Cover versions that sounded exactly like the original

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Or "Just For Money":

Starting with: Westlife: "Uptown Girl", "Against All Odds" and "Mandy"

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Sunday, 17 October 2004 21:43 (nineteen years ago) link

I don't think this has to necessarily be 'just for money'. It can be an interesting exercist

What about Ash's 'Everybody's Happy Nowadays'? And didn't someone (apart from Brian Wilson and the Wondermints) recreate 'Good Vibrations', just to see if they could?

― Alba (Alba), Sunday, 17 October 2004 21:57 (nineteen years ago) link

Sure, Todd Rundgren did half an album of carpon copy versions. Never was tempted to release any of them as singles though.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Sunday, 17 October 2004 22:02 (nineteen years ago) link

Shola Ama's cover of Randy Crawford's "You Might Need Somebody".

― ludesse (ludesse), Sunday, 17 October 2004 22:40 (nineteen years ago) link

XTC's 'Ella Guru'.

Quite disappointing, as I bought the 'Mayor of Simpleton' single just to hear their take on it. Pretty much indistinguishable from the original, right down to the growly "Ella Guru" at the end.

Same thing happened with Teenage Fanclub's 'Femme Fatale'.

― Sasha (sgh), Sunday, 17 October 2004 22:51 (nineteen years ago) link

I guess b-sides are sometimes a bit half-hearted.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Sunday, 17 October 2004 22:55 (nineteen years ago) link

Tears for Fears doing Bowie's 'Ashes to Ashes' (on the NME benefit comp _Ruby Trax_).

― Jeff Wright (JeffW1858), Monday, 18 October 2004 01:00 (nineteen years ago) link

Cracker's version of "Shake Some Action" from the Clueless soundtrack doesn't stray too much from the original. Ditto The Muffs' "Kids In America."

― Phil Dennison (Phil D.), Monday, 18 October 2004 01:00 (nineteen years ago) link

The TR album "Faithful" that Geir refers to isn't really half bad.

The covers:

Happenings 10 Years Time Ago
Good Vibrations
Rain
Most Likely You Go Your Way And I'll Go Mine
If Six Was Nine
Strawberry Fields Forever

Instrumentally, the music is sound. His attempt to sing like Lennon, Hendrix, BBs, Dylan, Yardbirds, is not the stuff you run out and buy albums for. But I got mine used.

― jim wentworth (wench), Monday, 18 October 2004 01:26 (nineteen years ago) link

"Jump," Aztec Camera.

― Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Monday, 18 October 2004 06:27 (nineteen years ago) link

And Rundgren's "Good Vibrations" *was* a single. I wanna say it made the U.S. Top 30, but I can't find the Billboard book right now.

― Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Monday, 18 October 2004 06:39 (nineteen years ago) link

I was halfway through Tears for Fears' version of "Ashes to Ashes" before I realised it wasn't the David Bowie original.

― mark grout (mark grout), Monday, 18 October 2004 06:39 (nineteen years ago) link

tracey ullman, "they don't know." she used kirsty maccoll's original backing track, minus the vocal. you can't get a lot more original sounding than that...

...unless you're the ohio express, whose 1967 bubblegum classic "beg, borrow and steal" was a cover of a rare breed single, with the original backing track AND the original vocal both intact. they removed nothing and added nothing. just used the rare breed's entire recording and put a different artist name on the label. THAT is absolute devotion to sounding exactly like the original.

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Monday, 18 October 2004 14:26 (nineteen years ago) link

you can't get a lot more original sounding than that...

i mean you cna't sound a lot more LIKE the original than that. but you knew what i meant!

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Monday, 18 October 2004 14:28 (nineteen years ago) link

"original backing track, minus the vocal"

Dave Edmunds did that w/ "Heart of The City."

― Doobie Keebler (Charles McCain), Monday, 18 October 2004 15:11 (nineteen years ago) link

Ditto:

Lou Christie - Canterbury Road/ Millennium - There Is Nothing More To Say

― Serghei Daduismus (Dada), Monday, 18 October 2004 15:23 (nineteen years ago) link

TLC's "If I Was Your Girlfriend" doesn't add much, unfortunately.

