Help me find some music?

October 14, 2008 8:23 AM

I need some suggestions for covers or original songs by performers who are "out of their league."

I need to find some music by performers who have either recorded a cover of a tune outside of their own particular style ( for example, Snoop Dogg's "My Medicine" or Faith No More's cover of "Easy.") This could include performers who take an original song and "turn it" into their own style ( Pat Boone's entire "In a Metal Mood" comes to mind, or many of the Cash covers that were put out on his last albums) or those who choose to keep the song in relatively original form.

I see that there have been previous questions about metal covers, but not really anything covering the whole spectrum.

What are your favorites?

posted by bradth27 to media & arts (43 comments total)

Maybe because you mentioned Snoop Dogg, the very first thing that leapt to mind was the Gourds' cover of his "Gin and Juice". They did it sort of bluegrass, and I love it (banjos usually don't go with lyrics about rolling through Compton). David Lee Roth also did a whole album of bluegrass cover versions of Van Halen stuff.

In another instance of "never would have thought it, but by God they pulled it off" -- I don't know if anyone ever recorded it, but there's the time that Pavorotti was supposed to do a performance of "Nessun Dorma" at some awards ceremony but had to bow out at the last minute -- so they got Aretha Franklin to do it instead, and she kicked ass.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:34 AM on October 14, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

Britney Spears covered "I Love Rock & Roll". shudder
posted by SuperSquirrel at 8:35 AM on October 14, 2008

Dolly Parton's Stairway to Heaven
posted by AloneOssifer at 8:37 AM on October 14, 2008

Also, previously.
posted by SuperSquirrel at 8:37 AM on October 14, 2008

Previously, albeit a narrow part of the spectrum.

The new Footloose album by Doveman, originally available here

Vanilla Fudge - You Keep Me Hanging On

Everything by Me First and the Gimme Gimmes
posted by knile at 8:39 AM on October 14, 2008

Madonna's "American Pie"
Johnny Cash "Hurt"
Lemonheads "Luka"
posted by mrbarrett.com at 8:40 AM on October 14, 2008

Pretty much any cover of a Van Morrison song falls into this category.
posted by bricoleur at 8:41 AM on October 14, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

Brave Combo is a polka band known for polkafying regular songs. Here's the song list from an early record: World Dance Music
posted by SuperSquirrel at 8:42 AM on October 14, 2008

Wait, I was responding to the "out of their league" part...
posted by bricoleur at 8:43 AM on October 14, 2008

This is kind of mean, but have you heard what Britney Spears really sounds like? Apparently she is out of her league in singing in general (although yes, I know it is hard to sing and dance at the same time). I guess I'm taking "out of their league" a little more literally.

If you're just looking for cross-genre covers may I suggest Hard n Phirm's excellent medley cover of Radiohead favorites.
Not really a cover, but I love, love their love ballad Like Love [Warning, video clip NSFW] which is a parody of Savage Garden's music
posted by Deathalicious at 8:44 AM on October 14, 2008

Pretty much any cover of a Van Morrison song falls into this category.

I dunno, John Mellencamp and Me'shell Ndegeocello sexed it up a little with their version of WILD NIGHT...
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:45 AM on October 14, 2008

Hmm favorites or embarrassing failures?

Sugar Ray covered Brian Eno and John Cale's great song Spinning Away. Fail.

David Bowie famously covered Jacques Brel's My Death on his farewell Ziggy Stardust performance.

Richard Thompson covered Britney Spears' "Oops, I Did It Again" which is actually kind of good. Sort of.
posted by elendil71 at 8:46 AM on October 14, 2008

Anything by Hayseed Dixie (here's Ace of Spades )
Local H covering Britney Spears' Toxic
Devo has some pretty wacked out covers (Itsy Bitsy Polka Dot Bikini, Witch Doctor, Head Like Hole, Bread and Butter)
Servotron's cover of Finest Worksong
Summer Breeze or Cinnamon Girl by Type O Negative
posted by Bernt Pancreas at 8:53 AM on October 14, 2008

Most punk covers fall into this category.
posted by nat at 8:55 AM on October 14, 2008

Pretty much every cover Killdozer ever did (including everything on their all-cover album For Ladies Only) is genre-crossing.

