Top Ten Most Awesome Cover Songs

I recommend that you listen to ALL the songs on this list- just so you know where I’m coming from.

Now, before we get started, let me make the rules clear.

The popularity of the original or the cover does not affect the list.

The list is mostly determined by how much I like the songs. Once I got my ten songs down, they were insanely hard to order, and if I had to do it again, it would probably be different.

I love cover songs, and really- if you think I fucked up or had a “how could you leave that out?” problem, let me know. I’m open when it comes to shit like this.

Cause covers? They’re awesome.

10) “Take on Me” (a-ha) [Reel Big Fish]

I have always been a fan of a-ha, the Norwegian trio most known here in the United States for their 1985 #1 hit “Take on Me” (and its music video which was one of the most memorable of all time). Reel Big Fish tried their hand at the song in 1999 for Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s film BASEketball. Their most recognizable aspects of the cover are the substitution of the synthesizer for Reel Big Fish’s ska horn section, and RBF frontman Aaron Barrett’s inability to sing as high as a-ha’s Morten Harket. It is easily recognizable as a cover of the original, although the ska energy that RBF brings to it is just plain different than the New Wave energy. Often criticized for taking the love and emotion out of a classic, RBF’s cover of a-ha’s “Take on Me” sits at #10 for two reasons: staying true enough to the original while putting their mark on it, and it’s just a fun song. Plus, I fucking love ska.

9) “I Love Rock N’ Roll” (The Arrows) [Joan Jett and the Blackhearts]

I know what you’re thinking: This was a cover? The Arrows released the original in 1975, which was met with much…indifference, and to this day, I have not heard the Arrows version in its entirety. However, you’d be hard pressed to find someone who has not heard of Joan Jett’s kickass cover, which was a #1 hit for seven straight weeks back in 1982. This song made Joan Jett- her solo career soon followed, and she had several more hit songs. However, Joan Jett will always be remembered best by her famous “original” cover with the Blackhearts.

8) “Mony Mony” (Tommy James & the Shondells) [Billy Idol]

From one kickass icon to another, Billy Idol’s “Mony Mony” is at #8. Interestingly, both were extremely popular; the original was a top ten hit back in 1968 and the cover was a #1 hit almost 20 years later in 1987. Both songs still receive considerable airplay, although it is likely Billy Idol’s version has surpassed the original in popularity, bringing the next generation as well as the punk scene into “Mony Mony”. Tommy James & the Shondells had several other top ten songs as well as two number one songs. Many of Billy Idol’s songs continue to be played today, but “Mony Mony” seems to have the farthest reach into pop culture; it has been parodied by Weird Al Yankovic as well as sampled in the popular Youtube video, “The Evolution of Dance”. At #8, the only number one single for Billy Idol, his “Mony Mony”.

7) “Everybody Needs Somebody to Love” (Solomon Burke) [The Blues Brothers]

The Blues Brothers only performed covers, and entering the pop culture hall of fame like the Blues Brothers did, one of their songs had to appear in my top 10. It was really a toss-up between this and “Soul Man”, the 1967 Sam and Dave song most people would probably associate with the Blues Brothers. However, for me, this was the better cover, so here we go. Solomon Burke’s “Everybody Needs Somebody to Love” was a minor hit back in 1964. It should come to no surprise that Burke was a Philadelphia minister, just doing what he does best- singing about love and how it should be a part of our lives. The Blues Brothers covered it several times at concerts in the late 1970s, and the song also appeared in the Blues Brothers movie released in 1980. Jake Blues revealed his inner Burke to get the energy up, and Elwood’s insistence that we “signify our feelings with every simple caress” is something that stuck with me. Even if everyone else happens to be a “Soul Man”.

6) “Hurt” (Nine Inch Nails) [Johnny Cash]

If you’re looking for a song to cry to, look no further. “Hurt” is a song of desperation and loneliness, what you’ll find when pleasure evades you at every turn. Trent Reznor’s (of NIN) “Hurt” strips down the industrial rock sound that Nine Inch Nails is known for to crush your soul in a simple melody both haunting and beautiful at the same time. Despite never being released as a single from the 1994 album The Downward Spiral, the song gained considerable popularity. But most shocking was Johnny Cash’s 2002 cover. I didn’t know that someone could take such a crushing song and make it even more crushing in a completely different way. One of the last songs commercially released before Cash’s death, it seems to be a reflection on his entire life- the music video shows clips spanning his entire career- and it makes you wonder what the legend thought of his life shortly before it ended. His trademark voice, his frail body, the imagery of the video- when you put it all together, I actually find it difficult not to cry. Reznor said of Cash’s recording that “Hurt” was no longer his song. I don’t know if I’ll go that far, as both versions are awesome, but damn. Fucking intense. Be right back. I need a tissue.

