Carbomb

May I draw my downright dishonourable friend's attention to the thread tags?

Snuka did cross my mind, as he was popular, but he wasn't much of a talker, and I get the impression that, liberal as the WWF was in comparison to other promotions and indeed other entertainment organisations in general at the time, Vince was never going to push someone to main-event that wasn't white or white-adjacent in that era. That said, had Hogan not been there, a Snuka/Savage programme back then would've been dynamite, I reckon. It would've been more about showcasing Savage and getting him into the main blue-eye position, but Snuka would've been good for that - he was a pretty effective worker, sold well, got reactions.

"Oklahoma Being Knuckle-dragging Shitcunts" shocker. I don't expect better from the state that gave us the massacre of Black Wall Street.

Fran Drescher still looks amazing at 66. She's now head of SAG-AFTRA, and is an avowed anti-capitalist. Phwoar.

Digging it up has just reminded me that the record company exec who vetoed the original was played by the world's hottest Jew, Fran Drescher, who is apparently now head of SAG-AFTRA!

Spinal Tap - Smell The Glove

So this isn't about covers, this is about artists who've re-done existing songs. The album covers thread reminded me of Here Comes The Flood by Peter Gabriel, which I absolutely love, but find it the most frustrating song he's ever written, because both versions fall short in different areas, and I feel like the perfect version is almost a fusion of the two. Believing the original to be over-produced, he recorded a stripped-down, mostly piano version, which is beautiful - but I have to say I think he went too far in the opposite direction. I agree that the original is over-produced in the chorus section, as it's far too bombastic and really clashes with the rest of the arrangement, which is stunning and cinematic. I think it would be absolutely perfect if he'd just put a more subdued chorus, or if the re-record had had just a little of the effects and instrumentation from the intro and verses sections of the original. As it is, at the risk of being the Athletico Mince version of Dominic Littlewood ("So: tattoos - childish or legitimate art? I'm on the fence myself"), I have to admit I really have trouble deciding which I prefer, because they're both superb, but don't quite hit exactly what they promise, at least to me. So, your thoughts please, but also your thoughts on any other artist re-records - no covers by other artists, but drastically different live performances should count, I reckon.

I didn't know about the others, but that's good to know - I've added it to my Netflix watch-list.

I wouldn't, but he might

I haven't, no! Will check. I didn't see any Gabriel ones in this thread - those are a great mention, though. This is my favourite one:

I don't doubt that. But I'd be willing to bet that what he had before that made WWE the brand it is today is long gone, and that at best he's been coasting on the success, knowing there'll always be an audience regardless of how bad or mediocre it gets, and at worst he may have actually been obstructing the company from doing even better with his bizarre ways. It'll be interesting to know if that's the case (I'll be relying on you guys to let me know), because it will mean that any promotion he starts up will most likely end up not doing very well - he'll probably try and do something like try to go via the Rock n' Wrestling strategy, and go into partnership with VH-1, having his wrestlers work with Limp Bizkit and Bloc Party or something.

Given how much effort famously went into their album covers (Storm Thorgerson was brilliant and uncompromising) and how iconic a lot of them were, this thread wouldn't be complete without Pink Floyd: Wish You Were Here The additional cover is pretty damn good too, I love it: The Division Bell is absolutely inspired (it was a rush when I got to stand between the two massive metal heads at the Pink Floyd exhibition at the V&A): Pulse is much under-rated: You will never see Battersea power station in a better light than in Animals: And, of course, there's no getting away from Dark Side Of The Moon, for which the term "iconic" is woefully insufficient:

Not just that, but Kung Fu was a series that he came up with! But he went off to Hong Kong, proved how fucking amazing he was, and made himself so undeniable that even those cunts in Hollywood had to give in. But, then, of course, as great a film as Enter The Dragon is, there's still the simple fact that, even in Bruce Lee's big Hollywood break-out, they still couldn't have him as the sole lead who gets to get the girl (especially if it's a white girl), so they had to have Roper as the acceptable, secondary white lead - after they've killed off the bad-ass black guy, natch. EDIT: Hell, imagine a version of Enter where it's Roper that gets killed, and Williams gets to win the day and avenge him?

Tintin is great, but it's a lot less "knowing" than Asterix, I think - fun adventures, and you get the odd bit of subversiveness, like Captain Haddock fending off Madame Castafiore, but for the most part it's straightforward. Asterix, on the other hand, is just laced with sardonic inferences and piss-takes.

I was never young enough to read them as a kid, so I'm automatically at a disadvantage by that metric. There's plenty of kids'/YA literature I did grow up with that I can compare them to unfavourably in terms of their construction, even if they're a little dated and a bit more problematic, like Kidnapped, Treasure Island, The Hobbit, 20000 Leagues Under The Sea, and The Chronicles of Narnia, but BomberPat already raised the best example, which is Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. Less accessible to small kids, but for a ten or twelve year-old, no fucking comparison - and they're the gift that keeps on giving as you get older. Only other series I can think of that's comparable in that regard is Asterix.