Aztec Camera did a great glum, slow version of Van Halen's Jump.

Gary Jules did a fine, moody cover of Tears for Fears' Mad World that was popularized by the movie Donnie Darko.

Yo La Tengo's Fakebook is about 2/3rds covers, many of more obscure songs, not all genre-crossing.

Sid Vicious' cover of Anka/Sinatra's My Way is an obvious example.

A couple of articles about cover songs - not all genre crossers, but a lot are: They did it their way and They've got it covered.
posted by nanojath at 9:06 AM on October 14, 2008

Scarlett Johansson's collection of Tom Waits songs is just terrible. Definitely "out of their league" stuff.
posted by Mountain Goatse at 9:11 AM on October 14, 2008

I was tricked into purchasing a used copy of Mandy Moore's Coverage. She says it's her favorite album. I actually think she's a talented singer (see her cover of Umbrella) but every time I put on the CD, it's like I forgot why I don't listen to it. Total out of her league stuff.
posted by indiebass at 9:34 AM on October 14, 2008

Sorry, I just keep thinking of these; I used to listen to Special X on XM radio for just this reason.
Easy Star All-stars did Dark Side of the Moon Reggae style; here's Time.
Dred Zepplin and Richard Cheese (his version of Chop Suey). do this a lot.
Garth Brooks' cover of Hard Luck Woman by Kiss.
There's this horrible woman named Mrs. Miller who destroys Downtown.
Hotel California by The Ataris.
Iron Man and Sabbath Bloody Sabbath by the Cardigans.
The best Devo cover: Morining Dew.
posted by Bernt Pancreas at 9:35 AM on October 14, 2008

Red Hot Chili Peppers cover of Stevie Wonder's Higher Ground & Robert Johnson's They're Red Hot are two that immediately come to mind.

The entire album "Renegades" but Rage Against the Machine (example: Eric B and Rakim's "Microphone Fiend" ) are all reimagined covers

As is the nearly the entirety of "eMotive" by A Perfect Circle -- such as"Imagine" redone as a dirge

And finally Devo's cover of the Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction"

The Deftones covered "No Ordinary Love" by Sade and 'The Chauffer' by Duran Duran.
posted by chocolate_butch at 9:45 AM on October 14, 2008

Bloodhound Gang covering KIDS Incorporated

A goofy rap group doing a punk rock cover of a childrens show theme song.
posted by smithygreg at 9:53 AM on October 14, 2008

M. Ward - Let's Dance

Easy Star All Stars did an excellent all-reggae version of "OK Computer" called Radiodread.

Klaus Nomi did some great covers- notably "Lightning Strikes" and "You Don't Own Me."
posted by Dr-Baa at 9:53 AM on October 14, 2008

Hootie and the Blowfish covered "Hey Hey What Can I Do" by Led Zeppelin. Few things are as disturbing as hearing "Hootie" say he wants to "ball all day". *shudder*
posted by King Bee at 9:54 AM on October 14, 2008

Wesley Willis did tons of covers. Here is his version of Hey Jude.
posted by JJ86 at 9:58 AM on October 14, 2008

Oooh - the ska group Bim Skala Bim did a cover of Pink Floyd's Brain Damage (aka "Dark Side Of The Moon"). It is a high-paced ska version, and was bizarre enough to make one friend who heard it repeatedly shriek "what the hell is this?" the whole time she was hearing it.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:58 AM on October 14, 2008

Galaxie 500 covers new order's ceremony. It is a fantastic cover.
posted by elmono at 9:59 AM on October 14, 2008

Madonna's rap segment on 'American Life' makes me shudder. Check the lyrics: (brr)

'I'm drinking a Soy latte
I get a double shot
It goes right through my body
And you know I'm satisfied
I drive my Mini Cooper
And I'm feeling super-dooper
Yo they tell I'm a trooper
And you know I'm satisfied
I do yoga and palates
And the room is full of hotties
So I'm checking out the bodies...'
posted by edman at 10:00 AM on October 14, 2008

I always thought The Great Pretender was a bit of a departure for Freddie Mercury.
posted by Oriole Adams at 10:14 AM on October 14, 2008

Ben Folds - Bitches Ain't Shit
posted by Bearman at 10:15 AM on October 14, 2008

More suggestions, perhaps not by people "out of their league" exactly...:

Luna (Dean Wareham) usually has at least one cover song on each of their albums. I'm particularly fond of their slow cover of Sweet Child O Mine by Guns and Roses from "The Days of Our Nights".

