MTV Newsroom › Covers

The Dark, Dangerously Addictive Side of Carly Rae Jepsen's 'Call Me Maybe'

Posted 7/9/12 1:30 pm EST by in comedy, Covers

Carly Rae Jepsen

By Elizabeth Lancaster @lizzydl

Covers of Carly Rae Jepsen's ubiquitous #1 hit “Call Me Maybe” and the song's constant back-to-back radio play have been all fun and games … until now! We all hoped it would never come to this.

>> Jimmy Fallon And The Roots Team Up With Carly Rae Jepsen Herself For The Ultimate 'Call Me Maybe' Cover (So Everyone Else Can Stop Now)

Jared is a sad example of what happens when pop music addiction goes just too far. He showed all the classic signs of being a “Call Me Maybe” addict, so his friends and family came forward to deal with his issues and help others avoid the same fate.

>> Watch President Obama's Cover Of Carly Rae Jepsen's 'Call Me Maybe'

First, the symptoms were mild – he ripped his own jeans (and lied about it) and listened to the track 225 times in 2 days on Spotify (which really isn't all that much, is it?). His brother, roommate and girlfriend all knew the problem was serious when these symptoms escalated. He began to shout, “Where do you think you're goin’, baby?” every time his roommate left the room. Lyrics to the song soon took over his vocabulary, and after his girlfriend broke up with him for offering pennies and dimes for a kiss to waitresses all over town, he would call her screaming, “I miss you so, so bad.”

>> OK, We Suppose Colin Powell's Cover Of Carly Rae Jepsen's 'Call Me Maybe' Is Pretty Good Too

"Call Me Maybe" may seem like bubble gum pop, but it led Jared to beg, borrow and steal from those closest to him.

Watch Jared’s story below, and let him be a reminder to you to not let things go too far. It’s just a song, after all. Say it with me: It's just a song.

Check out the song that started it all, after the jump. Read More...

Tags ,

President Obama Strikes Again With Justin Bieber 'Boyfriend' Mashup

Posted 6/26/12 4:42 pm EST by in Barack-Obama, Covers, Justin Bieber

Obama

By Natasha Chandel

We know President Barack Obama is seeking the youth vote, but we didn’t realize he would take on Justin Bieber to get it!

That’s right, another video mash-up of the president has surfaced, and this time Obama is singing Bieb’s latest hit, "Boyfriend."

High off the viral video success of his mash-up cover of Carly Rae Jepsen’s "Call Me Maybe," the YouTuber known as barackdubs pieced together another hilarious clip, where Obama, in his deep and stoic voice, promises viewers that if he was their boyfriend, he would never let them go. Maybe sub in “boyfriend” for “president” and you get the hidden message? That’s probably reading too far into it, but the video should definitely boost his presence among the Beliebers.

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen President Obama serenade the nation. Earlier this year, Obama dropped a few bars of Al Green's "Let's Stay Together" at a New York fundraiser to rave reviews!

And this certainly isn’t only the second time for barackdubs, who has racked over 35 million hits on his YouTube channel for other Obama renditions to songs like Rihanna’s “Drink to That” and LMFAO’s “I’m Sexy and I Know it.”

Check it out below! Read More...

Tags , ,

Ballad Master Celine Dion Slays Vegas With Cover Of Adele's 'Rolling in The Deep'

Posted 6/12/12 1:20 pm EST by in Adele, Covers

We already know Celine Dion can sing the pants off a ballad. The lady made bank, topped the charts and won a bunch of awards for one of the biggest ballads ever, "My Heart Will Go On" from "Titanic," and of all her top tens and chart-toppers, we'd say you can only really call one of them truly uptempo (that'd be "That's The Way It Is," which peaked at #6 in 2000).

(Who cares if "My Heart Will Go On" makes Kate Winslet sick!)

So it's no surprise that when she returned to the stage last night at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas to resume her long-standing, hugely successful residency there, she introduced a new cover of a very popular contemporary ballad to her set list – Adele's "Rolling In The Deep."

She nails it, of course. "I love Adele so much, she's amazing," Dion to the crowd (via The Hollywood Reporter).

So what do you think, Adele fans? Did she do justice to your favorite diva? (We think she did.) Check it out below:

After the jump, check out our other favorite "Rolling In The Deep" cover from soul man John Legend. Let us know what you think of Dion's tribute in the comments below. Read More...

