In my quest for more covers I was looking through Amazon.com for other versions of my favorite songs. I just found a great cover of "Up Up and Away", made famous by the Fifth Dimension. While my favorite cover of this song is the sitar version done on the Incredibly Strange Music, Volume 1 CD, the version done by Big Hello on Volume 2 of the International Pop Overthrow series is great! It reminds me of the best Letters to Cleo covers.
If you saw "American Pie" you might have noticed, like I did, that the Jazz choral group seemed to sing quite a lot of '70s hits as their "jazz songs". Not surprisingly, on the first 'NSync album you can find a cover of Christopher Cross' "Sailing". So all of a sudden, '70s songs are "classics" or something?
So I recently saw the movie "American Psycho" -- sick stuff, set to a great '80s soundtrack. The official soundtrack is pretty lame compared to what was in the movie, but they do feature a great cover of "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)", the Dead or Alive hit, done by Dope.
I can't believe I never mentioned this! Of course we all know that Bow Wow Wow's song "I Want Candy" was originally done (with many bongos) by The Strangeloves in the 1960s. Well I've recently discovered another great cover of this song -- done by Trance Records' own Cherubs on the compilation The Smitten Love Song Comp on Karate Records.
I've been watching Mike Judge's masterpiece Office Space and even though it's supposedly not a real cover, the Canibus and Biz Markie song "Shove this Jay-Oh-Bee" is close enough for me to be a great cover of the country classic "Take This Job and Shove It" (which itself spawned a great '80s movie with the same name).
I've gotten back into entering my vast LP collection into my list of recorded cover versions and found a great cover that I've missed for years. On the Beat Happening covers compilation Fortune Cookie Prize, the Leaky Chipmunk version of "Our Secret" is so amazing it got me into the actual Beat Happening songs, you should check it out!
Okay, I'm sure most of you have heard the Dynamite Hack cover of Eazy E's "Boyz-N-the-Hood". While I do enjoy this cover, I still think that Sissy Bar's similar cover of Snoop Doggy Dogg's "Gin and Juice" is better. Dynamite Hack's song is sort of monotone, while Sissy Bar really gives some pop heart to the rap standard.
I'm working on another rap cover currently on the airwaves, but for now, there's an interesting cover of "Let's Get it On" by Marvin Gaye, done by Jack Black of Tenacious D and the Foo Fighters and Beck videos, on the High Fidelity sountrack.
Snoop Dogg does a great cover of that old school classic, "La Di Da Di" by Doug E. Fresh and the Get Fresh Crew, on his album Doggystyle. (He calls it "Lodi Dodi" -- interesting.) You can also see him perform it live if you watch old Saturday Night Lives ... That's one of my favorite rap songs and Snoop Dogg has an interesting take on it.
I can't believe that I never mentioned my favorite cover ever -- Dolly Parton does a cover of REO Speedwagon's "Time for Me to Fly" on her White Limozeen CD.
Sorry for the delay -- a small hospital stay kept me from the computer for weeks ... but a kind soul sent me what I'm sure is a great cover of a Cat Stevens song -- And Also the Trees do "Lady D'Arbanville" on their Farewell to the Shade album. Robert Smith from The Cure also remixes another of their songs on the album, so I'm sure the cover is first rate!
I just found a cover of "I Got You", my favorite Split Enz song! It's done by Spare Snare on the Disco Sucks compilation on Che. It's not really a great cover, but it is a great song, so I'll give it some credit, at least this week!
I actually bought the For the Love of Harry: Everybody Sings Nilsson CD on a whim because I love "Jump Into the Fire", and it's turned out to be a pretty good compilation! I didn't even know Nilsson wrote "Coconut" and Fred Schneider of the B52's does a great cover of it here ...
Apparently Luna often does covers on their albums (I understand the last one was a "hidden" track), and this time it's "Sweet Child O'Mine", off of their The Days of Our Nights album. It's not a bad rendition of a great Guns N Roses song, although I would prefer a version of "Used to Love Her" if I had a choice.
