Idolator: cover-song showcase showdown

The Cover-Song Showcase Showdown: Swedish Popsters Go Global

mjohnston — Fri, 18 May 2007 16:35:59 EDT

The news that Peter, Bjorn & John's ubiquitous "Young Folks" had received the bluegrass treatment hit our inbox today, and we figured it would be as good a time as any to put it head-to-head with a few other versions of the song we've come across, including the German-language take on the song we unearthed a few months back. Four takes are below; give them a listen and vote for your favorite. (If only we could find out what the Stop Peter, Bjorn & John guy thinks of all these covers! Alas.)

The Cover-Song Showcase Showdown: It's Time For The Jellyfish Comeback

mjohnston — Tue, 15 May 2007 12:45:31 EDT

The current No. 1 single in the UK is a double A-side by the British boy band McFly (whose existence we actually were reminded of the other night during an insomnia-spawned viewing of the not-very-good Lindsay Lohan vehicle Just My Luck), and one of those A-sides is a sunshiny-bright take on "Baby's Coming Back," originally by the criminally underexposed '90s outfit Jellyfish. While we're happy that "Back" scribe Andy Sturmer is finally getting his pop-genius due on the charts, we're curious as to which version of the song our readers would rather hear blaring from their local radio stations this summer:

McFly, Arctic Monkeys Rule UK Charts [Billboard]

The Cover-Song Showcase Showdown: Which Version Of "Float On" Floats Your Boat?

Brian Raftery — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 14:55:42 EDT

Judging by Internet/blogosphere reaction, last night's American Idol rendition of "Float On" is clearly the most disturbing thing to ever happen to our country's yup-rock taste-barons—more disturbing than Vietnam (the war) and Vietnam (the band) combined. But the Idol singers weren't the first youth-skewing group to cheese up Modest Mouse:

~~Kidz Bop Kidz - Float On~~ [MP3, link expired]
American Idol kids — Float On [Bestweekever.tv]

The Cover-Song Showcase Showdown: If You Were A Rich Boy

Brian Raftery — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 10:45:14 EST

Normally, we reserve our Cover-Song Showcase Showdowns for tracks that have been covered by a variety of different artists; today, however, we're going with different remixes of the same song—in this case, Rich Boy's "Throw Some D's." Three takes on the song are below, so vote for your favorite. And please, no "D's nuts" jokes, please! That's so 1992!

~~Rich Boy feat. Polow Da Don - Throw Some D's~~ [MP3, link removed]
~~Rich Boy feat. Andre 3000, Jim Jonez, Nelly, Murphy Lee and The Game - Throw Some D's (Remix)~~ [MP3, link removed]
Kanye West - Throw Some D's freestyle [YouTube]

The Cover-Song Showcase Showdown: Who's The Loneliest Singer Of Them All?

mjohnston — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 14:20:49 EST

Time for another installment of the Cover-Song Showcase Showdown, in which we dig up numerous recreations and bastardizations of a beloved song, and let you vote on which is the least offensive. Today's candidate Badfinger's 1970 lament "Without You," which has been taken on by artists ranging from Il Divo to Heart. We've got the two versions that hit No. 1 on the U.S. pop charts—by Harry Nilsson and Mariah Carey, whose covers are mashed up in the above clip—in competition, as well as takes on the song from mop-topped American Idol runner-up Clay Aiken and Chicago-based provocateur Bobby Conn.

~~Clay Aiken - Without You~~ [MP3, link expired]
~~Mariah Carey - Without You~~ [MP3, link expired]
~~Bobby Conn - Without You~~ [MP3, link expired]
~~Harry Nilsson - Without You~~ [MP3, link expired]

The Cover-Song Showcase Showdown: Getting Together With "Alone Again Or"

mjohnston — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 13:38:26 EST

Welcome to the Cover-Song Showcase Showdown, which allows you, the Idolator audience, to decide on the best take on a beloved favorite. Today, we're going to look at Love's 1967 psych-pop classic "Alone Again Or," which has been taken on by many an ambitious pop outfit; four versions of the song are below, and it's up to you to tell us which one is the standout.

~~The Boo Radleys - Alone Again Or~~ [MP3, link expired]
~~Calexico - Alone Again Or~~ [MP3, link expired]
~~The Damned - Alone Again Or~~ [MP3, link expired]
~~Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs - Alone Again Or~~ [MP3, link expired]

The Cover-Song Showcase Showdown: Keeping Up With The Smiths

Brian Raftery — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 10:53:54 EST

Time for another installment of the Cover-Song Showcase Showdown, in which we dig up numerous recreations and bastardizations of a beloved song, and let you vote on which is the least offensive. Today's homage-worthy hit: The Smiths' "How Soon Is Now?", a song that all of us listened to while stoned in high school, making the two-in-the-morning realization that while Morrissey is probably saying he's "the son and the heir," he could also be saying that he's, like, "the sun and the air!" Or maybe that was just us. Three versions are below, as is Soho's "Hippychick," which may as well be considered a cover because of the way it bites the song's riff. Vote for your favorite, and make Moz smile again. He's such a sad little bear!

~~Love Spit Love - How Soon Is Now?~~ [MP3, link expired]
~~Quicksand - How Soon Is Now?~~ [MP3, link expired]
~~Soho - Hippychick~~ [MP3, link expired]
~~t.A.T.u. - How Soon Is Now?~~ [MP3, link expired]

The Cover-Song Showcase Showdown: Wrapping Up "Last Christmas"

mjohnston — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 09:23:28 EST

Now that it's the season for "Last Christmas," the 1984 Yuletide lament by Wham!, to blare from public loudspeakers all over the land, we figured the time was right to stage a Cover-Song Showcase Showdown for the song. There are many covers floating around out there, and we've selected four for you to download and vote on today: they come from, in alphabetical order, Crazy Frog, Hilary Duff, Jimmy Eat World, and Sarge.