Tags , ,

Gotye Slams 'Glee' Cover Of 'Somebody That I Used To Know'

Posted 4/23/12 12:11 pm EST by in Covers, Television

Glee

By Elizabeth Lancaster

Last week, "Glee" pleased pop music lovers everywhere with their rendition of the hit single "Somebody That I Used to Know." Show standout Darren Criss performed the emotional ballad alongside guest star Matt Bomer, and while they gave the song their own touch, they stuck to the general structure and vibe of the original. Based on the already established widespread popularity of the song, the cover was very well-received by most.

Unfortunately, Gotye himself was not so pleased. The Australian singer told the Sunday Mail (via Billboard), "They did such a faithful arrangement of the instrumentals but the vocals were that pop 'Glee' style, ultra-dry, sounded pretty tuned and the rock has no real sense, like it's playing to you from a cardboard box."

Ouch. Such a review from the song's singer is probably not what the show's creators or young stars were going for. If that wasn’t enough, he went on to say that the "Glee" cover "made it [the song] sound dinky and wrong."

Despite Gotye’s rejection of the rendition, the attention "Glee's" "Big Brother" episode brought the song gave it the extra push it needed to top the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Listen to both the "Glee" cover and Gotye's original below and tell us what you think of the cover in the comments below.

Read More...

Tags , ,

Feistodon Arrives! Listen To 'Black Tongue' and 'A Commotion' Here

Posted 4/20/12 3:42 pm EST by in Covers, Mastodon, Music

Feist

Last week we reported about the unlikely fan friendship between the metalheads of Mastodon and singer-songwriter Feist. The Mastodon crew were smitten with Feist after seeing her perform just two songs on UK talk show "Later with Jools Holland" before they took the stage themselves, and after she heard they were planning to cover one of her songs, she decided to do the same with one of theirs in honor of Record Store Day, which goes down tomorrow (April 21).

Each gave the other complete creative freedom with their respective covers. Feist chose to record a rendition of "Black Tongue" from Mastodon’s latest effort The Hunter and the band took on Feist’s "A Commotion."

"It's a wet dream to have Mastodon take one of my songs and put it into their massive machine," Feist said of the mutual cover lovefest. Meanwhile, Mastodon guitarist Bill Kelliher told Rolling Stone, "We didn't tell her what to do, and she didn't tell us what to do. 'A Commotion' just kind of stuck out to me. I could hear the opening riff, a single A-note."

Well, that opening riff has arrived. Both artists dropped their covers today ahead of the annual record store-supporting holiday. Listen after the jump and let us know what you think in the comments below! Read More...

Tags , , , ,

Young The Giant Channel R. Kelly With 'Ignition' Cover

Posted 3/21/12 12:58 pm EST by in Covers, Music

By Zachary Swickey

Cali rockers Young the Giant are still riding high on the wave of success of their self-titled debut album, and took some time out from their busy schedule to make a stop at the AV Club to perform a wicked cover of R. Kelly’s 2003 monster jam, “Ignition (Remix).”

Draped in hefty rented fur coats, the band clearly went all out with their ode to the R&B crooning master. The band was given the choice of a few songs to cover but ultimately went with “Ignition (Remix)” over Fleetwood Mac’s “Go Your Own Way,” because they wanted to go with something “different.”

When asked if their choice was out of reverence or irony, frontman Sameer Gadhia responded, “There is a bit of irony actually, but we’re trying to be somewhat serious."

Their mellow rendition really isn’t too shabby either. It’s pretty interesting to see Gadhia sing a song laden in cheesy lyrics with such great bravado. Check it out below:


Young The Giant covers “Ignition (Remix)”

Read More...

Tags ,

Listen: Sleigh Bells' Lovely Acoustic Cover Of Beyonce's 'Irreplaceable'

Posted 3/8/12 9:51 am EST by in Beyonce, Covers

Sleigh Bells

Brooklyn natives Derek Miller and Alexis Krauss of the popular indie rock outfit Sleigh Bells are big Beyonce fans. So are we, so we totally get it. They even had the chance to collaborate (kind of) with the superstar diva last year, and though the fruits of their labor never saw the light of day, the pair not only voiced their desire to work with her again to NME but also recorded a stripped down cover of her smash hit "Irreplaceable" to show how much they adore her.

"Obviously we're massive fans of her and she's a living legend. I'd love to actually work with her someday when I actually get some creative input," Miller, who mans the guitars for Bells, told NME. "I wouldn't say that it [the project] failed, it just feels like it never really happened."