5) “With a Little Help From My Friends” (The Beatles) [Joe Cocker]

“Billy Shears” (Ringo Starr) sings the original version from the band you may have heard of from this little album they had. You know, the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, regarded by many to the best album of ALL TIME. If you haven’t heard this song, fuck you. Seriously. I don’t care if you like it, but everybody should have heard this song at least once in their life. Released in 1967, it wasn’t released as a single for the Beatles until much later, but that didn’t stop Joe Cocker from covering it at another little known musical event, something called….. let me get my notes here…. Woodstock. You’ve probably heard this version too (which went to #1 in 1968) and regained popularity in the late 80s as the theme song for “the Wonder Years”. It’s interesting to note the show’s first season took place in 1968, which I’m sure is no coincidence. Both versions of the song are musical achievements, and if you don’t know them then a) again fuck you and b) check it out.

4) “Mad World” (Tears for Fears) [Gary Jules]

Something about the depressing songs… I guess they just make for good cover songs. “Mad World” by my personal favorite band of the 1980s, Britain’s Tears for Fears, is the second track and first major hit for the band off their breakthrough album “The Hurting”. “Mad World” is sung from a teenager’s angry, confused eyes as he looks at the world around him and finds it an unappealing, scary, and chaotic place. When Gary Jules stripped down the 80s classic to a single piano in 2001, it gains the haunting effect and a whole new yet familiar depression. The song appeared in commercials for video games, and most famously was used in Donnie Darko (set in the 1980s). Coming in at #4, “Mad World” proves that 20 years later, we’re all intimidated by the world around us.

3) “Walk This Way” (Aerosmith) [Run D.M.C.]

First released in 1975, “Walk This Way” was a pretty good song at first glance. I’ll be the first to admit, I’m not a huge Aerosmith fan, but I do enjoy the song which tells about a boy losing his virginity. You know, original! Now, I feel like this song is kinda not really a cover, as both versions are so close, but ehhh deal with it. Fast forward to 1986 when Run D.M.C. who didn’t even know who Aerosmith was heard the song when they were freestyling over the Aerosmith album Toys in the Attic. The rest, as they say, is history, which only resulted in one of the biggest freaking deals in music history. The collaboration between Aerosmith and Run D.M.C. revitalized Aerosmith’s career which was steadily going downhill at that time, but more importantly, the song was hip-hop/rap’s first foray in the top 5, and showed people that hybrids like this could work. Liked Linkin Park and Jay-Z’s shit? Well you can thank this record. Major groups who still had many good years of music in them, “Walk This Way” was the crossroads of the century in music, and lands at #3 as a result.

2) “Twist and Shout” (The Top Notes) [The Beatles]

I bet you didn’t even fucking know this was a cover. The original 1961 recording….. kinda sucks actually. The Top Notes original recording sounds nothing like the version you’re probably thinking of right now. Honestly, the original actually sounds like nothing. There’s no real hook and it just sounds bland. A year later in 1962 the Isley Brothers covered the Top Notes' original, and it started taking the form that the Beatles would fucking own with in 1964. You’d think that would be enough for the song, which was a hit for the both the Isley Brothers and the Beatles in the 60s, but when the Beatles’ version appeared in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (a movie avid Awesome/Not Awesome readers know I fucking love) the song AGAIN took to the charts in the mid 80s. Oh, and to top it all off, another cover got the song to #1 in 1994! Damn! That’s a lot of action for one song! Too bad the original sucked ass! Cause it was a hit for everybody but the Top Notes apparently!

1) “Smooth Criminal” (Michael Jackson) [Alien Ant Farm]

Alright, so what do you get when take a kickass song from 1988 with a kickass synthesizer line about a kickass subject matter with a kickass music video with kickass vocals and cover it? Usually you get a steaming pile of shit. How the fuck are you going to top that?! I mean, c’mon the anti-gravity lean? Fucking classic. Say what you will about Michael Jackson (and I have- see 10/22/09 Not Awesome) but this song . . . Is the shit. About a girl named Annie who gets hit, or perhaps struck, by the “smooth criminal”, the song remains possibly my favorite MJ song. But 2001 rolls around, and Alien Ant Farm splashes onto the scene with a rock cover of Smooth Criminal which takes the original and somehow makes it even more fucking badass. Not everyone agrees with me here- in fact, a lot of people think AAF butchered the song, but not this guy. This cover gets me pumped the fuck up, and I’m ready to fight people like I’m listening to “Eye of the Tiger”! So Alien Ant Farm, congratulations! You have the most awesome cover song according to starckie’s wholly unknown Awesome/Not Awesome blog! I’m sure you guys will have a long and prosperous career with many more hits to come!



There you have it. I hope you enjoyed this list as much as I agonized over making it, you sadistic bastards. Here are just a few of the songs that didn’t make my cut- maybe they’ll make yours:

“Boys of Summer” (Don Henley) [The Ataris]

“Somebody’s Baby” (Jackson Brown) [Phantom Planet]

“Bizarre Love Triangle” (New Order) [Stabbing Westward]

“Come on Eileen” (Dexy’s Midnight Runners) [Save Ferris]

“Radio Ga Ga” (Queen) [Electric Six]

“Careless Whisper” (Wham!) [Seether]

There’s probably a whole fuck-ton of songs I missed that could completely change my list. But c’mon I’m only human. It’s not like I’m getting paid to do this shit.

See you on Monday for another installment of Awesome/Not Awesome!