~~Crazy Frog - Last Christmas~~ [MP3, link expired]
~~Hilary Duff - Last Christmas~~ [MP3, link expired]
~~Jimmy Eat World - Last Christmas~~ [MP3, link expired]
~~Sarge - Last Christmas~~ [MP3, link expired]

The Cover-Song Showcase Showdown: Picking Apart "Love Will Tear Us Apart"

mjohnston — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 12:15:49 EST

Welcome to the latest installment of the Cover-Song Showcase Showdown, in which we present you with several versions of a classic song, and you tell us which one you like best. Today's song is the Joy Division chestnut "Love Will Tear Us Apart," which has been covered by pretty much every dude who ever owned a copy of Substance. We've winnowed your choices down to four: emo-popsters Fall Out Boy, Swedish cover-song champion Jose Gonzalez, dream-popsters Slumber Party, and the Tuvan throat-singing group Yat-Kha.

~~Fall Out Boy - Love Will Tear Us Apart~~ [MP3, link expired]
~~Jose Gonzalez - Love Will Tear Us Apart~~ [MP3, link expired]
~~Slumber Party - Love Will Tear Us Apart~~ [MP3, link expired]
~~Yat-Kha - Love Will Tear Us Apart~~ [MP3, link expired]

The Cover-Song Showcase Showdown: Mr. Aiken And Mr. Budden Meet Mr. Mister

Brian Raftery — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 12:33:52 EDT

Welcome to the latest installment of the Cover-Song Showcase Showdown, in which we present you with several versions a well-known classic, and you decide which one you like best. Today's ~~victim~~ candidate: Mr. Mister's apparently-cooler-than-we-thought 1985 hit "Broken Wings," which appears on Clay Aiken's recent A Thousand Different Ways, and also serves as the background for freestyle rap track from Joe Budden (thanks to Nah Right for the Budden track).

So take a listen to both covers, and let us know which one makes you want to learn to fly again, and to learn to live so free:

~~Clay Aiken - Broken Wings~~ [MP3, link expired]
~~Joe Budden - Broken Wings Freestyle~~ [MP3, link expired]

(Editor's Note: Welcome, Claymates! Can we call you "Claymates"? Is that too informal? Anyway, If you're interested in reading more about your favorite Tobey Maguire look-alike, click here.)

The Cover-Song Showcase Showdown: Picking The Freshest 'Grapevine'

mjohnston — Thu, 12 Oct 2006 15:02:27 EDT

Welcome to the latest installment of the Cover-Song Showcase Showdown, in which we present readers with a few covers of a well-known chestnut—and you let us know which version you like best.

Today's candidate for coverage is "I Heard It Through The Grapevine," the 1967 soul stirrer that Marvin Gaye took to the top of the charts. We've got three different versions of "Grapevine" for you to choose from, courtesy of Creedence Clearwater Revival, Kaiser Chiefs, and The Slits; be sure to give your computer some extra bandwidth when you download the CCR version, as it clocks in at around 11 minutes or so.

~~Creedence Clearwater Revival - I Heard It Through The Grapevine~~ [MP3, link expired]
~~Kaiser Chiefs - I Heard It Through The Grapevine~~ [MP3, link expired]
~~The Slits - I Heard It Through The Grapevine~~ [MP3, link expired]

The Cover-Song Showcase Showdown: Nancy & Lee Open Up Your Gates

Brian Raftery — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 11:05:08 EDT

Welcome to another installment of The Cover-Song Showcase Showdown, in which we pit three versions of the same beloved song against one another, and let you determine which is superior. Today's homage-inspiring entry is the Lee Hazelwood and Nancy Sinatra's 1967 classic "Some Velvet Morning," a song about flowers, dragonflies and some woman named Phaedra.

Anyhoo, three different takes on "Morning" are below; take a listen and vote for your favorite. And fellas, be warned: Voting for the Kate Moss version does not automatically mean she will sleep with you.

~~Primal Scream w/ Kate Moss - Some Velvet Morning~~ [MP3, link expired]
~~Slowdive - Some Velvet Morning~~ [MP3, link expired]
~~Lydia Lunch - Some Velvet Morning~~ [MP3, link expired]

The Cover-Song Showcase Showdown: Tackling The Mighty T. Rex

Brian Raftery — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 17:29:40 EDT

Welcome to the first installment of The Cover-Song Showcase Showdown, in which we pit two versions of the same beloved song against one another, and let you determine which is superior. Why? Because we're all about spreading democracy. That, and goosing our page-view count.

Our first honoree: T. Rex's classic "20th Century Boy," in which Marc Bolan moves like a cat, charges like a ram, and squirrells like a bee (we think). And our first homage-paying artistes: The Replacements, Placebo, Def Leppard, and Butch Walker (the latter of whom didn't actually record "Boy," but came pretty damn close). So, what'll it be? And, on a side note, how awesome would it have been if the 'Mats had covered "Children Of The Revolution"?

~~The Replacements - 20th Century Boy~~ [MP3, link expired]
~~Placebo - 20th Century Boy~~ [MP3, link expired]
~~Def Leppard - 20th Century Boy~~ [MP3, link expired]
~~Butch Walker & The Let's-Go-Out-Tonites - Hot Girls In Good Moods~~ [MP3, link expired]