You surely know anything I could tell you about David Bowie in three or four sentences, no? Labyrinth: there’s a good movie. <-Content! His cover of Waterloo Sunset is a studio version set to a slideshow.
As a bonus, here’s footage of Bowie duetting with the song’s author, Ray Davies, at Carnegie Hall in 2003.
The late Portland-based musician Elliott Smith was known for his ability to cast a spell on an audience; his hushed and lovely rendition of Waterloo Sunset is no exception. This performance was recorded at 1st Avenue in Fargo, ND in March ’97.
Further reading: Sweet Adeline
Some of us are no doubt wary when it comes to actors-turned-musicians, but Minnie Driver was actually a musician first – and a rather good one. Her performance of Waterloo Sunset took place at Los Angeles’s Hotel Cafe in April ’08.
Further reading: MinnieDriver.com
Further listening: Everything I’ve Got in My Pocket
I’ll confess that Def Leppard was the act I was most surprised to find on this quest – but hey, why not? This is a studio recording with a photo montage and singalong lyrics to keep you entertained visually. (I can’t provide the customary links to more info as honestly, I have no idea what these guys have been up to for the last 20-odd years.)
Singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist/producer/scorer of films Jon Brion has been playing this song for years as part of his weekly gigs at Largo in Los Angeles; while Largo’s no-recording/no-filming policy is wonderful for audiences who like to actually watch concerts, it means there’s only one video to choose from. The down side is that it’s shot from fairly far away and cuts off before the song ends; the up side is that the audience backing vocals are like a choir of angels. (I assume that’s what angels sound like, anyway.)
Further reading: Largo
Further listening: Meaningless
Jim Boggia is a Philadelphia-based singer/songwriter whose brand of beautifully crafted, soulful classic pop became quite popular some years back among the community of people who care about such things. He’s put out three full-length albums and a host of other releases (see his website for details on the latter). Jim’s version of Waterloo Sunset is from November 2007.
Further reading: JimBoggia.com
Further listening: Misadventures in Stereo
Cornershop is an English band that fuses rock, dance and Indian music. Even if you weren’t paying any attention at all, you’d have to remember their endlessly catchy hit single “Brimful of Asha” from a decade or so back. And guess what? They’ve covered Waterloo Sunset! The performance above is from 2007.
Further reading: Cornershop.com
Further listening: When I Was Born for the 7th Time
This was the YouTube find that inspired me to create this site. English vocalist/guitarist Terry Reid, sort of a rock child prodigy in the late ’60s, was famously the first choice to front Led Zeppelin (he recommended Robert Plant for the job instead) and, since then, has become not anywhere near as successful as he should be, due to an astonishing run of bad luck that I won’t attempt to recount here. The silver lining here, at least for some of us, is that we get to see him play small clubs now and then – a prospect that, based on talent-to-square-foot ratio, is unthinkable. (For LA-based readers: He’ll be at McCabe’s on Feb. 13.) Terry’s version of Waterloo Sunset is, I’m estimating based on glimpsed band members, from about 5 years ago.
Further reading: The Terry Reid Temple
Further listening: Super Lungs: The Complete Studio Recordings
Although the inspiration for this site was mainly to collect covers, I couldn’t see how it made any sense to start with anything other than the lovely original. This is the Kinks performing Waterloo Sunset live in, um, I’m gonna say the late ’60s or so. If you’d like to read more about the song, here’s what Wikipedia has to say.
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