I recently got a great compilation, Best of Moog, with some great Moog songs, one of which is a great cover of "Foggy Mountain Breakdown", the famous Earl Scruggs banjo tune, done by Gil Trythall. I also am a big fan of T. Rex, so I was excited to hear the cover of "Jeepster" done by Electrik Cokernut.
Let's see, what covers have I heard recently? Actually, I've heard quite a bit the Smashing Pumpkins cover of "Landslide" by Fleetwood Mac. I think I like the original better, but I do give them credit for picking good covers to do. Their cover of "Terrapin" by Syd Barrett is amazing!
Okay, so I'm a bit out of date, but I just realized that Limp Bizkit do a cover of "Faith" by George Michael on their Three Dollar Bill Y'all album! It takes over the lead in George Michael covers already held by School of Fish who do "Father Figure" on their live album ...
Two items of interest: 1) Scritti Politti is coming out with a new album, and 2) can you believe it -- Miles Davis actually did a Scritti Politti cover! He does "Perfect Way" on his Tutu album. I was already impressed with the Madness cover of "The Sweetest Girl", but Miles doing Scritti Politti is even cooler!
I just got two amazing albums: the soundtrack to Detroit Rock City with covers of "Cat Scratch Fever", "Strutter" and "Highway to Hell", and ECW: Extreme Music. At first I thought the best cover was Grinspoon doing my favorite Prong song "Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck", but you have got to hear Muscadine doing a slower than normal version of AC/DC's "Big Balls" ...
I'm still really glad I didn't buy the new Abba: a Tribute 25th Anniversary CD, but I do like Ash's version of "Does Your Mother Know". You may remember them for their stunning rendition of Ween's "What Deaner Was Talking About" ...
The latest suggestion from my favorite pop music fan:
"On Built To Spill Caustic Resin (UP018, 1995):
They do a cover of "She's Real", originally by Kicking Giant (from Alien I.D.)"
I have a great compilation of covers of tv themes, and one of my favorites is the Dickies' version of "Secret Agent Man". It's on the Show & Tell compilation on Which? Records. Check out the commercials, too -- I think "Slinky" is there as well!
Whenever I go on vacation I find so many covers it's hard to choose just one, but this week has to be Sissy Bar's cover of "Gin and Juice" by Snoop Doggy Dogg. It's a very poppy version featuring lots of synthesizers and a female vocal. You can find it on their Statutory Grape CD, Sugar Fix Records, 1996.
My latest acquisition is a Prince covers cassette on the Shrimper label. You may remember that Cyndi Lauper does a cover of "When U Were Mine", but this version by Dump is even better! It's on their "That Skinny M.....F..... with the High Voice" cassette, Shrimper, 1999. Also present are covers of "1999", "Raspberry Beret", "Erotic City", "The Beautiful Ones", "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore" and "Pop Life". A great collection, and "Erotic City" is one of my favorite Prince songs, but "When U Were Mine" is amazing ...
Can you believe that Lesley Gore does a cover of "Wedding Bell Blues", popularized by the Fifth Dimension. It's on her It's My Party CD. Of course I can never get past the picture of Chris Farley and Tim Meadows on Saturday Night Live singing that to each other ... "Bill! I love you so, and I always will ..."
Since I saw a male-fronted band (a Virginia band called "Black Bean -- formerly Spongeworthy") do Hole's "Celebrity Skin", this week I've got to feature Hole's cover of "the best f****** song you pretend you don't know" -- "Hungry Like the Wolf" by Duran Duran. It's on their Doll Parts CD single, Geffen, 1995.
As if the Butthole Surfers' version of "American Woman" wasn't good enough, this week I found a version by the Texas Chainsaw Orchestra. They perform this Guess Who classic on chainsaws and other hardware! You can find this and other rarities through Rhino Records.
Lots of people (including Urge Overkill and Pete Wernick on his Dr. Banjo and Friends CD) do Glen Campbell's famous "Wichita Lineman", but I was pleasantly surprised to find it on my recent acquisition, Spotlight on Optiganally Yours by Optiganally Yours.
