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!!
Thank YOU, Paul, for the added inspiration and poking me in the (barbecued) ribs to get it off the ground! It's fun to see so many folks jumping under the covers with such enthusiasm! Who'd-a thunk?!😁
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!
Glad you like it! A couple of painful "what-if"s, lately: What might've Stephen's cover (of the eventual Shaun hit) had done on the charts if given a chance to breathe 3 years before Shaun's, and what might've happened if David Cassidy's "Then I'll Be Someone" (Carl Wilson & Tandyn Almer) been "allowed" onto his '76 album by a guest guitar player who played on one song (not even the producer!!)--looking at you, Mick Ronson! It's heart-breaking to live on the tiny island of "The Land of What Might've Been," but, alas.....!
Wow, thanks, Paul!! An amazing Playlist----I literally have not heard about 25 of the 27, before!! I love the Tom Jones/Pretenders collab---Jones' baritono profundo going perfectly not only with Chrissie's presence, but doing his best Ig! Lisa Loeb's "Dudes" is oddly touching, something it never was before. Dang, dood....well done! I'm saving this puppy!
I wrote what I wrote maybe halfway thru the Loeb. Her chant portion is haunting, and to end it on that line she did? Gracious....I think I have something in my eye!!😢
Those Deep Purple covers are absolutely torrid!! My friends who know I "hate" guitar heroes/indulgent solos will be stunned to hear I love all the Purple covers here, especially "Highway Star"! That Generation Axe supergroup is mind-blowing! Mercy! Blind Mown!💥🤯
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
Thanks, Bryan! Great to hear from you! Once again, another cover I had no idea existed! I have GOT to stop crowning myself "King of all Covers".....I know NOTHING! But, it's fun to hear all this new music!! I know nothing, really, about Radiohead (music-wise, except I think they did a song karaoke managed to bludgeon to death).
Their lead singer has quite a range, in what almost sounds like the same key as Carly's! I'm always curious how and why artists cover the songs they do. Like, why this one by this band? I suppose it could be the same reason we like playing any particular song wherever we play it (record, tape, online). But, was there some "deeper" reason R-head covered this? Rhetorical, really...just musing...unless you know something, Bryan!
But, that's what we do here, FR&B....wonder and muse. Which sounds like a fabulous concert bill, come to think of it!🎼🎶🎵
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!
What is it the kids say today?......."Wait, WHAT?!!?" Wicked Pickett doing Jeff Barry & Andy Kim?! A new one to me....it's amazing! Now, if you could only unearth a James Brown cover of 1910 Fruitgum Company's "1, 2, 3 Red Light"!! I'd love it if I was somehow able to inspire a new column idea for you, Wayne!! Bring it, bruh!
BTW, stay tuned to this thread...in just a few, I'll be dropping a Jeff Barry tune, in a fully-produced cover likely NO ONE has ever heard! It's here now (somewhere)!
My favorite Cash cover during the Rick Rubin sessions: Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus," my signature tune for staring into the abyss when I lived on that edge.
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.
Hi, thanks for the 'likes' I've received on this comment, why not subscribe (for free) and catch up with the full story (with plenty more music weaved in) at challenge69.substack.com
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
One of those "Take on Me"s was produced by one Alan Tarney, one of my all-time fave singer/songwriters/producers no one besides his mum has heard of! He produced David Cassidy's non-US LP, "Romance" in '85. He produced (and wrote) many of the late '70s Cliff Richard hits, and he was in an A&M duo called The Tarney-Spencer Band!
Plus, he's produced records by the Hollies, Bow Wow Wow, the Dream Academy, Squeeze, and Matthew Sweet.
One of these days, I'll do a right proper "Audio Autopsy" on him....until then, here's his Wiki (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Tarney), and check out some of his sounds on Spotify (or wherever)!
Not a cover, so I'll bend the rules, here, but here's their late '70s "No Time to Lose" with a music video (shot at Venice Beach!), with shots of them playing live (synched to studio sound): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnnSKIJDaJA Don't go by the first 1:15 or so...it cranks up, and there are great harmonies and guitar parts!
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.
