Worst & Best cover songs?

other bad ones:
10,000 maniacs more than this (the orig., roxy music, is one of my favourite songs)
hole - gold dust woman
r.e.m. - pale blue eyes
ub40 - \red, red, wine + everything else they've ever done
urge overkill - girl you'll be a woman soon

good:
bryan ferry - help me make it through the night by kris kristofferson. and i saw daniel mancini do a good version of it live a few years ago too. Actually i like quite a lot of Ferry covers, especially two from his recent-ish covers album "As Time Goes By": I'm In the Mood For Love, and Where and When.
Louis Armstrong Mack the Knife
Chris Knox S.O.S.
also quite like The Shaggs doing the Carpenters' Yesterday Once More though it's not that remarkable.
Einsturzende Neubauten doing Lee Hazlewood's Sand even though I like the Nancy & Lee much more.
hmmm maybe "funky Town" by Psuedo Echo [they were my first concert]

that's all i can think of whilst away from my records.

Mo-dettes "Paint It Black" Ben Watt "You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go" Sally Timms "Half Past France" Marisa Monte "Pale Blue Eyes" Marianne Faithfull "Working Class Hero"

A further question: what makes some songs especially cover-able? Are there particular formal qualities that inspire interesting reimaginings

Best covers: Soft Cell's version of "Tainted Love" (specially the Club 69 Remix). Siouxsie and the Banshees: "Helter Skelter" (Beatles), "Dear Prudence" (Beatles) and "Hall of Mirrors" (Kraftwerk). The Creatures: "Venus In Furs" (Velvet) Matmos: "Disco Hospital" (Coil) (Is it a cover or should I call it a remix?) Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: "Black Betty" (Leadbelly) Pachuco Cadaver: "I Am The Fly" (Wire) Suarez: "EXplosión Madonna" (cover version of Madonna's "I Rather Be Your Love") Ciccone Youth: "Into The Groove" (Madonna) Gus Gus: "Monument" (Depeche Mode) This Mortal Coil: "Holocaust" (Big Star) Spiritualized: "Born Never Asked" (Laurie Anderson)

worst: ian brown murders billie jean.

Did anyone mention Joy Division's "Disorder" as covered by Bedhead?

Is it worse than Braid's or Death Cab For Cutie's covers? Because those are pretty bad too.

Good:

Quicksand covering the Smiths' "How Soon Is Now?"
The Ramones covering Tom Waits' "I Don't Want To Grow Up"
A bunch of Japanese bands covering the Pixies
Erasure covering ABBA's "Take A Chance On Me" (still haunts me to this day, errgghh)

Bad:

Wasn't Limp Bizkit thinking about covering Fugazi's "Waiting Room" on their next album?
The entire output of Me First and the Gimme Gimmes

worst-clapton covering his own layla unplugged comes to mind..

Isn't that everything they've done?

Isn't that everything they've done?

Except they jack up the self-pity while abandoning the drama.

Worst:
Simple Minds - "Love Will Tear Us Apart"
Kate Bush - "Rocket Man"
Billy Idol - "Heroin"

Bis doing "Love Will Tear Us Apart."
Bis doing "Stray Cat Blues."
New Order doing "Sister Ray" (live, the Glastonbury '87 version is shamblingly glorious)
Tori Amos doing "Thank You." (which tops the original, i think)
Lou Reed doing "This Magic Moment"
Salt Lake featuring Waka doing "Ceremony" (yes, the JD/NO one)
Sugiurumn doing "World in Motion" (this and "Ceremony" are from Re:Movement, and the best part of this particular cover is that it takes out all the lyrics but the chorus, thus making it a FAR more listenable song than the original! XD)
Dead Can Dance doing "I Am Stretched On Your Grave"
Hi-Posi doing "Video Killed the Radio Star"
Lolita No. 18 doing "Video Killed The Radio Star"
Mummy the Peepshow doing "This Charming Man"
Cibo Matto doing "Black Hole Sun"
Johnny Cash doing "Hurt"
Johnny Cash doing "Rusty Cage"
Marilyn Manson doing "I Put a Spell On You"
Smashing Pumpkins doing "Never Let Me Down Again"

and i wholeheartedly second the mention of Ground Zero doing "El Derecho de Vivir en Paz."

worst:

some TERRIBLE techno-y cover of "Take On Me" that makes me want to gouge my eyes out
Bis doing "Hurt" (it's too close to trying to sound like the original; this is exactly the opposite of why i like their version of "Love Will Tear Us Apart" so much. and i heart Bis muchly, in general.)
Britney Spears doing "I Love Rock N'Roll"
any of the bits you hear during those KidzBop commercials make me wanna gouge my eardrums out with rusty knitting needles...
that AWFUL "I'll Be Missing You" thing for Biggie Smalls...

The Collapsed Lung version of "Connected" by Elastica
The Frente version of "Not Given Lightly" by Chris Knox
The John Cale version of "Hallelujah" by Leanord Cohen (I know people like the Buckley version but compare the two - Buckleys sucks boobs)
The Superchunk version of "Brand New Love" by Sebadoh
The Johnny Cash version of "The Mercy Seat" by Nick Cave
The Shirokuma cover of "Dead" by the Pixies
The Lali Puna version of "Together in Electric Dreams" by Giorgio Moroder
The Kirstie MacColl version of "A New England" by Billy Bragg
The Gary Jules version of "Mad World" by Tears for Fears
The Faith no More version of "War Pigs" by Black Sabbath
The Snuff version of "I think we're alone now" by Tiffany or whoever did it first
The Pet Shop Boys version of "Where the Streets have no name" by U2
The William Burroughs version of "Star me Kitten" by REM
The Pixies cover of "I can't forget" by Leonard Cohen
The Squarepusher version of "Love will tear us apart" by Joy Division
The Strawberry Switchblade version of "Jolene" by Dolly Parton
The Dinosaur Jr version of "Hot Burrito #2" by Gram Parsons
The Divine Comedy version of "Untitled" by Edywn Collins
The Gram Parsons version of "Wild horses" by the Rolling Stones

WORST
Counting Crows "Big Yellow Taxi". Boob suckage.

'nother nomination for worst, which in all honesty seems painfully obvious: Whitney Houston's cover of "I Will Always Love You."

*inserts generic reference to cats in heat, nails on chalkboards, fava beans & chianti, etc.*