Stairways to Heaven, Stairways to Hell (MP3s)

Here are 101 versions of the song that doesn't remain the same, depending on whether it's the the Australian music hall version, the Gilligan's Island version, the backwards version, the backwards splice-and-dice quarter note version, the glass harmonica version, the Doors version, the reggae version and on and on (all MP3s). Much of this came from former FMU DJ KBC's CD of the same name, which took much of it's content from this 1992 LP.

 

Dusty Cowshit   |   Hard-Ons   |   Little Roger & The Goosebumps   |   Rock Lobsters

Neil Pepper   |   SCTV   |   Glass Harp   |   Leonard Teale   |   Beatnix

Ludwig Von 88   |   Leif Norbergs   |   John Paul Young   |   Pardon Me Boys

Kalocin   |   Fargone Beauties   |   Richard Cheese   |   Robyne Dunn

Rolf Harris   |   GS Incorporated   |   Australian Doors Show 

Dixie Power Trio   |   Kate Ceberano & Ministry of Fun   |   Thomas Dimuzio

Sandra Kahn & Michael Turkic   |   Pat Boone   |   Tiny Tim & Brave Combo

Nashville Super Pickers   |   Congo Natty

Foo Fighters   |   Vienna Symphonic Orchestra   |   Dolly Parton

Nileppez Del   |   Dread Zeppelin   |   Leningrad Cowboys & The Red Army Chorus

Frank Zappa   |   Vegimite Reggae

UPDATE: Dutch artist Jeroen Offerman learned how to sing Stairway backwards. Here's a page about it from listener Neil's blog, with the full video. Thanks Mike and Neil!

UPDATE 2: Here's version number 39, an instrumental from Redd Kross. Thanks Arthur!

UPDATE 3: Here are a batch more versions I received since my original post. Click below the jump for 17 more Stairways:

Mitsuhiro Nishiwaki (Musicbox)   |   Nick Barker and The Reptiles   |   Splice of Life, Inc

Venetian Snares and Speedranch   |   Norelpref   |   Barry Crocker & The Doug Anthony Allstars

Etcetera Theater Company   |   Helen Jones   |   James Kochalka Superstar

Jodie Gillies   |   Judi Connell   |   London Symphony Orchestra

Far Corporation   |   Stanley Jordan   |   Sydney Philharmonia

Those Darn Accordians   |   Toys Went Berserk

Thanks to Norelpref, Eric, Lukas, Matt, Dan and Frank for this last batch!

Also, here is the Stairway Suite page, with MP3 samples of the song as if it were composed by six well known composers. Thanks to Dave B!

Will the number of Stairways we exceed the number of Tico Ticos? We're getting close...

UPDATE 4: Here are four more, bringing the grand total to 60. Thanks to: Lukas, Mark, John and Al!

Iron Maiden   |   Me First and The Gimme Gimmes

Milish   |   Rodrigo y Gabriela

UPDATE 5: We've done it! With the addition of these four versions, we've exceeded the number of versions of Tico Tico, and it's still rising. Will we reach 100 versions? Including in this batch is one by the National Cynical Network, which combined the first 50 or so covers for their version, and a mashup by DJ Earworm. Thanks Phineas, Earworm, Maarten and Noah!

National Cynical Network   |   DJ Earworm

Heavy Fuel   |   A Pretty Sunset

UPDATE 6: Alas, only two one new version to add today, plus a famous old andt-Stairway diatribe. But more are reportedly on the way. Thanks to Rich, Steven and Barrett! (Later, I realized I already linked Richard Cheese. This is a bad sign, when even I've lost track of what's up here...)

Die Zorros   |   Richard Cheese  |   Michael Mills (Spoken Diatribe)

UPDATE 6: Here's three more, courtesy of Eric and John:

Bellanova   |   Gregorian Masters of Chant   |   Guster

UPDATE 7: Our man in The Netherlands, Eric, has sent five four more: 

Vogelfrai   |   Not Moby   |  Final Fantasy X 

Unknown   |   Jose Padilla

UPDATE 8: Whoa - hit the jackpot today! Here are 14 more versions, including a Banjo version (Todd Taylor), a yodeling version (Mary Schneider), a string quartet and more. Thanks Eric (aka NaN), Carl and Theo!

Todd Taylor   |   Camper Van Beethoven   |   Mary Schneider, Yodeling Queen of Australia

Sisters of Mercy   |   White Skull   |   Sons of Ishmael   |   Whipper Snappers

Stereofeed String Quartet   |   Orchestra National De Jazz   |   Havanarama

Reverend Billy C Wirtz   |   Zakk Wylde   |    Johnny Bic

UPDATE 9: As we approach the 100 mark, I should announce now my intention to not turn Stairway To Heaven into my life's work - I'll be stopping additions when I reach 101 versions, although after  that point, I'll add new versions that are outstanding or unusual, and retire some of the more boring verrsions I've already posted. Here's seven more, thanks to Nan and Mr. You-Know-Who.

