Our friends at Popdose – which is the ‘editorial we’ way of saying this writer is involved – are assembling a list of the best cover versions of a song ever recorded. The submissions were a curious bunch, to be sure. From the looks of things, any song that is sung by someone other than the person who wrote it is eligible. This was good in that it opened up songs like “The Air That I Breathe” from the Hollies for consideration, as well as Nancy Sinatra’s Quentin Tarantino-endorsed version of “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down).” Who knew that song was written by Cher?

Image courtesy of thetelegraph.com.au

As we were culling our favorites from the list, though, there was one staggering omission, and that is “Good Times,” INXS and Jimmy Barnes’ smoking hot remake of a tune by the Easybeats (yep, the “Friday on My Mind” guys, which gives us an idea for another Friday Video piece). Recorded for the soundtrack to “The Lost Boys,” which featured quite a few covers, though only half of which hit the mark (Echo and the Bunnymen nailed “People Are Strange,” while Tina Turner saxman Tim Cappello had difficulty making the Call’s “I Still Believe” his own), “Good Times” didn’t crack the US Top 40, but it didn’t miss by much, peaking at #47. (The band would score a #1 hit a few months later with “Need You Tonight.”) Listen to it now, though. Damn, what were we listening to that prevented this from being a smash? You know what, don’t answer that. It’s better that those artists remain forgotten.

Parting shot: “Good Times” was co-written by George Young, the older brother of AC/DC’s Angus and Malcolm Young. Nice.

Ah, St. Patrick’s Day, where everyone is Irish for a day. March seems to be full of days like that, since Fat Tuesday is the day where everyone is Catholic for a day.

Since we know many of you will be getting a full-fledged drink on this St. Paddy’s Day, especially since it is also the first day of the NCAA tournament, we have provided a small list of songs about drinking, the effects of drinking, and the vow that many of you will make the following morning. Think of it as the bender that you never took; we love booze as much as the next guys, but sometimes those things are better lived vicariously.

“It’s Time to Party,” Andrew W.K.

With a whopping three songs about partying on his debut album, Andrew W.K. will forever remain our master of ceremonies when it comes to partying. Until we saw the grammar-challenged lyric video, though, we didn’t know this song made a reference to a money shot. Yikes.

“Have a Drink on Me,” AC/DC

The night is young. Everyone is flush with cash and feeling generous. Try and remember this moment when 1:30 rolls around and you’re buying Natural Light pounders. For now, though, you’re living on the top shelf.