los xochimilcas

songs: She Loves You, I Want to Hold Your Hand, And I Love Her
language: Spanish
performer: Los Xochimilcas

I was surprised that there doesn't seem to be anything out there on Los Xochimilcas - not even a Spanish wikipedia page. From looking at the many YouTube videos of them, they seem to have been a popular - if not taken seriously - band that blended popular and Mexican musical styles with broad humor. A sort of Mexican Spike Jones or Mickey Katz. And like Katz, whose great talent for klezmer music was often overlooked due to his shtick, Los Xochimilcas were very talented musicians beneath the clowning. Their versions of these three Beatles songs reveal a sensitive ear for arranging and an expert incorporation of pop and Mexican idioms.

And they're funny too: The first video, a cover of She Loves You, begins with a verse in random English before switching to Spanish:

A one two three four five
Seven eighteen, seven eighteen
Kiss me once again
Is forever, is forever
And my sister! And my sister waits for me
Very happy, very happy, same to you!

The other two covers are instrumentals.

aquí, allá y donde sea

song: Here, There and Everywhere
language: Spanish
performers: Los Darts, Los Juniors, Los Tijuana Five

Three versions found on the intertubes, but I could only ID two. Los Darts formed in Venezuela in 1964 and are still together:



Los Juniors rocked around Mexico for most of the 60s:



And finally, this video, which has no info on its source by Mexican band Los Tijuana Five (h/t to commenter Odradek for the info):

y la amo

song: And I Love Her
language: Spanish
performers: Jose Alberto, Los Mustang, Los Apson Boys, Los Dayson, Los Hermanos Carrión

The first of our five Spanish versions of And I Love Her comes courtesy of Los Apson Boys, a Mexican band that formed in 1957, reached their height in the mid to late 60s, and are still performing:



Next up, Barcelona's Los Mustang:



Next, Mexican rock 'n' roll pioneers Los Hermanos Carrión:



From the Dominican Republic, "El Canario" ("The Canary") Jose Alberto:



And finally, back to Spain with Los Dayson:

конь тугезый

song: Come Together
language: Tuvan
performer: Bugotak

Bugotak is a Siberian group that blends indigenous styles with modern world influences. Here is their wonderfully trippy video for their throat-singing cover of Come Together. The band's philosophy regards innovation as essential to keeping tradition alive and safe from fossilization, and this is quite the example here, with references to Genghis Khan and nanotechnology. The Russian/Tuvan title, pronounced "kon tugezy" ("horse Togezy", not sure if that's like "Togezy's horse" or "a horse named Togezy" or something else), is clearly homophonic. The song is included on their album Coverlar, which contains similar treatments of other rock classics, from Metallica to the Mission Impossible theme.

가야금

songs: Hey Jude, Let it Be, Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da
performers: Sookmyung Gayageum Orchestra

Here are some clips of instrumental covers, played on the traditional Korean zither (gayageum). The last two clips are by the Sookmyung Gayageum Orchestra, and the first may be as well, though the players aren't credited. The first clip also features a haegeum, a small violin similar to the Chinese erhu, taking the melody lines.

코리언 키튼즈

song: Can't Buy Me Love
language: Korean
performer: The Korean Kittens

The Korean Kittens were a girl-group modeled after the Kim Sisters; their success was more limited but one member, Yoon Bok-hee, went on have to a long singing career. Here they sing Can't Buy Me Love on the BBC's Tonight show: verses in English, chorus in Korean.

一周八天

song: Eight Days a Week
language: Chinese
performers unknown

In this scene from the film Romantic Thief (1968), star Connie Chan and her gang escape from their deluxe jail cell by singing Eight Days a Week in Cantonese to cover up the sound of the hacksaw (Officer Toody seems easily snookered). Before you laugh, consider that when this came out, Get Smart was finishing up its third season.

the cheatles

songs: Let it Be, Love Me Do
language: Chinese
performer: The Cheatles

Not to be confused with the British band of the same name, The Cheatles are a Chinese Beatles tribute band, made up of two German nationals and the two sons of one of them (awkward phrasing, but hard to put succinctly!). Here are two of their videos: Let it Be (with a bit of A Little Help from My Friends at the end), a proper music video complete with rooftop performance, and Love Me Do from a live show.

shan kuan liu yun

songs: Can't Buy Me Love, I Saw Her Standing There
language: Chinese
performer: Singapore Shan Kuan Liu Yun

Yet another Singaporean Chinese singer covering the Beatles, and yet another performer I can't find any info on. In this case I'd say it's no great loss. According to the uploader and commenters, he's singing in Cantonese and the backup band is called The Antarctics.

米歇尔

song: Michelle
language: Chinese
performer: Sakura

Sakura is a pop singer who was big in the Singapore Go-Go scene in the 60s and 70s. She now lives in New York and performs regularly in Las Vegas and Atlantic City, singing in 11 (!) different languages. Here she sings Michelle in Mandarin.

从我到你

song: From Me to You
language: Chinese
performer: Maggie Wong & the Jungle Lynxs

Maggie Wong is/was a Malaysian singer who released an EP of Beatles covers in Chinese, from which this is taken. I can't find out anything else about her. The Jungle Lynxs were a popular Malaysian band who also supported Vince Chu, "Penang's Elvis".

我要握您的手

song: I Want to Hold Your Hand
language: Chinese
performers: Billie Tam, Singapore Chan Siao Fong & The Silhouettes, The Four Dummies

Three Chinese (all Cantonese?) covers of I Want to Hold Your Hand.

First up, Billie Tam, a traditional-style singer who found success when she switched to western pop in the 60s:



Next, Singapore Chan Siao Fong & The Silhouettes:



And finally, The Four Dummies (in actuality Cantonese film stars), who parody the Beatles here.

bungalow bill

song: Bungalow Bill
language: Czech
performer: Golden Kids

The Golden Kids were Marta Kubišová (whose cover of Hey Jude was posted previously), Helena Vondráčková, and Václav Neckář. They performed and recorded from 1968 until 1970, when Kubišová's political activity got her in trouble with the authorities. They reformed in the 90s, but that ended acrimoniously in 2008.

obladi, oblada

song: Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
language: Hungarian
performer: Pa-Dö-Dő

Hungarian Pop duo Pa-Dö-Dő (Lang Györgyi and Falusi Mariann) scored their first hit in the late 1980s, and they are still active. According to the stilted googletranslation of their wikipedia page, "Typical characteristic: very short hairstyles color, plenty of athletic clothing, and almost always wear boots. Loose T-shirt in their early years torn full of badges."

jučer još

song: Yesterday
language: Croatian
performer: Trio Neda Miljenko & Dario

Neda Miljenko & Dario were a folk trio active in the 1970s - a sort of Croatian Peter, Paul and Mary. I can't find out much more about them; the googletranslation of this page is pretty impenetrable.



Here's a parody of the song, which as you can tell by the visuals is about the computers and gaming of yesteryear:

mám ju rád

song: She Loves You
language: Slovak
performer: The Beatmen

The Beatmen were a Slovak beat combo that released a few singles in the 1960s, all in English except for this cover of She Loves You. All but one member emigrated to West Germany in 1966, where they met with little success and split up soon thereafter.

քանզի

song: Because
language: Armenian
performer: Edo & Vahag

No idea who these folks are, but it's a cool version despite the rain/waterfall sound effect in the background.