Various Artists - Cover Versions

I tend to either love or hate cover versions, if they are too similar to the original I'll label them as shite, or if a band has put their own distinctive mark on them I usually love them.
Here is a totally random selection, by no means the best and probably not even including all my favourites (just ones that sprung to mind without having to search too hard).
A lot with punk influence but enough of other genres to make it interesting.
Everyone has their favourites and their own opinions I looked up a couple of articles on top rated covers and to be honest hated most of them.

Alien Ant Farm - Smooth Criminal
Anti Nowhere League - Streets Of London
Bad Manners - The First Cut Is The Deepest
Bauhaus - Ziggy Stardust
Beat - Tears Of A Clown
Blondie - Hanging On The Telephone
Bomb The Bass - Say A Little Prayer
Clash - Police And Thieves
Cramps - Route 66
Damned - Ballroom Blitz
Devo - (I Can't Get Me No) Satisfaction
Dickies - Nights In White Satin
Echo And The Bunnymen - People Are Strange
Elbow - Independent Woman
Fall - Gotta See Jane
Flying Lizards - What's New Pussycat
Green Day - Working Class Hero
Green Jelly - Three Little Pigs
Jam - Batman Theme
Johnny Cash - Hurt
Jonathan Richman And The Modern Lovers - Wheels On The Bus
King Kurt - Ghost Riders In The Sky
Limp Bizkit - Behind Blue Eyes
Madness - It Must Be Love
Me First And The Gimme Gimmes - Leaving On A Jet Plane
Modettes - Paint It Black
Motorhead - God Save The Queen
Muse - Feeling Good
Ramones - What A Wonderful World
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Higher Ground
Saint Etienne - Only Love Can Break Your Heart
Saints - Lipstick On Your Collar
Sid Vicious - My Way
Siouxsie And The Banshees - Helter Skelter
Slits - I Heard It Through The Grapevine
Television Personalities - Mr Brightside
Tenpole Tudor - Rock Around The Clock
Tori Amos - Rattlesnakes
Toy Dolls - Blue Suede Shoes
White Stripes - I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself
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Abrasive Wheels - Jailhouse Rock
All Seeing I - Beat Goes On
Amateur Transplants - London Underground (Going Underground)
Amy Winehouse - Cupid
Avalanches - Do You Know The Way To San Jose
B52's - Downtown
Billy Bragg - She's Leaving Home
Bjork And PJ Harvey - Satisfaction (Live)
Buzzcocks - Ballroom Blitz
Cult - Born To Be Wild
Dead Kennedys - Viva Las Vegas
Devo - Working In A Coalmine
Eddie And The Hot Rods - Gloria
Elvis Costello - She
Farmer's Boys - In The Country
Fatima Mansions - Everything I Do
Flying Lizards - Sex Machine
Frankie Goes To Hollywood - Suffragette City
Fun Lovin Criminals - We Have All The Time In The World
Ian Brown - Billie Jean
Judge Dread - Al Capone
Kate Bush - Rocket Man
Little Nell - Fever
Manic Street Preachers - Suicide Is Painless (Theme From Mash)
OK Go - Ant Music
Plastic Bertrand - Sha La La La Lee
Presidents Of The USA - Video Killed the Radio Star
Rezillos - Somebody's Gonna Get Their Head Kicked In Tonight
Robert Wyatt - Shipbuilding
Rocket From The Crypt - Press Darlings
Sex Pistols - (I'm Not Your) Stepping Stone
Specials - Return Of The Django
