I'm fed up with these boy/girl bands and artists like Will Young etc. spoiling classic songs, can they not sing anything original, i have some examples, Will Young-Light My Fire,Steps-Chain Reaction,Will Young/Gareth Gates-The Long and Winding Road,Louise-Stuck in the Middle With You, the list is endless, they give no soul or feeling to the songs,they are just bland copies, i think this is mainly a British trait. What do you think?

I used to feel pretty negative about song covers. Talent less nobodies needing to rip off a song for their 2 seconds of fame etc. I remember going to a club and overhearing a couple of youngsters commenting on how cool Ugly Kid Joe were for writing such a great song.. which was 'Cats In The Cradle,' the Harry Chapin heart felt song about his relationship with his father. I didn't like that there was no respect at all for the author. Can anyone name another Ugly Kid Joe song? Nup.

I've mellowed a bit and now take covers on their musical merits. In one way it's good that some great old songs can be bought to a new generation. They are about the only 'new' songs that I know the words too. Also, bands and singers have been ripping off songs since Adam was a lad, well before this current breed.

A topical original from Francis Dunnery, American Life In The Summertime, always makes me smile. It's about ripping off songs and his distaste for it.

Some good covers -
Bowies 'China Girl' from Iggy Pop (Bowie had some writing credits though)
Smashmouth 'Daydream Believer' from the Monkees was very decent

Some covers that need to be buried and destroyed -
Madonna doing Don Mcleans 'American Pie.' WHAT WAS SHE TRYING TO DO?
Britney Spears 'I Love Rock n Roll,' I think it was Joan Jett originally. This version is a hoax!

This goes back a bit, but anyone who's heard the Doobie Bros. cover of "What A Fool Believes" can have little doubt that the damned thing was about 90 times better than Kenny Loggins' original version. I think the credit on that one goes to Ted Templeman, to say nothing of Michael McDonald.

That being said, anyone who tries to cover any Earth, Wind & Fire song should be banished... yes, even ex-NBA'er, current jazzman Waymon Tisdale. You DON'T MESS WITH EWF!

I don't doubt that there are some fantastic cover versions out there (Eg Ray Charles' version of "Eleanor Rigby", or Elvis Costello's version of "I'll Never Fall in Love Again"), but I too am deeply disheartened by the current trend of little poppy children ruining some of my favourite songs. Britney Spears doing "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" is the perfect example.

I mean, saturating the world with half-created, half-regurgitated sugar-coated crud is one thing - why do they have to go after some of the greatest songs in history? Who decides "Hey, I'm a Pop Star! I'm going to do a cover of a Doors song"??

It just aint right man, that's all there is to it!

I think if a song is covered in the spirit of an homage it can be ok. I will cite Bryan Ferry singing Jealous Guy as a case in point. If you cannot add anything to the origional or at least not have the arrogance to think you can improve then you should leave well enough alone!!!

My main fear these days is that too many of these little manufactured "music acts" are trying to boost their popularity by trying to associate themselves with credible songs....

Bottoms up Callybub and Tanzen, beautifully said!

I was absolutely floored when madonna remade "American Pie". This song has such special meaning to me from when I was growing up and to have someone like Madonna slaughter it and i do mean SLAUGHTER... I was just Ticked! I have never even made it through the whole song... I have to change the channel. Not that this version of this song would ever be played on the radio station that I listen to... but you get my point.

I was just racing through the replies to get to the bottom of the page to say what you just said, Tyralia! I'm glad someone totally agrees with me on this!The worst thing I heard about Madonna's remake of the song is that Dan(?) MacLean, the original, loved it! - gag -

Run DMC, Walk this Way, ARRGGGHHHHH!!!!!

granted it helped get Aerosmith back in the limelight but please.....

Hard Knocks Life -Jay-Z
I DID listen to it...and tried to GET it...and I think I even did.
However, it's "Annie" all the way for me!

My daughter calls the "Fine Young Cannibals" "Fine Young Imposters" due to their cover of that Elvis song "We're caught in a trap". They never play the Elvis version.

Why do the radio stations play Bette Midler doing "Beast of Burden" but never the Rolling Stones version.

I was wondering earlier today, why no one has covered any Creedence Clearwater songs. I know Fogerty has been plagued by the legal eagles in the record industry, os maybe he won't agree to it. Anybody know.

