@DocStrange: You like Boyz N Da Hood?!?! That song ruined a whole summer for me. Also, I think Orgy were sort of okay, in retrospect; and, you know, so does Rihanna, apparently.

I would say “Boys Of Summer” is one of the better covers we’ve discussed here, though, the little snare fill the Ataris drummer adds to the chorus really makes it.

Now, Cake’s cover of “I Will Survive”, Urge Overkill’s cover of “Girl, You’ll Be A Woman Soon” and Dynamite Hack’s cover of “Boyz in the Hood” are great alt rock covers of out-of-genre songs. But for every “I Will Survive”, there’s a middling cover of “Boys of Summer”.

@2ironic4u: “Torn” peaked at #12 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, and “Wishing I Was There” – cowritten by former Cure keyboardist Phil Thornalley – hit #26 on the same chart.

Oh, man, WORD — I knew the music-industrial complex was nearing a peak in the late ’90s when these guys were taken seriously by a certain type of desperate Hot Topic goth fan. There was just no there there. I remember flipping through posters at a record store around 1999, and they had one of Orgy, and I thought to myself, Who the fuck would want to adorn their walls with a heavily made-up band whose only hit is a shitty New Order cover? It was like a metaphor for the tech bubble or something.

Al’s made it clear that he’s talking about post-1988 modern rock, but my all-time favorite mediocre rock band who couldn’t get arrested after scoring a single U.S. hit with a cover is Australia’s Pseudo Echo, who made the pop Top 10 in 1987 with a remake of “Funkytown.” (Yes, that “Funkytown.”) Had the Modern Rock chart existed a year earlier, I’m sure their “Funkytown” would’ve charted there, too.

Point taken. From a strict chart standpoint, you’re totally correct. I’m just thinking in terms of current cultural awareness – I mentioned Letters to Cleo because at this stage of the game, I’m willing to bet more folks have heard them because of the media saturation Ten Things I Hate About You and The Craft have achieved via the magic of constant re-runs on TBS than during their original chart success.

@natepatrin: Soft Cell predates the Modern Rock chart, and was more of a pop hit anyway.

If it wasn’t totally clear, people, this post was about hit covers of non-rock songs by rock acts in the past 10-20 years, not just any kind of cover ever.

also, I’m not old enough to remember that.

Should we add Letters to Cleo to this list too? Multiple offender! The Cars! Nick Lowe! Cheap Trick!

ooohhh, the Lemonheads?