Battle of the Covers: Crazy (request, sort of)

"Dusty Ventures" (dustyventures)
09/03/2014 at 12:30 • Filed to: Battle of the Covers, BOTC, Musiclopnik, Seriously CeeLo?!, SERIOUSLY?!, WTF MAN!

Maybe I'm Crazy for taking on a song that's less than a decade old for Battle of the Covers, and especially Crazy for doing so after !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (Seriously, CeeLo? Seriously?!) But CTSenVy and IDROVEAPICKUPTRUCK both posted covers of the song in a four day period, and that's a sign in my book.

Sadly !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! was avoided like it was hazardous material. I blame this mostly on the holiday weekend, partially on Britney Spears, and partially on the apparent absence of Oppo's music master Gamecat. A Static Lullaby and Local H traded the lead for the duration of the battle, with Mark Ronson making a late play at the top spot as well. Ultimately Local H took the battle by a single vote over A Static Lullaby. Sadly no such conclusion was reached in the battle for worst as Blowsight, described by Arch Duke as sounding like "Nickelback decided to try metal," and Christopher Dallman, described by ACESandEIGHTS as "pretty much everything I hate about music" and Sir_Stig as "the worst pseudo gay voice ever," managed to tie with four votes each. Fortunately with only three of the eight competitors earning "worst" votes (Juliet Turner received three votes) we can at least say these three artists conclusively provided the three worst covers.

Crazy was the debut single for the two-man group Gnarls Barkley, made up of CeeLo Green and Danger Mouse (no, not that !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , Nibby). The music of the track was inspired by the film scores of Spaghetti Western soundtracks written by Ennio Morricone, and even samples the song "Last Man Standing" from the film Viva! Django . The lyrics of the song came from a conversation between CeeLo and Danger Mouse about how people "won't take an artist seriously unless they're insane." CeeLo wrote the lyrics inspired by the conversation and the duo managed to record the track in a single take. Upon release in 2006 the song was an immediate hit, reaching #2 on the Billboard Top 100, and achieving #1 status in numerous countries including Canada, Denmark, Ireland, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom (where it stayed at #1 for over two months). The duo won a Grammy for the song, as well as an MTV Europe Music Award for "best song of the year." Rolling Stone called it the best song of the decade and the 100th best song of all time. The song has since become a popular choice for live performances, with Maroon 5, Billy Idol, OneRepublic, Beyonce, and Kasabian all performing it in their concerts.

Another tough round of whittling down the covers. I went with ten and it was still a difficult cull.

Ray LaMontagne - (2006)

G4 - (2006)

Shawn Colvin - (2007)

Alice Russell - (2008)

Violent Femmes - (2008)

Audiofeels - (2009)

Relient K - (2011)

Red Band - (2011)

Within Temptation - (2012)

Daniela Andrade - (2014)

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

AND DON'T FORGET! If you want to check back on the results of previous rounds, or see what covers are coming in future rounds, there is now a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! with past rounds and the upcoming battle schedule.

AND THE BONUS GAME! IDENTIFY THE FOUR ARTISTS IN THE "FIGHT" IMAGE AT THE TOP OF THE PAGE! BONUS POINTS IF YOU CAN DO IT WITHOUT THE GOOGLES!

DISCUSSION (32)

CalzoneGolem > Dusty Ventures
09/03/2014 at 12:49

I recognize the Violent Femmes in the pic and that's the only other name I recognize besides Gnarls.

I've also just decided that I don't like Goodie Mob or anything with Cee Lo involvement anymore.

Dusty Ventures > CalzoneGolem
09/03/2014 at 13:08

He has revealed himself as terrible and basically tainted everything he's ever been a part of, yes.

CalzoneGolem > Dusty Ventures
09/03/2014 at 13:11

It's too bad because dude's got some chops.

Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again. > Dusty Ventures
09/03/2014 at 13:23

Clockwise R-L:

G4, Reliant K, Red Band, Violent Femmes?

nermal > Dusty Ventures
09/03/2014 at 13:28

Looking at the pic of Within Temptation looks like they will have a sound similar to In This Moment, which piqued my interest. Upon further review, I found that their music makes me want to dress up like a wizard, then get some other friends to dress up like different wizards, then stage a gathering in a large field where we can fight each other with cardboard swords.

