Black Cat Bone

A

Elvis Costello - (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace Love And Understanding






B

Happy Mondays - Step On

B.

B makes me wanna reach for my ol' John Kongos album.

For anyone who doesn't love Elvis Costello like I do, A might be a bit much to take, but I love every second of this version.

Unless there's a hell of a justification for it, if the writer is involved with the production in any way, it's not a cover. And A is a bit obvious, obviously.

B is just OK, but certain standards must be upheld.

I don't like A's song or the way Costello sings it. Very dull.

B isn't the Mondays at their best, but it has a certain swaggering groove and is a very effective cover.

B

Ignorant me, I was not aware B was a cover or the very existance of John Kongos. Thanks for illuminating me.

A is simply magnficient.

A

B

A is alright, but B is much more fun.

Oh, I love both. Costello brings a bite to that song that doesn't exist in any other version, while the Mondays track remains bags of fun, vastly overplayed as it is. Umm.

A

Elvis's drummer really reminds me of someone, I'm not sure if it's an aging Gary Busey, but I've got a nagging sensation that there was a fairly successful British actor who looks like that. Nothing much to say about the song, Elvis is a very boring musician, and this is a very Saturday evening light entertainment cover of a fairly dull song.

The Happy Mondays are also one of the most boring bands I've seen live, supporting the even more dreadful Oasis at Bolton's Meadowbrook Arena. I know it was some time after their peak, but I was really stunned by how tedious they were, I expected fireworks or shambolic catastrophe, and got fucking Travis. I'd like to vote against it for obviousness (or for the fact that no-one sees this as a great cover, but discovered it was a cover later), but there's no doubting it's a better track than its source.

B

B

for not being A

B

B

B

The other EC sounds OK but I can't vote against the loose limbedness of the Mondays here....

B

B