Modern interpretations of classic songs

October 25, 2007 8:13 PM

Other than Red Hot + Blue and Red Hot + Rhapsody, what are some good rock interpretations of classic songs?

In addition to Porter and Gershwin, I'd love to hear some modern rock renditions of songs by Jerome Kern, Irving Berlin, Rogers and Hart -- basically, anything on Ella Fitzgerald's Complete Songbooks collection would be perfect. I'm especially interested in versions recorded after around 1980, but I'm somewhat flexible on that. I'm not looking for rock musicians doing these songs in traditional arrangements -- like, for example, the Glory of Gershwin album. I mentioned the Red Hot series up front mainly to dissuade people from recommending them, but both have at least some of what I'm looking for -- I particularly liked Tom Waits's "It's All Right With Me" and The Pogues/Kirsty MacColl's take on "Just One of Those Things." I'd love to hear more indie, alternative, and punk renditions, but I'm open to any suggestions.

posted by Acetylene to media & arts (10 comments total)

Summertime - Big Brother and the Holding Company, The Zombies, and I'm sure there's dozens more
Nature Boy - Big Star
posted by hydrophonic at 8:31 PM on October 25, 2007

You might enjoy this Noel Coward tribute album by contemporary artists: Twentieth Century Blues: Songs of Noel Coward.
posted by ericb at 8:32 PM on October 25, 2007

Miranda Sex Garden did "My Funny Valentine" on Suspiria and it's brilliant. Katharine Blake doesn't do the vocal; so it's warm and although still over-the-top, not histrionic.
posted by crush-onastick at 8:33 PM on October 25, 2007

Alice Cooper's nod to West Side Story is the fourth song on School's Out.

Me First and the Gimme Gimmes are a Drag consists entirely of punk covers of show tunes, including Gershwin's Summertime and Rodgers' and Hammerstein's My Favorite Things.

And, of course, Sid Vicious singing My Way.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 9:02 PM on October 25, 2007

There's an (obnoxiously) catchy pop-punk version of "Let's Fall In Love" in the soundtrack to Love and Other Catastrophes.
posted by nebulawindphone at 9:32 PM on October 25, 2007

"All of Me" by Half Japanese is nowhere near their best stuff, but it does have a fun restless energy.
posted by hydrophonic at 10:50 PM on October 25, 2007

Am I Not Your Girl, Sinead o'Conner, is an album of Jazz standards, including "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" and "Black Coffee."
posted by thebrokedown at 11:13 PM on October 25, 2007

Ah, on closer re-read, the O'Connor take may be a little too traditional for you. Sorry.
posted by thebrokedown at 11:19 PM on October 25, 2007

There's also Schlong's Punk Side Story, a punk version of West Side Story.
posted by Atom12 at 6:23 AM on October 26, 2007

Me first and the Gimme Gimmees do a whole album of Broadway punk
posted by Gungho at 7:49 AM on October 26, 2007