Splodgenessabounds - Two Little Boys
Stranglers - 96 Tears
Thirty Nine Lyon Street (Billy McKenzie) - Kites
Vice Squad - Teenage Rampage
Vinnie Jones - Wooly Bully
Wall Of Voodoo - Ring Of Fire
Weezer - Uptown Girl
Who - Summer Time Blues (Live)
 -------------------------------------
Alberto Y Lost Trios Paranoias - Anarchy In The UK
Bad Manners - Wet Dream
Beautiful South - Everybody's Talking At Me
Billy Bragg And The Blokes - Billericay Dickie
Carter USM - The Impossible Dream
Count Bishops - Route 66
Damned - Eloise
Dickies - Paranoid
Divine Comedy - There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
Faith No More - Easy
Fratellis - Solid Gold Easy Action
Jane Aire And The Belvederes - Breaking Down The Walls Of Heartache
Jet Bumpers - Radar Love
John Otway - Space Oddity
Leningrad Cowboys - These Boots Are Made For Walking
Manic Street Preachers - Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head
Nirvana - The Man Who Sold The World (Unplugged)
Offspring - I Wanna Be Sedated
Radio Stars - Dear Prudence
Ramones - Baby I Love You
Rezillos - I Like It
Selecter - James Bond
Sensational Alex Harvey Band - Delilah
Sex Pistols - Substitute
Sexgang Children - As Tears Go By
Sham 69 - You're A Better Man Than I
Siouxsie And The Banshees - The Passenger
Snow Patrol - Isolation
Soft Cell - What
Specials - Double Barrel
Spizzenergi - Virginia Plain
Splodgenessabounds - Wiffy Woman (Pretty Woman)
Stranglers - Walk On By
Stray Cats - Something Else
Suggs - Cecilia
Vandals - Hocus Pocus
Vic Reeves - Born Free
Wedding Present - Where Everybody Knows Your Name
Wreckless Eric - Clever Trevor
XTC - All Along The Watchtower
 -------------------------------------
Ataris - The Boys Of Summer
Billy Idol - Mony Mony
Bjork - You Only Live Twice
Blue Rondo A La Turk - I Spy (For The FBI)
Blues Brothers - Rawhide
Bronski Beat - It Ain't Necessarily So
Clash - I Fought The Law
Colourfield - Windmills Of Your Mind
Decemberists - Human Behaviour
Human League - Get Carter
J Church - Girlfriend In A Coma
Jam - David Watts
Joe Strummer And The Mescaleros - Redemption Song
Kaiser Chiefs - I Heard It Through The Grapevine
Keane - With Or Without You
Killers - Shadowplay
Kirsty MacColl - A New England
L7 - Hanging On The Telephone
Lawnmower Deth - Up The Junction
Manic Street Preachers - Umbrella
 -------------------------------------
Marianne Faithfull - The Ballad of Lucy Jordan
Marilyn Manson - Down In The Park
Me First And The Gimme Gimmes - Seasons In The Sun
Mint Royale - Singin' In The Rain
Morrissey - That's Entertainment
Mott The Hoople - All The Young Dudes
Nazareth - This Flight Tonight
New York Dolls - (Give Him A) Great Big Kiss
No Doubt - It's My Life
No Way Sis - I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing
Rubinoos - I Think We're Alone Now
Siouxsie And The Banshees - This Wheel's On Fire
Skids - All The Young Dudes
Stranglers - All Day And All Of The Night
Suggs - Alright
Supergrass - Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others
Terry Hall - Music To Watch Girls By
The King - Come As You Are
Toyah - Echo Beach
U96 - Das Boot
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Specials - Ghost Town

