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Prince has made a habit of busting out the odd cover now and then during his shows, from the Foo Fighters (“Best of You”) at the Super Bowl to Joan Osborne’s “One of Us,” you just never know what he’s going to hit you with. He pulled a major surprise over the weekend during his headlining set at Coachella, though, covering not only the Beatles’ “Come Together” but also Radiohead’s 1993 debut single, “Creep,” which he flipped from a grungy anthem of angst and self-loathing into a towering soul jam about longing that sounded like it could have been on his seminal Purple Rain album.
That got us thinking about all the other oddball Radiohead covers out there. No, not the cheesy business like Korn’s lounge-pop version of “Creep,” but things like Bilal and the Roots funking up “Everything In Its Right Place” at Clive Davis’ Grammy party last year, jazzer Brad Mehldau getting all meditative on “Exit Music (For a Film)” and Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante taking “Lucky” to the acoustic side.
Hell, everyone has taken a swing at “Creep” -- from Moby to Tears For Fears -- but one of the weirdest, non-hit-single covers is the glam-metal, high-kicking falsetto-rama of “Street Spirit (Fade Out)” unleashed by late, lamented English rockers the Darkness. The boys made it sound like a lost Judas Priest single from the early 1980s. And remember Panic at the Disco’s Queen-like emo take on “Karma Police,” complete with xylophone and cello?
Certain Radiohead tracks have been covered to death by a wide swath of pop and rock singers: “Fake Plastic Trees,” Alanis Morissette; “Karma Police,” Howie Day; “Knives Out,” Flaming Lips; “No Surprises,” Iron & Wine. But covers have also emerged from artists of just about every genre, perhaps taken with the English band’s majestic arrangements. From NPR-favorite classical piano player Christopher O’Riley, to string quartets, bluegrass pickers, and even dub reggae fanatics. (Awkward? Yes.)
And then, of course, there’s John Mayer, who not only raved about Radiohead’s “Kid A” but covered it and put it on the bonus disc of his Heavier Things album. That surely gives the kid more cred than that tattoo sleeve.
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