Spoilt a favourite song and overlooked likely intended meaning of words

This is the worst ever cover version. I will brook no argument.

That tiresome bloated bellower. Like your Dad dancing. Strangely it seemed to boost his career and gave some sort of new credibility. How did that happen?

Quite possibly the worse ever!

Rod Stewart wrecking Tom Waits (a particular soapbox of mine)

Mr Hucknell thinking he could do a better job than Harold Melvin

But surely the the award goes to Ms Whitney Houstin as she warbles her way through "And I,I,I,I,i,I,I,i,i,I,i will alwa,a,a,a,a,as,s,s,s,s,s love yOUOUOUOUOUOU" Dolly must be crying all the way to tha ATM

"American Pie" by Madonna. I remember sitting open-mouthed in true Mel Brooks-ian fashion when I heard this on the radio at a client's house.

Or Bette Midler's version of Ben Folds' "Boxing"? Yes, it is as bad as it sounds.

How about everything Westlife has ever done?

Z

M People...dear God....I thought I'd wiped them from memory!

See also Duran Duran doing (with no trace of irony) White Lines...and in later years covering 911 is a Joke - A special pantheon reserved!

Rod Stewart's American Songbook trilogy anyone?

Him doing Talking Heads Heaven wins my vote and I havent even heard it. Just imagining it is bad enough.

...or maybe it should be 'huck'n 'ell'.

Why he would think it's OK to cover 'Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye' - nailed by Ella Fitzgerald - and think he can get away with not slipping effortlessly between major and when the lyrics command?

See also, Alison Moyet.

All of those mentioned above are bad, for sure (M People ~ shudder), but what about the monstrous travesty that was Paul Young's version of Love Will Tear Us Apart?

By All Saints

I still get a little sick in my mouth when I thnk about it.

I second the downtown trainwreck Rod the plod made of Tom Waits. How about all the awful Beatles' covers? "Something", murdered by Shirley Bassey and "With A Little Help From My Friends" by Wet Wet Wet plus many, many more.

for some old cd's to bung on iTunes and LO! came across NME's 40th Anniversary CD "Ruby Trax".....from around 1992ish - it's a three CD cover version nightmare....

Take your pick from The Wonder Stuff trundling through Coz I Luv You, the purple loon pant bad trip of Cud, covering Down Down (oh lord!), Sir Billiam of Bragg shredding When Will I See You Again, Ned's Atomic Dustbin hitting the highnotes of Charlene's "Never Been To Me" and if this tremedous goldmine of recorded drivel was not enough....a warm round of applause please for the mighty mighty Blue Aeroplanes caterwauling through Bad Moon Rising....

If you ever see this CD cheap (£1 or less!) in your local exchange, it is bizarrely - decent value for money. Marc Almond does a corking version of Like a Prayer backed with some lovely orchestral brass and Suede's very understated and rather good take on Brass in Pocket

I happened across a film staring the hamsters friend Richard Tiffany Gere, called Shall We Dance?

I could here a song that sounded familiar, and it was 'The Book Of Love' by The Magnetic Fields covered by Peter Gabriel - and it was utterly dreadful. Each verse sung in a different vocal style; big gaps between verses - clearly trying far too hard to put emotion into the song.

A little obscure - but made me mad.

Forget Rod Stewart and get your lug-holes around Paul Anka Rock Swings with such compelling delights as Eye Of The Tiger; Everybody Hurts; Wonderwall; It's A Sin; Jump;
Smells Like Teen Spirit; Eyes Without A Face and Lovecats. All handily packaged on one CD.

I bought this in jest, but now find it has an affectionate place in my heart and rarely fails to take a dinner party off into new directions.

One of the funniest CDs we ever heard was the Treorchy Male Voice Choir singing Queen's Greatest Hits. A Welsh male voice choir giving their own unique treatments of "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Flash" and (best of all) "We Will Rock You", amongst others.

The woman who owned it (and loved it !) got most offended by us taking the mickey out of it and took it away again with a slightly haughty "Well at least they can sing, unlike you lot !".

Couldn't find it on Amazon to link to. For some reason, there's no Queen songs on their Best of album - can't think why...

Slightly off topic but I still can't understand why Jamie "the Jazz Hobbit" Cullum was invited to be a part of "The Strat Pack" and play at the Fender Stratocaster 50th Anniversary concert. He appeared along side a host of well known Strat users... Dave Gilmour, The Crickets, Hank Marvin, Albert Lee, Joe Walsh.

I've not seen the concert but he plays... ermm... the piano... doesn't he?

Don't believe me? Check for yourselves! http://www.amazon.co.uk/Strat-Pack-Anniversary-Fender-Stratocaster/dp/B0...

Many moons ago some bright spark thought that it would be a brilliant idea to record a gazillion different covers of 'Gimme Shelter' for a charity record, all done by different artistes. I do believe that both Carter USM and Samantha Fox were involved and I'm stopping this sentence now before my brain gives off any more steam...

The Gimme Shelter charity record was, in a bizarre move, in aid of SHELTER and came in a number of formats on 12". There was a Dance Version and an Indie Version plus a couple of others if memory serves.

I have, in the depths of the aforementioned garage, the Dance and Indie versions. The lead track on the Indie version was a pretty decent stab at it by the Inspiral Carpets and the Dance version had howlingly bad attempts by Gary Clail and the ON U Sound System and Pop Will Eat Itself.

Best forgotten....

Dock of the Bay-Michael Bolton

I also hear that Styx once covered "Locomotive Breath" by Jethro Tull. Good lord, how awful must that be....

Much as I don't particularly like uber shagger and cook abuser Mr. Sting, I loath the P/Puff/ Daddy / Diddy / etc etc whatever the fuck he's called version of "Every breath you take" with an absolute passion. And Mr. Sting should be ashamed for appearing on it - mind you , it's the MONEEEEEY stuupid.

Not sure what's funnier here: the song or the shot of Richard and Judy in the audience. Not a winner amongst them..

Look away now:

Charles Arthur nailed this one and got quite a bit of flak from the X-Factor fanbase as a result.

that must be about as bad as it gets - who the hell watches that show and treats it seriously?

I could have gone with Robson and Jerome ... but then this reared its head.

Watch and listen as Tom Jones gives The Righteous Brothers a good shoeing.

cover versions were just as good - and in exceptional cases - better than the original? Mostly Dylan songs... Byrds 'Mr Tambourine Man' and Hendrix 'All Along The Watchtower', to name but two.

I concur!

As for Gimme Shelter, no one should touch it. Ever.

...and if so apologies in advance, but didn't Phil Collins once play the role of Teddy Boy to the cinema upholstery of "Tomorrow Never Knows"?

It's a right old stinker.

The Associates "Love Hangover" is brilliant. In no way Deranged, Distraught and Over The Top.

Paul Anka is deliberately straying out of patch, is he not, giving not a little joy to the re-hearing of an otherwise old chestnut. Not far off that "Wonderwall" version that lounged out the original some years back. But, but, but, but the undisputed King of the Innappropriate Cover is Richard Cheese. Bossa nova Stairway to Heaven and salsa Sunday Blody Sunday. And a whole lot more fun than the Suzanna and Magic Orchestra/Nouvelle Vague "post modern" versions of (why do they always cover) Love will tear us apart etc etc. The King, as of Gravelands, also does some interesting Elvoid covers, including, funny that, Love will tear us apart.
Thank God we can always listen to the original by Paul Young, eh!