Songs where the famous version is a cover

[roadman65]

Mony Mony was, I believe more popular with Billy Idol than with Tommy James.

[OracleUsr]

I don't remember the name of the band that did the 80's version of "Always Something There to Remind Me," but probably very few people know that Dionne Warwick had an earlier, if not the original, version.  And the only reason I know that is because my parents had the double LP set featuring her version.

And, IIRC, Adele's "Rumor Has it" is a cover of a Reba McIntyre (SP?) song.

[Brian556]

don't remember the name of the band that did the 80's version of "Always Something There to Remind Me," but probably very few people know that Dionne Warwick had an earlier, if not the original, version.  And the only reason I know that is because my parents had the double LP set featuring her version.

And, IIRC, Adele's "Rumor Has it" is a cover of a Reba McIntyre (SP?) song.

Naked Eyes did "Always Something There To Remind Me"

Adele's "Rumour Has It" is nothing like the Reba song by that title. I think you are wrong there.

[Pete from Boston]

I don't remember the name of the band that did the 80's version of "Always Something There to Remind Me," but probably very few people know that Dionne Warwick had an earlier, if not the original, version.  And the only reason I know that is because my parents had the double LP set featuring her version.

And, IIRC, Adele's "Rumor Has it" is a cover of a Reba McIntyre (SP?) song.

Like more than one song already mentioned, this song with multiple lives was a Burt Bacharach/Hal David tune.  Dionne Warwick was practically the house vocalist for those guys for a while.

What I love most about their songs is that with Bachrach's complex melodies, Hal David never wasted a note, poetically threading a lyric to each one (listen to "This Guy's In Love With You" for a good example).  There's good reason so many of their songs were successful more than once.

[OracleUsr]

Odd; I heard someone do a version that was very similar to Adele's version and I thought it was Reba.  Not sure then.

[The Nature Boy]

Does anyone know ig Billy Joel's Shameless was  more popular by Mr. Joel himself or after it gotten covered by Garth Brooks?  If Mr. Brooks was more popular than this would count toward this thread.

Garth's version was definitely more popular.

Another good example is "I Feel For You". It was a top 5 single for Chaka Khan, but was originally written and recorded by Prince.

I listened to an interview with Garth and he actually explained why he recorded "Shameless." He had actually heard it and liked it but heard that it wasn't being released as a single so he contacted Billy Joel to get permission to make his own version.

To go back to country covers of late 90s romantic songs, there was also the Mark Chestnut cover of "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing." I actually miss this trend. Country lends itself well to heart felt ballads so I didn't mind that trend. Alabama's version of "God Spent A Little More Time" blows N'Sync's way out of the water.

[SteveG1988]

David Bowie recorded "China Girl" to help iggy pop out of a financial bind, the royalties helped a lot.

[jwolfer]

Here is one song, recorded in three different decades, that went to #1 twice and #3 once.  It's called "The Loco-Motion."

   -1962 by Little Eva (#1)
   -1974 by Grand Funk Railroad (#1)
   -1988 by Kylie Minogue (#3)

My favorite version is the one recorded by Grand Funk Railroad.

"Act Naturally" was first recorded by Buck Owens in 1963, then recorded by the Beatles in 1965, although the one recorded by Buck Owens was more popular on the charts.

Locomotion written by Carole King.. She wrote a shit ton of songs

[US71]

"Go Where You Wanna Go" originally by the Mamas & Papas, but made popular by the 5th Dimension

Paul Muriat made "Love is Blue" popular in the US (originally "L'amour est bleu" in France)

"Soul Coaxing" by Raymond Lefèvre is a cover of "Ame Câline" by Michel Polnareff

[cl94]

Oh, boy. Thread got revived...

-There She Goes, originally by The La's. The Sixpence None The Richer version is very overplayed even today.
-Hey Joe, originally by The Leaves, famous by Hendrix
-Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, originally Robert Hazard, everyone knows Cyndi Lauper's version
-The Depeche Mode song Personal Jesus was written by Johnny Cash
-Woodstock, known as a CSNY song, was a Joni Mitchell song
-CCR's Proud Mary was an Ike and Tina Turner song

I've honestly never heard the Garth Brooks version of Shameless. Maybe it's the heavy Long Island influence I've had?

[KEVIN_224]

"Watchtower" or whatever it was called...most know it for Jimi Hendrix. It was written and first recorded by Bob Dylan.
"No More I Love You's" by Annie Lennox (1995), but first done by British band The Lover Speaks around 1986.
"Der Kommissar" by Falco (1982), made more famous to English speakers by After The Fire. (I prefer Falco's version.)

[Ned Weasel]

-The Depeche Mode song Personal Jesus was written by Johnny Cash

"Personal Jesus" is originally by Depeche Mode.  Johnny Cash and Marilyn Manson both did covers of it.

[thenetwork]

The poster children for this category could very well be the Carpenters. In a sense, they were really a cover group and repackaging outfit–even when it comes to the songs that people identify as being "theirs" .

Relatively unknown versions of "(They Long to Be) Close to You"  were recorded by Dionne Warwick (1963), Richard Chamberlain (1963), Dusty Springfield (1964), and songwriter Burt Bacharach himself (1968)–and a truly awful version sung by Herb Alpert–all before the song became a #1 hit for the Carpenters in 1970.

Their signature song, "We've Only Just Begun" , was recorded by the song's lyricist, Paul Williams, for a Crocker National Bank commercial, which is how Richard Carpenter first heard the song.

