Maybe just me, but I would have loved to hear Searching for the Young Soul Rebels-era Dexys Midnight Runners do a short-and-sweet cover of 25 Or 6 To 4 by Chicago. Get rid of the guitar wig-outs and it would really suit I think.
Any others?
Covers that should have been
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Pet Shop Boys doing You’re A Lady by Peter Skellern.
Oasis doing Walking on the Milky Way by OMD.
Oh yes, nice shout on PSBxPS – actually (see what I did there?), they could do justice to any of his songs (I’m already humming “Hold On To Love” to myself…)
… and one potential cover I’ve always had in mind would be Ben Folds Five (or Ben solo) doing Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now”…
Speaking of PSBxPS (it’s catching on!), I’d also like to hear them doing One More Kiss, Dear from the immortal Blade Runner soundtrack – lyrics by Skellern, 1920s/30s-sounding vocals by Don Percival.
Conversely, I’d love a PSxPSB treatment of Jealousy.
PSB did have a go at Springsteen
For a long time I have wanted Bryan Ferry to do REM’s Crush With Eyeliner. I can hear it in my head. There’s still time.
Now you’ve got me thinking! Given Bryan’s love of doing covers, here are my suggestions in case he’s an Afterword visitor (given his impeccable taste, he’s bound to be):
Vienna by Ultravox – slowed down and even more atmospheric than the original, if such a thing is even possible
Something by Kate Bush: maybe Breathing or Hello Earth (imagine what BF’s usual crew of ace sessioneers could do with that, plus production by Rhett Davies, mastering by Bob Ludwig – make this happen, dammit!)
Boys of Summer by Don Henley – the mood is just right for his later, more lived-in voice
Waiting for the Night by Depeche Mode (relatively lesser-known Mode, but would suit BF perfectly – see the video below, in case you haven’t heard it).
We’ll have to get our people to talk to his people.
I love that idea. Ferry was the frontman 70s boys wanted to be and Gahan was certainly one of them. In the 101 film while the band a relaxing backstage, Love is the Drug comes on and Gahan is delighted – and sings along expertly.
Perhaps it’s a bit obvious but I think Ferry would sing Enjoy the Silence very well. It’s essentially quite a simple song but it requires vocal restraint and elegance, which Ferry can do naturally.
Great Call. I’d want that asap.
I would really like to hear The Damned do Chris Montez’s “Let’s Dance”, and Metallica do a melody of King Crimson’s “Red/ The Taking Drum/ Lark’s Tongues in Aspic”.
I think you mean a medley. I’d rather hear King Crimson doing it.
A Fripp, Cross, Wetton & Bruford version of Curved Air’s Vivaldi would have been fun.
Rick Rubin was asked which song he regretted not getting Johnny Cash to cover. Can’t you just hear JC doing this?
I love that album cover.
I’d like to head Christy Moore do a version of Bill Withers’ Lovely Day with only a lone bodhrán accompaniment. I have no doubt that this has lodged itself in my brain because of his brother Luka Bloom’s version of “I Need Love”, by LL Cool J.
Queens of the Stone Age doing Caroline by Quo
Haha…but yes.
Soundgarden covering “New Dawn Fades”
Mark Lanegan covering Warren Zevon’s “Carmelita”
Prime Opus Dei Laibach covering “Una Paloma Blanca.”.
Yes please. You can never have too much Laibach.
I can hear it now: a huge choir in a minor key, thunderous drums, tempo at half the usual speed, “Una. PALOMA. Blaaancaaa.” All while Milan is doing his menacing marching on the spot. Why has this not been done already?
For the B side? The Macarena. “Hey. MA. CA. RE-NA!” (*Blast of synths and industrial guitars blows the studio doors off*)
I must go and listen to more of the wacky Slovenian laughmeisters immediately. Here’s one of their best covers, Sympathy for the Devil. If Mick’n’Keef had arranged it like this, the Stones could have gone in a quite different direction.
The Stones covering Rock Lobster. Not sure why, but I can really hear Mick singing it
They are having a go at Amy Winehouse on the new album
No, no, no!
I would give so much to hear Joni Mitchell cover Break Stuff by Limp Bizkit.
Hearing Joni deliver the ‘ripping someones head off’ line would be a delight
How about Don Estelle doing a version of Drive by The Cars? Oh sorry, it’s already been done.
What that really needed is Ric Ocasek and Benjamin Orr covering Whispering Grass. Sadly both are now busy touring with Gerry Rafferty.
It needs Windsor Davies’ Sgt Major Williams: “You need someone to pick you up? Oh dear, how sad, never mind.”
I’m imagining the pair of them doing “Papa was a rollin’ stone”
Windsor Davis rolling his r’s OR Sandy Powell “it was the 3rd of September…the day war broke out”
P.O.O. “The day war broke out” was Robb Wilton though.
Ooops!
Miley Cyrus covering Baby’s On Fire by Brian Eno.
Cockney Rejects covering Making Your Mind Up
Siouxsie And The Banshees covering Perfect
I always thought The Lemonheads would do a great version of “I want to see the bright lights tonight”.
That would never in a million years have occurred to me – but they really would.
They are not opposed to an out there cover either, their wonderful Kirsty MacColl one shows that:
Yes and they did a great Mrs. Robinson.
There’s this, from the same LP. https://youtu.be/MwwGaVkL3D0?is=d42uLgM4WnwrsMWk
What a great song.
I think Van der Graaf Generator would do a storming version of Megalomania – or Kashmir – or, come to think of it, Jubilee Street!
(I’ll get me cloak…)
This I like.
Me too.
Dua Lipa – Gonna Take a Miracle – specifically the Laura Nyro version, danced up.
Kraftwerk doing Gangnam Style is the crossover hit we’re all waiting for
I’ve always thought that the fourth Ramones album should have been all surf covers… and actually I’m quite surprised it wasn’t.
More recently, I’d like to hear Sparks cover the last David Byrne album.
Saw David Byrne recently and actually thought it was pretty Sparksy.
There is apparently a german band called Rämouns – who do just that… surf songs in the style of The Ramones.
Only heard one track so far but it works.
For some reason, I’ve long believed an unlikely cover of Christina Aguilera’s Beautiful by Oasis would sound good.
It’d suit Liam Gallagher’s voice imo stripping the vocals back a bit without some of the embellishments and the message is the kind of personal upbeat thing Oasis do that goes down well with the masses.
and lyrics include the phrase “the sun will always sheeeiiine”
Great pick up! Perfect for Liam
It’s not possible, but Roy Orbison would have had a field day with this.
Wow! He must have had Roy in mind when he wrote it.
I’ve always wanted to hear Alexander O’Neal do this:
In my head I can clearly hear Nick Cave doing ‘Welcome Home’ by Peters And Lee.
Bruce with the current touring line-up of the E-Street Band might do a cracking live version of ‘Love Resurrection’
The Alison Moyet song? Yep, I can imagine that working really well!
Since the release of the album in the 80s, I always loved Imagination’s “The Need to be Free”, but I always thought that the weedy synth arrangement wasn’t up to the beauty of the song. Especially when we hit the 2:30 mark and the worst synth “riff” ever almost ruins everything…
I used to wish they would re-record it themselves with a better producer and musicians, then I thought that George Michael would have been a perfect fit for a cover version – now I don’t know who would do it best…feel free to make suggestions.
Try to imagine Jeff Beck playing this. As far as I know, no guitarist has ever covered it.
I’d like to hear Paul Weller and his current band doing a fiery, driving version of Smokey Robinson’s “Heavy on Pride (Light on Love)”.