and bellows a near
unintelligible version of the Sinatra classic, but it's almost the
perfect definition of rock and roll. And the footage from "The
Great Rock and Roll Swindle" (linked above) with Sid pulling out a
gun and shooting the rich people in the audience, though heavy
handed, is a classic "Hell yeah" moment of music.
So did I leave out your favorite?
Any glaring omissions. Email me and let me know!
Coming soon, the WORST COVER SONGS OF
ALL TIME! Can you hear me William Hung?
