Today we’re naming and shaming, rooting out music’s most heinous miscreants. What are the worst crimes against music? Which acts of hubris have done the most harm to our favourite artform? Some outrageous misdemeanours spring to mind. How about Devlin and Ed Sheeran teaming up to desecrate both Bob Dylan’s and Jimi Hendrix’s versions of ‘All Along The Watchtower’ last year? Or All Saints divesting Red Hot Chili Peppers’ ‘Under The Bridge’ of all meaning and power? Or Guns N’ Roses’ evisceration of The Rolling Stones’ ‘Sympathy For The Devil’? Or Beady Eye, um, giving their take on ‘Gimme Shelter’ last week?
Even though it was endorsed by the great man himself, the multi-artist charity cover of Lou Reed’s ‘Perfect Day’ in 1997 was an expert demolition of all that was sleazy and holy about that song, but it’s not just about cover versions and samples. One of the worst musical transgressions of recent memory was the idea that Mick Jagger plus Joss Stone plus Dave Stewart of Eurythmics equals great supergroup. And there can’t be any decent excuse for anything will.i.am’s done. Or what about Olly Murs? Just Olly Murs.
So, it’s a wide playing field. Who or what do you think has done the most to defile music? Bare your teeth.