It's the great "Are Friends Electric?" by Gary Numan's band Tubeway Army. In this country, everyone remembers Numan for "Cars", but "Are Friends Electric" was a #1 hit in England and the first synth chart-topper in the post-punk era. Numan, it should also be noted, had a string of great tracks including "Down In The Park" as he became the first true synth rock star.
Thirty years later, Jack White formed the band The Dead Weather in Nashville with fellow Raconteur Jack Lawrence, Alison Mosshart of The Kills, and Dean Fertita of Queens of the Stone Age. One of their more inspired efforts was a re-imagination of the Numan classic.
So it's Tubeway Army's 1979 original (from "Top of the Pops"):
Versus The Dead Weather's cover:
For me, it's not even close. It's the original all the way. And while I respect The Dead Weather's choice to cover this song, I can't get past the overwrought drumming by Jack White on this track, especially starting at the 3:06 mark and continuing through the end of the song. He just takes over and decides he's the biggest thing about the song, and it just kills the whole thing for me.
I may actually prefer Weezer's cover version better:
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