Two that I feel should be mentioned:

"All the Young Dudes": Mott the Hoople's cover of the David Bowie original

"Feelin' Alright": Joe Cocker's cover version of the Dave Mason/Traffic original

Aztec Camera covered Van Halen's "Jump" and completely changed the meaning of the song by slowing the tempo! Genius!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bzKzbucdnE&playnext=1&list=PL3A171F6BAD7B384A

And I can't believe you forgot about the "Heard It Through the Grapevine" cover by Roger Troutman and Zapp!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRiUUuIYAqc

Wanna hear a very bad cover? Listen to David Bowie's version of the Beatles' Across the Universe. Okay, maybe not that bad, but super cheesy compared to Fiona Apple's version.

Johnny Dawson (Dexterity) Winter does it again: his Highway 61 is super & so is his cover of Red House:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGtk1dHLSKM

Hi,
I'd just like to point out that Eric Clapton's semi-acoustic "cover" of his masterpiece Layla is truly lame. Youngsters should learn that he was cutting edge a long time ago; pre-Lay Down Sally.

Aretha Franklin's "I Say a Little Prayer." I believe even Burt Bacharach said her version was better than the one he produced for Dionne Warwick.

Be Good Tanya's cover of Neil Young's "For the Turnstiles" is amazing

Rod Stewart's Version of (I Know) I'm losing you is a much more passionate version than the Tempatations original. And I LOVE the Temps.

Prince's blistering live version of Whole Lotta Love from the Live at the Aladdin concert.

The Slappin` Mammys recorded an entire album ("Blackface in Bondage") of heavy metal versions of songs made famous by Al Jolson

One of my favorite all time covers is Annie Lennox version of "Train in Vain" - originally done by the Clash. So different. I love them both.

Manfred Mann - Blinded By The Light. Who outside of NJ even knows it was originally Bruce ?

joan jett's version of the season of the witch

Luther Vandross - "A House is Not a Home."

Did you say, Fugees cover of the Roberta Flack song, "Killing Me Softly with His Song"? Although the Roberta Flack recording topped the charts, I believe her recording was already a cover of the Lori Lieberman song.

Dylan's Highway 61 revisited covered by Johnny Winter on the great 2nd Winter. Worth tracking down if you haven't heard

and something completely different
José Feliciano's cover of the Door's Light My Fire, which if you're old enough you'll remember as a radio hit and seeing Mr. Feliciano perform on TV.

Does covering traditional songs count? (or do we need another show for that) Traffic's version of John Barleycorn

Tears of a Clown- English Beat.(Temptations)
On Broadway-George Benson.(Drifters)-Amazing version! And yes Hendrix with Watchtower.

Haha Luke from LI! Actually the worst cover EVER was Frank Sinatra's version of the Beatles "Something" ... It is hilarious in its awfulness!

Just re-listened to the show. And I think Roberta Flack gets a little bit too much credit for Killing Me Softly because her song was arguably a cover. The song was co-written and recorded by Lori Lieberman based on her infatuation with Don McLean. As I heard Lori relate the story at the Bottom Line some years ago, Roberta Flack heard her version, recorded the song and blew Lori's version into oblivion.

Another great cover better than the original: The Porpoise Song by They WIll Know Us By the Trail of the Dead -- which is far, far superior to the Monkees version.

Speaking of sea mammals: Tim Buckley composed the original Dolphins song, but the Fred Neil cover just blows the original away, great as it was.

Siouxsie and the Banshees' cover of Iggy Pop's "The Passenger" is also great.

A ghastly cover is SInatra's version of "Downtown." Oh my god does it suck.

So many great songs, but Three Dog Night's cover of Nilsson's One is The Loneliest Number is pretty definitive.

Speaking of people who covered Leonard Cohen - Jeff Buckley... but Buckley's cover of Lilac Wine is simply amazing, and its use in the French thriller, "Tell No One" is a revelation.

Chris Cornell's cover of Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" is so soulful and meaningful.... It's the first time I really understood the song.