I would play this collaboration with Xzibit (!?!?) as the soundtrack:

Dusty Ventures > Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again.
09/03/2014 at 13:34

3/4, top left is not G4

CalzoneGolem > Dusty Ventures
09/03/2014 at 13:48

Ugh I had to give up on this one. These are all so formulaic.

mcseanerson > Dusty Ventures
09/03/2014 at 13:53

Help Oppo, I am torn between Alice Russel and Red Band. I did not think I would like a slower one, because everyone does a slow cover of Crazy, but I really liked Alice Russel's.

Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again. > Dusty Ventures
09/03/2014 at 13:57

Audiofeels maybe?

Dusty Ventures > Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again.
09/03/2014 at 14:02

You got it

mcseanerson > CalzoneGolem
09/03/2014 at 14:07

Formulaic can be good, look at Edgar Wright movies.

Also you can't always reinvent the wheel, and you definitely shouldn't reinvent it just for the sake of reinventing it. I hate stuff that is different just for the sake of being different.

Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again. > Dusty Ventures
09/03/2014 at 14:09

Woo!

CalzoneGolem > mcseanerson
09/03/2014 at 14:14

I don't know who Edgar Wright is, but I hate formulaic movies more than formulaic covers.

CalzoneGolem > mcseanerson
09/03/2014 at 14:20

I just Googled Edgar Wright and you're not helping your point with me at all.

mcseanerson > CalzoneGolem
09/03/2014 at 14:24

Shaun of the Dead? Hot Fuzz? You have to watch his movies to appreciate them, you can't just read about them.

CalzoneGolem > mcseanerson
09/03/2014 at 14:30

Shaun of the dead was meh. Hot Fuzz couldn't make it through and Scott Pilgrim vs the world I'd rather be stabbed in the leg.

mcseanerson > CalzoneGolem
09/03/2014 at 14:32

Scott Pilgrim, I still haven't even seen that one and I don't know if I ever will. I really liked Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. Edgar Wright takes other's work and mocks it in a loving way.

Dusty Ventures > nermal
09/03/2014 at 14:34

There's a "yo, dawg" joke here somewhere. Also I liked that more than I thought I would.

CalzoneGolem > mcseanerson
09/03/2014 at 14:34

TBH finding a movie I like is much like finding a needle in a hay stack.

mcseanerson > CalzoneGolem
09/03/2014 at 14:46

Well that explains why you don't like Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. The true appreciation comes from all the elements pulled from other movies.

CalzoneGolem > mcseanerson
09/03/2014 at 14:52

If you say so.

Denver Is Stuck In The 90s > Dusty Ventures
09/03/2014 at 15:08

Man, I love . She does some great stuff

TheD0k_2many toys 2little time > Dusty Ventures
09/03/2014 at 16:56

Why cant i vote for all of them to be bad? I didn't like a single one of those covers...

Dusty Ventures > TheD0k_2many toys 2little time
09/03/2014 at 17:00

You could always vote for a worst and abstain from voting for a best. A symbolic "they're all terrible but this is the most terrible terrible" if you will.

TheD0k_2many toys 2little time > Dusty Ventures
09/03/2014 at 17:03

Yea i did that. This is just a song that i dont think anyone covered very well. :)

Dusty Ventures > TheD0k_2many toys 2little time
09/03/2014 at 17:07

I agree, they don't really stand up to the original. Of course on the other hand the cover artists (probably) aren't terrible human beings like CeeLo is.

TheD0k_2many toys 2little time > Dusty Ventures
09/03/2014 at 17:10

Lol. Also i had never heard of any of the cover artists either

Dusty Ventures > TheD0k_2many toys 2little time
09/03/2014 at 17:21

I'd only heard of Relient K and the Violent Femmes.

EDIT: I will say I really like Daniela Andrade's voice.

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > Dusty Ventures
09/03/2014 at 20:45

Funny with Gnarls Barkley doing a very famous cover of this:

http://youtu.be/9xj4mx4cMxg

JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t > Dusty Ventures
09/04/2014 at 16:58

Have to say I really liked the Red Band cover... nice and dark and minor and crunchy.

Where have all the lightweights gone? > CalzoneGolem
09/04/2014 at 22:58

He does. I saw Gnarls Barkley open up for the Chili Peppers, and even with the crappy "sound crew doesn't give a damn about the opening act" mix, they still kicked ass.

Conan > Dusty Ventures
09/05/2014 at 00:14

My favorite Crazy cover