One of the worst cover versions ever was Scissor Sisters mauling of Comfortably Numb. on the flip side, George Michaels version of Roxanne is so good, Sting must be seething.
This is an opposite view on cover tracks, it reminded me to search this out, Kylie (when she was still known for her poppy stuff) absolutely kills it with ‘Should I stay or should I go?’
May well have been a successful chart hit for The Clash, for me possibly the worst most overrated track they ever released and or recorded. They recorded so many much better tracks, but this gets so much radio airplay over and above much better tracks. Rant over.
The thing about this is that they just have rehearsed that and so he 1) agreed to do that performance and yet still did 2) was still shocked when she started her “Vocal” the most baffling thing for me was the applause at the end.
As a long time Clash fan I’d probably agree but Rocking the casbah has got to be worse! Many artists get very limited radio plays of their work, eg Bruce Springsteen all you normally hear is: Dancing in the dark (hate it) Born to run Born in the USA (and occasionally Glory Days)
If you'd told me you were going to get an 80's rock band to cover a Led Zeppelin song, I'd have been curious. If you'd said that it was a female fronted band, arguably better known for their ballads, I'd have been concerned. If you'd told me it was probably Led Zeppelin's best known song, I'd have thought you'd taken leave of your senses. And if you told me that they were performing it in front of the remaining members of the band, I'd have tried to get you locked up for your own safety. Ann & Nancy Wilson, I owe you an apology for ever doubting you. The reactions from Yo-yo Ma, Bonnie Raitt, Debbie Allen, the Obamas and the remaining members say everything.
Having reflected on my knee jerk rant you are correct RtC is the all time worst. All bands I guess have that 1 duff track. Except The Smiths obviously. I haven’t listened to much Springsteen, however having listened to Badly Drawn Boy do a rendition at one of his gigs. Not a bad track Thunder road is.
I was also intrigued as to how it happened so I did a bit of research, albeit some time ago so some details may be incorrect. The background to it is that Chuck Berry was pissed off that the Beatles and Lennon in particular had ripped off some of his licks and his style more generally without giving him proper credit (or a share of royalties) so he had been sniping at them in a number of interviews and there may even have been a court case. It's fair to say that Berry's career was on the wane so by way of apology/settlement and, no doubt, some hero worship on Lennon's part, Berry was invited to appear on a prime TV show which was going to feature Lennon's new band and they would perform some duets. Lennon was somewhat cvntstruck by Ono, who, unfortunately, had formed the belief/delusion that she was not only Lennon's soulmate and muse, but she was also a worthy song writing and performing collaborator and he was either blinded by love or he was too afraid/tactful to tell her the truth. As you can see, Ono couldn't carry a tune in a bucket, so in order to appease her, she was given a single bongo to bang in the hope that this would be marginally better than letting her loose on something loud and obnoxious like a saxophone or a guitar, or God forbid, a vocal part. For reasons which are lost to posterity, some way into their performance of Berry's "Memphis", Ono stopped slapping her bongo, removed the mic that was amplifying it from the stand and started screeching into it...... Apparently, she tried the same thing when they did Johnny B Goode, but the sound engineer muted the mic.
Good lad Badly Drawn Boy… Can I also suggest Racing in the streets and Meeting across the River (Badlands and Darkness on the edge of Town are also a couple of my faves) I’ve see. Him a few times in concert and you certainly get you moneys worth
Love all this. Some years ago daughter walked in while I was listening to Dylan sing 'Make you feel my love' (brilliant) and she said 'Why is he singing Adele's song?'. Made I laugh!
As hideous as that is, at least they only butchered the Eric Clapton version; now if they'd butchered the J J Cale version that would have been far worse...