― briania (briania), Monday, 18 October 2004 15:30 (nineteen years ago) link

The Partridge Family, "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do"

― Joseph McCombs (Joseph McCombs), Monday, 18 October 2004 15:52 (nineteen years ago) link

"Gloria" by the Shadows of Knight. Their version is basically the same as the Them version, but with some slightly offensive line excised so that it could be played on Chicago AM radio stations, thus getting them a huge huge hit.

― n/a (Nick A.), Monday, 18 October 2004 15:58 (nineteen years ago) link

Shadows of Knight - Shake/ Kasenetz-Katz Singing Orchestral Circus - Shake

... both brilliant

― Serghei Daduismus (Dada), Monday, 18 October 2004 16:00 (nineteen years ago) link

"And didn't someone (apart from Brian Wilson and the Wondermints) recreate 'Good Vibrations', just to see if they could? "

The Tater Totz did this with "Strawberry Fields Forever"

― reddkross, Monday, 18 October 2004 16:05 (nineteen years ago) link

4 Hero - Les Fleur. The vocalist does a minnie immitation. its slightly longer tho.

― jed_ (jed), Monday, 18 October 2004 16:13 (nineteen years ago) link

"And didn't someone (apart from Brian Wilson and the Wondermints) recreate 'Good Vibrations', just to see if they could? "

You speak of the Todd Rundgren thing as mentioned above?

― mark grout (mark grout), Monday, 18 October 2004 16:23 (nineteen years ago) link

Ride - The Model (also from NME's Ruby Trax)

― Shooz (shooz), Monday, 18 October 2004 19:19 (nineteen years ago) link

311's cover of "lovesong" is pretty much by the numbers..

― still bevens (bscrubbins), Monday, 18 October 2004 19:58 (nineteen years ago) link

Psychic TV did a cover of "Good Vibrations" that's pretty close to the original, at least until Gen starts going on about the snake slithering up his spine.

― Loose Translation: Sexy Dancer (sexyDancer), Monday, 18 October 2004 20:04 (nineteen years ago) link

Cornershop's "Norwegian Wood" (except for one minor detail).
Also, just about all of "I Am Sam" soundtrack.

― PDAS, Monday, 18 October 2004 20:06 (nineteen years ago) link

Chicks On Speed's "Wordy Rappinghood". It's nice tho.

― Hans Veneman (veneman), Monday, 18 October 2004 20:11 (nineteen years ago) link

"easy" by faith no more!

― Captain Sleep (Captain Sleep), Tuesday, 19 October 2004 09:24 (nineteen years ago) link

Geri Halliwells - Raining Men.

― Jarlr'mai (jarlrmai), Tuesday, 19 October 2004 09:32 (nineteen years ago) link

Down in Awse-tralia one of the latest Australian idols has released an exact replica of 'what about me?' - and wasn't once enough?
Apparently though it's a heartfelt version - you cant ask for much more...

― pineapples, Tuesday, 19 October 2004 10:10 (nineteen years ago) link

I Touch Myself, Saucy Monky [sic]. The lack of imagination evidenced by the record is infuriating.
(Is it a worldwide hit? I've heard it on the radio here, but that could simply be because one of the co-vocalists is Irish.)

― Palomino (Palomino), Tuesday, 19 October 2004 11:32 (nineteen years ago) link

The pre-'Being Nobody' Liberty X's take on Mantronix's 'Got To Have Your Love'.

― B.A.R.M.S. (Barima), Tuesday, 19 October 2004 12:21 (nineteen years ago) link

three weeks pass...

[b]
"original backing track, minus the vocal"
Dave Edmunds did that w/ "Heart of The City."
[\b]

I think (Nick Lowe's?) manager Jake Riviera was responsible for that. I remember reading somewhere Dave saying "What do I want do release 'Heart of the City' for? That was Jake's idea!"

Speaking of Dave Edmunds, what about the Juice Newton version of "Queen of Hearts"? Wasn't that exactly the same arrangement as the original, only less rocking, so as not to offend sensitive country music listener ears?

― Ken Lauterbach (Ken L), Thursday, 11 November 2004 15:27 (nineteen years ago) link

The Bunnymen's "People are Strange" was a bit too close to the original (they even had Manzarek playin' keyboards) to be interesting.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Thursday, 11 November 2004 16:01 (nineteen years ago) link

The Boo Radley's cover of "There she goes"
The libertines cover of "Lazy Sunday"

― mark grout (mark grout), Thursday, 11 November 2004 16:07 (nineteen years ago) link

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