Top 5 Worst Cover Songs Ever, American Legion Post 133 Meeting, Talk it Up Toastmasters

Good morning, South Windsor! Today is Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2012; there are 41 days left in the year.

Not a whole let scheduled today, so I am reprinting a Daily 5 from the Granbys site. Enjoy!

Cover songs can be a revelation [see, e.g., “Respect” by Aretha Franklin, which is a cover by Otis Redding. You see, you CAN learn something on this site.] But reboots can also be a hot mess, which is when they are the most fun. So, I tasked my friend Jeff Lestermanson, who has a far more extensive music library than I do, with the top 5 worst song covers of all-time. Here’s what we came up with:

5. My Generation - [Original artist: The Who covered by Hilary Duff] Fact: This one is especially painful because, before Taylor Swift, there was Hilary Duff. (Standard The Granbys Patch Disclaimer Concerning Taylor Swift and Hilary Duff: There is absolutely NOTHING creepy about a 40-year-old man having a crush on a country singer and an actress, both of whom are barely in their 20s. Nope. Nothing creepy at all. Nothing to see here people. Move along.) Anyway, my understanding is that several countries have called Duff's cover of The Who classic a crime against humanity. Hard to argue.

4. Stairway to Heaven - [Led Zeppelin redone by Dolly Parton] - Yes, evidently Dolly Parton sings. Both of them. Listen to this cover and you will think no benevolent God would ever let this happen. There can be no stairway to a heaven that does not exist. Why hast thou forsaken me, Dolly Parton?

3. Smells Like Teen Spirit [Nirvana remade by Miley Cyrus] - So wrong for so many reasons. I can think of a lot of other things this cover smells like, too.

2. (Tie) I Love Rock n Roll [Joan Jett] and (I can't get no) Satisfaction [Rolling Stones - both covered by Britney Spears] - Britney, stick to what you do best, tarting up catchy pop tunes. There is no way to improve on the Joan Jett and Stones classics, so why bother trying? Oh, shameless money grab. Gotcha. If Britney really loved rock and roll, she would have left these two songs alone.

1. Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds [The Beatles covered by William Shatner] - OK, I’m not sure this one belongs because he may have been in on the joke. Still, this is fingernails on chalkboard bad.

Here’s your Daily 5:

1. There's an introductory class to ballroom dancing.

2. SWALPAC is canceled.

3. American Legion Post 133 is meeting at Town Hall at 7 p.m.

4. A bunch of programming at the Whiton Memorial Branch Library in Manchester. Check it out.

5. Talk it Up Toastmasters in Windsor.