Magical Mystery Tour - Ambrosia
This is quite average but I am going with it because it was a minor hit in the US. It was from the All This And World War II film, which spawned a lot of average covers. Nevertheless I would quite like it to be released on CD if anyone with any rights is reading this.The Fool on the Hill - Rockbeach
It is a little known maxim that the better a song is, the worse it is covered. There are a million so-so covers of this classic, but very few good ones. This is an exception. It is really rocked up and the band even manage to get in a verse of Polythene Pam and a chorus of She Loves You.Flying - Frank Sidebottom
The only Beatles instrumental officially released (discounting Cry For A Shadow and Eight Bar Blues, which I do) and what does mad Frank go and do ? Write lyrics for it, that's what ! What a jester ! (And very funny they are too.) Dee makes a good job of this rather unpromising material but it's not one of the best, is it ?Your Mother Should Know - Kenny Ball
You might be thinking that Kenny Ball doing Your Mother Should Know might be rather drippy and boring... and it is ! Truth is, I don't have a better one. I have a soft spot for Otway and a couple of his early albums, so I am prepared to put up with him taking the pee out of Lennon's classic offering. For some reason John (Otway that is) makes lines like "oompah, oompah, stick it up your jumper" sound faintly ridiculous.
Hello, Goodbye - Don Carlos
Relations between Harrison and McCartney seemed to reach rock bottom with the release of this ditty - Harrison clearly hates it, look at his body language on the video. Despite all that, it isn't rubbish and, given a reggae styling, it works well enough.Strawberry Fields Forever - Candy Flip
This got a right panning from the critics on its release, but why so ? It's not just a rehash, but an update of the song, and most other attempts at it are just poor imitations. If you really hate it, however, you could try the Gerard Pansanel version, which is instrumental but quite something.Penny Lane - The King's Singers
I know it's not hip to like the King's Singers, and generally I don't, but honestly this tune is pure gold with a feel good factor of 10.Baby, You're a Rich Man - The Fat Boys
One of those rap numbers which became popular where you write your own song and shove into it an occasional snatch of an old tune. Not the best of its type, but then not the worst either.All You Need is Love - The Housejacks
This is the sixteenth occapella number I have included, having started out claiming I disliked them. I now realise they are the best thing since sliced bread. This one is a litle bit strange actually, but when you have listened to as many Beatles' covers as I have, strange starts sounding pretty good.Only a Northern Song - Phoaming Edison
I can't believe that Phoaming, if indeed that be his name, recorded this for any other reason than that no-one else had. As a result, people like me, of whom there are precious few, would buy his rather unpleasant album. Still, beggars can't be choosers, so here is the only known cover of this tune, recorded apparently from outside the studio in a blizzard.All Together Now - One Groovy Coconut
The one I really want of this is the Kermit the Frog version, but I haven't got it yet, so here is one which is less good. Everybody seems to do this the same as the original, so you end up with a good song well done but with little in the way of original thought. Shame because I think it would lend itself to different interpretations.It's All Too Much - The Hunt
One could rarely accuse the often caustic Mr Harrison of being a hippy but this song has hippy written all over it, bringing the album to a close in euphoric fashion.