My Version Is Better Than Yours Part 13: Do Ya - Elmer Goodbody Jnr vs. Forest

Elmer Goodbody Jnr. –Do Ya/Mad About You –Charisma CB 279 (1976 UK)

Forest –Do Ya/I’ll Stay With You –Midland International MID 1 (1976 UK)

Do Ya exemplifies the maxim –maximise the minimum, where less always means MORE! The Move’s Do Ya is probably one of the greatest riff songs ever and follows a prestigious lineage that goes all the way back to Louie Louie and lives on through to Fireball and other Sweet Jane knock-offs. So what makes these two versions so weird is that they both lessen the impact of that riff, and attempt to highlight the song beyond.. Elmer Goodbody Jnr’s (Mike Sheridan’s leather clad alter ego) version is more akin to George Harrison transplanted to a Brum backwater...A strange revisit but quite charming in its laidback approach. Forest on the other hand play it straight, shorten the intro (what were they thinking of?), and emasculate the power of the riff (to make it more radio friendly?) An OK version that gets better as the song nears its end...but nothing to write home about...

Hear a full version of Elmer Goodbody Jnr’s Do Ya

Hear a full version of Forest’s Do Ya