Covers you prefer to the originals

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You Keep Me Hangin' On:

Kim Wilde's cover, from 1986:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNyRU0fKHAY[/youtube]

Video courtesy extremejtp. All rights reserved.


The original, by the Supremes:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxny2KMd0TI[/youtube]
Video courtesy Supremes59. All rights reserved.

One good reason to prefer the cover is that Kim Wilde sings it in a lower, more natural key than did the Supremes (Kim doesn't have to strain her voice to reach the high notes, where I felt the Supremes did). Another is that Wilde's version is much peppier; it can stir you to get up and dance.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZmw3Cdb9Sw[/youtube]

Bonnie Raitt's original is great too, though she didn't write it, however, Justin Vernon just makes this song magically beautiful.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUcbczpe9QY[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_xFPx2VxBY[/youtube]

Although the original song by DAF is awesome

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F062h9ePl4Q&feature=related[/youtube]

Not superior just a worthy successor

Do remixes like this count?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eT2fJxebIRw[/youtube]

I don't know, but there are a few remixes that I prefer.

For example (original version, followed by remix):

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFPTja6d0qw[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcP1FpRb16o[/youtube]

And:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mV_6WayYDyM[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTpKSALVbBg[/youtube]

Watching that Human Nature video is disturbing. I keep getting this mental image of Smoky Bear showing up saying "Only YOU can prevent forest fires."

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YAEWrnOtrY[/youtube]

I never knew this was a cover when I was younger. It's that good IMO.

Original

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSehtaY6k1U[/youtube]

Great cover 1.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEh5pWjcWCg[/youtube]

Great cover 2.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJT3dt2VjQk&feature=related[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94bdMSCdw20[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvtJPs8IDgU&feature=related[/youtube]

Wow I didn't know tainted love was from the 60s I always thought soft cell were the original and after hearing all 3 i still think theirs is the best version.

I would always prefer Weird Al Yankovich's covers to their respective originals.
For an example, I can't stand Aerosmith's Livin' on the Edge or Michael Jackson's Bad but I do enjoy Weird Al's Livin' in the Fridge and Fat.

"tape from california" by squirrel bait (original by phil ochs):

.. first the Phil Ochs version:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20O8xrv3F7g[/youtube]

... utter genius and so unlikely that a bunch of teenagers from kentucky heard this song in there somewhere, but thank god they recorded it (sorry the cymbals are a bit unwieldy in this recording; they nearly make my ears bleed - but it's really worth listening anyhow, i think):
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2b9Be4UvDk[/youtube]

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and of course there's this:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__F5bfTJlfY[/youtube]

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ataris version of "boys of summer" (original by don henley):
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwpjAQPirE0[/youtube]

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down by law doing "500 miles" (proclaimers) - the uncensored version, but i can't find it.

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ill repute's cover of neil diamond's "cherry cherry" - can't find that either.

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sam black church covering "disco inferno" .. here's a live version with terrible sound quality, but it gives you the general idea:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZLtln6Ky24[/youtube]

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nirvana - "the man who sold the world" (bowie):
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80tX5MLX8QY[/youtube]

.. david bowie's version, which is arguably more interesting but lacks a tiny bit of angst, comparatively:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSH--SJKVQQ[/youtube]

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i don't always prefer this one, but sometimes - another bowie cover - "ziggy stardust" by bauhaus:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6a_YQXFs7Ts[/youtube]

and the original:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsVEWeBkDY0[/youtube]

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for the comedic value, mainly (& too bad i can't find the video) - lords of the new church covering "like a virgin" (changing the lyric "shiny and new" to "shiny and nude"):
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNUteXmBiG8[/youtube]

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.. and nearly anything by me first & the gimme gimmes or the detroit cobras, my two favorite cover bands of all time.

here's one by the detroit cobras, "midnight blues" (don't know who originally recorded it - they've credited it to "henry, rich, unknown"):
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVsL9Lp0iK0[/youtube]

i'll stop there, if i can bear to.

and you know what i don't like better than the original? ANY version of "louie louie," a song which should probably never have been even recorded once.

alright, i can't stop yet.

original song by simon & garfunkel, "hazy shade of winter"

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnZdlhUDEJo[/youtube]

i prefer every cover version i've heard. but here's one:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sGJl2LNFaE[/youtube]

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... and one cover song that makes me absolutely want to strangle the artist, because when it was released, her fans were young / naive enough to think she wrote it, and the original is one of my favorite songs.

the version that offends me so:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=826PTEuHKhE[/youtube]

the lovely and absolutely perfect original version:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkMFLUXTEwM[/youtube]

and a cover by the rubinoos that i'll let live:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8OV8qlR1_w[/youtube]

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cyndi lauper's version of "money changes everything" (the brains):
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aK-UjR3Oj4[/youtube]

original version by the brains, which is pretty great too:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPSq4PyYDD4[/youtube]

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cyndi lauper again, covering prince:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbzxA-5OfWc[/youtube]

prince version:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vndmVlx9pI0[/youtube]

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sinead o'connor covering prince:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUiTQvT0W_0&ob=av2e[/youtube]

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by a slim margin over the original, fishbone's version of "freddie's dead"
(live version isn't what i was looking for, but it's a pretty good live recording, actually):
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzIhVYVsLZ8[/youtube]

original, also great, by curtis mayfield:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9nwcpGZE6A[/youtube]

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and i don't know if i like this better - really i'd like something between this cover and the original.
"got the time" by anthrax:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=be7iNHw8QoQ&ob=av2e[/youtube]

original by joe jackson:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTIPCc1nKYQ[/youtube]

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"hanging on the telephone" by blondie:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWhkbDMISl8[/youtube]

original by the nerves:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emy5mA8Ixtc[/youtube]

it's hard to quit this game.

you can't really improve on that song, but i agree, the swans do a fascinating version.

i like this recording better, actually:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiQsv3Q5P8Y[/youtube]

and that reminds me of one more, also not better than the original, just a great interpretation:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHRFZFmEq9o[/youtube]