There’s certain music discussions one has with one’s friends over many beers and possibly a parma at one’s favourite local pub or eatery that will, no matter what, simply never be resolved. For example, just who is the greatest frontman or woman of all time?
Another is just what constitutes a great Like A Version. Some say it’s all about the performance itself, others say it’s all about how well the band or artist succeeded in making the song their own, meanwhile others think it’s all about how different the rendition is from the original.
Personally, we think it’s a combination of all of these, but we’d like to add one more very important variable: fun. Like A Version is supposed to be fun, and if a band or artist can have fun whilst totally owning a famous song, that’s about perfect.
Case in point, The Murlocs hit the triple j studios this morning to take on Hot Chocolate’s ‘Every 1’s a Winner’. The Melbourne psych outfit not only owned the tune, transmuting the 1978 funk classic into a garagey epic, they clearly had a lot of fun doing it.
As we’ve previously noted, this year’s Like A Version series has gotten off to an interesting start – we’ve seen a heart-wrenching David Bowie cover, an ambitious mash-up from this year’s Hottest 100 winners, a deeply divisive cover of a huge hit from 2015, and maybe the most un-triple j Like A Version ever.