I'm also a big fan of Obadiah Parker's version of Outkast's hit "Hey Ya", and Counting Crows' cover of "Friend of the Devil" by The Grateful Dead. So different from the originals, in a good way.

Pixies' cover of JAMC's "Head On," for sure.

Another good cover to check out is FLIGHT's cover of Q Lazzarus' "Goodbye Horses."

One of my favorite covers is Led Zeppelin's "Levee Song", completely different from the Blues original, but the same desperate, abandoned feeling to it. I kept on thinking of both versions of the song whenever I heard news about Hurricane Katrina

Willie Nelson's cover of Cyndi Lauper's "Time after Time" and Johnny Cash's cover of Simon and Garfunkel's " Bridge over troubled water" are both Soul-chillingly wonderful (yes, even "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" can be soul chillingly wonderful. Great topic--Thanks!

Butthole Surfers---American Woman
Sonic Youth---Bubblegum
Anthrax---Bring the Noise
Bauhaus---Telegram Sam, Ziggy Stardust

George Harrison's last #1, "I've Got My Mind Set On You"

Great cover of led zeppelin's somewhat obscure but great song, no quarter, by modern rock group, tool.

Marvin Gaye did a famous cover of a Gladys Knight and the Pips song: "Heard It Through The Grapevine" (a completely different arrangement that was much more popular)

Hands down The Greatest Cover of all time...
Dylan's "Knocking on Heaven's Door" covered by Antony and the Johnsons

I Shot the Sheriff, Twist and Shout, Little Wing: when I heard the originals after being familiar with the covers, I realized that the covers were all lacking something imporant, a certain soulfulness. And in the case of Little Wing, the cover is devoid of the subtlety, lyricism, and deftness of expression of the original.

- Neil Young's version of "Imagine" on that televised post-9/11 concert...
- Aretha's "Bridge Over Troubled Water"
- Al Green's "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart"

marvin gaye's "heard it through the grapevine" and yes, aretha's "respect" are the huge classic covers - so great you don't realize they're covers - but the ones that popped into my head listening to the show today are devo's "satisfaction" and the clash's "i fought the law"

Ok, I cannot believe y'all went the entire program without mentioning without question, hands down the greatest cover of all time which was Aretha Franklin's version of Otis Redding's "Respect." It's in its own stratosphere. It's pretty embarrassing y'all didn't mention that one on the show. In addition to Aretha's "Respect":
Janis Joplin- "Piece Of My Heart" originally by Aretha Franklin's sister Erma Franklin.
Joe Cocker- "Feelin' Alright" originally by Dave Mason
The Fugees version of Bob Marley's "No Woman No Cry" (which is way better than Clapton's "I shot The Sheriff" and I like Clapton a lot)
Lauryn Hill's version "Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You" orignally done by Frankie Valli.
Marvin Gaye and Boyz II Men both did outstanding versions of the Beatles "Yesterday". Each version was in a sense completely original.
Of Course the god that is Stevie Wonder did unbelievable versions of Bob Dylan's "Blowin In The Wind", The Beatles' "We Can Work It Out", "For Once In My Life" was originally done by Barbara McNair and done by a bunch of people but Stevie's took the cake.
Donny Hathaway did great covers of Carole King's "You've Got A Friend", Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" and he also did The Beatles' "Yesterday"
Aretha Franklin did a tremendous cover of The Band's "The Weight." This included an unbelievable arrangement by King Curtis with some of the most amazing horn lines you will ever hear and a young Dwayne Allman getting filthy on the slide guitar.
Then of course there's "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" which was first recorded by Aretha Franklin in 1967 but written by Carole King and then later recorded by Carole King on the "Tapestry" album in 1971.
The Band did a phenomenal job with "Don't Do It" which was originally "Baby Don't You Do It" by Marvin Gaye
Both Derek And The Domino's and Stevie Ray Vaughan did tremendous versions of Jimi Hendrix's "Little Wing" (Clapton does a better job on that then he did on "I Shot The Sheriff")
Stevie Ray Vaughan also does a tremendous job with Elmore James' "The Sky Is Crying"
One of the most legendary live recordings in history "At Fillmore East" by The Allman Brothers Band from 1971 contains great covers of Blind Willie Mc Tell's "Statesboro Blues" and T-Bone Walker's "Stormy Monday".
Jimi Hendrix does an incredible cover of Albert King's "Born Under A Bad Sign"
The last four covers I listed were all blues tunes which get covered so much. However they're all exceptional.
Eric Clapton's blues cover album "From The Cradle" was simply scintillating. Easily the best guitar work of his career and it doesn't come until 1994!
I am shocked that some of the covers I mentioned were not mentioned on the show. I agree with the an earlier post about Otis Redding doing incredible covers. Many of you need to "get with the program." Some of you know what's up but the rest of y'all need to acquire some real soul and lose your "hipsterrific ways."

