Big Red's 10 WORST Cover Songs

1. American Pie - Madonna
I’ll accept Madonna as a cultural Icon. It wouldn’t make sense to deny. But this song is one also and she pissed all over it. Not to mention she made a video seemingly shot to stroke her own ego and put it on the same level as this song. She should of left this one alone.

2. Sweet Child O’Mine - Sheryl Crow
Okay, Sheryl Crow can sing a lot better than Axel Rose. But this song doesn’t require a good singer. It requires a good rocker. Which Crow isn’t far off. Unfortunately she tried to harmonize on this one and turn it into a bubble-gum pop song. It didn’t work.

3. Behind Blue Eyes - Limp Bizkit
As much as Fred Durst’s cover of Faith put his band on the map, the cover of this Who song ushered him right out of the limelight. He didn’t know what to do with a song this complex. But I’ll give this to him, I’d sing Barney’s theme song to have Halle Barre crawl all over me in a video.

4. Big Yellow Taxi - Counting Crows (with Michele Branch)
Okay, this cover was essentially the musical version of taking paradise and putting up a parking lot. This reeked of selling out. It was a couple managers looking to capitalize on two acts that had somewhat different followings. Only problem was that Counting Crow’s lead man Adam Duritz didn’t know what to do with a song that essentially has two or three lines over and over and Michele Branch did absolutely nothing but some La-La’s in the background.

5. I Think We’re Alone Now - Tiffany
Okay, this sparked a movement to have acts start performing in malls. Tommy James is vastly overlooked song writer and his name has been tarnished by goons like Tiffany butchering his songs.

6. Proud Mary - Ike and Tina Turner
I like this soft and turned down to mute. I’ve never seen the fascination with Tina Turner. Actually Ike’s bass voice is kind of good in this one, but the rest leaves me with nothing to be desired. I’ve mellowed my opinion on this one some, there was a time this would have been No. 1 with a bullet.

7. Mony, Mony - Billy Idol
I am not sure Billy Idol is quite the goon that Tiffany is, but he essentially did nothing to change or improve this Tommy James hit. It also was a weird choice considering his persona and the steady number of hits he was writing and performing in the 80s.

8. I Shot the Sheriff - Eric Clapton
There was a time I may have put this up top on the best list, but did any one stop to think why Clapton was doing a Reggae song. He doesn’t add anything to this with his guitar, which makes it even more pointless. Maybe he should have shot the Sheriff, then they would have put him in jail.

9. American Woman - Lenny Kravitz
I’ve often wondered where Lenny Kravitz would have landed if he were born in 50s and came of age in the 70s. But in the 90s, he seemed like the guy trying real hard to be cool. I don’t think it worked in this song, which he did only to make money. I also don’t think he did anything to further the song.

10. Dancing in the Streets - David Bowie and Mick Jagger
There’s not much good to say about this one. It does nothing but further the homosexual innuendo between Rock gods Bowie and Jagger. It’s also just an overdone and overplayed song. The Van Halen version is slightly better, but still sort of a bizarre choice of song for them.

Dis-Honorable Mention
Hazy Shade of Winter - The Bangles
Califorinia Girls - David Lee Roth
Fly Like an Eagle - Seal
Feel Like Making Love - Kid Rock