Also, more Bowie - his early album Pin-Ups is all covers, most of which are better than the originals (imho). That being said, here's a list of songs by Bowie covered by others. I've yet to hear any Bowie song surpassed by anyone other the man himself, but hey, it could happen.

And, of course, there's Sister Morphine, written for the Rolling Stones by Marianne Faithfull, but her version of her own song pales in comparison.
posted by elendil71 at 10:34 AM on October 14, 2008

Well, there's the entirity of Richard Cheese's catalog, which are all ridiculously amusing lounge covers (if you're into that sort of thing). Also, The Dickies are prone to incredibly silly punk versions of classic rock, tv show themes, and lord only knows what else.
posted by FatherDagon at 10:45 AM on October 14, 2008

Dynamite Hack did a fun acoustic rock cover of Eazy E's Boyz-N-The Hood. Interestingly(to me, at least), one of the bonus tracks on Superfast(the album that included Boyz-N-The Hood) was a cover of another song on the album(Anyway). The album version is a fast-paced punk song, sung by the male lead singer, about breaking up; the cover is a slow piano song with a female singer.

In addition to Kim Wilde's Kids in America(which has been covered about a million times), the Bloodhound Gang also covered Tricky by Run DMC.

Smash Mouth has done some covers, including Why Can't We Be Friends?, and I'm A Believer.
posted by owtytrof at 11:11 AM on October 14, 2008

Rolf Harris - Stairway to Heaven*
Elbow - Independent Woman
Futureheads - Hounds of Love
Aztec Camera/Roddy Frame - Jump

*Be warned, you cannot unsee this.
posted by mandal at 11:16 AM on October 14, 2008

Jonathon Coulton's cover of Baby Got Back. yesss.
posted by changeling at 12:01 PM on October 14, 2008

Cat Power's Covers Record mostly qualifies (though one is her covering her own song). Her version of the Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction" and the Velvet Underground's "I Found a Reason" are highlights for me, but the latter might be too lateral for what you're talking about.

Also, the Swedish band Hellsongs just released an album of metal classics rendered as mostly acoustic ballads.
posted by camcgee at 12:03 PM on October 14, 2008

You have to listen to Paul Anka's cover of Smells Like Teen Spirit It works surprisingly well in this genre.
posted by Neiltupper at 12:53 PM on October 14, 2008

A good keyword to use is "out of genre cover songs."
posted by arcticwoman at 1:33 PM on October 14, 2008

thanks, arcticwoman! Your suggestion helped me out a lot.

For the rest of you who offered suggestions, I really appreciate it. The are all great!
posted by bradth27 at 2:12 PM on October 14, 2008

EmpressCallipygos, you're kidding me, no?
posted by bricoleur at 4:19 PM on October 14, 2008

EmpressCallipygos, you're kidding me, no?

Not the Empress, but there's a couple of reggae/ska versions of Pink Floyd out there. Cant really recommend them if you are a die-hard Floyd fan, but they are weirdly wonderful otherwise.

Here's the Bim Skala Bim version.
posted by elendil71 at 4:43 PM on October 14, 2008

Didn't William Shatner do a bunch of covers, like of Elton John's Rocket Man years ago, and Pulp's Common People maybe 5 years ago? Try him. He can't sing at all.
posted by droplet at 11:20 PM on October 14, 2008

EmpressCallipygos, you're kidding me, no?

About Bim Skala Bim? not at all.

Or about John Mellencamp's "Wild Night"? ....Well, I meant it, but your mileage may vary, of course.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:56 AM on October 15, 2008

Oh, and elendil, thanks for that link - been a while since I heard the Bim Skala Bim one.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:00 AM on October 15, 2008

The Vines did a really interesting acoustic cover of Outkast's Ms. Jackson.
posted by theDrizzle at 11:16 AM on October 15, 2008