Can you believe it? I just found another cover of "Wichita Lineman"... It's done by The Electronic Concept Orchestra on their Electric Love album from 1973.
Check out the Teenbeat 1999 Sampler for some great new covers. I especially love Andrew Beaujon's version of "Orinoco Flow", originally done by Enya.
I recently found Low's cover of the Soul Coughing song "Blue Eyed Devil" on the Teleconned: We Want the Airwaves CD. (Amazon.com)
If you haven't heard Low, you wouldn't expect to hear a really slow version of a Soul Coughing song, but this one is great! Also on the CD, Soul Coughing perform "Lazy Bones" live, and add a cover of their own at the beginning ...
The Breeders' version of Sebadoh's "Freed Pig" -- It's a great version of one of my favorite Sebadoh songs. Check it out!
I recommend everyone get a copy of the Chef Aid: The South Park Album CD (Amazon.com), it is amazing! The best cover on there (next to Eric Cartman's version of "Come Sail Away" by Styx) is Perry Farrell, of Lollapalooza and Jane's Addiction fame, doing "Hot Lava", the song made famous by Chef! And keep your eye out for the amazing Ween song!
One of the Volume magazine/CD series includes a cover of "They Don't Know", which was popularized by Tracey Ullman (remember Paul McCartney was in her video?), but written and performed by Kirsty MacColl. In this edition, the Gigolo Aunts do an interesting, male-fronted cover of this song. I still prefer Tracey's cover ...
Veruca Salt's version of My Sharona. It's on their Victrola CD single. It's not the best version of My Sharona I've heard covered (that honor goes to the band that does the violin version --Zen for Primates) but it is interesting. And I give lots of points for originality.
Class does a cover of my favorite Wedding Present song, I'm Not Always So Stupid.
Double Agent 1980, Double Agent Records' compilation of 1980s covers. The best one there is the hidden cover of "Total Eclipse of the Heart"! News Flash! I heard from the horse's mouth (as it were), that this track is done by Peter Green from Class (and Double Agent Records) and Shivika from Papas Fritas!
My favorite Elvis cover is from The Last Temptation of Elvis, put together by NME in 1990. It's Rock-A-Hula Baby done by Pop Will Eat Itself.
I've Done Everything For You, done by Tizzy on the We Can Still Be Friends CD put together by Magic Marker Records, 1998. It's the only cover on the CD, and was originally by Rick Springfield. It's the best Rick Springfield song next to Jesse's Girl!
Good Vibrations, done by Psychic TV on their Magickal Mystery D Tour E.P on Temple Records, c1984. This cover is on the same 7" as "Roman P", the song made famous in that recent Volkswagen ad ...also, did you know that Good Vibrations, the original, featured a theremin and cello?
Purple Haze, done by The Shamen. This is late 80's Shamen, before their move to more house/techno related music, but much less Syd Barrett-ish than their earlier albums. This comes from The Communion Label's compilation of Hendrix covers, If 6 Was 9.
R.U. Experienced, by Caresse and Sickmob, otherwise known as Caresse and Paula P'Orridge. It's on their R.U. Experienced 7" from 1989.
Spanish Castle Magic, done by The Stretchheads, my favorite defunct Scottish band (next to APB of course!). It comes from The Communion Label's compilation of Hendrix covers, If 6 Was 9.
Low Rider covered by Korn on their Life is Peachy CD. (Amazon.com) The famous horn section of this song is played on the bagpipes!
Eep Opp Ork Ah Ah by The Dickies. It comes from their Killer Klowns from Outer Space LP, and is a cover of the song that Judy Jetson wrote in one of the Jetsons shows. The Dickies have some great covers, not as much in the way they perform songs, but the choices they make of which songs to cover.
Marijuana by Brujeria, from their Marijuana 7" on Chupacabra Discos. This is a great rendition of "Macarena", sung in Spanish of course, where they replace 'macarena' with 'marijuana'. Hilarious!
Check out some other covers related material and create your own discographies at my links list.