Jimi Hendrix covering any Bob Dylan song.
All Along the Watch Tower
Like a Rolling Stone
and others

Always enjoyed M. Ward's version of "Let's Dance" by Bowie

I love the cover of Van Halen's "Jump" by Roddy Frame of Aztec Camera

Killing me softly was ORIGINALLY recorded by Gordon Lightfoot in the 60's. Also, "Hallelulia" closed out two separate cop shows in the same night: "Cold Case" and "Without a Trace."

Cowboy Junkies-"Sweet Jane"

Two great ones from Rage Against The Machine -- Maggie's Farm and Renegades of Funk both from the album "Renegades"

Annie Lennox singing Neil Young's,
"Don't Let it Bring you Down",
Judy Collins singing L.Cohen's "Joan of Arc",
and of course Johnny Cash covering 9 in nails.

While I like Bob Seeger's "Turn the Page", I like Metallica's cover of it even better!

What do we consider a cover? Would Jimi Hendrix's version of the Star Sprangle Banner be considered a cover?

Hey Joe!
With a little help from my friends,
and how about "The the"'s Hank Williams versions (an entire album)!

Can you count "standards"? (Isn' t Hallelujah a standard by now?) I love Sinead O’Connor singing Cole Porter’s “You Do Something to Me”. Some covers are powerful because they remind/make you realize how great a song is, but sometimes they shed new light on the talent of the singer.

Any song Otis Redding covered from Satisfaction to My Girl. He always tops the original

rod stewart covered tom waits downtown train and it became a hit, but i like tom's version better!

The Bangles: "Hazy Shade of Winter" always comes to mind. How about Richard Thompson's "Oops! I did it again!"?

Moody Blues' cover of Bessie Banks' "Go Now"

Most people thought the Moodies had written it...

Beatles version of "Twist and Shout"

NRBQ's version of Johnny Cash's "Get Rhythm" - JC said theirs was the defintive version

Oh yeah! Iggy Pop, "Real Wild Child"

The Travis cover of "Hit Me Baby One More Time" is fantastic, no matter what you might think of Britney Spears OR Travis.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NwqN-xj9Xs

Check out Message in a Bottle by Matisyahu...also Circle of Life from The Lion King...that one was great. It was on a recent Disney Reggae album.

Let's not forget Van Halen's cover of Oh Pretty Woman.

Amy Ray of the Indigo Girls does a great version of "Romeo and Juliet" originally done by Dire Straits (I think!)

I was blown away by Shirley Bassey's cover of Pink's Get the Party Started. Originally done for a British retailers holiday commercial she expanded it into a full length recording for her Get This Party Started album

Jose Gonzales' pensive, romantic cover of the synthy dance song "Heartbeats" by Swedish group the Knife. It was featured in some tech commercial back in 2006 or 2007, which I think elevated the profile of both versions.

William Shatner covering
Pulp's
"Common People"

One of my favorite covers is Santana's version of Black Magic Woman, originally a little-known track on one of Fleetwood Mac's pre-Buckingham-Nicks albums.

