To celebrate 25 years of the BBC’s Live Lounge, Radio 1 presenters ranked a list of 50 performances into a Top 25, with No 1, below, Amy Winehouse‘s cover of The Zutons’ Valerie.
The concept is very similar to triple j’s Like A Version where an artist or band comes in and plays one of their tracks, and a cover of someone else’s, often a song or performer who has inspired them.
It was this recording in BBC Maida Vale sound studios that so resonated with audiences, then and now, that it would go on to be a highlight on Mark Ronson’s album Version, which featured singers all covering other artists’ songs.
The criteria for inclusion in the longlist of 50 was based on the quality of performance, cultural impact, success with the audience and longevity.
Amy died in 2011, aged 27.
Every Friday morning around 8am Concetta and Luka still do triple j’s Like a Version, with last Friday‘s a cover of Tate McRae‘s mega hit Greedy by Aussie rock band RedHook.
Like A Version marked two decades of covers last year with a special Hottest 100 countdown, voted for by listeners.
Third place was Ocean Alley’s cover of Player‘s 1977 hit Baby Come Back, second place Denzel Curry covering Rage Against the Machine‘s Bulls on Parade and No 1 DMA’s 2016 cover of Cher’s Believe, which I’ve also included below.