Better Than the Original: The Joy of the Cover Version

Better Than the Original: The Joy of the Cover Version

The cover version has always been a staple of the pop charts. Yet it's often been viewed as the poor relation of writing your own songs. This film challenges and overturns that misconception by celebrating an exciting, underrated musical form that has the power to make or break an artist's career. Whether as tribute, reinterpretation or as an act of subversion, the extraordinary alchemy involved in covering a record can create a new, defining version - in some cases, even more original than the original.

Created By

Status

Ended

Original Name

Better Than the Original: The Joy of the Cover Version

First Air Date

November 6, 2015

Last Air Date

November 6, 2015

Seasons

1

Episodes

1

Language

English

Production Companies

Networks

BBC Four

S01E01

Better Than the Original: The Joy of the Cover Version

Narrated by Meera Syal, it explores the stories behind such iconic hits as House of the Rising Sun, Respect, Tainted Love, I'll Be Missing You and Hallelujah, with contributors including John Cale, Gloria Jones, Marc Almond, Rick Rubin, Faith Evans and British singer-songwriter Nerina Pallot.

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