Listen:

Here in the MTV Newsroom, we're loving Sleigh Bells' "Irreplaceable" cover. Their version is positively ethereal and if it's not enough to convince Queen Bey to hit the studio with the Bells for at least one of the two albums she's reportedly planning, we don't know what will.

Sleigh Bells' sophomore album, Reign of Terror dropped late last month. And if you're interested in checking out some other fantastic indie band covers of some of B's biggest hits, listen to a few over on Stereogum.

Check out Sleigh Bells live in NYC, after the jump. Read More...

Tags ,

Nick Jonas Joins Fellow Famous Faces Who Have Covered Lady Gaga

Posted 7/5/11 5:00 pm EST by in Covers, Jonas Brothers, Lady Gaga

Nick Jonas

By James Dinh

Attention Lady Gaga fans: there’s a new Little Monster in town, and he goes by the name of Nick Jonas. Yes, the youngest singer/songwriter of the JoBro trio put his paw up for the pop megastar on Friday by covering her latest single, “The Edge Of Glory,” during an acoustic performance in Los Angeles.

Like many of her fan covers that have flooded the world of YouTube, Mother Monster caught wind of the performance and took to Twitter to gush about his rendition. “Swoon! Nick Jonas singing The Edge of Glory … On my way to press conference in Taichung, listening to it. So dreamy! X,” Gaga wrote. Accepting her approval tweet, Jonas replied to the singer, writing “the pleasure is all mine. That is a beautiful song. Keep inspiring the world.”

Now, if Jonas’ Gaga fandom comes as a surprise, then you’re in for a treat, as the MTV Newsroom has decided to take a look back at some other noteworthy Gaga covers from even more friendly faces you might recognize. You know what they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Read More...

Tags , , , , ,

Five NKOTB Songs Justin Bieber Should Cover

Posted 7/1/11 1:05 pm EST by in Covers, Justin Bieber, NKOTB

Producer Jim Jonsin recently revealed to us that he'd love for Justin Bieber to channel the ultra smooth pop of the New Kids On The Block on the next batch of songs he puts out.

Since Biebs recently dished to MTV News that he's working on new music and the fact that boy bands are having a moment right now thanks to the success of the NKOTBSB tour, we're totally into that idea.

Justin's silky vocals are very reminiscent of Joey McIntyre's back in the day, so having him get into that groove feels about right to us. Even though Jonsin did note that he doesn't want him to literally cover the New Kids, just to take inspiration from their tunes, it got us thinking: What NKOTB songs would be perfect for Justin to cover?

"Step By Step"
Anytime we get to hear Bieber count the reasons why he loves us in a song, it signifies musical gold to me. Am I right people?

"Right Stuff"
We'd love him to sing this song, if only to learn the New Kids shuffle and perform it LIVE in concert.

Read More...

Tags , ,

Name That Tune! Jason Derulo’s ‘Don’t Wanna Go Home’ And Other Tunes That Remake Classic Tracks

Posted 6/15/11 2:45 pm EST by in Covers

By Morgan Schwartz

If you’ve turned on the radio in the last few months and had a major case of déjà vu, you’re not alone. While it could be that you’re hearing Katy Perry’s “E.T.” for the fourth time in an hour, it could also be due to a rising trend in pop music: the borrowed melody. Many artists are taking a cue from Vanilla Ice (who’s iconic song “Ice Ice Baby” features the bass line of Queen’s “Under Pressure”) and starting to take old melodies, alter them or add new lyrics, and incorporate them into their singles. The end result? A jam that is somehow familiar, new and exciting – and an instant hit.

The newest song to draw from a well-known tunes is Jason Derulo’s “Don’t Wanna Go Home.” Derulo is no stranger to borrowing a refrain and reworking it to create a pop-y hit – just think back to his debut single, “Watcha Say.” The haunting harmonies from Imogen Heap’s “Hide and Seek” provided both the chorus and title for the song and helped Derulo catapult his way into the spotlight.

Now, he’s done it again. In his new single, Derulo combines well-known Jamaican folk song “Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)” with the catchy 90’s dance hit, “Show Me Love” by Robin S. Although “Show Me Love” has withstood the test of time and can still be heard occasionally on a night out, by adding his own spin on the tune, Derulo has given the tune a more contemporary feel. Although we’re huge fans of the originals, “Don’t Wanna Go Home” sure gets us moving.

It’s also not the first track to get inspiration from a past hit. Let’s take a look at some more. Read More...

Tags , ,

12
SPONSORS
AD:
©2013 Viacom International Inc. All Rights Reserved. MTV and all related titles and logos are trademarks of Viacom International Inc.