Had not heard his "Gin and Juice"! It's hilarious, like all his stuff! In fact, I dig me some R. Cheese to the point where I actually did a couple of his songs in karaoke a few times....the karaoke company's data base was THAT huge!! In fact, I think "Welcome to the Jungle" was one of the Cheese-its I did. It was fun to watch the bar patrons' reactions, hearing lyrics they knew to a song they knew, just sounding nothing like they were used to!
NO restrictions, Kevin!! Weird, fave, nuttiest, whatever! Anything goes, as Cole Porter once said!
I love your drops here, though.....I won't say THeads' "River" cover turned me on to Al Green, but they steered me in his direction with more furvor, where I discovered some of his classics! That "Easy" FNM cover sounds like a joke....I'll have to drop needle on that one!!
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:
That IS pretty amazing! I always wonder how medleys/mash-ups like that come about! One could always change keys, so the fact that "Stand" can "fit" with "Blank Space" couldn't have been the main attraction. I'm willing to bet just noodling around during rehearsal, and one of 'em says, "Hey, listen to this!" Thanks, wing, for sharing that!
I'm a new subbie, wing! Looking forward to your upcoming output, and I'll peruse your Archive, to boot! FRONT ROW & BACKSTAGE-ers would do well to check out FRESH, also!
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...
Thank YOU, Paul, for the added inspiration and poking me in the (barbecued) ribs to get it off the ground! It's fun to see so many folks jumping under the covers with such enthusiasm! Who'd-a thunk?!😁
Fun...
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
That Da-Do-Ron-Ron is great! Although electric guitar is my favorite muscial instrument, I can appreciate a well played horn.
Glad you like it! A couple of painful "what-if"s, lately: What might've Stephen's cover (of the eventual Shaun hit) had done on the charts if given a chance to breathe 3 years before Shaun's, and what might've happened if David Cassidy's "Then I'll Be Someone" (Carl Wilson & Tandyn Almer) been "allowed" onto his '76 album by a guest guitar player who played on one song (not even the producer!!)--looking at you, Mick Ronson! It's heart-breaking to live on the tiny island of "The Land of What Might've Been," but, alas.....!
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
Wow, thanks, Paul!! An amazing Playlist----I literally have not heard about 25 of the 27, before!! I love the Tom Jones/Pretenders collab---Jones' baritono profundo going perfectly not only with Chrissie's presence, but doing his best Ig! Lisa Loeb's "Dudes" is oddly touching, something it never was before. Dang, dood....well done! I'm saving this puppy!
Yeah, I was surprised at some of these. I think Lisa Loeb's Dudes is becoming a fave.
I wrote what I wrote maybe halfway thru the Loeb. Her chant portion is haunting, and to end it on that line she did? Gracious....I think I have something in my eye!!😢
Those Deep Purple covers are absolutely torrid!! My friends who know I "hate" guitar heroes/indulgent solos will be stunned to hear I love all the Purple covers here, especially "Highway Star"! That Generation Axe supergroup is mind-blowing! Mercy! Blind Mown!💥🤯
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
Thanks, Bryan! Great to hear from you! Once again, another cover I had no idea existed! I have GOT to stop crowning myself "King of all Covers".....I know NOTHING! But, it's fun to hear all this new music!! I know nothing, really, about Radiohead (music-wise, except I think they did a song karaoke managed to bludgeon to death).
Their lead singer has quite a range, in what almost sounds like the same key as Carly's! I'm always curious how and why artists cover the songs they do. Like, why this one by this band? I suppose it could be the same reason we like playing any particular song wherever we play it (record, tape, online). But, was there some "deeper" reason R-head covered this? Rhetorical, really...just musing...unless you know something, Bryan!
But, that's what we do here, FR&B....wonder and muse. Which sounds like a fabulous concert bill, come to think of it!🎼🎶🎵
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!
Gourds version of Snoops Gin & Juice is excellent. Good stuff Wayne...
Thank you Paul, and in addition to "thanks Brad!" I should have said, "thanks Paul Macko!"
no, no, Wayne, THANK YOU!
What is it the kids say today?......."Wait, WHAT?!!?" Wicked Pickett doing Jeff Barry & Andy Kim?! A new one to me....it's amazing! Now, if you could only unearth a James Brown cover of 1910 Fruitgum Company's "1, 2, 3 Red Light"!! I'd love it if I was somehow able to inspire a new column idea for you, Wayne!! Bring it, bruh!
