Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Spotify Sunday: Cover stars

I lack the discipline to choose ten favourite songs, but here are ten favourite cover versions. We know songs by their title and singer, but they are so often made by their arrangement and production. Anyone could have sung anything to Giorgio Moroder’s mould-breaking ‘I Feel Love’, but Donna Summer takes the credit. By changing the production and arrangement, covers transform songs. And all the better on Spotify because you can compare versions — instantly. Anyway, to business:
 
Nobody Does It Better — Aimee Mann

From a brilliant covers album: David Arnold’s James Bond Project. Rather than redo the original, this hams up its best qualities — especially the piano build-up to the first chorus, and the respectful pause before it. My favourite element: the Darth Vader backing vocals in the second verse. Aimee Mann’s incredible voice electrifies the track.

Tainted Love — Soft Cell
 
Most folk who bought this had never heard of Gloria Jones’ 1964 original, and most people who bought Rihanna’s 2006 track ‘SOS’

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