The Raleigh Ringers   |   The Sauerkraut Project   |   Steve Morse

The Lounge-O-Leers   |   Helloween   |   The Dick Twang Band (Dick's page)

The Symphonic Led Zeppelin

UPDATE 10: With these eight versions, we make it to a nice round 101 covers, and I hereby end this little project there. (I removed two other versions, one of which was a duplicate, and another which was a Zeppelin acoustic version!) I'm still open to receiving more versions and I may occasionally rotate dull versions out for new, unusual versions. But no more daily updates. Thanks to Diego, NaN and M-Slick da ninjA  for this final round, and thanks to everyone else who submitted versions in the last week!

Dash Rip Rock (Stairway to Freebird)   |   Short Attention Span Stairway

Jana  |    Iron Horse   |   Ann Wilson

 

Del Pueblo Del Barrio   |   Jon Brion   |   M-Slick da ninjA

UPDATE 11: I've eliminated a few misspellings pointed out in the comments, and also deleted links to identical songs with different titles. As a result, we've fallen below 101 versions. If anyone has a version not here, e-mail me at ken at wfmu dot org and I'll add it, so we can get back to 101. (I'm counting the backwards Dutch version as one of the original 101 versions.)

UPDATE 12: We're back up to 101 versions. Thanks Delano and Jeff! The previous version by Heart was in fact Ann Wilson solo, this is Heart live from 1976.

Renato & Tribuzy   |   Heart

Comments

[Gordon]

Wow! I found this while searching for something completely different, and boy am I glad I did! Amazing stuff. Particularly glad I found the SCTV bit, as I was looking for a different SCTV MP3, Rick Moranis' lounge lizard new wave songs, entitled "On A New Wavelength" by a character named Tom Monroe. Anyone know where to find these??? Leave a comment-- I'll check back. Anyway, glad to get this "Stairways" MP3-- hilarious. Thanks.

[tangerine]

none of those bands makes me feel like the real, i love led zeppelin

[peter]

Does anybody knows anything about Helen Jones. I like the way she sings, but I didn´t found any information in the whole internet. Please help.

Kennt jemand die Sängerin Helen Jones ? Ich habe das ganze Internet durchgestöbert aber keine Informationen herausfinden können.

[golda]

i have this version, but I don't know who sang it.
it's: (the low bitrate) http://d.turboupload.com/d/2120665/Stairway_To_Heaven.mp3.html
pls reply at my email if you know who sang it :)

thanks

[Teck2]

I know 2 more Versions of Stairway to Heaven by Hayseed Dixie (very good one!) and by Richard Cheese (funny Jazz Version)

[Gustavo]

I need the version of guns n roses

[Alexander Mayer]

Thanks a lot for what You are doing! Great List. Version 102: In the historical city hall tower of Fürth (Germany) 25 bells ("Glockenspiel") play every day at 12:04 pm a part from the introduction.

[Alexander Mayer]

I forgot the link for the city hall version, here is it :
http://www.dr-alexander-mayer.de/downloads/stairwaytoheaven.mp3

[eck]

Excellent faux Beatles-style cover: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WfoccRna6I

[DexX]

A bunch of those versions were from an Australian TV shows from around 1990 called The Money or the Gun, a sort of mock variety and interview show starring Andrew Denton (now better known as a serious Parkinson-style celebrity interviewer). I think the show ran to 17 episodes, and every week they had a musical guest, each doing Stairway in a different style.

The seventeen versions were released on cassette and CD as Stairways to Heaven. The Allmusic link is here:

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=&sql=10:jvfpxqlhldse

My favourite is Barry Crocker and the All Stars. :)

[jimmyjames]

didn't Bill murray (sat.nite live)do a version of stairway in a short comedy skit in a lounge setting on snl?

Love the "Stairway To Heaven" and "Taco Tico" collections. Please do it with "Popcorn" - lots of great covers out there.

[Matt]

Stairway to Heaven is Best Ever

[Steanne]

banjos.

[JohnSnNl]

Don't forget the Ukulele Orchestra.
They have a great cover of Stairway.

[JoThaGa]

heyy... I'm from Brazil. my english is little, but I'd like to post a comment =)...

I and my friends, doing a version adapter of the stairway to heaven, and posting in the youtube.com =D

please , watch it: http://br.youtube.com/watch?v=pllunpyQl9I

thanksss!!!

[JoThaGa]

heyy... I'm from Brazil. my english is little, but I'd like to post a comment =)...

I and my friends, doing a version adapter of the stairway to heaven, and posting in the youtube.com =D

please , watch it: http://br.youtube.com/watch?v=pllunpyQl9I

thanksss!!!

[dor]

Hey, I would like to have a version of this but with no words :D
is there anything like that?

[advance]

interesting article +1

[oral]

I do not understand , as such delirium possible to write????? :-(

[Andrew Eckel]

Somebody made a version of "Stairway" with a program for sequencing music for the 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System.

You can get it (in a zip file with other songs) here:
http://plasticshards.com/blog/archives/60

[epivevalp]

However they end up not using 90% of the bells and whistles they bought. a href=http://olref.300mb.info/index.htmlnotebooks hp/a

[tom]

sammy davis jr also sang stairway to heaven

[Trina J]

doesnt look like anyone has posted here in some time but I noticed that you have a rendition of SwTH by "unknown" .. well.. that would be Sublime that did that version..

[DIL]

Check out "Taurus" by Spirit from their 1968 LP "Spirit" - the "Stairway" guitar intro is there...3 years ahead of its time.Spirit toured with LZ in 1969/1970.