Snapshots #369: A Top Twelve Songs covered by Elvis Costello

Elvis Costello is one of the foremost songwriters of his generation. But he's not averse to singing other people's songs too. 

Here are earlier versions (not always the originals) of those songs, and twelve Elvis covers...

12. Nathan is Best!

Nathan Jones & George Best...

George Jones - A Good Year For The Roses

Elvis Costello - A Good Year For The Roses

11. Ugly Kenny.

Ugly Betty meets Kenny Everett...

Betty Everett - Getting Mighty Crowded

Elvis Costello - Getting Mighty Crowded

10. Kaine, coded.

Anagram!

The song was written by Leon Payne but originally recorded by...

Eddie Noack - Psycho

Elvis Costello - Psycho

9. American sandwich in the automobile with George. 

The sandwich would be a hoagie, in a car, with Michael...

Hoagy Carmichael - My Resistance Is Low

Elvis Costello - My Resistance Is Low

8. James was outlawed from Arfur's Club.

Jesse James was an Outlaw; Arfur Daley's club was The Winchester.

Jesse Winchester - Payday

Elvis Costello - Payday

7.  Where you might get trapped by a preacher.

The Amen Corner - World of Broken Hearts

Elvis Costello - World of Broken Hearts

6. Father Christmas meets Quasi-Girl. 

OK, so Quasimodo's lady was Esmerelda, not Esmeralda. Sue me. 

Santa Esmeralda - Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood

Yes, there were earlier versions of that tune, notably by Nina Simone and The Animals. But neither were quite as D-I-S-C-O.

Elvis Costello - Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood

5. Uncle, and resident of Dagenham.

Uncle Sam and Dagenham Dave...

Sam & Dave - I Can't Stand Up for Falling Down

Elvis Costello - I Can't Stand Up for Falling Down

4. Liverpudlian egg scramblers.

The Merseybeats - Really Mystified

Elvis Costello - Really Mystified

Or, you could have had...

The Merseybeats - I Stand Accused 

Which was originally by...

Tony Colton & The Big Boss Band - I Stand Accused

But neither is quite as in your face as this...

Elvis Costello - I Stand Accused

3. Night train.

Sleeper - What Do I Do Now?

Elvis Costello - What Do I Do Now?

2. Unsolve Zara Arch.

Anagram!

Charles Aznavour - She

Elvis Costello - She

1. Not Rod Stewart's baby.

Rod sang Oh No, Not My Baby. This is Oh no.

Oh yes it is!

Not the best song on the list today, but it's the first time Yoko has appeared on Snapshots... and well, I figured it would keep George happy.

Yoko Ono - Walking On Thin Ice

More Elvis covers tomorrow.

More Snapshots next Saturday.

Saturday Snapshots #60 - The Answers

"What are the answers to yesterday's Saturday Snapshots, Rol? I Need To Know!"

Apparently this week's Saturday Snapshots was a tough one. OK guys, don't have a Breakdown. Hopefully you'll Feel A Whole Lot Better now... well done to Lynchie for reclaiming the early bird crown this week...



10. Nathaniel holds his own against the 7th rabbit house. Control.

Nate is short for Nathaniel and he is holding a dog.

Rabbits live in warrens. G is the 7th letter of the alphabet.

Warren G & Nate Dogg - Regulate

9. Goes with Bella and Mad to see the sun, wireless.

Bella-Donna
Mad-(D)onna.

Summer sun.

Wireless radio.

Donna Summer - On The Radio

8. Straightening the shelves, always in the same direction.

Whenever I put up a shelf, I have to make sure it's level.

Going in the same direction would be one way.

The Levellers - One Way

7. Uncaring sods go for a 42.195 kilometre run.

A bit obscure, but... tune!

Heartless Bastards - Marathon

6. Where prayers are answered... could be 50% better.

"The part of a Methodist meeting house formerly occupied by worshippers who responded to the preacher's utterances with occasional shouts of ‘Amen!’."

The Amen Corner - (If Paradise Is) Half As Nice

5. Portable computer goes through customs without any trouble.

If you don't know this one, you should give it a go. Kooky but fun.

Laptop - Nothing To Declare

4. Enterprise on rocky foundations.

The Enterprise was a Starship.

Starship - We Built This City (On Rock 'n' Roll)

Apparently, this has been voted the worst song of the 80s. Hard to imagine why, in a decade where Stock, Aitken & Waterman were active.

3. Fall singer becomes lunatic on the box.

Mark E. sounds very much like Marquee.

Lunatic means driven mad by the moon.

Television is The Box. (Although they're not really boxes anymore, are they?)

Television - Marquee Moon

2. Proustian detective agency from the 80s.

Proust was Marcel.

The Blue Moon Detective Agency was where David Addison & Maddie Hayes worked in the 80s.

The Marcels - Blue Moon

So much better than the Showaddywaddy cover... discuss?

1. Where Richard met Judy... after you left.

Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain is a mnemonic to help you remember the colours in a rainbow.

Judy Garland went Somewhere Over The Rainbow.

I Won't Back Down. Saturday Snapshots returns next week!

My Top Ten Paradise Songs

Ten songs about paradise. Even though the closest most of us will ever get is a Bounty bar...


10. Green Day - Welcome To Paradise

It's hard to believe Green Day were ever this young.

9. Jenny Lewis & The Watson Twins - Paradise

A lovely solo offering from the Rilo Kiley songstress. What a voice.

8. Stevie Wonder - Pastime Paradise

If you were labouring under the mistaken idea that Coolio wrote Gangster's Paradise, you really ought to give this a listen.

7. Billy Fury - Halfway To Paradise

If Billy really wants to be your lover, but all you'll give him is your friendship... you're leaving him halfway to paradise.

6. Coldplay - Paradise

Fair play to 'em. I did my best to keep this song out of this Top Ten, if only because of its sheer ubiquity. That said, I can't deny it's one of the best tunes Coldplay have written in years, and a genuine earworm. I listened to a lot more paradise songs than just the ten listed here, but the only ones that were honestly better than this (in the humble opinion of my ears) are the ones listed below.

5. Amen Corner - (If Paradise Is) Half As Nice

Andy Fairweather Low and co., a timeless classic from 1969.

Who needs paradise? I'd rather have you...

4. Tony Bennett - Stranger In Paradise

In playlisting terms, this is what we call the calm before the storm. One of my dad's favourites.

Take my hand...

Lovely, rare Saint Etienne cover version here. 

All right, enough of the warm-up acts... let's ROCK!

3. David Lee Roth - Just Like Paradise

A record so monumentally awesome, it's hard to believe it only makes #3. Hell, the video's even got DLR poncing about on vertiginous cliffs, surfing a flying canoe and accompanied by a three-necked, heart-shaped guitar.

God, this reminds me of being 16.

2. Guns 'n' Roses - Paradise City

Where the grass is green and the girls are pretty

Gains extra marks for mentioning Captain America in the lyrics... but still doesn't score high enough to beat this:

1. Meat Loaf - Paradise By The Dashboard Light

Because nothing succeeds like excess.

Jim Steinman's epic tale of teenage fumblings by the light of a dashboard in which Meat and Ellen Foley play the roles of young lovers who might... or might not... go all the way. Depends how well he sweet-talks her... promises her the earth... or flat-out begs. All that and the terrible consequences of promising to love someone forever...





I reckon this'll be one of my more debatable Top Tens - there were loads of great songs left out. Which one takes you to paradise?