The 50 best covers of all time: do you agree with the latest poll?

It’s nearly Christmas, the time of year where cover versions crawl out of every cultural orifice, whether it be the inevitable X Factor single, the all-star celebrity cast of the BBC’s God Only Knows, or the endless barrage of saccharine department store ads featuring cosy, quirky acoustic versions a la Lily Allen’s cover of Keane, Gabrielle Aplin’s cover of Frankie Goes to Hollywood or Slow Moving Millie’s rework of the Smiths. Right now, as we speak, in an office somewhere in greater London, a man in a suit working for John Lewis is probably signing off a festive cover of Slipknot’s Wait and Bleed by Taylor Swift.

Cynical attitudes aside, there are still many covers worthy of praise – one of which has topped a recent BBC poll: Always On My Mind by the Pet Shop Boys has been elected the top cover version of all time, as voted for by the public and whittled down by a crack team including Fearne Cotton, Trevor Nelson, Simon Mayo and Steve Lamacq, head of music for Radio 2 and 6 Music, Jeff Smith and George Ergatoudis, head of music for Radio 1 and 1Xtra. The Pet Shop Boys’ cover reached No 1 in the UK charts in 1987; the song was originally written by John Christopher, Mark James and Wayne Carson, and first made famous by Brenda Lee and Elvis Presley in 1972, and Willie Nelson a decade after them.

Fearne et al deemed it better than Johnny Cash’s cover of Hurt, the Stranglers’ cover of Walk on By, Jimi Hendrix’s All Along The Watchtower and Jeff Buckley’s Hallelujah. See the full top 50 below.

The top 50 cover versions:

1. Pet Shop Boys - Always On My Mind
2. Johnny Cash - Hurt
3. The Stranglers - Walk On By
4. Jimi Hendrix - All Along The Watchtower
5. Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah
6. Soft Cell - Tainted Love
7. Joe Cocker - With A Little Help From My Friends
8. Sinead O’Connor - Nothing Compares 2 U
9. Muse - Feeling Good
10. Whitney Houston - I Will Always Love You
11. Marvin Gaye - I Heard It Through The Grapevine
12. Adele - Make You Feel My Love
13. This Mortal Coil - Song To The Siren
14. The Clash - I Fought The Law
15. China Drum - Wuthering Heights
16. Nirvana - The Man Who Sold The World
17. Aretha Franklin - Respect
18. Eva Cassidy - Songbird
19. Leona Lewis - Run
20. Led Zeppelin - When The Levee Breaks
21. Righteous Brothers - Unchained Melody
22. Florence + the Machine - You’ve Got The Love
23. Mark Ronson - Valerie (feat. Amy Winehouse)
24. Jimi Hendrix - Hey Joe
25. The Fall - Lost In Music
26. Gary Jules - Mad World (feat. Michael Andrews)
27. Bryan Ferry - A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall
28. The Specials - A Message To You Rudy
29. Birdy - Skinny Love
30. Fugees - Killing Me Softly With His Song
31. The Pogues - Dirty Old Town
32. Elvis Costello & The Attractions - Good Year For The Roses
33. José González - Heartbeats
34. The Isley Brothers - Summer Breeze
35. Thin Lizzy - Rosalie
36. Talking Heads - Take Me To The River
37. David Bowie - China Girl
38. Urge Overkill - Girl, You’ll Be A Woman Soon
39. Ryan Adams - Wonderwall
40. Nina Simone - Mr. Bojangles
41. Hüsker Dü - Eight Miles High
42. José Feliciano - Light My Fire
43. Earth, Wind & Fire - Got To Get You Into My Life
44. Santana - Oye Como Va
45. James Blake - Limit To Your Love
46. Billy Paul - Your Song
47. Richie Havens - Going Back To My Roots
48. Labrinth - Express Yourself
49. Prince Fatty - Shimmy Shimmy Ya (feat. Horseman)
50. D’Angelo – Cruisin

There are of course notable absences from the list, and many surprises, too (Labrinth’s Express Yourself, anyone?). Was the Slits’ Heard it Throughout The Grapevine criminally missed? Where the hell was Limp Bizkit’s cover of Faith? Let us know what you think should have made the top 50 in the comment below.