Best: Warren Zevon, "Knockin on Heaven's Door" recorded while he was dying of cancer.
Worst: Warren Zevon and Hindu Love Gods cover of Prince's "Raspberry Beret"

Re: Killing Me Softly. I remember in the 70's hearing Lori Lieberman's version of Killing Me Softly before Roberta Flack's.

Leon Russell's cover of Dylan's "It takes a lot to laugh It Takes a Train to Cry".

The Bangles: "Hazy Shade of Winter" always comes to mind. How about Richard Thompson's "Oops! I did it again!"?

the rufus wainwright version of leonard cohen's hallelulia

8 miles high by husker du

Miles Davis covering 'time after time" by Cindy Lauper

Ciccione Youth (Sonic Youth) covering Madonna's "into the groove"

both better than the originals

Stevie Ray Vaughan's cover of Jimi Hendrix's Little Wing!

"American Woman" covered by Lenny Kravitz comes to mind.:-)

I never appreciated UB40 until they covered Neil Diamond's "Red Red Wine" -- it took me a little while to realize they were the same song. They are universes apart, but both are perfect in their own ways.

Elvis Costello--(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding.

Me and Bobby McGee -- Joplin cover of Kristofferson song. Grateful Dead did a good cover, too.

Seu Jorge's acoustic covers of David Bowie songs (in Portuguese) on The Life Aquatic soundtrack. There are several songs, but "Life on Mars" is particularly good. Very different, but very beautiful!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6l8zrsf4LY

what about in jazz, where doing covers is the norm? The Bad Plus and Brad Mehldau are both notable for their unusual covers.

The Bad Plus have cover Blondie, Nirvana, Tears for Fears, Aphex Twin and many others. Brad Mehldau has many covers of Radiohead and Beatles tunes.

Heck, I'll add my own jazz version of PJ Harvey's "Driving" to the mix:

http://soundcloud.com/leo-ferguson/02-driving-dress/

Postal Service's cover of Against All Odds definitely outshines the original!

I guess it's a little passe to cover Jay-Z now, but I really like Hugo's cover of "99 Problems,"

Who would even dare to cover one of the great Jackson 5 songs? Graham Parker's version of I Want You Back is tremendous. Such talent, such versatility, such nerve!

Check out this great cover of Empire State of Mind with Shockwave, Jon Braman and Arthur Lewis from Joe's Pub last year...the song begins at 3:51 on the link below and features Shockwave on beatbox, Jon Braman and Arthur Lewis on vocals, ukulele and keyboard, new words....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4zk_tYZils

Though the original Kate Bush version is great, Faith and The Muse's gothic cover version of "Running Up That Hill" makes the song sound epic

Blondie "Hangin' on the telephone"
Sonic youth "Superstar"
Johnny Cash "Rusty Cage"

Miles Davis covering 'time after time" by Cindy Lauper

Ciccione Youth (Sonic Youth) covering Madonna's "into the groove"

both better than the originals

Vanilla Fudge's Cover of Set Me Free, but then I don't really know how many original songs that Vanilla Fudge have done.

I love Frank Sinatra, but I'll bet you could do an entire show on some of the awful covers he did of pop songs in an attempt to be relevant/current. Perfect example: Kermit the Frog's classic, "It's Not Easy Being Green." Oy vey. Ol' Blue Eyes should have just said NO.

U2's "One" by Mary J. Blige.

Shaggy's version of the Folkes Brothers' "Oh Carolina." Can't feel bad when you hear it - everythin' irie!

Patti Smith's cover of Gloria. Talk about a song that has had a number of great covers, Smith's version gives the song a whole other context.

One of my favorites is Cake doing Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive"

Chaka Khan's cover of Prince's "I feel for You"

Devo, "Working in the Coal Mine"
Devo, "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction"
Laibach, "Opus Dei" or "Leben heißt Leben"
Laibach, "Geburt Einer Nation"
The Coolies, "Scarborough Fair"
New York Dolls, "Stranded in the Jungle"

Satisfaction and Secret Agent Man by Devo, Johnny Cash's Hurt (actually all of Cash's American series), the Shin's cover of Postal Service's We Will Become Silhouettes

Patti Smith - Because the Night

Hey Jude by Wison Pickett, much better than the original

the song "Respect" was written and originally released by Otis Redding in 1965. "Respect" became a 1967 hit and signature song for R&B singer Aretha Franklin.

