Song #74 on the Popdose Top 100 Covers list is “I Love Rock & Roll”, originally by the Arrows and covered by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. Here’s the original:
Yeah, I’ve never heard of that version, either. Here’s the one we all know and love:
No real mystery why that’s the version we know. I mean, as was the case the last time, Jett tears it up one side and down the other – her voice and guitar work are so much better. The Arrows wrote a great song, they just needed the right band to perform it. Oh, this is another one where the gender of the protagonist changes as well. Off the top of my head I can’t think of an example where a male-to-female change in perspective fails to improve the song. What do you think?
Bette Midler’s Beast of Burden is not a significant improvement on The Rolling Stones. Even with Mick singing on it, I’m going to call that one for The Stones.
Tina Turner’s Honky Tonk Woman is a statistical tie.