Music is The Doctor #3

Listening to Gary Crowley's Punk and New Wave Show today he was spotlighting favourite cover versions, and here on Soundtrack4Life there's been a number of posts featuring cover versions and so today's Music is the Doctor I thought it would be go to revisit that theme once again.

One of the things I always liked about Cover Versions is that they more often than not lead you back to the Original Artist and sometimes that leads to exploring even more fantastic music. As example of that I remember first seeing and listening to 9 Below Zero and being blown away by some of the old Blues classics they were doing in their live set. I remember being so taken with them that I made a concerted effort to track down the originals. I wouldn't say I had a great knowledge of the Blues before but it opened up a whole new sphere of musical enjoyment for me. Over the years I have managed to get a fairly decent collection of Blues music, over four hundred albums! That could repeated time and time again with many different musical styles.

So here we go, 20 fantastic covers to enjoy today and the bonus links for the originals, click on them to give 'em a blast .

The Kids Are Alright - Eddie and the Hot Rods.

Loads of bands have taken a shot at this classic by The Who. I do like The Pleasers version of it as well but the Hot Rods version is just pure unadultared rock and roll.

True Believers - Hot Water Music.

A band I've come to love in the past few years is New Jersey's Bouncing Souls. This particular version of their excellent song was part of a Split 7" where Bouncing Souls covered Hot Water Music's 'Wayfarer'.

Damaged Goods - The Hot Rats.

From the 2010 album 'Turn Ons' that also contains great covers of songs from The Doors, Squeeze, Roxy Music, The Cure, The Beastie Boys and the Sex Pistols to name but a few. This one is of course a Cover of the most excellent Debut EP by Gang of Four. I think this was a project done by members of Supergrass.

Free Money - Penetration.

From the fantastic 'Moving Targets' album that also contained a Cover of Buzzcocks' 'Nostalgia'. I love this version of Patti Smith's classic that originally appeared on the 'Horses' album.

Breaking Down the Walls of Heartache - Dexys Midnight Runners.

B-Side to their massive hit single 'Geno' back in 1980 and a worthy Cover of the 1968 original by Johnny Johnson and the Bandwagon. 

The Passenger - Siouxsie and the Banshees.

An Iggy Pop Classic (from 'The Idiot' album) that was released on the Banshees fantastic 1987 covers album 'Through the Looking Glass'.

Personal Jesus - Nina Hagen.

Ever the fascinating creature Nina Hagen pulled out all the stops when she released the brilliant 'Personal Jesus' in 2010. Her version of it is so much better than the awful rendition (and so bad I refuse to post a link for it) done by Marylin Manson. The only over cover of it though that would top Hagen's would be the Johnny Cash version. I wonder what Depeche Mode think about these! 

Somebody's Gonna Get Their Head Kicked In Tonight -The Rezillos.

It's hard to believe that Fleetwood Mac (under the guise of Earl Vince and the Valiants) recorded this as the B-Side to their massive 1969 hit 'Man of the World'! The Rezillos took it and totally made it their own when they released it on their Debut album 'Can't Stand The Rezillos'.

Armagideon Time - The Clash.

One of my favourite covers by The Clash. It's orginally done by Willi Williams, first recorded in 1977 at Studio One in Jamaica.

Stay Free - Pete Wylie.

Speaking of The Clash here's a great wee cover of one of Mick Jones' finest moments on the 'Give 'Em Enough Rope' Album. Pete Wylie has been playing this as part of his live set for ages now and it's brilliant.

Marquee Moon - Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs.

These two have released three fantastic albums of Cover Versions and this one is taken from the 2nd volume of 'Under the Covers'. I love Television and their Debut 'Marquee Moon' is one of my favourite albums ever. Matthew and Susanna manage to pull off a great version of the title track here.

Down at the Tube Station at Midnight - Carter USM.
Have to say I don't remember this one. Was a B-Side of Carter's single 'Do Re Me So Far So Good' released in 1992. Surprisingly it's actually quite a respectable Cover of The Jam classic.

These Boots Are Made For Walking - Pure Hell.
There's been a few Punk Covers of this classic Nancy Sinatra tune and a few duff pop versions as well (Jessica Simpson anyone?). The 1978 single by Pure Hell is by far my favourite cover of the song.

Senses Working Overtime - Mandy Moore.
Mentioned above about duff pop cover versions and you would think that this cover of XTC just wouldn't work at all, but shockingly it does! Taken from her album 'Coverage' where she also covers Blondie, The Waterboys, and Joan Armatrading to name a few. They don't all work as well as this one and I realise that XTC fans will rise up in horror at a pop princess doing one of their most loved songs but there's no going back now!

Tell That Girl To Shut Up - Transvision Vamp.
Another favourite Cover is Wendy James and Co. performing Holly and the Italians' 'Tell That Girl'. Such a great pop tune, I'm amazed that it wasn't a smash hit for either of them.

Blitzkrieg Bop - The Beautiful South.
Everyone and their Grandmother has probably done a version of this Punk classicby the Ramones but none of them managed to make it quite sound like Paul Heaton and Co. From their superb 'Gold Diggas, Head Nodders and Pholk Songs' album on which they also managed to cover S Club 7 and Olvia Newton John and John Travolta is quite fascinating I think.

She Said She Said - The Shop Assistants.
From the B-Side of their 1989 single 'The Big E Power'. Mod Revival band The Chords did a smashing version of this on their album 'So Far Away'. Originally released in 1966 on 'Revolver' by The Beatles and written by John Lennon.

Ninety Nine and Half (Just Won't Do) - The Redskins.
From the 1986 album 'Neither Washington or Moscow' on Decca Records. There's a whole bunch of fantastic covers of this magnificent Wilson Pickett track first released in 1966 on Atlantic Records. Dr Feelgood, Credence Clearwater Revival, Etta James, and Buddy Guy are among the number of great versions.

American Girl - The Gaslight Anthem.
Back in 2010 The Gaslight Anthem included this in their set whilst on tour  and it was pretty cool I thought. This one was taken from a show in Indianapolis. Probably my most favourite Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers song.

Thunder Road - Frank Turner.
There's a couple of great covers of this iconic Springsteen song, The Cowboy Junkies do a lovely version of it but I've included Frank's version of it because it's just so different from what you normally expect from him. It's hard of course to top Bruce's version of it either Solo or with the E Street Band.