Van Halen's version of "You Really Go Me" by the Kinks is awesome!

Great show- thanks, W

"Little Wing" by Derek & the Dominoes
(Or "Lit'l Wing as pronounced by Eric)

Classic!

Two of the BEST covers of Beatles songs are Elton John doing Lucy in the sky with diamonds andJoe Cocker's she came in through the bathroom window. I never get tire of hearing those covers!

Eric Johnson does for "Like a Rolling Stone" that Jimi Hendrix did for "All Along the Watchtower."

Heard It Thru the Grapevine - Creedence Clearwater Revival
Take Me To the River - Talking Heads
You Keep Me Hangin On - Vanilla Fudge

Best cover by far is Jeff Buckley's "Hallelujah"

Joni Mitchell's Big Yellow Taxi done by the Counting Crows

Knockin' on Heavens Door (Bob Dylan's original verses Guns and Roses cover)...

However, we must account for examples that are due to more media coverage, racial prejudice and lack of radio play for African American groups, etc. Or else how could one attest to Elvis Presley's and Pat Boones popularity?

Harry Nilsson's biggest hit was the the cover of Badfinger's "Without You".

The Doors covering "Back Door Man" by Howlin' Wolf. Who can top Morrison's yelping and leering vocals in that version?

Jimmy wong's cover of lady gagas judas on youtube

Otis Redding's version of "I Can't Get No Satisfaction" destroys the original. That song played by the Stax musicians is just pure Memphis Soul goodness.

Al Green covering Roy Orbison's "Pretty Woman"

Townes Van Zandt covering the Rolling Stones' "Dead Flowers"

Ted Leo covering Bruce Springsteen's "Dancing in the Dark"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZB9DaqSLCtI

Ben Folds Five covering The Flaming Lips' "She Don't Use Jelly"

Another Saturday Night -- covered by Cat Stevens. Originally by Sam Cooke.

"Electric Child of Witchcraft Rising" covered by The New Pornographers
Original :Outrageous Cherry

The Raincoats cover of "Lola," originally by the Kinks takes the muddled gender dynamics of the original and further complicates them by changing the gender of the singer! Plus, sonically, it is just BETTER.

Don't forget Sinead O'Connor's one-hit was a cover of Prince's Nothing Compares 2 U

While Johnny Cash was covered by acts like Social Distortion and Everclear, Cash covering Hurt AND Cash and Strummer cover of Redemption Song are unbelievable...

Mike Viola and "I Want It That Way "

His version brings the song to life in a whole new way that the original does not

It's All Over Now Baby Blue, original by Bob Dylan, covered by THEM with Van Morrison

Soft Cell - Tainted Love is definitely better.

Ace Enders of the Early November actually did a cover of "The Power of Love" by Huey Lewis and the News. Its a much softer and intimate interpretation of it, certainly not for everyone. However its hard not to respect his decision to go in a direction that was not as obvious. It would have been too easy to make it an upbeat tune.

I think he uses the power of love in the "make a young man weep" sense, highlighting the half of love that rises more somber and poignant emotion.

Roxy Music does a great version of Bob Dylan's 'Hard Rain'

Knockin' on Heavens Door (Bob Dylan's original verses Guns and Roses cover)...

However, we must account for examples that are due to more media coverage, racial prejudice and lack of radio play for African American groups, etc. Or else how could one attest to Elvis Presley's and Pat Boones popularity?

Stop Your Sobbing, by The Pretenders covering the Kinks

Agree about Nirvana's man who sold the world, and suggest Siouxsie Sioux's Passenger.

James Taylor - You've Got a Friend

ZZ Top's 1979 cover of Isaac Hayes' "I Thank You" is dynamite!