BTW, stay tuned to this thread...in just a few, I'll be dropping a Jeff Barry tune, in a fully-produced cover likely NO ONE has ever heard! It's here now (somewhere)!
Johnny Cash's covers of Rusty Cage and Hurt were wonderful but my default is always All Along The Watchtower by Jimi Hendrix.
Those are all excellent covers. I love anything Hendrix. (Wild Thing: https://open.spotify.com/track/0rVbm4oGriIeklEVUIE6ID?si=72e04d12596f4160)
My favorite Cash cover during the Rick Rubin sessions: Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus," my signature tune for staring into the abyss when I lived on that edge.
Love your contributions, Wayne! I KNEW you'd come with the GOOD sterling!🎶👍
For real, my absolute favorite band of all time, Tool, owns the cover of No Quarter by Led Zeppelin. 🤘🤘🤘
https://youtu.be/iNUq-JSXvS4
Man, that's a GREAT cover! Nice one, Josh. Long too. Still haven't made it to the end, LOL.
One of my favorites 🤘🤘🤘
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.
Hi, thanks for the 'likes' I've received on this comment, why not subscribe (for free) and catch up with the full story (with plenty more music weaved in) at challenge69.substack.com
Tim
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
One of those "Take on Me"s was produced by one Alan Tarney, one of my all-time fave singer/songwriters/producers no one besides his mum has heard of! He produced David Cassidy's non-US LP, "Romance" in '85. He produced (and wrote) many of the late '70s Cliff Richard hits, and he was in an A&M duo called The Tarney-Spencer Band!
Plus, he's produced records by the Hollies, Bow Wow Wow, the Dream Academy, Squeeze, and Matthew Sweet.
One of these days, I'll do a right proper "Audio Autopsy" on him....until then, here's his Wiki (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Tarney), and check out some of his sounds on Spotify (or wherever)!
Not a cover, so I'll bend the rules, here, but here's their late '70s "No Time to Lose" with a music video (shot at Venice Beach!), with shots of them playing live (synched to studio sound): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnnSKIJDaJA Don't go by the first 1:15 or so...it cranks up, and there are great harmonies and guitar parts!
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
Had not heard his "Gin and Juice"! It's hilarious, like all his stuff! In fact, I dig me some R. Cheese to the point where I actually did a couple of his songs in karaoke a few times....the karaoke company's data base was THAT huge!! In fact, I think "Welcome to the Jungle" was one of the Cheese-its I did. It was fun to watch the bar patrons' reactions, hearing lyrics they knew to a song they knew, just sounding nothing like they were used to!
Cool version! The swear words don't sound bad in that loungy lizzard style...
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
NO restrictions, Kevin!! Weird, fave, nuttiest, whatever! Anything goes, as Cole Porter once said!
I love your drops here, though.....I won't say THeads' "River" cover turned me on to Al Green, but they steered me in his direction with more furvor, where I discovered some of his classics! That "Easy" FNM cover sounds like a joke....I'll have to drop needle on that one!!
Excellent! another cover of Hanging on the telephone by Def Leppard: https://open.spotify.com/track/1ztkQYkjA44QinoWXnwFML?si=bfaffe7674084e3a
- Talking Heads take on Take Me to the River is classic!
- Faith No More's easy is new to me - and awesome.
- Didn't know about ScarJo's musical career (She is quite good - https://youtu.be/eRtydnIycCY)
Thanks Kevin!
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.
Unique for sure. Thanks Marc!
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
That IS pretty amazing! I always wonder how medleys/mash-ups like that come about! One could always change keys, so the fact that "Stand" can "fit" with "Blank Space" couldn't have been the main attraction. I'm willing to bet just noodling around during rehearsal, and one of 'em says, "Hey, listen to this!" Thanks, wing, for sharing that!
right, sometimes songs come together like that by jamming around and playing around with them!
subscribed, excited to read more from you! i also write musings on music and playlists in my newsletter, FRESH! let me know what you think:
https://www.freshbywing.com/
I'm a new subbie, wing! Looking forward to your upcoming output, and I'll peruse your Archive, to boot! FRONT ROW & BACKSTAGE-ers would do well to check out FRESH, also!
7 Nation Army played by 7 Devices
https://twitter.com/paulmacko/status/1598072399374606336?s=20&t=I3Oc-3pRuUo6x5x1gVLoFg