"For All We Know" , "Superstar" , "Hurting Each Other" , "It's Going to Take Some Time" , "Sing" , "I Won't Last a Day Without You" –all are best known as Carpenters songs, and all are covers.

I don't know about The Carpenters taking the crown.  First you have Johnny Rivers -- take out "Secret Agent Man" and "Poor Side Of Town" and darn near every one of his other 2-dozen hits were covers.  Then Linda Ronstadt had about half of her charted hits on Billboard's Hot 100 as covers.

[wanderer2575]

"Dream a Little Dream of Me," originally recorded by Ozzie Nelson in 1931.  Covered umpteen dozens of times, of which many were hits.

[jwolfer]

-The Depeche Mode song Personal Jesus was written by Johnny Cash

"Personal Jesus" is originally by Depeche Mode.  Johnny Cash and Marilyn Manson both did covers of it.

Proud Mary was written by John Fogerty of CCR. Released by CCR in 1969. Ike and Tina covered it, released in 1971

[kurumi]

Happy Monday's "Step On" (1990) is a cover of John Kongos' "He's Gonna Step on You Again" (1971), which has a cool 5 against 4 motif in the chorus.

Original: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ld1vQVoaQIM
New: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CQLAhNlbfQ

[US71]

The poster children for this category could very well be the Carpenters. In a sense, they were really a cover group and repackaging outfit–even when it comes to the songs that people identify as being "theirs" .

Relatively unknown versions of "(They Long to Be) Close to You"  were recorded by Dionne Warwick (1963), Richard Chamberlain (1963), Dusty Springfield (1964), and songwriter Burt Bacharach himself (1968)–and a truly awful version sung by Herb Alpert–all before the song became a #1 hit for the Carpenters in 1970.

Their signature song, "We've Only Just Begun" , was recorded by the song's lyricist, Paul Williams, for a Crocker National Bank commercial, which is how Richard Carpenter first heard the song.

"For All We Know" , "Superstar" , "Hurting Each Other" , "It's Going to Take Some Time" , "Sing" , "I Won't Last a Day Without You" –all are best known as Carpenters songs, and all are covers.

I don't know about The Carpenters taking the crown.  First you have Johnny Rivers -- take out "Secret Agent Man" and "Poor Side Of Town" and darn near every one of his other 2-dozen hits were covers.  Then Linda Ronstadt had about half of her charted hits on Billboard's Hot 100 as covers.

Secret Agent Man was originally just a TV theme

[national highway 1]

'All by Myself' by Eric Carmen, the Celine Dion version is probably the most well known.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

"Sign of the Gypsy Queen" that April Wine turned into a minor hit was originally by an obscure singer named Lorence Hud.

[Pete from Boston]

Randy Newman wrote "Mama Told Me Not to Come" for Eric Burdon, then recorded it himself instead before Three Dog Night got their hands on it.  If you ever hear his version of it, it makes perfect sense. It sounds just like a Randy Newman song.

Harry Nilsson made a hit out of Badfinger's lesser-known "Without You," staying at number one for four consecutive weeks.  Badfinger never even released it as a single.

Three Dog Night recorded and made the famous hit out of Nilsson's "One" (is the lonliest number).

I could bring it full circle with Harry Nilsson's album of all Randy Newman songs, but none of those are better known than the originals.

[MisterSG1]

As I have a sort of thing for popular instrumentals. Think of "Popcorn" by Hot Butter, it's not well known but that version we are all familiar with, using that cool moog synthesizer and that crazy drummer is actually a cover. It was originally performed by Gershon Kingsley, but Hot Butter's version became huge, it was a top 10 hit on the Hot 100.


Similarly, Love is Blue by Paul Mauriat, we know that as an instrumental with a very recognizable harpsichord part. It was actually a song originally with lyrics by Vicky Leandros.

[english si]

The Sixpence None The Richer version is very overplayed even today.

While a different kind of forgetfulness than people thinking that their's is the original version of that song (how often do you hear the original without have to resort to pre-cover version stuff and/or playing it yourself? Certainly nowhere near as much as the cover), the album with Kiss Me and There She Goes (though only after the re-release after they got famous) on was billed as their debut one in the UK, despite their having done gigs and having people in the UK with both previous albums on CD, etc.

And, of course, two of the three songs that Sixpence None The Richer are known for (their cover of Don't Dream It's Over being less famous than the original) are covers. No one really talks of their other work. They are One Hit Wonders, with two other hits that aren't actually there's.

[english si]

'All by Myself' by Eric Carmen, the Celine Dion version is probably the most well known.

I misread that and thought it was a B-side for this

Which would be amazing to hear!

[jp the roadgeek]

Surprised no one has mentioned Bruce Springsteen's Fire.  The Pointer Sisters' version was much more famous.  And of course, there was Robin Williams' (as Elmer Fudd) version.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vT-VaMXsAw

Also, Patti Smith was a co-author of Because The Night with Springsteen, so hers is not a true cover version.

[roadman]

Here is one song, recorded in three different decades, that went to #1 twice and #3 once.  It's called "The Loco-Motion."

   -1962 by Little Eva (#1)
   -1974 by Grand Funk Railroad (#1)
   -1988 by Kylie Minogue (#3)

My favorite version is the one recorded by Grand Funk Railroad.

Locomotion written by Carole King.. She wrote a shit ton of songs

Little Eva was Carole King and Gerry Goffin's babysitter.  Although the initial release of the Loco-Motion had Little Eva's name on the single, there's some question as to whether Little Eva or Carole King actually recorded the song.  The "Little Eva" version sounds very similar to some of Carole King's early releases as a solo artist (Oh, Oh, It Started All Over Again for one).