This one hit number 1 in the chart in 1981 and is one of the best songs of the 80's.Also featured in a couple of my favourite films Snatch and Shaun of the Dead.

01 Ghost town
02 Why?
03 Friday night Saturday morning

Judge Dread - 5th Anniversary EP

Had to post some Judge Dread as he was such a great part of my early music listening years :)
I remember first hearing him at Music class at secondary school, every week pupils were allowed to bring in records to play for the last half hour of lesson.
Top tunes of the day were stuff like Slade, Lieutenant Pigeon's Mouldy old Dough!, Donny Osmand etc, but one kid brought in his brother's Big Six by Judge Dread (as well as Big Five by Prince Buster) and as the teacher used to leave us to it we all had a laugh until the teacher came back and blew a fuse :)
If nothing else it was a good introduction to Reggae/Ska and I went home and asked my sister to play some of her stuff, so I've always had a soft spot for this type of stuff.

Here's the sadly departed Judge's 5th Anniversary EP from 1977 which includes a nice variation of his works, End of the World is brilliant and should have been a big hit but the Judge's novelty past was against him, Big Everything is a nice compilation of the "Big" series.

01 - Jamaica Jerk Off
02 - Bring Back The Skins
03 - End Of The World
04 - Big Everything

Ashes To Ashes - Series One

Ashes to Ashes is the follow up series to the highly rated "Life on Mars", which featured 2006 detective Sam Tyler being thrown back to 1973.
For this series replace Sam with female detective Alex Drake who is this time thrown back to 1981 to solve the mystery of her parents death.
All far fetched but good entertainment :)
Also the series featured some great 80's music, the official soundtrack only features 19 of the 66 tracks used plus some dialogue and title themes.
This should be every track that was featured, although I've read some people claim to have heard a few others (but these are those listed on the official website).

01
Ultravox - Vienna
Duran Duran - Careless Memories
Tubeway Army - Are Friends Electric
David Bowie - Ashes To Ashes
The Passions - I'm In Love With a German Film Star
The Clash - I Fought The Law
The Stranglers - No More Heroes
02
Tenpole Tudor - Swords Of A Thousand Men
Madness - The Prince
Imagination - Body Talk
The Flying Lizards - Money
Visage - Fade To Grey
Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark - Souvenir
Dexy's Midnight Runners - Geno
Heaven 17 - (We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thing
Jon And Vangelis - I Hear You Now
Dexy's Midnight Runners - There There My Dear
Chas And Dave - Gertcha
03
The Ruts - Staring At The Rude Boys
Joe Jackson - It's Different For Girls
Roxy Music - Let's Stick Together
Roxy Music - Over You
Bucks Fizz - Making Your Mind Up
Modern Romance - Ay Ay Ay Ay Moosey
Duran Duran - Planet Earth
Altered Images - Happy Birthday
The Buzzcocks - Autonomy
The Beat - Doors Of Your Heart
04
Spandau Ballet - To Cut A Long Story Short
Shakin' Stevens - Green Door
Duran Duran - Girls On Film
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark - Enola Gay
The Clash - London Calling
Human League - Love Action
The Teardrop Explodes - Reward
The Clash - Police and Thieves
05
Madness - One Step Beyond
Simple Minds - I Travel
XTC - Sgt Rock (Is Going To Help Me)
Killing Joke - Turn To Red
Donna Summer - I Feel love
John Davis - Love Magic
Human League - Don't You Want Me
Sarah Brightman And Hot Gossip - I lost My Heart To A Starship Trooper
Soft Cell - Where Did Our Love Go
06
Soft Cell - Tainted Love
The Skids - Into The Valley
Roxy Music - Same Old Scene
The Beat - Mirror In The Bathroom
Spandau Ballet - Chant No 1
Kim Wilde - Kids In America
Ultravox - Vienna *
The Stranglers - Golden Brown
Japan - Ghosts
07
The Clash - Police On My Back
Kate Bush - The Man With The Child In His Eyes
The Beat - Whine And Grine
Michael Jackson - One Day In Your Life
David Bowie - Fame
The Selecter - Too Much Pressure
Peaches and Herb - Reunited
Marshall Hain - Dancing In the City
Rossini - William Tell Overture
08
Tom Robinson Band - 2 4 6 8 Motorway
David Bowie - Ashes To Ashes *
Supertramp - Take The Long Way Home
Bonus TracksIntroduction Dialogue - Alex Drake
Interlude Dialogue - You're Nicked
Edmund Butt - Gene Genie (Gene Hunt's Theme)
Edmund Butt - Title Music from Ashes To Ashes
Epilogue Dialogue - Fandabydozy

Dave And Ansil Collins - Double Barrell

Classic Ska / Reggae from Dave and Ansil Collins.
Despite being nearly 40 years old this disc is in pretty good condition.
The B Side is listed as Version 2, although it's hard to tell the difference.

A - Double Barrell
B - Double Barrell (Version 2)

Roddy Radiation And The Specials - Braggin And Tryin Not To Lie

The single states "free single not for sale" so it was possibly given away with an album? I picked this up in a job lot of 7'' vinyls at a boot sale so I don't know the full history.
I've seen these tracks on a couple of the many two tone compilations so probably not as rare as I'd hoped, but well worth a listen for anyone into ska / 2-tone.

