Tune du Jour: “That’s Entertainment” – The Jam
THE CLASH of Cover Tunes: Morrissey vs. Angelika Express vs. Billy Bragg vs. Face to Face feat. Spike Lawson
VOTE, COMMENT, then DO SOMETHING NICE FOR YOURSELF
CoverMeImpressed.blog CoverMeImpressed.blog CoverMeImpressed.blog
One of my favorites of The Jam …
The Original
The Jam:
THE CLASH of Cover Tunes
Morrissey vs. Angelika Express vs. Billy Bragg vs. Face to Face feat. Spike Lawson
Morrissey:
Angelika Express:
Billy Bragg:
Face to Face feat. Spike Lawson:
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 
That’s probably the most I’ve enjoyed Morrissey or The Smiths. I bought The Queen Is Dead on vinyl in the eighties because I kept hearing about how great it was. I thought it was okay, and I still have the record, although I never bought anything else.
All four versions were good. I don’t know Angelika Express, but they’re in fourth place today. Also didn’t know the final act, but that was pretty good.
Not a fair competition when Billy Bragg is among the competitors, and he wins the vote.
Morrissey’s version took forever to begin and just as long to go away. When he got around to the actual song, his cover was “nice”, which is about all that I could say about it.
After Morrissey’s meandering and ponderous interpretation, Angelika Express’ compact, somewhat frenetic, delivery was a welcome relief, yet, still not exactly what I was looking for.
Is there anything that Bragg can’t cover brilliantly? The answer is, “no”. The guy is always good for a quality ride and this one is no different. Nicely done!
Face to Face adds Spike Lawson of Me First fame to the mix and it works to perfection. Love the tone, attitude and video. Now That’s Entertainment!!! Bravo!!! They overtook Billy at the last turn …
Wow, tough call. I like Morrissey’s voice and have been a big Smiths fan/Morrissey solo fan (which is getting harder to be, given Morrissey’s repugnant personality), but his version here was just too lethargic.
I had hopes for Angelika, mainly because the Angelika theater is my favorite movie theater here in New York. And their version was pretty good.
But then came Billy Bragg’s version, and I said forget it, we’re done. This version can’t be topped.
And then… surprisingly, the Face to Face version (which already started well, given that Face to Face is a great Kinks album) was a smidge better. It was a perfect combo of acoustic and electric. Great vocals, great everything. It took the vote today.