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Truly terrible covers of the good and the great

Barking Spiders

By Barking Spiders,
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Barking Spiders Veteran

Barking Spiders

Posted
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Just been scrolling the DAB channels to see what's on and landed on Planet Rock while a truly awful song was on. I stayed to listen to it as it's just criminally bad. Now I'm not the world's biggest Beatles fan but one of their tunes I do really like is I Am the Walrus. However, the song I'm talking about happens to be a cover of this by something called Spooky Tooth. It has nothing in it that makes the original a classic but adds in loads of Keith Moon style drumming, overly loud sustained chords on a Hammond organ and a singist who sounds like Ozzy on an off day. Anyone else heard this and can you think of another cover that really mullers the original. 

Edited by Barking Spiders
  • Barking Spiders changed the title to Truly terrible covers of the good and the great
Woodinblack Grand Master

Woodinblack

Posted
Posted

I just listened to it - I really don't mind it at all, I think it brings something 'new' to the party, maybe because I am not that bothered either way about the original.

 

The ones I don't like are normally modern remixes where they replace the drums with a drum loop, and take the soul out of something - normally so they can use it on adverts, there are quite a few on there at the moment.

Mykesbass Grand Master

Mykesbass

Posted
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Alexandra Burke's version of Hallelujah. Rips all the fragility from the song and turns it into a big, belting power ballad. Someone obviously didn't care for music...

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Richard R Grand Master

Richard R

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Anything,  and I mean ANYTHING, played in B&Q. 

 

A few years ago they started playing truly terrible covers of decent songs as their background music. I complained to the manager that it was making me so annoyed  I would shop elsewhere. This was fine until the other local DIY store closed down and I was forced back to B&Q.  I was delighted to discover they were playing originals, but it didn't last and now they are back to utter dross.

 

Totally soulless, devoid of feeling, mind-rotting, toe-curling excrement.

 

 

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TheGreek Grand Master

TheGreek

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4 hours ago, Lozz196 said:

Stairway to Heaven by Rolf Harris was pretty poor.

 

D`you blokes know what it is yet?

 

I was going to say The Far Corporation but yours tops that.

tauzero Grand Master

tauzero

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1 minute ago, TheGreek said:

 

I was going to say The Far Corporation but yours tops that.

 

"Hey Mr Plant, my band's just done this cover of Stairway and we were wondering what to call ourselves, here, I'll play it to you <song plays> There, what do you think we should call the band? Hey lads, he said Far Corp. Far Corporation it is then."

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Richard R Grand Master

Richard R

Posted
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39 minutes ago, TheGreek said:

Was it Madonna who did a truly terrible version of American Pie?

 

 

 

I didn't mind that version when I first heard it. The video has put me off it though.

Shaggy Veteran

Shaggy

Posted
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There are so many.   Cover of “Comfortably Numb” by The Scissor Sisters springs to mind.

Also that awful dirgey cover  of “Mad world” a few years ago that spawned a thousand other awful dirgey covers - it would depress me too much to google who it was (though I guess excluded from the thread as he was neither great or good)

 

Worst one for me - and everyone here will disagree with this, as for some reason it’s regarded as a classic - is Joe Cocker’s “With a little help from my friends”.  I have to turn the radio off if it comes on......

 

 

Edit: Actually no, I have wronged poor old JC.   I have a cheapo Christmas compilation CD with a cover of “Fairytale of New York” sung by Máire Brennan of Clannad (who makes a pretty decent stab of her part) and Ronan Keating (who really, really doesn’t)....🙁

Edited by Shaggy
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PaulWarning Veteran

PaulWarning

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Very much a matter of opinion, I like Joe Cocker's version, one of the few Beatle covers I prefer to the original.

Can't stand Stevie Wonder's version of We Can Work It out, but then again I don't like most of what he's done.

Now where is that tin hat?

 

 

 

tauzero Grand Master

tauzero

Posted
Posted
6 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

As I always mention on these threads, the worst cover ever, Sound of Silence by disturbed. 

 

That, and Joe Cocker's "Little Help", are very much subjective. Personally, I love both of them. The Alexander Burke version of "Hallelujah" is objectively awful though.

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Woodinblack Grand Master

Woodinblack

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Absolutely not - sound of silence is provably awful!

 

OK, I just listened, it is awful, but I would still rather listen to it than sound of silence. And all covers of Hallelujah are awful anyway.

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Jackroadkill Grand Master

Jackroadkill

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7 hours ago, Mykesbass said:

Alexandra Burke's version of Hallelujah. Rips all the fragility from the song and turns it into a big, belting power ballad. Someone obviously didn't care for music...

 

This.  I thought that whilst she's a much better singer than I could ever be in nine million years, whoever decided on that song and arrangement completely missed the point of it.  Either that, or, worse, they didn't care.

 

I also hate Marilyn Manson's cover of Tainted Love with a passion.  Oh, while we're at it, I hate these covers we're inundated with these days, with faux-whimsical vocals and lackadaisical acoustic guitar arrangements, especially when they're of something that originally had a bit of oomph to it.  They're typically found on TV ads and make me want to effin' spit.

ezbass Grand Master

ezbass

Posted
Posted
2 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

And all covers of Hallelujah are awful anyway.

I find that it’s not that they’re awful (YMMV) but that they fail to convey the irony and venom of the original.

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paul_5 Grand Master

paul_5

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3 minutes ago, ezbass said:

I find that it’s not that they’re awful (YMMV) but that they fail to convey the irony and venom of the original.

This. You need some pretty big balls to want to make changes to Leonard Cohen material.

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Woodinblack Grand Master

Woodinblack

Posted
Posted
6 minutes ago, ezbass said:

I find that it’s not that they’re awful (YMMV) but that they fail to convey the irony and venom of the original.

 

Indeed - that is what makes them awful - they try and turn it into a song version of an inspirational quote 

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