Jimi Hendrix - All Along the Watchtower
Courtney Love - Gold Dust Woman
Shawn Colvin - You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go

You just pointed to the Isleys' version of "Twist & Shout" as an example of a tune that's been so overtaken by a well-known cover that it's practically forgotten, but I don't know -- oldies radio stations (well, those that still play oldies quite that old!) still play the Isleys' cut. A better example would be "Without You," a devastating and monumental track for Nilsson that started out as a Badfinger album cut, a fine song in anyone's hands that Badfinger treated in rather workmanlike fashion in the studio.

"Walking on Thin Ice: - Elvis Costello's cover of Yoko Ono, on "Kojak Variety"

Patti Smith - Because the Night

I really like the original John Holt version, and the U-Roy toast version, but Blondie's cover of "The Tide is High" is certainly a huge classic.

Clearly Hush by Deep Purple outshone versions by Billie Joe Royal (the first) and Joe South, the write, who had the second version

Bauhaus "Ziggy Stardust" rivals (and sounds a lot like) David Bowie's original

I love Sister of Mercy's version of the Syones' "Sympathy For The Devil".

Victor Wooten's - Amazing Graze

The Bad Plus's - Life on Mars, Everybody Wants to Rule the World, Smells Like Teen Spirit

Isaac Hayes covering the Beatles' "Something"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzSXyRXlqT4

Soft Cell: Tainted Love
Bauhaus: Ziggy Stardust

The Beach Boys did a cover of the Mamas and Paps' "California Dreamin". And though I am a fan of both groups and like both versions I think I prefer the Beach Boys' version a bit more.

Anything Jerry Garcia covered by Bob Dylan.

Simple Twist of Fate
Positively 4th Street
Visions of Johanna
Baby Blue
Tough Mama
Lot to Laugh, Train to Cry
Masterpiece
The list could on and on...

At the risk of suggesting a Beatles song could have been improved upon, how about Joe Cocker singing She Came in Through the Bathroom Window?

Oh, and Knockin' on Heaven's Door by Guns n Roses - Dylan covers could be its own category

You Make Me Feel (Like a Natural Woman) by Carol King sang by Aretha Franklin

Picking a better than the original cover is pretty tough.

I've always been partial to the Hendrix - All Along the Watchtower. That's pretty nice upgrade.

Al Green's "Let's Stay Together" is great but Tina Turner's cover is certainly its equal or better.

a little help from my friends, performed by Joe Cocker at Woodstock :)

Definitely "Dead Souls" originally by Joy Division, covered by NIN!

Diana Krall cover of Jonie Mitchell's "I could drink a case of you."
Stones cover of "It's All Over Now."

Robert Palmer's cover of "Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley" kicks off what I think is his magnum opus. The original version recorded by Lee Dorsey is fine, but Palmer owns that song.

EASY! "MAD WORLD" by Gary Jules. Does anyone remember the original Tears for Fears version?

Elenor Rigby by Ray Charles is absolutely amazing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fq5Oyza1afg

kd lang has some great cover songs that she has made her own.

PJ Harvey's "Wang Dang Doodle" (by Willie Dixon)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-NNk8-qj-w

Tricky's "black steel in the hour of chaos" (by public enemy)

Like plays I believe songs are vessels that are meant to be reinterpreted in various ways by different artists. I wish we weren't so precious about so-called "definitive" versions of songs. I love to hear a good musical interpreter do his or her own takes on songs. All kinds of magical things can happen when the right singer or performer can bring new light or even improve upon a tune. That kind of interpretation is a dying art, isn't it?

Eddie Vedder's cover of Dylan's "Masters of War".

Almost as good as the original: Galaxy 500's version of "Ceremony" by New Order.

Definitely not as good as the original, but still good: Sisters of Mercy doing "Symphony for the Devil."

Travis' Hit me baby one more time is way better than the orignial.

