40 Covers results and answers
12 April 01
40 Covers was won, decisively, by Aaron Mandel, with a borderline-terrifying 117 of 120 possible points. He correctly identified all 40 songs and original artists, failing only to identify the perfomers of clips 2 (no guess), 39 (guessed Roxette themselves) and 40 (guessed Truly). Honorable mentions go to Scott Parkerson (94 points), Ian Ireland (84) and Aaron Goldschmidt (76). The full answer list is as follows, with the performers and sources in parentheses. Note that in the few cases where "original artist" was arguably ambiguous, I accepted any answer that demonstrated that the contestant had the right song in mind. There was no penalty for guesses or wrong answers, just a point for every piece you got right.
1. "Downtown Train", Tom Waits (Patty Smyth, from Never Enough)
2. "Avalon", Roxy Music (M People, from Fresco)
3. "I Wanna Destroy You", The Soft Boys (Comsat Angels, from From Beyond 2)
4. "Back Home Again", John Denver (Low, from Take Me Home tribute album)
5. "Fisherman's Blues", The Waterboys (The Wonder Stuff, from Love Bites and Bruises)
6. "Keep Feeling (Fascination)", The Human League (Baxendale, from Reproductions tribute album)
7. "Throw Your Arms Around Me", Hunters & Collectors (Luka Bloom, from Keeper of the Flame)
8. "Shoe-In", Secret Stars (Ida, from Ten Small Places)
9. "I Drove All Night", Roy Orbison (Cyndi Lauper, from A Night to Remember)
10. "Candle in the Wind", Elton John (Kate Bush, from Rocket Man single)
11. "White Room", Cream (Helloween, from Metal Jukebox)
12. "Tragedy", Bee Gees (Steps, from Steptacular)
13. "Father Figure", George Michael (School of Fish, from Live in LA promo EP)
14. "Other End of the Telescope", til tuesday (Sleeper, from Statuesque single)
15. "Love Is All Around", Sonny Curtis (Hüsker Dü, from single)
16. "Every Breath You Take", The Police (Juliana Hatfield, from Beautiful Creature / Total System Failure bonus disc)
17. "I Fought the Law", The Bobby Fuller Four (Nanci Griffith, from Blue Roses From the Moons)
18. "Firefly", American Music Club (Portastatic, from Come On Beautiful tribute album)
19. "Sister Christian", Night Ranger (Cherry 2000, from Then Covered Now compilation)
20. "Gin and Juice", Snoop Doggy Dogg (Sissy Bar, from Statutory Grape)
21. "Come on Eileen", Dexy's Midnight Runners (Skyclad, from Oui Avant-Garde á Chance)
22. "Prairie Rose", Roxy Music (Big Country, from East of Eden single)
23. "I'm Amazed", Pixies (Braid, from Movie Music, Vol. Two)
24. "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out", The Smiths (Braid, from Movie Music, Vol. Two)
25. "We Are So Fragile", Gary Numan (Jesus Jones, from Random tribute album)
26. "Cars", Gary Numan (The Judybats, from Daylight single)
27. "Girl U Want", Devo (Robert Palmer, from single)
28. "Dimaonds and Rust", Joan Baez (Judas Priest, from Unleashed in the East)
29. "Fake Plastic Trees", Radiohead (Marillion, from These Chains single)
30. "Dignified and Old", Jonathan Richman and/or the Modern Lovers (Sloan, from Live at a Sloan Party)
31. "Hawaiian Baby", The Spinanes (Buffalo Tom, from Wiser single)
32. "I Scare Myself", Dan Hicks (Thomas Dolby, from The Flat Earth)
33. "Cindy Incidentally", The Faces (Del Amitri, from Just Like a Man single)
34. "Gimme Shelter", The Rolling Stones (The Sisters of Mercy, from Temple of Love single)
35. "I Misunderstood", Richard Thompson (Mary Black, from Shine)
