This is such a foreign production strategy for me that I never even considered it; then again when I do covers it’s mostly as an exercise in production techniques so I make them like I would make an original song.
YMMV of course.
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Different folks…different motivations.
For me, it has morphed from ‘can I play the bass?’ to ‘can I stand on a stage?’. The latter requires me to know songs and be able to play them cleanly, hence my comment. I’m not saying that everything I’ve covered is going to be in a set-list, but everything in a set-list will be covered 
. And there’s a whole different topic, agreeing a setlist! 
Back to the learnings dimension, I’ve just listened back to this morning’s efforts. I managed to get all three bass tracks bang on 
. BUT … I played the verse staccato and the chorus with the notes sustained. (Great practice for control and muting, BTW.) But the but ,… the staccato doesn’t quite work with the song, so I’m going to have to record it again. Frustrating? No, just more learnings 
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Yup, for sure! Totally respect anyone wanting to do the live thing.
My interests are recording and producing new music, and I actually have negative interest in playing live any more. It was fun back in the day, definitely had fun doing it, but I am in a different place now. Mileage varies 
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I was experimenting with “Down in the Park” last weekend, mainly cause I found a very cool & haunting synth sound for it (“Sleeping Dream” in TH-U).
I started out with some crunchy fuzz distortion presets, as I wanted to make an angry anti-thesis to your video, by the way
If you stick to the Numan score, it’s like pluck … wait … pluck … waaaaaaaaaaaait … pluck … wait (get some coffee) … pluck.
But if you fill the empty space with some punk noodling, it’s quite fun.
Of course the original song gets brutalized badly
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Shouldn’t it be, “can I fidget on a stage”?
(Had to translate the German “hampeln” to english)
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Come on, @Whying_Dutchman, record it and post it! I would be interested to hear what you’ve done to the song!!
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lol not if you play it like the original 
You could also cover the Foo Fighters version instead.
I covered the Tubeway Army version too though, like @sunDOG.
It’s actually a pedal and not just whole notes on the original IIRC. It definitely is on the Foos version and pretty sure live, need to go back and check, could be wrong.
Lol listening to the live version now and not so sure.
Which I guess makes my cover a cross between the Tubeway Army song for synths and the Foo Fighters for bass, which given both bands makes me very happy indeed
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I didn’t know Foo Fighters covered this song. Will check it out after work today! (I feel another cover coming on )
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its a great cover!
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Freak me, @howard, that is good! Now added to the covers queue! Any more gems like that I should check out?
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For “Down in the Park” I know of one other cover, by T42 (keyboard player from Information Society, still active ) However, it’s all synth.
For awesome covers like this of other songs? Will need to think.
A couple top of mind, Social Distortion’s studio cover of “Under My Thumb” is way better than the original IMO, but maybe too cowpunk for your liking; the “Eight Miles High” cover by Hüsker Dü is perhaps the best cover of all time but it’s straight up hardcore punk, which I am guessing is also not your thing
Ahh I know - Bauhaus cover of Ziggy Stardust? Even Bowie liked that better than his version
Rammstein did a stellar cover of “Stripped” by Depeche Mode. Similarly, Failure did a fantastic cover of “Enjoy the Silence”, and Meat Beat Manifesto and absolute banger cover of “Everything Counts”, all on the same Depeche Mode tribute album.
Every single cover Shonen Knife has ever done is awesome and better than the originals in their adorable way. “Daydream Believer” and “Top of the World” are standouts.
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Siouxsie cover of “The Passenger” is also top tier.
Flea and both Chili Peppers guitarists took a year off the Chili Peppers just to tour Joy Division tribute songs. However I don’t think a studio recording exists.
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Siouxsie’s cover is great, but I even prefer Michael Hutchence’s version. Yes - the guy from INXS!
EDIT And on the Depeche Mode “For the Masses” album there are a few other gems:
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Yeah, “For The Masses” is just an amazing cover album. As is “I Wish I were A Carpenter.”
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We have the same albums
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Rush, “Cygnus X-1,” Prologue:
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Rush, “La Villa Strangiato”
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Elevation Worship, “Praise”
(This is a Christian worship song, just to be clear.)
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Yesterday was so crazy. It was Mother’s Day. We usually close on Sunday but we have lots of reservation so we decided to open for the “reservation”. turned out those without one like to join as well 
So we were busy almost the entire day, by the time I got home I wound up so tight, I decided to release the tension a bit and pick a fun song to do cover. Luckily it didn’t take a lot of time just 4 minutes,
Song
You are free by Lake Street Dive
It’s actually recorded with the Acoustic Upright. I did try to play it with my EUB but my fingers didn’t want to cooperate last night so next cover maybe.
Bass
Fender American Performer Mustang Bass
Music Man Caprice bass with TI Jazz Flats
Music Man Joe Dart II with TI jazz rounds
Lignum “Le Petite” 23" scale 5 string
Enjoy!
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