GOOD COVER, BAD COVER

David Bowie and Mick Jagger singing Martha & the Vandella's "Dancing In The Streets"
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*Disclaimer - The musical opinions reflected in this post are mine and mine only. You might hate the songs I am loving and love the songs I am hating. Deal with it. If it upsets you, get a blog of your own and complain about it*

I'm here to talk about cover songs. You know...some musician(s) doing someone else's music. This idea of bands and musicians covering other people's songs isn't exactly a new trend. Carl Perkins came out with "Blue Suede Shoes". It did okay in the charts. Elvis Presley covered it a few years later. Shazam! Gigantic success. Otis Redding had a minor hit with "Respect". Aretha Franklin came and covered it. Shazam! She'll go down in history for belting out that tune. You see where I'm going with this. In my mind though, it's become a much larger phenomenon ( or maybe it's getting noticed more with the whole remix-sample-song layering/borrowing that is done today. )

I'm not opposed to bands covering songs. I've heard some amazing renditions of another person's song. For example: Sinead O'Connor's version of Prince's "Nothing Compares 2 U". Jeff Buckley's version of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah". THOSE are incredible. They made it their own. I'll be honest though, if it's a band I DON'T like covering a song I LIKE - yeah, I might get a tad ruffled. Downright surly even. Bauhaus covering Bowie's "Ziggy Stardust" was okay for me. I love them both, AND Bauhaus did a pretty good job of it. But when Orgy did New Order's "Blue Monday", I wanted to repeatedly stab them with their eyeliner pencils. Who the fuck was Orgy anyway? I don't like when a new band comes out of the starting gates with a cover song. The safety net tune to get them airplay. They obviously wanted to record it, and the label is usually MORE THAN HAPPY to make it their debut single. I call bullshit on that. Cheating. Sorry, but that's what I think. At least No Doubt had some years, records, and major credibility under their belt before they chose to cover Talk Talk's "It's My Life" ( That was tough for me. I don't HATE No Doubt, but I wouldn't call myself a big fan either. And I liked that Talk Talk song. It put me in a weird spot if people asked if I liked it. I still don't know if I do. ) If a band I like covers a song from a band I like MORE, oooooh weeeeell then - they better do a stellar version of it or I'm gonna be crabby. Perfect example? Foo Fighters covering Prince's "Darling Nikki". I think the Foo Fighters are a very talented band - but my love for Prince borders on worship. "Darling Nikki" is one fucking helluva song. Can the Foo Fighters do it justice? I was incredibly skeptical. In fact, I was angry that they had the BALLS to try to cover it. And how did they do? I give it a B-. Dave Grohl is the shit, but you AIN'T Prince, bitch!

There is also the novelty of a band from one genre covering another song from a musician from a TOTALLY different genre. TONS of cd compilations have come out with artists paying "tribute" to some of their favorite bands - regardless of what style they play. Do you recall Garth Brooks' rendition of Kiss' "Hard Luck Woman" on the KISS MY ASS TRIBUTE album? Well, I do. Who would have thought that Garth and Kiss would ever meet up, right? But guess what? Garth earned much respect from me after that. Not only did he LOVE Kiss as a youngster, he did a GREAT job on the tune. Can't judge a book, I guess. Remember "IF I WERE A CARPENTER" ( Carpenter's tribute album ) with artists such as Babes in Toyland, Redd Kross, Shonen Knife, and Sonic Youth? Not exactly people you would associate with The Carpenters, but each band really expressed their love for them in the songs they chose. Sonic Youth's version of "Superstar" is both haunting and sentimental, while Grant Lee Buffalo's version of "We've Only Just Begun" actually made you forget for a moment that it WAS a cover. That was a very impressive compilation, I will admit ( and yeah, I dig the Carpenters big time too. ) Those are the good aspects of bands covering bands.

There are bad aspects too.

I'm gonna take a stand here and say that Fred Durst should not be allowed to touch ANYBODY else's songs...EVER. From George Michael to Pink Floyd - I feel he has embarassingly destroyed every song cover he has touched. His renditions lack style, talent, and respect for the other artist ( because in my mind, he feels his shitty singing IS great and that these bands should praise him for doing it. ) In that same breath, do I like Fred Durst? Nope. BIG nope. So, maybe that's your answer as to why I hate them. But, I'd like to believe that I TRY to leave my opinions of the band out of the equation when I'm deciding whether their version was worthy or not. As I mentioned before with the "novelty" thing, think Pat Boone and the 'heavy metal covers' album. HELLO!!!?!?! What was THAT about!? That was funny for about a week. And I'm the QUEEN of silly kitsch dumb ass shit like that, and I found it boring. Contrived. Forced. Desperate. I understand celebrities trying to buy into something "cool" in the market to get some recognition ( again ) but it was pretty sad.

But again, that's me.

Cover songs. You either love them or hate them. You might get really excited that your favorite band covered a song that you like equally as much, or you get insane because a band you despise covered a song that you love. Here are some cover tunes for you. Two that I found inspiring and beautiful and incredibly well done - and two that I find totally scary and bizarre.
Can you tell which ones fall in which category?

Rufus Wainwright sings The Beatles "Across the Universe"
Johnny Cash & Joe Strummer sing Bob Marley's "Redemption Song"
Barry Williams (aka Greg Brady) sings Queen's "We Are The Champions"
Andy Gibb & Victoria Principal sing The Everly Brothers "All I Have To Do Is Dream"