“Keep Your Hands to Yourself” Covers

In the middle of reviewing the top ten songs from Feb 7, 1987, which includes the Georgia Satellites at #7, Jason Hare offers us a list:

Artists I’d Like To Hear Cover “Keep Your Hands to Yourself”:

Andrea Bocelli
Barbra Streisand
Anita Baker
Smokey Robinson
Tom Waits
Beverly Sills
Glass Tiger

Maybe it’s the cold pills talking, but I find this inordinately amusing. And, of course, the obvious question is who else should be on the list? The Old 97’s are probably too obvious. The Afghan Whigs/ Twilight Singers/ Greg Dulli are my default “Who should cover this song?” artist, because I’m always curious to see how he’ll make the song sound menacing.

This could be the basis for an ear-bleedingly awful episode of “American Idol”…

7 comments

  1. Mind you, if it was all about “who could do a really awesome cover” rather than “Wow, was that inappropriate!”, I’d have to nominate the Hindu Love Gods. (Basically REM with Warren Zevon singing.)

  2. Second Hindu Love Gods, or Zevon with David Lindley.

    Also Drive By Truckers, Todd Snider, Steve Earle

    Pat Boone, it would complement his metal covers album (it does exist….)

    as far as possibly hilarity inducing……
    Anne Murray
    The Three Tenors
    Donny and Marie
    any boy band (but thats true with any song…)
    Tom Jones
    William Shatner
    Chuck Norris
    a Christian Rock Band
    Metallica

  3. Seeing Smokey Robinson on the original list immediately prompted the free association response of The English Beat.

  4. I think Jason was going for snark there. Nothing wrong with imagining a Zevon cover, but he actually would have done a good job.

    More in the spirit of Jason’s list:
    Placido Domingo
    Paolo Conte
    Harry Belafonte
    any male hip-hop artist
    Ozzy Osbourne
    Alan Parsons Project
    Aretha Franklin
    Peter Schickele (as either himself or his “P.D.Q. Bach” alter ego)

  5. Likely to be good and/or interesting:
    Robbie Fulks
    Cory Branan

    Not so much:
    Husker Du
    k.d. lang
    Ralph’s World

    Absolutely must happen:
    Cornershop

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