Lazy (Crazy) Bank Holiday Afternoon – Irreverent Covers

Hardcore fans of the rock aristocracy can get terribly precious, making it all the more important to occasionally pop a pompous balloon. Here are four highly unusual or inventive covers of the biggest dinosaurs of them all…

I don’t know who Goldbug were or where they’ve gone now, but they had a stroke of absolute genius in 1996. Once you’ve heard Led Zeppelin’s Whole Lotta Love combined with the Pearl & Dean cinema advertising theme, you wonder why on earth nobody had thought of it before…

The wonderful Wes Anderson movie The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou has much to recommend it, not least the Portuguese-language covers of David Bowie songs that thread through the soundtrack. Seu Jorge, a Brazilian singer-songwriter, plays musical crew-member Pelé Dos Santos, popping up at unexpected moments to deliver another Bowie classic. Here’s Changes

Pink Floyd have contributed much of value to the rock canon over their long and varied lifespan, which began of course with the mad inspiration of drugged pixie Syd Barrett, but Roger Waters’ epic whinge The Wall is as pompous as rock gets. Comfortably Numb is, well, comfortably the best song from it, but the Scissor Sisters’ hysterical camp disco cover from 2003 brings a welcome bit of fun back into the Floyd story.

Not so much irreverent as just plain nuts, William Shatner’s notorious cover of the Beatles’ Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds defies explanation or rationalisation. Here some wag has enhanced the already-glorious experience with a psychedelic video….

Share This Post

About Author Profile: Brit

7 thoughts on “Lazy (Crazy) Bank Holiday Afternoon – Irreverent Covers

  1. Gaw
    January 3, 2011 at 08:31

    A very enjoyable selection of covers, each of which added some interesting originality to the original. But perhaps more than you’d guess in the case of Seu Jorge: whilst my Portuguese is a bit rusty (to non-existent) I’m assured the majority of the lyrics of his Bowie-inspired recordings (he did an album’s worth) are his own work. And I believe Bowie loved them. Perhaps this makes them Reverent Near-Covers?

  2. johngjobling@googlemail.com'
    malty
    January 3, 2011 at 10:01

    The wall, an epic whinge, well I never, the price of the CD remained astronomical for years, leading to the purchase of much of Maranello’s output.

    Capt Kirk’s rendition only ever bettered by Richard the Thirds A Hard Days Night.

  3. tobyash@hotmail.com'
    Toby Ash
    January 3, 2011 at 10:47

    Goldbug is great. What other magical musical combos are out there still to be discovered…? Let’s put our heads and musical collections together and make some money!

  4. Gaw
    January 3, 2011 at 11:08

    Ever come across Dred Zeppelin? Heavy metal covers done in a reggae style by a band led by an Elvis impersonator? (I joke not).

  5. info@shopcurious.com'
    January 3, 2011 at 15:23

    Brit, the Brazilian with the curiously deep voice has just got himself another fan, though, unlike Gaw, I can’t understand a word except for ‘chchchchanges..’ Unusually captivating, the way he seems to be singing to himself rather than an audience – and sporting a curious DJ, beanie hat, badge combo too. Love it!

  6. fchantree@yahoo.co.uk'
    Gadjo Dilo
    January 4, 2011 at 06:15

    Brazillians can do almost everything well, they’re amazing. Great selection. I also remember Dred Zeppelin – wasn’t the band leader’s name ‘Tortelvis’?

  7. alasguinns@me.com'
    Hey Skipper
    January 4, 2011 at 19:30

    Luther Wright and the Wrongs ran the Wall through Country & Western, a task which I didn’t think possible, thereby highlighting the limits to my imagination.

    Their take on Comfortably Numb is actually quite good.

    (Not sure how you got to epic whinge — I saw it as being, at least in part, about descent into madness.)

Comments are closed.