The EIGHT Most Cringeworthy COVERS

Covering a song can be a tricky business. When done well, it breathes new life into a classic and introduces it to a new audience. But when it goes tits up,the results can be painfully awkward and in some cases ruin an artists career. This post is my own personal list of tunes that have been murdered long after the original was released.

1. "COME TOGETHER" AEROSMITH

Whilst being a fan of the Boston rock band and have seen them live (Christ they are loud) they bit off more then they could chew when the tackled The Beatles 1969 classic which reached #1 in the Billboard charts. What proved more damaging was the song was recorded for the 1978 film Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, which was universally panned and sold about 67 copies. Aerosmith eliminated the presumed inherent coolness of the track, replacing it with some kind of overblown bubblegum rock effort that the group are known for. This was an Aerosmith with Perry and Tyler strung out on coke long before their huge 80's return to form and million selling albums so at this point they would have recorded "Mary Had A Little Lamb" if it made them a few quid. Unfortunately John Lennon was still alive to hear this effort.

2."MY GENERATION" HILARY DUFF

If ever a song belonged in the "Just fuck right off" category of bad cover versions it would definitely be Hilary Duff attempting a song by The Who. A song that defined a youthful generation and a tune of rebellion of The Who’s defining track, ‘My Generation’, captured the essence of 1960s subculture and went on to encapsulate the revolution of punk and alternative music. But Hilary apparently knew better. You would have though someone close to her might have said "Honey this is going to go down quicker than a $50 hooker" but seemingly everyone thought it was a good idea.

In the end the song bombed and Pete Townsend collected a nice royalty check for the song he wrote way back in 1965. One critic , who was obviously on crack, speed, coke and various amphetamines combined said "Duff has the voice of Patti Smith and a better vocal"

3. "I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU" WHITNEY HOUSTON

While Whitney Houston was know for her soaring vocal and 427 number 1 singles she probably thought she was untouchable in the early 1990's when she recorded the Dolly Parton classic "I Will Always Love You" in 1992 for the film The Bodyguard.

But man does she makes a balls of it. The original was filled with emotion and hurt filled lyrics with Parton writing the song as a farewell to her business partner and mentor Porter Wagoner as they separated after a 7 year professional partnership. It should never had been touched. But in a case of "anything you can do, I can do better" Houston took the song on, selling an astonishing 25 million copies of Dolly's tune. But that didn't mean she could improve on the original. There's more screams here than a party at Jeffrey Epstien's house and not in a good way. Disturbingly the soundtrack for The Bodyguard is the biggest selling soundtrack album of all time, criminally overtaking the Bee Gees iconic Saturday Night Fever soundtrack.

4. "‘Jumpin’ Jack FlaSH" Guns ‘N’ Roses

There are millions of songs to cover out there, but certain groups you don't cross if you want to cover one of them. The Rolling Stones would be one of them. But maybe Axl Rose's ego got the better of him when Guns & Roses recorded it in 1986. To be fair it was just before the L.A. band hit it big with Appetite For Destruction but it still sounded like a bag of cats being swung around in the living room. It made Jagger & Richards a hefty royal check and the English rockers are still killing it on tour....which they've been on since about 1837.

5. "Tainted Love" by Marilyn Manson

Soft Cell’s 1981 synth-pop hit "Tainted Love" is catchy and quirky and has stood the test of time. The song itself is actually a cover itself, written by Ed Cobb of the group the Four Preps and recorded first by Gloria Jones. She had signed to Cobb’s production company as a teenager, scored a couple of minor hits, so when this flopped that should have been the end of it. However, Soft Cell’s version “Tainted Love” took off in England when released in 1981. A year later, it made the same kind of progress in the US, reaching the Top 10. And then Marilyn Manson stepped in to record it and murder the tune. If you look at the video its dark and frightening (at one point it looks like he's going to kill the girl in the video) He sounds as angry as me after losing a grand on a three team treble on the football coupons. The kind of versions a prisoner on death row just about to go to the electric chair might have listened to daily.

6. "LOVE WILL TEAR US APART" - FALL OUT BOY"

Joy Division is another group that feels almost sacrilegious to cover. The British band from Salford (formed 50 years ago now in 1976) have become iconic in their native land despite the fact the group missing out on mainstream success in 1980 on the eve of an American tour and chart success with "Love Will Tear Us Apart" with the suicide of lead singer Ian Curtis. Curtis makes the idea of re imagining their music feel daunting, to say the least. However, you would hope that – if you were to cover Manchester’s finest – you would put in a little bit more effort than Fall Out Boy did. Written about Ian Curtis' troubled relationship with his wife, Deborah Woodruff, whom he married in August 1975 and his struggles with epilepsy but the American group sound like their having a temper tantrum after Mom took away their collection of porn magazines when they were 15. Mind you The Cure do a good version of it.

7. "LUCY IN THE SKY WITH DIAMONDS" WILLIAM SHATNER

Listen, I love William Shatner. From the campy Star Trek of the Sixties to his turn as TJ Hooker and his all to obvious wig in the Eighties and his crazy interpretations of a host of songs and he's still around should he need to step up to the mic to record again at the ripe old age of 94.

Depending on your perspective, William Shatner’s dramatic reading of the Beatles’ “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds” is either a travesty or a work of genius. The original is a psychedelic masterwork, but you just cant help but laugh from the moment Shatner opens his mouth God bless him. It borders on blasphemously really. Astonishingly Paul McCartney said it was his favourite ever version of the song he wrote with John Lennon in 1967. But the fun didn't stop with this cover. Check out Captain Kirk's version of "Rocket Man" in 1978. Even Bernie Taupin and Elton John couldn't stop laughing.

8. "BEHIND BLUE EYES" LIMP BIZKIT

The reason these idiots are on the list is because they crucified not one but two classic songs by British artists. Its always been astonishing the success Limp Bizkit to me. Though the Jacksonville outfit have been around since 1994 they gained some chart success out of their native land when they butchered George Micheal's 1987 classic"Faith". They took a great tune with a great hook and made it sound like a man after being kicked relentlessly in the nuts for the full 3 minutes and 16 seconds of the song. But its their 2003 version of The Who's "Behind Blue Eyes" which earns their place on this list. Many will say it sounds identical to the Pete Townsend 1971 song which gave The Who a Top Ten Billboard hit but Durst, however, turns the song into a taxing exercise in gloomy self-pity. The video is about as much fun as a vasectomy with a pair of scissors in the dark.