Cover Versions You've Hated

[darkshadows38]

the beach boys did a version of Peggy Sue that while i don't really hate it's really not that great either.

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

Anything by Michael Bolton - enough said
American Pie by Madonna - a total wreck, missing the mark on the context and feel.
American Woman by Lennie Kravitz - LK is good, but the reworking lacks the Guess Who's power and passion
Hooked on a feeling and Never my Love by Blue Swade - the originals by BJ Thomas and the Association were beautiful,
and Blue Swede (the initials are appropriate) made laughable versions.
Gotta Get you into my Life by Earth Wind and Fire - it is always risky to redo a Beatles song,
but this song does not translate well into EWF style.
Satisfaction by Devo - the techno version is just so wrong

I could name many more. That is for another day.

 

[Willie Oleson]

Only You - Flying Pickets

And the video doesn't really help, does it.
To me this was a case of knowing the coverversion first since Yazoo's single didn't chart in the Dutch top 40. Even as a bad cover version it still sounds kinda good.

This reminds me of Billy Joel's "For The Longest Time" which I think is a very nice retro-50s song but the video has that annoying dads-doing-karaoke feel to it and this has always influenced my opinion on the song. To add insult to injury we got a pointless cover version by a band (don't remember the name, I think it was a one-off) who performed their charming little act in various TV shows (we call a show a show and a series a series so there's a big difference) and somehow this only emphasized the karaoke aspect of it. Since then I've always hated the song regardless who sang it. Paradoxically, I still think it's a good song.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

A clip of this performance was suggested on the BBC app this morning and without context (it started at around the 4 minute mark of the video below) I honestly questioned if I was watching some kind of spoof.

It doesn't fully belong in this thread as I don't "hate" it. I certainly don't love it, but -like karaoke - there's some entertainment value even if it's not for the intended reason.

I'm curious to know more about the background: did the artist choose the track and arrangement or were these chosen for him? He's reading from a lyric sheet, suggesting he doesn't know the song well. And how does he feel about his performance? I don't know enough about the singer to know if this and another song from the same session - Immortal Love - are typical of his live form.


As a caveat, I'm biased because I rarely enjoy male falsetto even when it's done well (which I don't feel is the case here). It's all subjective and I'm sure this is someone else's wonderful. The orchestration is certainly very nice.

 

[Toni]

I do hate Barbra´s Spanish cover of her own "Evergreen". "Siemprrrrrre verrrrrrdeee..." Just awful. Or this wouldn´t be a real cover? I wonder.

 

[Seaviewer]

There was time in the late 70s and early 80s when it seemed to be necessary to record disco remakes of every popular song from the 60s. I'm going to single out Donna Summer's MacArthur Park for special discommendation. It's so unnecessarily fast that she has to add the word "Chinese" before "checkers" because she can't wait to for the rest in the original.

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

"Bang a Gong" by Power Station.

I liked Power Station, but this remake just didn't work. The original is so upbeat and likeable.
The remake has non of its charm

 

[9unfold]

Tainted Love by Soft Cell.

The original is a good song, but this cover is hard to listen to.

 

[Seaviewer]

Tainted Love by Soft Cell.

I thought that was the original.

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

I thought that was the original.

Didn't the song continue with "Where Did Our Love Go" by the Supremes? In that sense, it was truly...Yuk

 

[Soaplover]

Orgy - Blue Monday

 

[9unfold]

I thought that was the original.

Gloria Jones did the original. It's really good.