Tune du Jour: “Hungry Like the Wolf” – Duran Duran
THE CLASH of Cover Tunes: Less Than Jake vs. Reel Big Fish vs. The Young Werewolves
VOTE, COMMENT, then DO SOMETHING NICE FOR YOURSELF
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The Original
Duran Duran:
Bad Song, Fun Covers …
THE CLASH of Cover Tunes
Less Than Jake vs. Reel Big Fish vs. The Young Werewolves
Less Than Jake:
Reel Big Fish:
The Young Werewolves:
SPACE
Oh the disharmony! Much like Harlan County there are no neutrals here. It is your solemn responsibility to decide which cover song prevails. In other words … Which Side Are You On!??!
Disclaimer: Votes cast from Florida may or may not be counted.
cover me impressed 
This is probably my favorite Duran Duran song, if there is such a thing. I was diggin’ Less Than Jake’s buzzsaw version, but at a minute and a half, I felt it just clocked in too short. Reel Big Fish’s snappy little ditty had me tapping my toes, but I gave it to The Young Werewolves. I hadn’t heard of them before, but I found myself really enjoying their wall-of-sound approach, with the booming drums, nice little guitar solo, and the trading of vocals back and forth. Well done.
If you want to torture yourself, look up Courtney Love’s version on MTV’s unplugged, as she brutally murders the song.
All three had fun with the song.
Reel Big Fish’s intro always cracks me up, but I had to go with the short burst of Less Than Jake. That’s about as much of the song as I could tolerate anyway.
The Young Werewolves look like they would have been a lot of fun to have seen live.
I used to work with a guy in KC whose favorite band was Duran Duran. He was not a music junkie and being at least ten years younger his view of popular 80s music was a tad different than mine. He excitedly suggested once that we road trip 2 and a half hours to see Duran Duran since they weren’t coming closer, stay for the night, make a party of it. I thought HOW have I failed to articulate my disdain for these fashion-forward vacuous hucksters sashaying through fake landscapes like extras from Pillow Biters of the Caribbean?
Anyway Less Than Jake checklist 1-speedy rendition 2- dismissive of the original 3- nimble bass riffing. 4- over fast.
Young Werewolves brought it straight up the middle. Too slow for a bull rush, just sauntered right up the main aisle feeling bulletproof, crashing along like a Halloween parade in NOLA.
Reel Big Fish had much better sound quality, multiple tempos, more imagination in the arrangement. Energetic, raucous, vivid and fun! Brought to mind Richard Cheese. The ghost of Frank Zappa appeared briefly at the 2:15 or so mark smoking a cigarette and winking. My vote.
I was never into Duran Duran, but they sure were popular at the time. When I lived in the dorms, there was one rock radio station that everyone listened to (98 Rock), such that one could walk down the hall and hear the same song coming from practically every room.
Then when cable TV came into being, and music videos were everywhere overnight, Duran Duran must have been one of the most played acts of the first half of the eighties.
Less Than Jake’s take sounds like it was played at the wrong speed, like they were shot out of a cannon, and mercifully over in about a minute and a half.
Somewhat funny spoken intro by Reel Big Fish, but not enough for the vote.
Never heard of The Young Werewolves, but they win today by default.