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Shatner + Rollins: "illogical" says Mr Spock

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4. Michael Bolton / Bob Dylan: Steel Bars

Michael Bolton: bolt-on hair

Written in two days at Dylan's California home, Steel Bars appears on Bolton's 1991 album Time, Love And Tenderness. Bolton reported that the legendary pop bard had called him out of the blue and was an enthusiastic partner. "He just kept coming up with all these great lines," says Bolton, whose input was...what? The supplying of an outrageous mullet?

5. REM / KRS-One: Radio Song

So many musical crimes seem to be committed when rockers and rappers become awkward bedfellows, and none moreso than on this 1991 track. REM lamely attempt to bring the funk, KRS bellows like a man lost, and the world's worst rap lyric appears: "When I got to the show / Yo ho ho". Everyone should be ashamed.

6. Robert Plant / Alison Krauss: Raising Sand

Bluegrass singer and fiddle player Alison Krauss has been a leading light in bluegrass for years, yet collaborating with Led Zeppelin's 'Golden God' Robert Plant on 2007's Raising Sand album threw everyone a curveball. The album went Platinum in both the UK and US, and its ongoing success and duet tour even nixed any chance of a 2008 Led Zeppelin reunion.

7. Jack White / Alicia Keys: Another Way To Die

White and Keys: mission implausible?

If you believe certain reports, Jack White and Alicia Keys were only brought in to sing the 2008 Bond / Quantum Of Solace theme as Amy Winehouse was once again 'ailing' and unavailable. Yet, it seems that White and Keys genuinely wanted to work together – even if the pallid evidence of Another Way To Die suggests they're hardly a natural pairing. Next up, White duets with Adele for a Raconteurs b-side. Confiscate his mobile, say we.

8. William Shatner / Ben Folds / Henry Rollins: I Can't Get Behind That

"Captain Kirk" meets Henry Rollins: illogical!

Shatner was certainly star-trekking when he assembled the personnel for his bizarre William Shatner Has Been album from 2004. Shatner may be in good self-mocking form, but Folds' production is surprisingly supple on an album also featuring collaborations with Joe Jackson, country guitarist Brad Paisley and King Crimson's Adrian Belew. Then it got turned it into a ballet. Beyond weird.

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