This week (1/24/10), my pick for the Top Songs list is:
Cover versions that improve upon the original?!

I developed my love for cover versions in college radio 15 years ago (yes, I'm old) and it should be evident that my tastes run to the most obscure possible (one of the reasons I loved the 1st Trashcan Sinatras LP so much).

This is meant to be as controversial as possible, so I'd love some outlandish choices and lively discussions on this topic! While I haven't included any Beatles covers below, they are especially welcome as I love how they annoy my ex-wife!

Cover versions are a pretty broad topic, so to make the funnel as narrow as possible, I've excluded live versions (sorry, no Nirvana cover by The Thermals), radio performances (Motorhome's version of Neil Young's "Cinnamon Girl" is so much better than his, but I can't find the tape I made of them playing on the original incarnation of Sound Opinions), Christmas/seasonal songs (there's a separate thread on that, after all) and basement covers (no one but me and my high school buddy Andy and I remember Damp Hamster's acoustic version of Naked Raygun's "Never Follow" and I doubt anyone remembers our church talent show version of REM's "Begin the Begin." I've also excluded tribute records, as too easy a target, but I do bend the rules below.

Enough rambling: My picks for Top Songs-- Cover versions that improve upon the original:

• The Rolling Stones "Paint It Black" cover by Band of Susans on the Now EP, including sitar and an instrumental version.
  
• Rage Against the Machine’s cover of Afrika Bambaataa’s "Renegades of Funk"
  
• Patti Smith's version of "Smells Like Teen Spirit", which I prefer to both Nirvana's and Tori Amos's version.
  
• Funland-- Obligatory Cover for the Kids (Air Supply medley included on the Sweetness EP)
  
• Treepeople's rocking recording of the Smiths' "Bigmouth Strikes Again" edits out Morrissey's miserable whine.
  

While we're at it, my favorite Joy Division covers (BONUS!):

• Swans doing "Love Will Tear Us Apart" (awesome video too)
  
• Galaxie 500-- Dean, Damon and Naomi do "Ceremony"
  
• Low performing "Transmission" from A Means to An End
  
• Codeine performing "Atmosphere" from A Means to An End
  

YOUR TURN-- WEIGH IN ON YOUR Top Cover Songs That are BETTER than the original?!

I can think of plenty of covers that are far far worse than the original. Coming up with tracks that are better is a bit difficult. But here's a few:

(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction - Rolling Stones, cover by Cat Power - Cat Power's voice is haunting, and I think she exhibits the true feeling of loneliness this song is meant to portray.

(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction - Rolling Stones, cover by Devo - contrary to the previous example, I think Devo's cover of this is just plain fun.

Twin Falls - Built to Spill, cover by Ben Folds Five - I was listening to Ben Folds before I ever knew anything about Built to Spill, and actually, this was one of the leading causes that introduced me to them, who became one of my favorite bands ever.

And speaking of which...

Linus and Lucy - Vince Guaraldi, cover by Built to Spill - off of one BtS's EP's, I loved how the heavy layered guitar version that BtS does so well worked perfectly for this tune.

Goolie Get-Together - From the cartoon, The Groovy Goolies, cover by the Toadies - In the mid 90's, when the Cartoon Network was just starting out, Saturday Morning Cartoons Greatest Hits was released. It's an album of theme songs of some classic cartoons covered by some of the day's up and coming bands. Most songs on the album are good, but I <3 Toadies, so I singled this one out.

Somebody Told Me - The Killers, cover by Richard Cheese - Richard Cheese and his band, Lounge Against the Machine, pretty much only do covers, in that Las Vegas crooner style. This song, off of his album Aperitif for Destruction, is the epitome of the style, singing in a drunken slur, running to the bathroom to puke at the end of the song.

Well, I have almost three hours of punk covers of pop songs on my iTunes, but the best are:

Banana Splits by the Dickies. I'll never think of that show the same way again. And everyone I know who has heard their cover loves it.

These Boots are Made for Walkin' by Government Issue. Yes, it's hard to top the brilliance of Nancy Sinatra, but doing a cover for a Doc Marten audience gives it more nuance.

American Woman by Butthole Surfers. Because of this cover, I am physically afraid of American women now.

Green Haze by Elvis Hitler. I don't know what they were on when they figured out Green Acres lyrics fit into Purple Haze, but I want whatever that was.

Helter Skelter by Siouxsie and the Banshees. But that is sort of a gimme since the Beatles suck.


Also worth mentioning is practically everything ever done by Me First and the Gimme Gimmes or Manic Hispanic (but they are straight-up cover bands, so it didn't seem appropriate to include them here)

Hendrix's cover of Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower." Classic

Lou Barlow- Round -N Round (covering Ratt)

and this from Bon Iver, covering The Outfield's "Your Love."

What the hell, for giggles- let's watch Ratt's video here.

Here's the only 4 I could think of.

Landslide: Smashing Pumpkins (cover of Fleetwood Mac)--not necessarily better than the original, but I like it nonetheless.

Hospital Beds: Florence and The Machine (cover of Cold War Kids)

Strange Little Girl: Tori Amos (cover of The Stranglers)

I Found a Reason: Cat Power (cover of the Velvet Underground)

Some older covers that haven't been mentioned yet -

Black Boys on Mopeds: The Nields covering Sinaed O Connor

The Train From Kansas City: Neko Case covers the 60's girl group the ShangriLas

Take Me To the River: Did the Talking Heads really cover Al Green?

Wonderwall: Ryan Adams vs. Oasis

Hurt: Johnny Cash's version isn't necessarily better than Nine Inch Nails, but its uniqueness rates a mention

Red Red Wine: UB40's 1980's version beats Neil Diamond any day

Gloria: the Patti Smith version

Cat Stevens cover of "Another Saturday Night" by Sam Cooke. It's not better (how can you outdo Sam Cooke of all people?), but it's still awesome. And for the record, pretty much anything Johnny Cash did as a cover is better than the original.

I'm going to go with The French Kick's cover of Lindsey Buckingham's "Trouble".

Major props to you all for great versions of great songs!

And kudos to Foreign Correspondent Joanne for obscurity points with that Nields' Sinead O'Connor cover.

Feel free to post here as you find more cool covers, but there will be more "Top Songs" topics to come. For now I'll leave you with this: Lewis and Clarke doing a stripped down version of the Cure's Disintegration. And while you're on the sixty-one, why not join our group? I'm getting kinda lonely on here . . . BTW they have a whole COVERS CHANNEL if you're mad for that bag.