OT: WOAT cover songs
Sherryl Crow’s “Sweet Child O’ Mine”
Hillary Duff doing “My Generation,” complete with “Hope I DON’T die before I get old.” Sickening.
I had no idea Hillary Duff attempted a cover of "My Generation." Ugh.
It's like trying to do a remake of Casablanca. It's just not done.
EDIT - I just watched Duff's version of "My Generation" ... oh my. Words fail me. The Green Day version was pretty good, however.
But have Ilsa stay with Rick at the end because f*** everything.
If that song leaves the ground..., you'll regret it. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life.
Yes, that would be the winner.
I mean, yeah, but that's not even the worst Sheryl Crow cover of all time.
try her D'yer Maker, for literal crying out loud.
Also, I think Devo's Satisfaction is a masterful deconstruction. I could go on about how it subverts the Stones' machismo from the get-go with each instrument observing its own downbeat, but...you've already stopped reading.
I'm guessing you weren't into music in the late 1970's ... 1978 (the year Devo's "Satisfaction" came out) was when disco was finally, mercifully dying. The stadium rock genre was on its last legs (Zeppelin, The Who, etc.). So all sorts of things were looking to fill the void**. Devo represented something that was definitely not whatever came before it. It was, at the time, refreshingly different. Story has it that Devo sought Mick Jagger's approval before release.
I'm struggling to think of truly horrible covers. But one great one comes to mind -- Jimi Hendrix's version of "All Along the Watchtower." He made that his own.
** The Clash, The Police, Talking Heads -- all starting to get serious attention about that time.
So much so that Dylan started doing the Hendrix version live.
That was my era. Graduated high school in 1983. Devo was a spectacle, not a band. There were way better options then: Blondie, The Clash, Crowded House, Dire Straits, etc... Coincidentally, Mark Morhersbaugh did a music track for a McDonalds commercial I wrote and produced. Though I didn’t get to work with him in studio, I did talk to him a few times. That’s what guys who were in bands like Devo do, post-band career: they write ad music. Or if you’re talented like he is, soundtracks. The ad music is an easy $50,000.
Oh, I agree that Devo was in many ways a novelty. But at the time I do recall it being received as something more than just a novelty. September 1978 was my sophomore year in college, and I recall more than a few people buying the album and playing it repeatedly.
Any mention of Dire Straits earns a thumbs-up from me -- love their music.
No shame in doing ad music. And certainly no shame is cashing a $50K check for the effort. :-)
The late 70's have to be the greatest era for music. I know I don't have to convince you but here's my case: Late Keith Moon-era Who; Bruce Springsteen before "Born in the USA," New York CBGB's punk scene in response to disco; The Stones and Rod Stewart attempting to do disco (which I liked, like "Do ya think I'm sexy" and "Emotional Rescue"); Graham Parker and Dave Edmunds; Joe Jackson; the Police....the list goes on and on......
The whole decade of the 70's had great music! :-)
Devo's cover of "Satisfaction" is actually pretty good when you consider that Britney Spears also covered "Satisfaction" and THAT one is in fact truly awful. Actually, the entire album "Are We Not Men?" represents well their rather unique musical POV.
There are some bad ones out there - Limp Bizkit doing "Behind Blue Eyes" was a disaster, as was Miley Cyrus doing "Smells Like Teen Spirit".
Anyone remember Orgy covering "Blue Monday"? That was bad too.
Guns N Roses "Sympathy For The Devil"? Sucked.
Cowboy Junkies version of "Sweet Jane"? Blech.
I could go on and on with this topic.
For reasons unknown, Macy Gray did a cover of Walk This Way. I will fight anyone claiming to have a better (meaning worse) example.
Aretha Franklin’s version of “Eleanor Rigby” was pretty awful.
A rare instance of a great artist and a great song that... yeah.
My nominee isn't really either, and not really even a cover, but I have a special hatred for Kid Rock's "All Summer Long" - I don't have a particular love for either "Sweet Home Alabama" or "Werewolves of London", but it rankles that he took not one, but TWO, perfectly acceptable classic rock songs and combined them into such mediocre dreck.
All Summer Long makes me nostalgic for my childhood. Love the song.
There was a Simon and Garfunkel cover by the lead singer of Madness that had a female rap battle halfway through.
That was beyond horrible. Wish I could find the YouTube link.
This is the easiest G(W)OAT OT thread in a long time...
I see someone else beat me to it, but Hillary Duff's "I hope I DON'T die before I get old" destruction of "My Generation" is unquestionably the winner.
I don't know how such a perfect song could be so destroyed, but she did it somehow. Pete Townsend probably wanted to smash a guitar on the radio or computer or whatever thing he first heard it on...
Motley Crue’s version “Anarchy in the UK” is on the list simply because everything that Motley Crue ever did was complete ass.
Weezer - Africa
You just heard Devo's Satisfaction? What have you been doing for the last 40 years?
You didn't like it, but me & Jagger did.
I heard it with my 15 year old daughter in the car and it was like hearing it with new ears (I've heard it many times before). Maybe I was swayed by her "What the f is this?" reaction, but I don't think so. I never liked it.
This one is obscure. Jason Isbell covered I Follow Rivers by lykke Li. It is awful.
How about Ted Nugent covering the Beatles' "I Want To Tell You." Confession: I actually liked Ted's better.
August 4th, 2018 at 10:07 PM ^
I had no idea the Nuge did that song. That’s one of my personal favorite Beatles tunes and probably my third favorite Harrison song of theirs. The riff sounds so damn pure it haunts me. I’m terrified to hear how it was wango-tangoed.
August 5th, 2018 at 10:33 AM ^
Just to clarify, it was my middle school self who liked it better. My current self does not agree.
I looked it up on YouTube. I don’t hate it. It could have been much worse.
Hey OP, your taste in music sucks.
Yeah, I know.