I Like the Cover Better - Rock Around the Clock

The deal with this series is that it's a song that I like in the original - or the most popular version you'd know of, in some cases . . . but I like a cover, better.

The original? Bill Haley and His Comets, Rock Around the Clock.


Rockabilly classic.

The version I like better? Both of these versions by Tenpole Tudor / Edward Tenpole - one from when he was getting flogged as a possible replacement for John Lydon in Sex Pistols, the other a different version off of a Stiff Records compliation. The first is also the first place I heard Tenpole Tudor.

Pistols version:


Listen to that fantastic Steve Jones guitar over classic Paul Cook drumming.

Stiff version:




And fuck, I should just do a post on Tenpole Tudor. Underrated band.

Joan Jett & the Blackhearts - Real Wild Child

I've said this before - I call it the "Joan Jett" rule.

If you don't like Joan Jett, we don't ever need to talk about music.

Love this cover.

PiL - Anarchy in the U.K.

I guess this is technically a cover - it's Public Image Limited playing Anarchy in the U.K. by Sex Pistols.

Except of course that the lead singer/core member of PiL is John Lydon. Can you cover your own stuff? I don't know how technically this counts.

But it's pretty awesome.

The Ramones - I Don't Wanna Grow Up

The Ramones covering Tom Waits.

And here is the original:

I Like the Cover Better: Without You

The song Without You, done by Harry Nilsson, is one of my favorite songs of all time.



He didn't write it, though. The original is by Badfinger, and it's also excellent:



Still . . . as the title says, I like the cover better.

Anarchy in the U.K. covered by Rie Tanaka

So, this:



It's a unique take, for sure. I kind of like it. It's different.

SWMRS covers "Bad Reputation"

I've said it before - if you don't like Joan Jett, we don't need to talk about music.

Therefore, I like this cover by SWMRS:

Osaka Ramones - Blitzkrieg Bop

Osaka Ramones, aka Shonen Knife, covering The Ramones.



This cover made me grin ear to ear for the entire song, and for a while afterward.

7 Seconds - 99 Luftballon

So my co-worker who likes SoCal punk mentioned 7 Seconds.

I immediately said, "Yeah, Kevin Seconds. They do the best version of 99 Luftballon ever."

Here it is:

Charly Bliss - Steal My Sunshine

I still like the original song by Len better, but I do really like this version:



I never heard Charly Bliss before this. The A.V. Club's covers are good for that kind of thing for me - I get sucked in by the cover and discover a new band.

Stiff Little Fingers - White Christmas

Merry Christmas!

Jimmy Cliff - Ruby Soho (Rancid)

Here is another cover of Ruby Soho, by Rancid. This time covered by the legendary Jimmy Cliff.



It's produced by Tim Armstrong, but it's very cool to see an old-school Reggae original covering a band that draws a lot from old-school Reggae.

Vampire Weekend - "Ruby Soho" (Rancid)

I was just talking to one of my friends about this today:



It's a really interesting cover. It plays like a Vampire Weekend original, but retains the lyrics and pace that make it one of Rancid's best tracks.

Weird Al cover The Ramones "Beat on the Brat"

I approve of this cover in every way possible.



I thought the U2 cover of Beat on the Brat was good, but this is better.

The Ramones - Little Bit O Soul

The first Ramones album I owned was Subterranean Jungle. I got it from a damaged cassette rack at a record store for $2 and played the living hell out of it.

The first track is a cover from Music Explosion, but to me, it screams Ramones.

Shonen Knife (少年ナイフ) - Top of the World

More Shonen Knife, because Shonen Knife is always better when there is more, or more volume.

Cover of The Carpenters from the tribute album "If I Was A Carpenter."

Xiu Xiu - Wondering

I was digging through AV Club covers a while back, and found this band Xiu Xiu doing Sharp Dressed Man by ZZ Top. I didn't like the cover. But I was intrigued enough to want to hear their own music.

This?

Oh, wow.



Just goes to show, sometimes an interesting cover is just a lead-in to the great originals of a band.

Paranoid - released 47 years ago today

Thanks to MK for pointing this out today - it's the 47th anniversary of the release of Paranoid.

Here it is:



and what the fuck, here is The Dickies doing it, too, because The Dickies. This is a nice live version:



I can't say I like the cover better, but I can say I like them equally well.

The Vapors - Turning Japanese

I loved, loved, loved this song the first second I heard it - probably seeing this video on MTV. I haven't stopped loving it since.

No sex, no drugs, no wine, no women, no fun, no sin, no you, no wonder it's dark.



Weird to see the video again after all of these years. I remembered it, pretty much exactly, even after a long time not seeing it.

Let's say this is for my friend K~, who a Japanese person we both know - a bona fide woman from Toh-Kay-Oh - commented had a very Japanese manner. He even said the same, "I think I'm turning Japanese."

All could say back was, "I really think so."

Not sure he caught the reference. Well, maybe he will now.

And hey, Liz Phair cover. I can't find anything wrong with the phrase "Liz Phair cover."

The Only Ones - Another Girl, Another Planet

Just a really charming punk love song - The Only Ones - Another Girl, Another Planet. Oddly Jonathan Richman-like.



Looking that one up, I saw that Blink-182 did a nice cover, too. Pretty straightforward, just sped up a little to the faster basic speed of a Blink-182 song. And Blink-182's drummer is in The Transplants, so I've seen them live once removed, putting me, what, two steps from seeing the The Only Ones? Maybe not, but there you go.

The Replacements did a cover, too.

I'd avoid the comments sections on all of these - each one is filled with people slagging off the covers, or the originals, or the bands that cover it, or the original bands. I mean really, that's fucking nonsense. If the band you like, likes another band, you're going to slag that band off? If some band you don't like, likes a band you like, you're going to complain about that? What the hell, people.