Prince covers

What are the best trax off the Dump tribute?

Oh, and no remixes either. Sorry.

Actually, the TLC and Scotty ones are far better than the other two.

I cherish the memory of having seen Ida cover all of _Dirty Mind_ live (at a Halloween or New Year's show, I forget which).

Blue States did it too - a nice easy version

Pankow "Girls and Boys"
Pig "Never For Fun" (which was basically "If I Was Your Girlfriend")

I'm edging slightly towards the original here, just because it is inherently such a great song, the verses, the choruses, just hit so many moving chords, and is just a class act warm r&b pop hit.

However, the Chaka Khan cover introduces all those early hip-hop/breakdancing bells & whistles that make it more memorable.. the harsh intro beat, the little rap about Chaka Khan at the intro, which is classic. The breaks, beat stops, and all other rhythmic weirdnesses. Stevie Wonder on harmonica. And the bizarre bridge where the Chaka Khan rap comes back. And aren't those Jackson 5 samples in the bridge too? This is probably the best attempt to make a cover seem like an original in the 80s. So much more gets introduced to the song, yet the basic tune is practically unaltered, at least to the point where you could hear the Prince original and go "oh, so THAT was a cover?".

I think most agree Prince is not a contender here (haha, sadly enough)

Sinead wins this one for me too, cinny. Though I think The Family's version is underappreciated. There was a lot of "oomph!" and emotion and "bigness" added to Sinead's version that just crossed the right threshold, and it did have the slightly unfair advantage of having a killer video to accompany it. (How many people think of Sinead's cover WITHOUT the image of her crying in front of a black backdrop?) The Family's version is more introverted and sparse. The melody is a little weirder, but I'm still very moved by this version, and think it should get more exposure. So it's a very close call here.

(Fucking hell, The Family's self titled album deserves SOME sort of CD reissue, as it's superior to many of Prince's later albums by light years.)

i think sinead's is more immediately striking but maybe a bit too stark.

this thread makes me cry because prince is such a seeming irrelevance now, he really was the best wasn't he? sniffle.

I have a cousin named Chaka too, so I could be biased - but not really!

life without buildings - pop life

I think they all come from Stevie's "Fingertips, Part 2" -- or are made to sound as if they do.

Meli'sa Morgan - Do Me Baby

Phish's ironic live covers of Purple Rain and 1999 were by no means good, but they sparked my curiosity about Prince for the first time.

why do ppl think prince is still going to get back on form? i think he does still have it in him but i dont see it happening anymore (especially after waiting so many years). its kinda weird too, cos i dont think anyone expects bowie to start making music as good as low or diamond dogs again...

3121 wasn't bad.

The Missouri Sex Offenders - I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man
Esmee Denters - How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?
Sinead obv.

Esmee Denters? Seriously? That youtube chick?

Esmee song

Missouri Sex Offenders

^Tim Kaiser, lead singer of the Missouri Sex Offenders, released a solo tape two (I think?) years ago. It's way better than any of Prince's recent efforts.

YES. The Youtube chick!

the tevin campbell version of shhh and sineads version of NC2U are both better than princes, especially NC2Um, which gets turned into a by the numbers melodramatic soul ballad in princes hands.

I just want to second the kudos upthread for the stompy Hindu Love Gods version of "Raspberry Beret." The only worthwhile thing on the HLG record, but very, very worthwhile.

Hefner's version of Controversy, Soulwax's version of "Starfish and Coffee"

why do ppl think prince is still going to get back on form? i think he does still have it in him but i dont see it happening anymore (especially after waiting so many years). its kinda weird too, cos i dont think anyone expects bowie to start making music as good as low or diamond dogs again...

maybe because Prince is about 800x better than Bowie

that version of "NC2U" on The Hits came after Sinead's. (I still haven't heard the Family's! god help me)

i still love whale's cover of darling nikki. i didn't know so many people had covered nikki till i saw this thread.

The Dump version of "When You Were Mine" is fantastic.

Art Of Noise & Tom Jones: Kiss

Also The Bangles' "Manic Monday" although he never recorded that one himself.

"not counting outside productions/writings he didn't record himself" -- plus, "Manic Monday" is almost the weakest track on the great Bangles album it's on!

(xpost) Yes, he did. there's a demo with Vanity doing vocals. Prince plays all the music (of course) and is in the b-ground, vocally.

Goo Goo Dolls "I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man" was faithful and entertaining, although Lance Diamond sung on it rather than Rzeznick or Takac.

oh geeze

when you were mine by cyndi lauper

Beyonce sings a line or two of the TLC cover of If I Was Your Girlfriend in '03 Bonnie & Clyde.. A cover cover!

I can't believe nobody mentioned this, but of Montreal do really terrific, live Prince covers, especially "I Would Die 4 U". I think I found them on Hype Machine.

bilal - how come u dont call me anymore

still would love to hear that Dump record, which appears to be out of print (hint hint?)

btw his lawyers must have the day off, there's a lot of pr1nce stuff on y0utub3 right now

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cx3UvdYqwUk

d'angelo - she's always in my hair
crooked fingers - when u were mine

I stumbled across this going down a youtube rabbithole...The Eels doing "I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man" in their pyjamas, with strings! Kinda rockin!

http://youtu.be/FOXT-Naxyq4

I don't know about the best, but Gary Numan probably delivered two of the worst... Prince was apparently a massive fan of Numan, too.

Nina Simone's version of "Sign 'O' The Times": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0Va0_QsLAc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRJ76hqsNrg

alicia keys' version of adore is actually pretty great. she doesnt quite nail the ending. but she gives it some. its actually quite hard to cover i imagine, not just cos its quite tied with princes persona, but the vocal never really seems to sit in one place lol

https://play.spotify.com/track/5czJS24aNUAMHg2G0BoX9k?play=true&utm_source=open.spotify.com&utm_medium=open

this is superb

Yeah, nice.

Wait I thought was on other thread, talking about Glasper.

actually that link doesnt work for me. and i cant find it anywhere else. but hey, if you do stumble on bilal's cover of how come u dont call me anymore, its a good one. i cant think of many other singers who could match - and maybe outdo - prince like that.