It all started, recently, with comment exchanges with the always-fascinating fellow Substack-er, Paul Macko! He writes the informative and full-of-surprises Deplatformable Newsletter, found here:
It was all about cover songs, unexpected ones, mostly. Paul offered Santana’s take on Led Zep’s “Whole Lotta Love” (which I had never heard) and a cover of a Paula Abdul song (“Straight Up”) by Me First & the Gimme Gimmes (another new one for me!), and I countered with Todd Rundgren’s “Good Vibrations” cover and Paul Anka’s stab at “Smells Like Teen Spirit”!
We traded a couple more each, and wondered what YOU, dear reader, could come up with! That’s what this thread’s all about….offer YOUR favorite cover and artist….it could be one you think no one’s heard, or one you think is a bizarre coupling of song and cover artist (feel free to include a YouTube or Spotify link!)….YOUR call—anything goes, UNDER THE COVERS!!
One of my new fave covers is one recorded, but failed to make the final track listing, of FRONT ROW & BACKSTAGE's Stephen Michael Schwartz's 1974 debut album for RCA Records! It, like the entire album, was produced by a young David Kershenbaum, who went on to produce albums by Duran Duran, Tracy Chapman, Joe Jackson, Laura Branigan, Bryan Adams, Supertramp, Cat Stevens, and many more! As a producer, he has earned 75 international gold and platinum albums!
Three years before Shaun Cassidy sent HIS "Da Doo Ron Ron" cover to the top o' the charts, Stephen recorded his cover of the classic Phil Spector/Ellie Greenwich/Jeff Barry Crystals hit from 1963. Stephen and I have wondered if HIS might-a been a hit had Kersh and Stephen decided to include it on the album!
Here, in Stephen's own words, is his story on that debut album for which "Da Doo Ron Ron" was recorded, but didn't make final cut:
Also, listen to and read about Stephen's late '70s co-write/collaboration with Jeff Barry on their "Light Years Away"---an unreleased demo, fully-produced by the legend, Jeff Barry, himself!:
If this link "doesn't work" on this Substack page, click on the link below it to listen to Stephen's "Da Doo Ron Ron" from his StephenMichaelSchwartz.com website!
Fantastic thread! My submission .... Radiohead's cover of Carly Simon's 'Nobody Does it Better.' There's an MTV/2 (remember that?) version - but the one I downloaded on Napster (remember THAT?) was live in Brussels on December 5, 1995. It's elegant. And, though pre-iPhone lo-fi, can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BTekJvdS1w
Otis Redding's "Try a Little Tenderness" (1966), a cover of 1932 standard (compare and contrast: Bing Crosby.). Then adapted by Jay-Z and the still somewhat sane Kanye as "Otis," that will assure doubters that hip-hop can be very musical indeed. Audacious Austin, Tx., band The Gourds do a perfect cover of Snoop Dogg's "Gin & Juice, with fiddles and stuff in the breaks. Wilson Pickett could sing anything, and his greatest song, "Mustang Sally," was a cover of a Sir Mack Rice song. His weirdest: The Archies' "Sugar Sugar." Hey, I think I've got a new column idea. Thanks Brad!
Hi Brad, I've cut and pasted below the 'top five cover' songs the (partly autobiographical) lead character compiled in the first chapter of my novel serialised at: https://challenge69.substack.com/p/track-1
Tim
5) ‘Umbrella’ – a Rihanna cover by the Manic Street Preachers. A great pop song transformed by James’ sweeping vocals. A welcome window into the band’s underappreciated playful side.
4) ‘Just Like Heaven’ – a Cure cover by Katie Melua. Ed’s daughter Rose had sung at Stuart’s 50th party, meeting the only rule he’d set her, “to include at least one Cure song,” by covering this cover.
3) ‘Jack the Ripper’ – a Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds cover by Japandroids. A driven, noise laden version by an obscure Canadian band which, unbelievably, manages to out doom the original.
