Battle of the Covers: Search and Destroy

"Dusty Ventures" (dustyventures)
08/18/2014 at 12:00 • Filed to: Battle of the Covers, BOTC, musiclopnik

Are you a street-walking cheetah with a heart full of napalm? In that case you'd better go to the hospital right away, that doesn't sound healthy! It also means you'll probably enjoy this next battle, as we visit one of the biggest hits from the shirtless wonder known as Iggy Pop.

Welcome back to "Battle of the Covers," the competition where we take oft-covered songs, decide which cover version is best, and which renditions are a disgrace to the song's creator and a crime against ears.

!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! we took eight variations of the old work song Black Betty, including what those only casually familiar with the classic often believe to be the original version, the single released by Ram Jam in 1977. It was clear from the start this would be a two-horse fight, Ram Jam vs today's best known version recorded by Spiderbait. And ultimately... we decided nothing, really, because the voting ended in a dead tie, 16-to-16. One could argue that the tie could be broken by looking at the "worst cover" polls, where Ram Jam earned three votes to Spiderbait's one, thus declaring Spiderbait the better cover... but I won't do that. Mostly because I'd end up with 16 people very angry with me, and Archduke would never shoop anything for me ever again.

Speaking of the battle for the worst, it ended up just as inconclusive, with a three-way tie between Stag (possibly the most 80's song you'll ever hear), Tom Jones, and Meatloaf. I will, however, break this tie. I discovered (about 30 hours after the voting started), that the video I embedded for the Tom Jones cover was one of those godawful "embedding disabled" videos. Therefore I believe it didn't get as many votes as it would have, because most didn't bother to listen and instead just skipped it, therefore I declare it worst. Also I declare it worst because !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! Seriously, Tom, what the hell?

Now then, on to our new song. Search and Destroy was originally released by Iggy Pop and the Stooges in 1973, and it was a massive hit. The first major cover of the song came within just three years, as Sex Pistols' Sid Vicious was more than eager to try his hand at the instant classic. In the years since more than thirty major artists ("major" meaning they have their own Wikipedia page) have covered the song, either as a studio release or a live performance. Search and Destroy has shown up in movies such as Almost Famous and The Life Aquatic, and has been ranked the 49th greatest song in the history of rock by VH1. For those unfamiliar, here's the original version:

Once again I had to make some tough calls and concessions when deciding what to include in this list and what to reject. I (reluctantly) left out the covers by Soundgarden and Pearl Jam because they have only covered the song live and as such audio quality is only the best a cell phone thirty rows back can offer. I also decided to include the version from Guitar Hero, because for a generation of music nerds and gamers this is the first version they heard (and the version they became intimately familiar with as the tried tirelessly to beat their asshole friend's high score). Doing so could be revealing that I'm a fool who devoted way too much time to said game (I did, after all, use Judy Nails in the top graphic), but I'm ok with that.

So now it's up to you. Which artist did the shirtless one proud? Which artist should be searched out and destroyed? Cast your votes! And feel free to suggest other covered songs for future rounds.

Sex Pistols/Sid Vicious - (1976)

Red Hot Chili Peppers - (1991)

Guitar Hero II - (2002)

Def Leppard - (2006)

Black Light Burns - (2008)

Kid Loco - (2008)

Skunk Anansie - (2011)

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

DISCUSSION (12)

Dusty Ventures > Dusty Ventures
08/18/2014 at 04:17

I'm looking forward to this one. The Black Betty voting was predictable, but with this one while I know which is my personal favorite I have zero idea which way the voting will go.

Dubblewhopper > Dusty Ventures
08/18/2014 at 12:05

Personally RHCP is the best version. But in my heart, nothing can touch the original from The Stooges.

CalzoneGolem > Dusty Ventures
08/18/2014 at 12:17

I think RHCP did the best cover, because Beavis and Butthead experience. Worst I dunno yet gotta listen to more.

CalzoneGolem > Dusty Ventures
08/18/2014 at 12:38

Kid loco is my least favorite cover which is sad because it is the only one that really tries anything different.

Jeff-God-of-Biscuits > Dusty Ventures
08/18/2014 at 21:39

Skip the first miute and SA seems to get the fit of things. It just takes a bit of perseverance. I was surprised at how good the GH version was too.

beardsbynelly - Rikerbeard > Dusty Ventures
08/18/2014 at 21:54

Iggy's is the only good one.

Dusty Ventures > Jeff-God-of-Biscuits
08/18/2014 at 22:19

I do like Skunk's cover. The intro can be blamed in part on "Sucker Punch," the film they recorded the cover for. That's why if you listen carefully you can hear what sounds like faint weapons fire in the intro

mcseanerson > Dusty Ventures
08/19/2014 at 12:59

Can't believe I voted this way but:

I voted for Def Leppard, who I've never really cared for. I voted against Kid Loco which seems obvious to me. On top of all that though I didn't care for the Chili Peppers one and I like the Chili Peppers. Granted I'm in the camp that didn't like their old stuff and started liking them when all their old fans started hating them.

mcseanerson > Dusty Ventures
08/19/2014 at 13:03

When are you going to do a song The Gimmes have done a cover of? I vote for Natural Woman. https://play.spotify.com/track/6fLDyfYT…

Dusty Ventures > mcseanerson
08/19/2014 at 13:45

I'll put it in the rotation. Should be up next Monday

ACESandEIGHTS > Dusty Ventures
09/01/2014 at 21:31

I'm following Dusty because the covers project is brilliant. This rules.

I was skeptical when I found Toxic, but then realized it's all off-beat stuff, and not like "who did the best cover of a boring ass Beatles song."

Search and Destroy is such a ridiculously good jam.

Dusty Ventures > ACESandEIGHTS
09/02/2014 at 01:16

Thanks. It's definitely been a fun project, and I've found a fair number of new covers I really like (one of them enough to buy). Of course someone will probably suggest a Beatles song at some point ;)