All about opinions @MindlessDrugHoover . To me UB40's version is much much better than any other version. Neil Diamond's sounds shocking to me.
Maybe it's an age thing.
Ashamed to say I had never heard of talking heads until this week and I am mesmerised. Anyone seen these guys live? This live gigs looks brilliant. He's like a Morrissey/ Mr bean love child
We Gotta get out of this place. Brillianty covered by the Angelic Upstarts.
Quite a few bands have covered the Eddie and the hot rods classic Do anything you wanna do. One of my favorite of all time.
@Wheresthechips If you've only seen/heard this excerpt and not watched the whole of the Stop Making Sense film, I strongly recommend that you find time to watch the whole thing from start to finish.
The best gig I've ever been to was also the worst musically. Bad Manners at The Wheelers pub in Torpoint, Cornwall in 2009.
God knows what they'd been 'partaking in' backstage, (had a friend who gigged with them once who said they all enjoyed a bit of toot) but they were all over the place. Buster chucked the percussionist (not drummer) off the stage because he was ****ing it up so much. Still an extraordinarily fun gig though and a great crowd of old skins, bikers and mods.
I went along with a Plymouth-supporting friend and the next day, with the tinnitus ringing in our ears, we drove up to Wycombe to watch Peter Taylor's team secure the most underwhelming promotion to League One imaginable.
Come to think of it, I think I still had tinnitus the following Monday.
I saw Bad Manners again last summer. Entirely new lineup I think (except for Buster of course). Much better band than last time, but Buster still struggled a bit and had to have a break halfway through.
@Jonny_King: a reeds player (mainly clarinet) we know well - Adrian Cox- has played a lot with Bad Manners over the past few years. Was he with them when you saw them last summer? If so, what did you think?
@micra Just tracked down a photo I took of the gig, which Facebook tells me was actually in May, not the summer. Not sure how to share it on here. They had two sax players, one tenor and one alto by the look of it, both youngish guys, although a microphone is obscuring the face of one. If you're who I think you are on Facebook I can tag you in the picture so you can see if you recognise anyone.
The band were pretty tight I thought, certainly a lot more professional than their 2009 lineup, although the gig didn't have the same atmosphere as the one I mention above, although this was a different crowd and on a proper stage as opposed to a pub floor. Buster definitely struggled a bit, I thought he was having mic problems at first. I remember the band were good though, although I personally prefer a bit more brass in a horn section. Someone said the guitarist is Buster's son, although a quick look on Wikipedia doesn't list anyone with the same surname as him. Adrian Cox is listed as a current member.
@peterparrotface Can't say I'm familiar with their first album, so I'll accept I'm shouting my mouth off without knowing all the facts as it were! Just never been a fan and have never understood why RRW is held up as some sort of classic.
I saw bad manners a couple of times early/mid nineties. First time good, second time pretty awful.
Worst ever gig was meatloaf about ten years ago. Eric morecambe would have been proud of him that night, probably mostly right notes, definitely not in right order.
@Jonny_King I know the gasroom is famous for it's anti popular view on almost everything, but the anti UB40 and specially RRW views on here shock me.
Love that song. And having just checked out the original, the original sounds an abomination!
Does anyone remember local bands SPOD and cherry black dawn from the mid 80's saw them at the half moon and nags head on a number of occasions I do remember them being excellent pub bands.
@Malone Each to their own I suppose. It is certainly interesting to read about the diverse range of musical tastes on here. There's a couple of posters who I suspect I wouldn't want to be in a car with if they were in charge of the radio!
Eww, choosing favourites is almost impossible, but:
Album? Carsick Cars, by Carsick Cars. Shame that the flowering of fresh and interesting music in China is virtually ignored over here..
Concert? Hmm, seen so many it's almost impossible, but one that always stuck with me is Misty in Roots at Kingston some time in the 1980s. The sheer brilliance of the music, they had obviously jammed so much, the tempo changing naturally, the air so thick with smoke you could hardly see, every single person in the place dancing...it was joyous and..errm...spiritual
Disused power station...guess it has to be Chernobyl, or maybe Didcot (yes, I know..)
btw Chas...I remember seeing Mr Chesney Hawkes standing at the front on his Tod at a Sultans of Ping gig in Kentish Town, uncanny Much respect to the man, although the check shirt was a bit naff...
As for covers, I love it when they can breathe a whole new life into a song...like Jesus and Mary Chain doing the great Bo Diddley's "Who Do You Love' :
Alternatively, it's lovely when someone can take a really really horrendous song and turn it into something good, as Fatima Mansions did here:
Actually I first saw Sultans of Ping supporting that lot at a tiny bar in Dublin, nobody had heard of them at that point but the local paper described them as 'Cork Frisbee Heads'. Hmm, maybe that was the best gig ever...
Johnny Cash cover of 'One' (U2) is excellent...'I Wanna Hold Your Hand' by Dollar must rank as one of the worst covers ever, but I never heard New Order's version of 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight'
Comments
Paul Youngs version of Joy Divisions 'Love will tear us apart' is the most horrific cover version I've had the displeasure to come across.
@ChasHarps Fine Young Cannibals' Ever Fallen in Love' and UB40's Red Red Wine run it close.
All about opinions @MindlessDrugHoover . To me UB40's version is much much better than any other version. Neil Diamond's sounds shocking to me.
Maybe it's an age thing.
FYC version of the Buzzcocks hit was fantastically different. As was their wonderful cover of suspicious minds.
Loved FYC.