2) ‘Running Up That Hill’ – a Kate Bush cover by Placebo. Anne had used this as the alarm on her phone for ages now, permanently imprinting it on Stuart’s brain. Especially the first five seconds.
1) ‘Hurt’ – a Nine Inch Nails cover by Johnny Cash. The highlight of his great American Recordings renaissance, a stunning stripped back vocal enhanced for eternity by the world’s best, ever, video.
Technically not a cover, really just a rearrangement of their own song, but the difference between the groundbreaking original MTV video of A-ha’s “Take On Me” and the much later, ballad like MTV unplugged arrangement made the song a “two-fer” and also made it accessible to guitarists at every level
I will say that I love loungey covers so I’ll suggest anything Richard Cheese puts out. His “Gin and Juice” cover is a favorite, as well as “Welcome to the Jungle.” I’ll think of a few more less silly ones in a bit.
Nickel Creek has always been fun in this regard. Their cover of Hayloft by Mother Mother is fantastic, and they used to do Toxic in concert. I love seeing excellent acoustic musicians tackle heavier or electronic songs and uncover the song underneath the production.
one that always comes to mind is imagine dragons' mashup cover of ben e king's 'stand by me' and taylor swift's 'blank space' - it shouldnt work together as well as it does but it somehow makes sense:
Share this thread with your rock and roll buddies! Thanks Brad for putting it together !
I'm going to add a few throughout the next while. This is a fun project already. Here are a couple more unusual (?) favofite covers:
Lisa Loeb: All the Young Dudes - https://open.spotify.com/track/1qUCE6bbiEzxFkXbeFQhJ7?si=e6727f117a2446a2
Tom Jones, Pretenders: Lust for Life:
https://open.spotify.com/track/0PKQamMMfVGh16CXiuSgjz?si=83feb320c1d34718
G3 - going down live (Joe Satriani, Steve Van, Eric Johnson)
https://open.spotify.com/track/0YNX5hlNF3WTsRHayjCgga?si=ee959c790b4a44e1
more to follow...
One of my new fave covers is one recorded, but failed to make the final track listing, of FRONT ROW & BACKSTAGE's Stephen Michael Schwartz's 1974 debut album for RCA Records! It, like the entire album, was produced by a young David Kershenbaum, who went on to produce albums by Duran Duran, Tracy Chapman, Joe Jackson, Laura Branigan, Bryan Adams, Supertramp, Cat Stevens, and many more! As a producer, he has earned 75 international gold and platinum albums!
Three years before Shaun Cassidy sent HIS "Da Doo Ron Ron" cover to the top o' the charts, Stephen recorded his cover of the classic Phil Spector/Ellie Greenwich/Jeff Barry Crystals hit from 1963. Stephen and I have wondered if HIS might-a been a hit had Kersh and Stephen decided to include it on the album!
Here, in Stephen's own words, is his story on that debut album for which "Da Doo Ron Ron" was recorded, but didn't make final cut:
https://bradkyle.substack.com/p/audio-autopsy-1974-stephen-michael
Also, listen to and read about Stephen's late '70s co-write/collaboration with Jeff Barry on their "Light Years Away"---an unreleased demo, fully-produced by the legend, Jeff Barry, himself!:
https://bradkyle.substack.com/p/stephen-michael-schwartz-off-the-6a1
If this link "doesn't work" on this Substack page, click on the link below it to listen to Stephen's "Da Doo Ron Ron" from his StephenMichaelSchwartz.com website!