36. "Only You", Yaz (The Flying Pickets, from Volume One)
37. "How Soon Is Now?", The Smiths (Love Spit Love, from the soundtrack to The Craft)
38. "I Have the Touch", Peter Gabriel (Heather Nova, from the soundtrack to The Craft)
39. "The Look", Roxette (Barbie, from The Look)
40. "Our Lips Are Sealed", Go-Go's or Fun Boy Three (Everclear, from Everything to Everyone single)
2. "Avalon", Roxy Music (M People, from Fresco)
3. "I Wanna Destroy You", The Soft Boys (Comsat Angels, from From Beyond 2)
4. "Back Home Again", John Denver (Low, from Take Me Home tribute album)
5. "Fisherman's Blues", The Waterboys (The Wonder Stuff, from Love Bites and Bruises)
6. "Keep Feeling (Fascination)", The Human League (Baxendale, from Reproductions tribute album)
7. "Throw Your Arms Around Me", Hunters & Collectors (Luka Bloom, from Keeper of the Flame)
8. "Shoe-In", Secret Stars (Ida, from Ten Small Places)
9. "I Drove All Night", Roy Orbison (Cyndi Lauper, from A Night to Remember)
10. "Candle in the Wind", Elton John (Kate Bush, from Rocket Man single)
11. "White Room", Cream (Helloween, from Metal Jukebox)
12. "Tragedy", Bee Gees (Steps, from Steptacular)
13. "Father Figure", George Michael (School of Fish, from Live in LA promo EP)
14. "Other End of the Telescope", til tuesday (Sleeper, from Statuesque single)
15. "Love Is All Around", Sonny Curtis (Hüsker Dü, from single)
16. "Every Breath You Take", The Police (Juliana Hatfield, from Beautiful Creature / Total System Failure bonus disc)
17. "I Fought the Law", The Bobby Fuller Four (Nanci Griffith, from Blue Roses From the Moons)
18. "Firefly", American Music Club (Portastatic, from Come On Beautiful tribute album)
19. "Sister Christian", Night Ranger (Cherry 2000, from Then Covered Now compilation)
20. "Gin and Juice", Snoop Doggy Dogg (Sissy Bar, from Statutory Grape)
21. "Come on Eileen", Dexy's Midnight Runners (Skyclad, from Oui Avant-Garde á Chance)
22. "Prairie Rose", Roxy Music (Big Country, from East of Eden single)
23. "I'm Amazed", Pixies (Braid, from Movie Music, Vol. Two)
24. "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out", The Smiths (Braid, from Movie Music, Vol. Two)
25. "We Are So Fragile", Gary Numan (Jesus Jones, from Random tribute album)
26. "Cars", Gary Numan (The Judybats, from Daylight single)
27. "Girl U Want", Devo (Robert Palmer, from single)
28. "Dimaonds and Rust", Joan Baez (Judas Priest, from Unleashed in the East)
29. "Fake Plastic Trees", Radiohead (Marillion, from These Chains single)
30. "Dignified and Old", Jonathan Richman and/or the Modern Lovers (Sloan, from Live at a Sloan Party)
31. "Hawaiian Baby", The Spinanes (Buffalo Tom, from Wiser single)
32. "I Scare Myself", Dan Hicks (Thomas Dolby, from The Flat Earth)
33. "Cindy Incidentally", The Faces (Del Amitri, from Just Like a Man single)
34. "Gimme Shelter", The Rolling Stones (The Sisters of Mercy, from Temple of Love single)
35. "I Misunderstood", Richard Thompson (Mary Black, from Shine)
36. "Only You", Yaz (The Flying Pickets, from Volume One)
37. "How Soon Is Now?", The Smiths (Love Spit Love, from the soundtrack to The Craft)
38. "I Have the Touch", Peter Gabriel (Heather Nova, from the soundtrack to The Craft)
39. "The Look", Roxette (Barbie, from The Look)
40. "Our Lips Are Sealed", Go-Go's or Fun Boy Three (Everclear, from Everything to Everyone single)
Thanks to everyone who played.