Yo La Tengo with Daniel Johnston calling in to a radio show to cover the Beach Boy's "Speeding Motorcycle"

What about Ike&Tina Turner's "Proud Mary"? Hardly anyone remembers the Creedence Clearwater version anymore.
OTOH, the Rolling Stones did horrible covers of "It's All Over Now" by the Valentinos and "Time is on My Side" by Irma Thomas. And their faux-black accent doesn't help. It's like singing in blackface. And I won't even bring up the early Beatles covers. Ugh!

One more that I love is "Nobody Does it Better" from the James Bond movie covered by Radiohead. So so good.

Don Gibson's Oh Lonesome Me, as covered by Neil Young

"Tangled Up In Blue" by the Indigo Girls. I remember the first time I heard this version in a lesbian bar downtown. Absolutely gorgeous, passionate. I like it better than Dylan's. Scandalous!

Come on Eileen (Dexy's Midnight Runners, covered by Save Ferris)

Alabama Song (Bertolt Brecht, covered by The Doors)

Man who Sold the World (David Bowie, covered by Nirvana)

In the Midnight Hour (Wilson Pickett, covered by Springsteen)

Although the Police's "The Bed's Too Big Without You" is good, Sheila Hylton's recording is far superior.

There are plenty of Depeche Mode covers in the world, but in my opinion, the best one is the Smashing Pumpkins' cover of Never Let Me Down Again. The hazy guitars and the whispy vocals really bring out the beauty in the song.

I'd like to give a shout-out to A Perfect Circle while I'm at it-- their cover of "Imagine" is the single most terrifying John Lennon cover you will ever hear.

Jose Gonzales - Heartbeat (The Knife)

Johnny Cash's version of NIN's Hurt

In 1983 my band Comateens did a cover of Barry Mann and Cynthia Weill's "Uptown". Mann and Weill liked it so much they put in on their website. Probably my proudest moment as a musician.

Sorry, but these covers from the AV club are TERRIBLE.

And the guest's attitude towards "80's Cheeseball" is off-putting and telling-- He's soooooo coooooollllll....

God Forbid Chumbawamba gets any love.

Livin' Thing (ELO) by Beautiful South
Ballad of El Goodo (Big Star) Evan Dando
It's Over (Roy Orbison) My Brightest Diamond

I think "I Shall be Released" by Bob Dylan is one of the greatest songs as an original and the covers by Nina Simone and the Rolling Stones are also amazing.

Nirvana's cover of Bowie's The Man Who Sold The World and Patti Smith's version of Tears For Fears' Everybody Wants to Rule the world

This is super fun topic. From reading the posts I noticed how hits of the early Rock & Roll days seemed all to be covers. As the genre has evolved so have covers. Today they often have an ironic tinge to them. Perhaps you could discuss the changing motivations of covering a song over time.

My favorite aspect of this discussion is learning a song is actually a cover. "I think we're alone now" by Tiffany was the first time my mind was blown by this concept.

The Beatles were masters at covering songs and making them their own. They invested songs like "Twist & Shout" and "Please Mr Postman" with a power that the original artists couldn't even imagine.

Jimmy Webb's arrangement for Ella Fitzgerald's cover of Savoy Truffle is the greatest cover of the Beatles' worst song. You're missing out if you don't have it! The Dirtbombs cover of Kung Fu is interesting. They cover Bauhuas' Bela Lugosi's dead and play Kun Fu over it.

The "Love Song" cover by 311 beats the pants off The Cure's version.

Heresy: I like Jonh Mayer's Bold as Love more than the original.

"House of the Rising Sun" is the classic example.

Phish has covered dozens, probably hundreds, of songs, many of which remain in rotation. It's not uncommon to hear three, four, or five cover tunes over the course of a two set Phish show. Many fans will argue that Phish plays a better version of the Stones' "Lovin' Cup," just to give one example.

The Clash's cover of Junior Murvin's "Police and Thieves". Tough to do, but they actually improved on the original. Like wise for their cover of "I Fought the Law".