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/56d4e8188a65e21d5e6f155f/56f17d442b8dde62fc24c6fd/5c9d545e71c10be2d1b82307/1553814630905/10+DA-DO-RON-RON.mp3
http://www.stephenmichaelschwartz.com/new-album
Here's a playlist I made on Spotify of a bunch of these covers especially for this thead:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7z4shhROX5YsZBhfQrtTjI?si=795062afe441492d
Fantastic thread! My submission .... Radiohead's cover of Carly Simon's 'Nobody Does it Better.' There's an MTV/2 (remember that?) version - but the one I downloaded on Napster (remember THAT?) was live in Brussels on December 5, 1995. It's elegant. And, though pre-iPhone lo-fi, can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BTekJvdS1w
Otis Redding's "Try a Little Tenderness" (1966), a cover of 1932 standard (compare and contrast: Bing Crosby.). Then adapted by Jay-Z and the still somewhat sane Kanye as "Otis," that will assure doubters that hip-hop can be very musical indeed. Audacious Austin, Tx., band The Gourds do a perfect cover of Snoop Dogg's "Gin & Juice, with fiddles and stuff in the breaks. Wilson Pickett could sing anything, and his greatest song, "Mustang Sally," was a cover of a Sir Mack Rice song. His weirdest: The Archies' "Sugar Sugar." Hey, I think I've got a new column idea. Thanks Brad!
Johnny Cash's covers of Rusty Cage and Hurt were wonderful but my default is always All Along The Watchtower by Jimi Hendrix.
For real, my absolute favorite band of all time, Tool, owns the cover of No Quarter by Led Zeppelin. 🤘🤘🤘
https://youtu.be/iNUq-JSXvS4
Hi Brad, I've cut and pasted below the 'top five cover' songs the (partly autobiographical) lead character compiled in the first chapter of my novel serialised at: https://challenge69.substack.com/p/track-1
Tim
5) ‘Umbrella’ – a Rihanna cover by the Manic Street Preachers. A great pop song transformed by James’ sweeping vocals. A welcome window into the band’s underappreciated playful side.
4) ‘Just Like Heaven’ – a Cure cover by Katie Melua. Ed’s daughter Rose had sung at Stuart’s 50th party, meeting the only rule he’d set her, “to include at least one Cure song,” by covering this cover.
3) ‘Jack the Ripper’ – a Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds cover by Japandroids. A driven, noise laden version by an obscure Canadian band which, unbelievably, manages to out doom the original.
2) ‘Running Up That Hill’ – a Kate Bush cover by Placebo. Anne had used this as the alarm on her phone for ages now, permanently imprinting it on Stuart’s brain. Especially the first five seconds.
1) ‘Hurt’ – a Nine Inch Nails cover by Johnny Cash. The highlight of his great American Recordings renaissance, a stunning stripped back vocal enhanced for eternity by the world’s best, ever, video.
Technically not a cover, really just a rearrangement of their own song, but the difference between the groundbreaking original MTV video of A-ha’s “Take On Me” and the much later, ballad like MTV unplugged arrangement made the song a “two-fer” and also made it accessible to guitarists at every level
I will say that I love loungey covers so I’ll suggest anything Richard Cheese puts out. His “Gin and Juice” cover is a favorite, as well as “Welcome to the Jungle.” I’ll think of a few more less silly ones in a bit.
https://youtu.be/zysWtY-VPUs
Favorite? man, that's tough! Can I at least get 2 here?
1. Hanging on the telephone- (Blondie covering the Nerves)
2. Take Me to the River- Talking Heads covering Al green
Weirdest:
1. Easy-Faith No More covering The Commodores
2. Bizarre Love Triangle- Sugar For Sugar (Scarlett Johansson's band) covering New Order
Nickel Creek has always been fun in this regard. Their cover of Hayloft by Mother Mother is fantastic, and they used to do Toxic in concert. I love seeing excellent acoustic musicians tackle heavier or electronic songs and uncover the song underneath the production.
one that always comes to mind is imagine dragons' mashup cover of ben e king's 'stand by me' and taylor swift's 'blank space' - it shouldnt work together as well as it does but it somehow makes sense:
https://open.spotify.com/track/3Dbgo1HE3DErIBNDIO4Hyd?si=40ddd1dea7704de1
7 Nation Army played by 7 Devices
https://twitter.com/paulmacko/status/1598072399374606336?s=20&t=I3Oc-3pRuUo6x5x1gVLoFg