Cover versions that you prefer to the original

IdleRich

IdleRich
I do like the original but I can see that many wouldn't. I have a soft spot for all that bubble-gum stuff cos it always reminds me of Shake by Shadows of Knight.... and then all the other brilliant songs they did that are less well known.
 

william_kent

Well-known member
I'm ashamed to say that I sold the Shadows of Knights album that I once owned so I could buy drugs.. so many LPs went that way, I've made it a rule now that once vinyl enters my home it never leaves....
 

william_kent

Well-known member

Bill Withers - Ain't No Sunshine ( 1971 )

Bill Withers' original is pretty magical, but my yardstick is the "I know, I know" refrain and Horace Andy absolutely kills it..


Horace Andy - Ain't No Sunshine ( 1973 )

reggae bores will argue about whether the Studio One "organ version" or the Bunny Lee do-over is the superior version, but my money is on the Bunny Lee production, the sparse rhythm section leaves room for Horace Andy's angelic vocals to float above at a heavenly level, a perfect sonic recreation of the void created by the absence of an unnamed love... dread and sublime at the same time...

Ain't no sunshine when she's gone
Only darkness everyday
Ain't no sunshine when she's gone
And this house just ain't no home
Anytime she goes away
 
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IdleRich

IdleRich
Yesterday gf was asking me to name a sample for her and it was the Three Degrees - Collage. I prefer their version to the original cos of the way it's such a datk sounding song wrapped up in this saccharine soul to an ultimately weird effect.
 
This cover starts as the typical lounge cover (they might be a mainstream genre right now, but I love the style), then pushes to a karaoke joke, and ends in kind of a Yoko Ono arty performance.

 

martin

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I remember Crowleyhead writing "Like America, The Stranglers were never great" - so maybe not the best bet for Dissensus...:ROFLMAO:but always preferred this to Dionne's original.

The cover artwork gives the impression they're going to do some knockaround 'wacky' punk cover of the old standard...but I reckon they treated it with respect, and then some. And that driving bassline is perfect for walking alone through Wardown Park late at night after being dumped. So I've been told.

 

william_kent

Well-known member
I remember Crowleyhead writing "Like America, The Stranglers were never great" - so maybe not the best bet for Dissensus...:ROFLMAO:but always preferred this to Dionne's original.

The cover artwork gives the impression they're going to do some knockaround 'wacky' punk cover of the old standard...but I reckon they treated it with respect, and then some. And that driving bassline is perfect for walking alone through Wardown Park late at night after being dumped. So I've been told.


but... this!


Smith & Mighty - Walk On

Street Soul Sound System Classic...
 

catalog

Well-known member
but... this!


Smith & Mighty - Walk On

Street Soul Sound System Classic...
@william_kent don't suppose you ever found the original S&M erik satie Gymopédie dub that mark stewart nicked? does it exist?


"In 1986, when they were still getting to grips with their studio hardware, Rob and Ray were invited by a friend to perform live at Vision Factory Apres Ski Party, a low-key night in a snooker club in Bristol City Centre. Using a rack of hardware as though they were at home in their studio, their set was interrupted while they were performing a mutant, go-go flavoured cover of Erik Satie’s ‘Gymopédie No. 1’. Mark Stewart (frontman of legendary Bristolian post-punks The Pop Group) intervened in a fit of enthusiasm and thrust a then-unknown Tricky onto the stage for an impromptu freestyle over the top of the track. At Stewart’s request they gave him a copy of the music on cassette, only to discover he had sung over the top of it and released it on Mute Records as ‘This Is Stranger Than Love’ in 1987. Fortunately Rob and Ray were credited as producers on the record and reimbursed after the fact."

Would be unbelievable as well to get the Tricky version, but i guess the set was never recorded.
 

william_kent

Well-known member
@william_kent don't suppose you ever found the original S&M erik satie Gymopédie dub that mark stewart nicked? does it exist?


"In 1986, when they were still getting to grips with their studio hardware, Rob and Ray were invited by a friend to perform live at Vision Factory Apres Ski Party, a low-key night in a snooker club in Bristol City Centre. Using a rack of hardware as though they were at home in their studio, their set was interrupted while they were performing a mutant, go-go flavoured cover of Erik Satie’s ‘Gymopédie No. 1’. Mark Stewart (frontman of legendary Bristolian post-punks The Pop Group) intervened in a fit of enthusiasm and thrust a then-unknown Tricky onto the stage for an impromptu freestyle over the top of the track. At Stewart’s request they gave him a copy of the music on cassette, only to discover he had sung over the top of it and released it on Mute Records as ‘This Is Stranger Than Love’ in 1987. Fortunately Rob and Ray were credited as producers on the record and reimbursed after the fact."

Would be unbelievable as well to get the Tricky version, but i guess the set was never recorded.


Mark Stewart + The Maffia - Stranger Than Love ( Dub )

The 12" credits "Music by Smith / Mighty", I suppose this is as near as we'll get unless someone turns up the original tape - no vocals on this one
 
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