I stumbled on an article in Glide Magazine, “Cover Wars: Moonage Daydream Edition“. It listed some covers and then let readers choose the best.  Only problem I have is the list is quite limited and there seems to be no rhyme or reason to it.  Then oddly enough, in the meat of the article, they quote James E. Perone who likens Bowie’s Moonage Daydream to Elton John’s Tiny Dancer?  What the hell is that about?  So anyways, their list is:

• Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians, who manage to make an elevator version.  I like interpretations, but Edie just doesn’t get it.
• The Killers, it’s awful.  They don’t even try to do the solo.  Probably smart.
• LA Guns, fairly accurate, but forgot the echo chamber.
• Of Montreal, does one of my favorite covers.  Worthy of the list.
• Oh! You Pretty Things.  Now, this one shouldn’t be on the list.  No one is sure if they are even a band.  From the description it sounds like they just got together on a cruise.  But, imagine Percy Sledge doing a slightly Caribbean version of Moonage Daydream and you get the picture.  It’s cool.
• Rose Hill Drive.  Solid, but misses the guitar nuances and totally forgets the echo chamber.  People, it’s the echo chamber that MAKES this solo.
• The White Stripes.  This copy has been around for YEARS.  I’ve never liked it.  Still don’t.

So, a couple are good, a couple ok, and a few suck.  But, there are plenty of other versions they totally missed.  If you’re going to count Edie Brickell, then you HAVE to count New England Ukulele Orchestra. Once you’ve stopped laughing hysterically, check it out:

I truly like this a lot more than Edie’s. Then you get to more traditional versions. Some stand out over the others I think. Check out Aladdinsane’s:

OK, we’ve had ukelele, Caribbean, traditional rock, now for some screamo:

If that’s not enough translations, try mixing David Lee Roth’s Van Halen with David Bowie:

Then of course, there’s the schoolhouse version:

Another band that totally got it was The Alarmists:

Can’t forget some more famous covers, like basically Def Leppard:

I’m not sure anyone on the other list nail it quite this way. Now, the Cybernaut shows were in Japan, so it’s only proper we have an Asian interpretation from Hong Kong, here’s Last Orders:

Starting to get the idea? If you do a search on Youtube, you’ll get an almost endless list of covers. God forbid you Google it. I get the feeling these guys just grabbed about the first five or so they stumbled on. I’ve been checking these out for years. Trust me, their list sells the covers short by a mile. I hate it when people hack at something holy.