The Winner Of Triple J’s 'Like A Version' Hottest 100 Has Been Crowned

It’s official - Australia has decided that the number one cover track in Triple J’s Like A Version Hottest 100 is none other than DMA’s with their cover of Believe.

A cover of the iconic 1998 track by Cher, DMA’s Like A Version first aired back in 2016, which gained major praise for their captivating performance of the legendary track.

Upon discovering they had taken the crown for their cover, the group told triple j, “It’s daunting doing Like A Version - what it has become has been so amazing. Listening to it today, there are so many great covers in there. I’m speechless.”

Coming in at second Triple J’s Like A Version Hottest 100 was Denzel Curry’s globally acclaimed rendition of Rage Against The Machine’s Bulls On Parade, while Northern Beaches locals Ocean Alley made a return once again for number #3 with their 2018 cover of Player’s 1977 track Baby Come Back.

Lime Cordiale’s 2019 cover of The Divynyls I Touch Myself landed at number #4, while Dumb Things by A.B. Original (Ft. Paul Kelly/Dan Sultan) came in at the fifth spot.

This year marked the 20th anniversary of the now-iconic early morning Friday segment, with over 800 Like A Versions available for fans to vote for. Gang of Youths won the quantity race, with three entries in the countdown. The list also featured two entries each for Ball Park Music, Meg Mac, San Cisco, Ocean Alley, Flume and Sticky Fingers, one of the few times Sti Fi have been heard on the station in recent years. 

Meanwhile, the Top 10 tracks kicked off with The Wiggles, who came in at #10 with their cover of Tame Impala’s Elephant (which also happened to top triple j’s Hottest 100 back in 2021), while #9 saw the inclusion of Chet Faker’s dreamy (Lover) You Don't Treat Me No Good, while #8 was Thundamental’s cover of Matt Corby’s Brother. 

King Stingray’s legendary cover of Coldplay’s Yellow came in at #7, while Gang of Youths’ cover of The Middle East’s Blood landed at #6.

It comes following the national broadcaster teasing fans last week with facts including that 17 artists were making their debut on the Hottest 100 for Like A Versions, with one debutant appearing on the countdown twice. 2019 was the most popular year of Like A Versions, according to voters.

triple j's #Hottest100 of #LikeAVersion 20-11 pic.twitter.com/gHPmzcBVU0

— triple j (@triplej) July 15, 2023

Other cool facts include four out of every five artists that appeared on Saturday’s jams were Australian and three of the covers were from 2008 or earlier.

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Lissie Turner first created Like A Version under the name Mel Bampton back in 2004. On ABC’s recent look back on all things Hottest 100, she revealed that the title for the original concept was called Wrong Way To The Top.

“As the name suggests, it was very much about really terrible AC/DC covers, of which there are thousands. And what ended up happening over time through Wrong Way To The Top is that I started to discover a lot of really fantastic covers,” Turner said.

She added, "For me, it was very much born from this metamorphosis of letting go of this purist idea that covers were no good, [and] realising that you could actually see more deeply into an artist through the songs that they not only loved, but they loved to play."

Major congrats to DMA’s and every artist who placed in Triple J’s Like A Version Hottest 100!