They've already been mentioned, but UB40's Can't Help Falling In Love With You was truly abysmal
Ashamed to say I had never heard of talking heads until this week and I am mesmerised. Anyone seen these guys live? This live gigs looks brilliant. He's like a Morrissey/ Mr bean love child
Love Talking Heads. Seeing as we're talking about covers, their Take Me to the River must be one of the best.
Simple Minds' cover of Prince's Sign O' the Times is shudderingly bad.
Depeche Mode's cover of Heroes last Saturday at London Stadium was truly awful
Thanks @chris I'll check it out
That take that cover.....no words.
Sugs cover of the Beatles 'I'm only sleeping' is also turd
Sorry but other than their first album I can't abide UB40. Think it's Ali Campbell's nasally voice that does it.
Midge Ure's take on No Regrets was staggeringly terrible and I like a bit of Ultravox.
We Gotta get out of this place. Brillianty covered by the Angelic Upstarts.
Quite a few bands have covered the Eddie and the hot rods classic Do anything you wanna do. One of my favorite of all time.
@Wheresthechips If you've only seen/heard this excerpt and not watched the whole of the Stop Making Sense film, I strongly recommend that you find time to watch the whole thing from start to finish.
The best gig I've ever been to was also the worst musically. Bad Manners at The Wheelers pub in Torpoint, Cornwall in 2009.
God knows what they'd been 'partaking in' backstage, (had a friend who gigged with them once who said they all enjoyed a bit of toot) but they were all over the place. Buster chucked the percussionist (not drummer) off the stage because he was ****ing it up so much. Still an extraordinarily fun gig though and a great crowd of old skins, bikers and mods.
I went along with a Plymouth-supporting friend and the next day, with the tinnitus ringing in our ears, we drove up to Wycombe to watch Peter Taylor's team secure the most underwhelming promotion to League One imaginable.
Come to think of it, I think I still had tinnitus the following Monday.
I saw Bad Manners again last summer. Entirely new lineup I think (except for Buster of course). Much better band than last time, but Buster still struggled a bit and had to have a break halfway through.
P.s - UB40 are an abomination.
The played a couple of times at the White Horse at new years eve do's back in the 90's
@Jonny_King first album was alright to be fair
@Jonny_King: a reeds player (mainly clarinet) we know well - Adrian Cox- has played a lot with Bad Manners over the past few years. Was he with them when you saw them last summer? If so, what did you think?
@micra Just tracked down a photo I took of the gig, which Facebook tells me was actually in May, not the summer. Not sure how to share it on here. They had two sax players, one tenor and one alto by the look of it, both youngish guys, although a microphone is obscuring the face of one. If you're who I think you are on Facebook I can tag you in the picture so you can see if you recognise anyone.
The band were pretty tight I thought, certainly a lot more professional than their 2009 lineup, although the gig didn't have the same atmosphere as the one I mention above, although this was a different crowd and on a proper stage as opposed to a pub floor. Buster definitely struggled a bit, I thought he was having mic problems at first. I remember the band were good though, although I personally prefer a bit more brass in a horn section. Someone said the guitarist is Buster's son, although a quick look on Wikipedia doesn't list anyone with the same surname as him. Adrian Cox is listed as a current member.
@peterparrotface Can't say I'm familiar with their first album, so I'll accept I'm shouting my mouth off without knowing all the facts as it were! Just never been a fan and have never understood why RRW is held up as some sort of classic.
Ska'n'b is a classic. So is the follow up Loonee Tunes.
Every household shown a copy.
I saw bad manners a couple of times early/mid nineties. First time good, second time pretty awful.
Worst ever gig was meatloaf about ten years ago. Eric morecambe would have been proud of him that night, probably mostly right notes, definitely not in right order.
@Jonny_King I know the gasroom is famous for it's anti popular view on almost everything, but the anti UB40 and specially RRW views on here shock me.
Love that song. And having just checked out the original, the original sounds an abomination!
Does anyone remember local bands SPOD and cherry black dawn from the mid 80's saw them at the half moon and nags head on a number of occasions I do remember them being excellent pub bands.
@Malone Each to their own I suppose. It is certainly interesting to read about the diverse range of musical tastes on here. There's a couple of posters who I suspect I wouldn't want to be in a car with if they were in charge of the radio!
Eww, choosing favourites is almost impossible, but:
Album? Carsick Cars, by Carsick Cars. Shame that the flowering of fresh and interesting music in China is virtually ignored over here..
Concert? Hmm, seen so many it's almost impossible, but one that always stuck with me is Misty in Roots at Kingston some time in the 1980s. The sheer brilliance of the music, they had obviously jammed so much, the tempo changing naturally, the air so thick with smoke you could hardly see, every single person in the place dancing...it was joyous and..errm...spiritual
Disused power station...guess it has to be Chernobyl, or maybe Didcot (yes, I know..)
btw Chas...I remember seeing Mr Chesney Hawkes standing at the front on his Tod at a Sultans of Ping gig in Kentish Town, uncanny
Much respect to the man, although the check shirt was a bit naff...
As for covers, I love it when they can breathe a whole new life into a song...like Jesus and Mary Chain doing the great Bo Diddley's "Who Do You Love' :
Alternatively, it's lovely when someone can take a really really horrendous song and turn it into something good, as Fatima Mansions did here:
Actually I first saw Sultans of Ping supporting that lot at a tiny bar in Dublin, nobody had heard of them at that point but the local paper described them as 'Cork Frisbee Heads'. Hmm, maybe that was the best gig ever...
Johnny Cash cover of 'One' (U2) is excellent...'I Wanna Hold Your Hand' by Dollar must rank as one of the worst covers ever, but I never heard New Order's version of 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight'