8 Great Punk Covers of Classic Songs: Minor Threat, Big Black, and more

If an artist does a cover version of a song, but doesn't really change anything about it, then there's not really a point in doing it at all (listen to Seal's version of "Let's Stay Together" and tell me why it had to be made). However, these eight bands took songs by non-punk bands and put their own noisy punk spin of them.

1. The Sex Pistols - "Johnny B. Goode/Roadrunner"

To call the Sex Pistols rendition of Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode" a cover is being very generous with the term. While the band knows the song pretty well, Johnny Rotten spends most of the song shouting gibberish and cursing about how he doesn't know the words. Then, when he suggests the band plays the Modern Lovers' "Roadrunner" instead, he spends the first half of the song asking what the opening line is. This is the most punk the Sex Pistols ever sounded.

2. Screeching Weasel - "Linger"

When I first heard Screeching Weasel's Emo album, I didn't realize that this song was a cover of the Cranberries' "Linger" until the chorus came around. Ben Weasel is no Dolores O'Riordan, but at least he sings like he means it. Or maybe he's just being really sarcastic.

3. PJ Harvey - "Highway 61 Revisited"

PJ Harvey's gritty post-punk version of Bob Dylan's "Highway 61 Revisited" is what a cover should be: an artist's unique interpretation, not an imitation. Harvey parent's suggested that she cover the song for her 1993 album Rid of Me, and it was a great suggestion on their part.

4. Minor Threat - "(I'm Not Your) Stepping Stone"

You'd have to use a map to find a melody anywhere in Minor Threat's original songs, but the closest the band came was in its blistering cover of "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone" by Paul Revere and the Raiders, made most famous by the Monkees.

5. Cap'n Jazz - "Take On Me"

A-ha's classic single "Take On Me" has one of the most majestic (and difficult) vocal performances of the ‘80s, but if I had to make a list of singers who I thought could handle the song, Cap'n Jazz's Tim Kinsella would be near the bottom, right above Biz Markie. He doesn't exactly prove me wrong in Cap'n Jazz's cover of the song, but it's still a lot of fun.

6. Dinosaur Jr. - "Just Like Heaven/Show Me the Way"

As good as Dinosaur Jr.'s version of the Cure's "Just Like Heaven" is, the original song is a pop masterpiece that can't really be improved upon in any way. However, Dinosaur Jr.'s fuzzy cover of Peter Frampton's "Show Me the Way" totally trumps the original (except in the vocal department, but I'm listening to Dinosaur Jr. for guitar playing, not singing).

7. Black Flag - "Louie Louie"

When Black Flag's second vocalist Ron Reyes quit in the middle of a 1980 performance, the band spent the rest of the set jamming on the garage rock classic "Louie, Louie," with various members of the audience on vocals. The band would eventually record a cover of the song with third vocalist Dez Cadena, who threw in a couple of his own lyrics.

8. Big Black - "The Model/He's a Whore"

Big Black released two unexpected cover songs in 1987: Kraftwerk's synthpop classic "The Model," and the album's bonus track, Cheap Trick's "He's a Whore." The two were issued together as a single, with both sides of the sleeve featuring photos of Big Black replicating the Kraftwerk and Cheap Trick album covers.

What's your favorite off-kilter punk cover? Let us know in the comments section!

Tags

Steve albini, Cheap trick, Kraftwerk, Black Flag, Dinosaur Jr., Peter Frampton, The Cure, Cap'n jazz, A-ha, Minor threat, PJ Harvey, Bob Dylan, The cranberries, The Sex Pistols, Chuck berry