AC/DC - The Covers

This actually started out as a post on Mark Kozelek and The Red House Painters but, after hearing his version of AC/DC's If You Want Blood it just blossomed into a whole piece on covers. Having squirmed my way through too many bad rock versions, pub bands and fuzzy upper-lipped teens on out of tune guitars on YouTube, I decided to introduce the winners in each of my self-imposed categories. So, the categories for AC/DC covers are

• The Quality Cover
• The Bemusing Why-Did-They-Do-It Children's Cover
• The That's Not Bad but I Wouldn't Admit it Cover
• The Bluegrass Cover
• The Elvis Cover
• The Toe-Curling, Butt -Tightening, Embarrassed to Even Watch, Dad-at-a-Disco Cover
• Those Crazy Foreigners Cover

The Quality Cover is the one mentioned in the opening sentence, Mark Kozelek.


On to The Bemusing Why-Did-They-Do-It Children's Cover by The Wiggles (who probably get more airtime in our house than AC/DC themselves).


The That's Not Bad but I Wouldn't Admit it Cover. Keep your eye out for the decent fiddle player also on backing vocals.


They are probably too obvious to even include here but I couldn't really fail to mention the kings of the bluegrass metal covers circuit - Hayseed Dixie, not only a tremendous play on words, but also a tremendous play on words. That makes them clear winners in The Bluegrass Cover category.


On we rock to The Elvis Cover, a personal favourite.


I feel like our reader (not a typo) deserves an explanation here. It's not often that a music video can induce in the viewer a feeling of wanting the world to open up and swallow them. This video makes you feel like a rubber-necker straining to see the accident. It arouses the feelings you have when faced with the spectacle of something so horrible that you are gripped by some unexplained fascination, unable to avert your horrified gaze - it's the Toe-Curling, Butt -Tightening, Embarrassed to Even Watch, Dad-at-a-Disco Cover, so without further ado, ladies and gents, here's Sealion Dion for your ultimate pleasure.


So, to wrap up we've got the Those Crazy Foreigners Cover, which, even though they might be crazy and they are definitely foreigners, is a lovely bit of film. Judging from another clip on TouYoub they might be called Vopli Vidopliassova.

Cover Versions

If you don't like a good cover there's something wrong with you. Clearly. And how do you know if it's a good cover? You want the criteria? Well, you can't have it, yet. Great scholars were locked in a room for years writing the rules of what makes a cover version a success or not, and how to decide if it's any good or not. World leaders were consulted, great books read, and the history of popular music pored over. Nobody asked Simon Fuller.

And what were their conclusions? A whole lifetime passed, a generation waited. They, the great worthy ones, decided that all covers could be put into four categories, which I have the honour of giving the world, here listed below. It's an exclusive.

Category One
Any or all of the following.
Rubbish. Shouldna bothered. Unoriginal. Picked the wrong song. Were aiming for commercial success because you haven't got any good songs of your own. Dull. Song has been done to death already. Obvious. Nobody cares.

Category Two
Not bad enough for Category One, but still a bit pants. Worth a mention but not a repeated listen. Technically proficient but uninspiring. Album filler. B side. Contractual obligation. Done for an advert.

Category Three
Good. Interesting. Original. Worth repeated listens. Pays tribute to or at least equals the original. Possibly in a different style or language. A worthy re-imagining. A cult classic.

Category Four
Amazing. Better than the original. Becomes the definitive version. Awakens the world to the genius of the original unfairly forgotten artist. Takes the song to a new astral plain. Audio perfection. Ushers in hope for a new generation and provokes world peace.

In order to get your badge of merit, which will allow you to enjoy a lifetime of covers, please place the following in the most appropriate category.

1. Anything by Boyzone or Joan Baez.

2. Britney's Baby, One More Time by either Travis or English folkie Richard Thompson.

3. Vanessa Paradis singing Walk On By

4. The Clash Bankrobber

To further put you to the test, have a look at these.

Press the red button to vote now.