Maybe the song most improved by a cover: Linda Ronstadt doing the Everly Brothers' "When Will I be Loved"?

Patti Smith's version of Gloria, simply the best and more powerful than the original.

Jeff Buckley's version of Hallellujah, strips down the over production of Leonard Cohen's original.

Cat Power's version of Silver Stallion by the Highwaymen.

Vanilla Fudge doing Curtis Mayfield's People Get Ready (a different take on the song, just as powerful as the original)

Ace Frehley takes great songs and makes them AWESOME. I think his cover of "Do Ya" is much better than the original by The Move and the ELO version. Also, his "New York Groove" rocks the original Hello version.

One cover that is incredibly popular -- and in my opinion significantly worse than the original -- is "Proud Mary" by Ike & Tina Turner. I love the John Fogerty/CCR version...but I can't even listen to that cover in its entirety.

There have been so many covers over the years . . . and some have been a significant "new" treatment of the original . . . just a few:

Good Lovin' (Young Rascals/Olympics)

Hang On Sloopy (The McCoys and The Ramsey Lewis Trio . . . orig. My Girl Sloopy by the Vibrations)

The In Crowd (Ramsey Lewis Trio/Dobie Grey)

Fever (The McCoys/Peggy Lee)

Come On Let's Go (The McCoys/Ritchie Valens)

I Heard It Through The Grapevine . . . three distinctive versions: Gladys Knight & The Pips, Marvin Gaye, and Creedence Clearwater Rivival.

Blue Moon (The Marcels/Rodgers & Hart)

Heart and Soul (The Cleftones/Hoagy Carmichael and Frank Loesser)

Hello Dolly (Vito and the Salutations/Jerry Herman)

I Fought The Law (Bobby Fuller Four/The Crickets w/o Buddy Holly)

Light My Fire (Jose Feliciano/The Doors)

Blueberry Hill (Fats Domino/Gene Autry)

How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) (Jr. Walker and the All Stars/Marvin Gaye)

Come See About Me (Jr. Walker and the All Stars/Supremes)

You Keep Me Hangin' On (Vanilla Fudge/Supremes)

The list goes on and on . . . but often, when an "artist" did a cover, it meant they were out of fresh material and desperately needed a hit.

And, how about vocal covers to instrumentals? (i.e. You Can't Sit Down by the Dovells covering Phil Upchurch Combo)

"I heard it through the grape vine" covered by the slits: it's weird, it's wild, but also strangely respectful of something that can easy be passed off as a soul chestnut.

When Eric Clapton got to No. 1 on the Billboard singles chart for the first and only time with "I Shot the Sheriff" in 1974, very few Americans knew who Bob Marley was. Did Clapton make Marley a star? Maybe he helped a little. But when Marley died in 1981 I heard the news on New York's most popular rock radio station (not WNYC), and what song was played? "I Shot the Sheriff" -- but Clapton's version!

let's face it,the eric clapton "sheriff...." is, like it or not, polluted with the time honored tradition, of white appropriation of black music. i hope, this very important discussion,be not ignored. and yes, it happens the other way around,but the economic/social proportionality of that equation,is very very different.

i've almost had to go into the witness protection program over this one. - i like the original, "lucy in the sky....." of the beatles,but, i think elton john's version, is that much better. it's brighter,and crisper. the beatles original, is perhaps a little more hallucinogenic[not that that is necessarilly a bad thing].

Let me get on top of this before it goes too far. Eric Clapton's I Shot The Sheriff might be iconic in its way, and it sure sold a lot of records. But if you consider sincerity, conviction and really, really GREAT singing to be important to music, you'll pick Bob Marley all the way.

A more interesting example (besides All Along The Watchtower or Hey Joe) might be something like Hanging On The Telephone. Blondie took an OK power pop song by The Nerves and made it into a propulsive, streamlined monster single.

There will always be the Jimi Hendrix cover version of the Bob Dylan song "All Along the Watchtower."

I don't know if it outshines the original, but Clem Snide's "I'll Be Your Mirror" is fantastic