Roddy Radiation And The Specials - Braggin And Tryin Not To Lie
Neville Staples AKA Judge Roughneck - Rude Boys Outa Jail (Version)

The Special AKA Live

Here's the vinyl version of the Specials "Too much too young" an absolute classic from the Two Tone era.

01 Too much too young
02 Guns of Navarone
03 Longshot kick the bucket
04 Liquidator
05 Skinhead moonstomp

Various Artists - Ska Wars (4CD)

Ska Wars is a 4 CD box set of some well known ska tracks, as with most bargain compilations the tracks by the better known artists tend to be live versions or alternate later recordings which isn't always a bad thing as anyone who followed the scene already has the original versions.
A nice selection of tracks by artists like Bad Manners, The Selecter, The (International) Beat, Loafers, Volcanoes, Potato 5 and many others, also included are 3 classic comedy oldies by Judge Dread which are always welcomed by me as he got me into Reggae/Ska when I was a kid.
4cd's worth of happy tunes which should be prescribed to anyone feeling down or depressed as these will cheer them up, works for me :)

CD1
Sally Brown - Bad Manners
Big 9 - Judge Dread
On My Radio - The Selecter
Do The Jerk - Potato 5
Dave & Mary - The Hotknives
Blind Date - The Riffs
Don't You Tell Me - The Volcanoes
No-One But You - Arthur Kay and The Originals
Follow My Leader - The Loafers
Sheila - Burial
Skaville UK - King Hammond
Bluebeat Suit - Potato 5/Laurel Aitken
Pound To The Dollar - Maroon Town
Jesse James - Clubland
Shame - Big 5
Best Of Both Worlds - The Selecter

CD2
Madness - The Selecter/Prince Buster
Skinhead Girl - Bad Manners
Julie Julie - The Hotknives
Je T'aime - Judge Dread
Bad News - The Loafers
Monday Morning - The Riffs
Fitz, The - International Beat
Our Own Way - Skin Deep
Oh - Case
Nostalgia - Maroon Town
King Hammond Shuffle - King Hammond
Blueboat And Ska - Natural Rhythm
Dambusters – JJ All Stars
Ska Toon Time - The Volcanoes
Ska Wars - Arthur Kay
I Can See Clearly Now - Pauline Black

CD3
Big 8 - Judge Dread
Magical Feeling - The Selecter/Prince Buster
Selecter, The - The Selecter
Reburial - Potato 5
Return Of The Ugly - Bad Manners
Play My Record - Arthur Kay
Plastic Gangsters - Plastic Gangsters
Rocksteady Party - Potato 5 and Laurel Aitken
Melancholy Sally - The Loafers
High Flyer - The Originals
Don't Go Away - The Hotknives
Come Into My Parlour - Skin Deep
These Things - The Riffs
Average Man - Maroon Town
007 (Shanty Town) - Natural Rhythm
Carnaby Street - The Volcanoes

CD4
Special Brew (Live) - Bad Manners
Rudi Got Married (Live) - Laurel Aitken and The Loafers
Missing Words (Live) - The Selecter
Undertaker, The (Live) - The Loafers
Hands Off She's Mine (Live) - International Beat
Concrete Jungle (Live) - The Special Beat
Dick Barton (Live) - The Hotknives
Rough Rider (Live) - The Selecter/Prince Buster
Lorraine (Live) - Bad Manners
Stand Down Margaret (Live) - International Beat
Too Much Too Young (Live) - The Special Beat
3 Minute Hero (Live) - The Selecter
WLN (Live) - The Hotknives
Walking In The Sunshine (Live) - Bad Manners
Mad About You (Live) - Laurel Aitken and The Loafers
Non Shrewd (Live) - Big 5

Boiler

I'd just been listening to my old Judge Dread records, including his version of "Come Outside" and the female voice reminded of me of former Bodysnatcher Rhoda Dakar, who's "Boiler" song is the most harrowing song you'll ever hear (which makes it a classic in my book), truly thought provoking.

Music is provided by the Specials and is the perfect backdrop to a nightmare scenario dealing with date rape.