Less Than Jake releases yet another collection of covers today (and follows previous Slayer and Grease cover albums).
Entitled TV/EP, it consists entirely of theme songs to television programs, as well as couple of commercials.
It's of mixed quality, but you can at least stream the whole thing and save yourself a few bucks. Here are five other covers of television show themes that sound a little better.
There are roughly thousands of versions when it comes to the Munsters theme. This version, by Los Straightjackets -- the world's greatest luchador surf band -- comes from the Halloween Hootenanny compilation. It does most of the other versions better with xylophone and a spooky laugh at the beginning, as well as doing the surf riffs proud.
If ever there were a definitive cover of anything, the Ramones' take on the '60s Spider-Man theme would be it. Instantly identifiable as the Ramones, it makes your friendly neighborhood web-slinger's TV theme far more "New York" than the slightly wimpy original. The song can be found on the Saturday Morning: Cartoons' Greatest Hits compilation.
I cannot stand the Banana Splits as a television program. Most everything Sid and Marty Croft did seemed just a little too cheesy, but the theme songs were always eminently singable. The Dickies' adrenaline-fueled, balls-out version of theme does a wonderful job of sounding like how it might be performed by a group of kids hopped up on too much sugary cereal at 7:00 a.m. on a Saturday morning.
Jimmy Fallon got a lot of blog mileage out of this cover he did on his show a few months ago. The idea of doing The Fresh Prince of Bel Air as Neil Young sounds absolutely ridiculous on paper, but when he opens his mouth and strums the guitar, it comes across as brilliant and 100% convincing. (It's far better than the version of "Pants On the Ground" done in the same vein.) Who'd've thought Will Smith could ever sound like this?
Husker Dü's take on "Love Is All Around," the theme to the Mary Tyler Moore Show, is just brilliant. They take a peppy, upbeat song, and turned it into an indie ballad. Bob Mould can sing sthe hell out of this thing, and of all the songs on this list, Husker Dü's is the most earnest. The other four can easily be said to be slightly ironic, but this is just sweet and touching.
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Dugg for H�Du. As if the Ramones' cover of the Spider-Man theme wasn't already enough reason to digg it.
What about the theme song to "The Nanny" by The Baketones? Singer pukes at the end of it from the stress of singing. Sweet
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...
The Banana Splits. You nailed it, decent music but an annoying and a bit strange style. I used to try and force myself to like it. Or at least get it. But never did.
Thanks for the story.
Thanks for this list, if only for the Fallon cover of the Fresh Prince of Bel Air theme. Sheer brilliance!
Thanks for that - the Husker Du track in particular brought back a lot of memories.
You forgot Sublime doing the Hong Kong Phooey theme.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...
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