By the way my mother thought the group name was "Clarence Clearwater"

cheers
Maynooth

I remember Cyndi Lauper's remake of "What's Goin' On?", but as they say, if it ain't broke, don't fix it! No one can touch Marvin Gaye's rendition.

tjoeb};>

well I dont know but some bad covers are the Dixie Chick's version of Stevie Nicks' "Landslide". At the Divas Live, Natalie was so out blasting Stevie, and its not her song! So not right...and Britney's "I Love Rock N, Roll" Ok, girl, do you really know what Rock N' Roll is? And, does this count? The Moulin Rouge people, Nicole Kidman and that guy singing David Bowie's "Heroes"? Ruined my fave Bowie song there...and and Melissa Joan Hart's version of "One Way Or Another" in that one episode of Sabrina...hmm oh well I dont know what people think now-a-days...but people sure can't sing.

Marilyn Manson murdered the Eurythmics "Here Comes the Rain Again." I've disliked them ever since then.

I hate the current version of Lynard Skynard's "Sweet Home Alabama" by some female whose name escapes me. Talk about murdering a good song!

DJ Sunny's version of "The Boys Of Summer". Whoever DJ Sunny is should be shot - they also did a cover of Bryan Adams "Heaven" and are turning into Euro-pap. There was also a hideous version of "The Logical Song" floating about in the charts too. I don't know about the US charts, but in the UK we are riddled with the disease.

On the other hand some covers are really good - Paul Young's "Wherever I Lay My Hat" was great for it's time and The Chimes "Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" was sublime. Bono even said he preferred this to the original.

Sorry, late getting into this one - the two main contestants of the '60's (Beatles and Rolling Stones) started their careers with cover versions of Blues classics it wasn't until they had been accepted that they penned their own songs and it's only now 40 years on they are accepted as classics to be covered by todays newcomers (Isn't it a shame there's been nothing worth covering since the '60's!). EDIT - 50's and 60's

i didn't like Natalie Merchant's cover of Bowie's "Space Oddity" nor did i like 10000 Maniacs cover of Patti Smith's
version of Springsteen's "Because The Night".

I don't mind so-so covers of songs by artists who need recognition, even if they've passed on. So i might cringe when
i hear of a Nick Drake, Tim Buckley, Roy Harper, or Rory Gallagher song being covered. But those guys can always use the attention of someone discovering their own original
versions.

I wouldn't mind some songs coming back from the sixties, just as long as they did NOT change the overall sound to the song. I could just hear someone trying to replace the organ tune of the DC5 "Because" to an electric guitar. AHHHH!!! I would ge so angry. Otherwise, it would be nice if those tunes came back...but whatever happened to that easy listening sound from singers like Chad and Jeremy???

I hope I don't sound smugly amused when I point out that "I Love Rock and Roll" was originally done by the Arrows. Also, I can name a couple other Ugly Kid Joe songs even though I was never a fan.

One sort of cover I dislike was how back in the 60s white bands totally ripped off black acts, particularly blues artists. Eric Clapton and his sort would be playing to a sold out crowd while the guy who wrote the song was pumping gas or working in a factory.

Punk bands have a history of covering so-called classic songs, usually cranking up the tempo. Some people probably figure they ruin the songs but I really like Me First and the Gimme Gimmes. They only play covers. They'll take a song I never liked but suffered through so many times I know the lyrics anyway and make it listenable. Tunes like "Blowing in the Wind", "Rainbow Connection", and "Uptown Girl" become fun instead of a headache.

I'm not so crazy about other punk bands doing pop covers because it's been done to death.

Clapton's recent cover of Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground" is an example. I mean, it's CLAPTON, so It's not terrible, but here's a song that should have been left alone in the first place. I don't think anyone can really improve on the original, and Clapton certainly doesn't.

How about UB40 when they remade, "I Can't Help Falling in Love With You". They changed it to a reggae song. Personally, I liked it but my parents hated it (my dad still resides in 1951 however)

Oh, and I apologize because I cannot remember the band.. but I remember a butcher job being done on "You're So Vain" by Carly Simon.

Mick Jagger and David Bowie almost annihilating "Dancing in the Street"; they practically YELLED out the lyrics! The original by Martha and the Vandellas is still the best!

tjoeb};>

Superferd,

You just made me cry. I think you're referring to Faster Pussycat's cover of the Carly Simon classic. I'm a huge fan of Faster Pussycat, I think they did a very good cover. Of course, I'm joking about the crying part, not everyone likes their cover.

Jose Feliciano did a horrible cover of "Riders on the Storm" by The Doors. I'm no fan of Jose Feliciano and this cover forever exiled him into Indie's ninth circle of hell.

Edited to say: I'm not a huge fan of cover songs. I can't stand artists who release entire albums devoted to cover songs (with the exception of Me First and Gimme Gimmes), I tend to think that you should showcase your own talents in writing and recording music not somebody else's.