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Indulge me. I'm going to take you on the mental journey that led to this post. It begins with me studying for an exam some years ago. Being a practised procrastinator, I tended to leave such things until deep into the night before a morning of horror staring at an exam paper wondering why it didn't feature the one question I had revised an answer to. Anyway, at about 1am when I was still trying to decide via a complex analysis of which single topic I would chance my arm with, a housemate crashed into my room armed with a typically bizarre question: "are you familiar with the concept of memes at all?"

Normally, I would have sent him on his merry way like a travelling salesman ("not today, thanks") but we all know that, when you're meant to be revising for an exam, almost ANYTHING else becomes preferable. Years earlier I had happily sat through episodes of '' and '' to avoid doing any work.

So, it turns out that memes are more or less ideas that pass in and out of people's brains. Anything you see, hear or experience is essentially a meme that, once you have encountered it, maps itself to your brain where it nestles in with all the other memes to create the little ball of wonder that is you. , but that's what I recall. Sadly, the exam the following morning was completely free of meme-related questions. Ah well.

To get to the point, when we start thinking about something and end up thinking about something else that appears at first glance entirely unrelated, it's basically a load of memes playing tig in your brain.

Here's how mine went...

It's raining again. It ALWAYS rains here recently. My car lets the rain in to make small swimming pools on the floor on the driver's side. My car is old, and rubbish. It still has a tape player for goodness sake. Mind you, that does let you rediscover some old classics you have on tape. Like 'Just Got Paid' by the unfortunately named , one of . Or 'Winterlong' by the . Brilliant covers both, of and respectively. Used to think doing was a bit of a cop out, but actually come to think of it, there's plenty of brilliant ones by bands I love. If I made a mix tape of them I could play it in my rubbish car to help alleviate the depression of driving around in a moving puddle while it rains.

, as was perhaps inevitable give that cassettes now have a kind of retro appeal. In fact, we even heard on the show last week that are selling cassettes of their own material at gigs. Old Skool. So that's it really. Mix tapes are back - what are you going to do about it?

Here's what I did - I made a mix tape of some of my favourite cover versions. You may wish to dispute whether these versions are indeed as brilliant as I reckon, add some choice cuts of your own, pour scorn on my tragically indie tastes, or suggest your own mix tapes on different themes but, nevertheless, here's what I made, just about squeezing it all onto a C-90...

1. Just Got Paid - Rapeman (original by ZZ Top on album 'Rio Grande Mud')
2. Winterlong - Pixies (original by Neil Young on album 'Decade')
3. Superstar - Sonic Youth (original by Delaney & Bonnie on B-side of single 'Comin Ö÷²¥´óÐã', although best known is The Carpenters' version)
4. Gin and Juice - The Gourds (original by Snoop Doggy Dogg on album 'Doggy Style')
5. It Must Be Love -ÌýMadness (original by Labi Siffre, single A-side)
6. Like A Virgin - Teenage Fanclub (original by Madonna on album 'Like A Virgin')
7. Renegades of Funk - Rage Against The Machine ( on album 'Planet Rock: The Album')
8. Stop Breathin' - Boxstop (original by Pavement on album 'Crooked Rain; Crooked Rain')
9. Polk Salad Annie - Elvis Presley (original by Tony Joe White on album 'Black and White')
10. Baby Please Don't Go - Them (a blues standard originally recorded by Big Joe Williams but probably best known by Muddy Waters' version prior to Them's cover)
11. The Times They Are A-Changin' - The Brothers and Sisters (original by Bob Dylan on album 'The Time They Are A-Changin')
12. California Uber-Alles - The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy (original by the Dead Kennedys on album 'Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables')
13. Personal Jesus - Johnny Cash (original by Depeche Mode on album 'Violater')
14. We Can Work It Out - Stevie Wonder (original by The Beatles, single double A-side with 'Day Tripper)
15. Shocker In Gloomtown - The Breeders (original by Guided By Voices, on album 'The Grand Hour')
16. (Now) I Know (Where I'm Going) Our Kid - The Shirehorses (spoof of 'Love Is The Law' by John Squire's tragic follow-up to the Stone Roses, the Seahorses)
17. Hey - "Prince" (cover of Pixies original by pretending to be Prince - genius)
18. The House of the Rising Sun - The Animals (a complicated history to this tune, but surely one of the best covers ever)
19. Jesus Doesn't Want Me For A Sunbeam - Nirvana (original by The Vaselines, adapted from the Christian standard 'Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam)
20. Brass Buttons - The Lemonheads (original by Gram Parsons on album 'Grievous Angel')
21. Viva Las Vegas - The Dead Kennedys (original by Elvis Presley)
22. Life On Mars? - Seu George (from 'The Life Aquatic' soundtrack, original by David Bowie on album 'Hunky Dory')
23.ÌýI Call Your NameÌý- The Mamas & The Papas (original by The Beatles)
24. California Dreaming - Bobby Womack (original by The Mamas & The Papas, A-side single)
25. Last Caress - Metallica (orignal by The Misfits on album 'Static Age')
26. Star Spangled Banner - Jimi Hendrix (cover of American national anthem)

Hard to know . Maybe this is a whole other blog posting in itself. I mean, you could possibly argue, for example, that every single Elvis song is a cover seeing as he didn't write any of the music he recorded. But I reckon that would be cheating. My tape is made up of songs that are either interesting or entertaining takes on songs that I already knew well (4, 6, 8, 11, 14, 16, 17, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26), versions that are in my opinion indisputably better than their originals (1, 5, 7, 9, 10, 18), or covers that may not be that remarkable but that alerted me to the work of the original artist (2, 3, 12, 13, 15, 19, 20, 25). I kinda debated whether things like Root Down by the Beastie Boys qualified as a cover of the Jimmy Smith original it sampled, Beck's 'Jack-Ass' as a cover of Them's 'It's All Over Now Baby Blue' (itself a cover of the Bob Dylan classic) which it samples, or Young MC's 'Know How' as a cover of the theme from Shaft by Isaac Hayes, or even '?Do The Digs Dug?' by The Goats, which uses magnificently in its chorus. And what about something like '99 Problems' as it appears on ? A mash-up of 'Helter Skelter' by The Beatles and '99 Problems' by Jay-Z, itself a cover of Ice T's original. I opted to keep them out of this one, but you may beg to differ.ÌýÌý