Two Ronettes songs: “I Can Hear Music” (Beach Boys) and “Walking in the Rain” (Jay and the Americans)
EDIT: Oops, sorry, Ronettes version of Music didn’t make the Top 40.
“Hey There Lonely Boy/Girl” – Ruby and the Romantics/Eddie Holman. Same song, just a sex change.
“Sukiyaki” - by Kyu Sakamoto (#1 in 1963) and A Taste of Honey (#3 in 1981).
“Knock on Wood” was a #28 hit for Eddie Floyd in the Sixties, then a #1 hit for Amii Stewart in 1979.
The Vanilla Fudge hit the top 10 with a remake of the Supremes’ “You Keep Me Hanging On” (which was also a #1 hit for Kim Wilde).
Whitney Houston’s “The Greatest Love of All” was originally a hit by George Benson (It was the theme song to Muhammad Ali’s biopic The Greatest).
“How Am I Supposed to Live Without You” was a hit for both Michael Bolton and Laura Brannigan.
“I’ll Be There” was a big hit for both Mariah Carey and the Jackson 5.
Joan Jett hit the top 40 in the USA with “Do You Wanna Touch Me,” a hit in the UK for Gary Glitter. She also (barely) reached the top 40 with a cover of SLy & the Family Stone’s “Everyday People.”
Reba McEntire’s version of the Everly Brothers’ “Cathy’s Clown” reached #1 on the Billboard Country Charts.
In the Fifties, both Peggy Lee and Little Willie John had big hits with “Fever.”
Cyndi Lauper and Roy Orbison both charted in the top 10 in the UK with I Drove All Night (Cyndi first, then Roy). She also got top 10 in the US with it…I can’t find how well his version did.
Re: Alfie: Cher, Dionne Warwick
You mean Cher’s not a guy in drag???
“Hound Dog” - Big Mama Thornton and Elvis Presley
“The House of the Rising Sun” - The Animals and Dolly Parton
“Me and Bobby McGee” - Janis Joplin and Kris Kristofferson
“Nothing Compares 2 U” - Prince and Sinead O’Conner
“Venus” - Shocking Blue and Bananarama
First, the lead singer of Shocking Blue was a Dutch woman, Meriska Veres.
Second, in all the other cases, only ONE version you cite ever reached the Billboard top 40.
Thornton’s version of “Hound Dog” was #1 on the R&B charts for seven weeks. Presley’s version hit #1 on the Country, Pop, and R&B charts.
The Animals’ version of “The House of the Rising Sun” went #1. Parton’s version reached #14 on the Country chart.
Joplin’s version of “Me and Bobby McGee” went #1. Kristofferson never released his version as a single but the album it was on went #10. And Roger Miller’s version of the song hit #12 on the country charts.
O’Conner’s version of “Nothing Compares 2 U” reached #1 on the Pop charts. Prince’s version as a single only reached #62 but the album hit #19.
Nemo, it’s a matter of terminology. When the phrase “Top 40” is used, it’s understood to mean "the first 40 positions of the Billboard Hot 100, the chart that (with minor variations) has tracked the success of rock and pop music since 1955. If you’re talking about R&B or country releases, you use those terms when speaking of the charts that tracked releases in those genres.
One would never speak of the Thornton or Parton records as “making the Top 40” unless they charted on the Hot 100 (as, for example,“Here You Come Again” did.
Also #30 for Otis Redding and Carla Thomas, so it charted in versions for male, female, and mixed duet.
“Funkytown”, Lipps Inc., Pseudo Echo
“Against All Odds” was very popular both by Phil Collins and Mariah Carey (with/without Westlife, although more popular with).
This is an awesome trivia question.
“Baby I Love Your Way” charted for both Peter Frampton and Will To Power (who had a female vocalist)
Aw, c’mon—at least give Nilsson a nod. He claimed to have burst a hemorrhoid on the high note. 
Somebody did a cover of Killing Me Softly in the mid-1990s that made top 200, at least. Who was that? Off to Google…
The Fugees, but that doesn’t really fit the thread, since Lauryn Hill had lead on that, though Wyclef Jean and Pras weren’t exactly buried in the mix. Looking at Wiki, there are a few versions done by men, but the only ones which charted were by women.
“This Guy’s/Girl’s In Love With You” Herb Alpert (1968), Dionne Warwick (1969)
“I Saw Her/Him Standing There” The Beatles (1964)/Tiffany (1988)
Damn, you’re right. I just listened to all three versions consecutively. Nilsson, schmilsson—Badfinger’s version kicks ass. BTW, Pete Ham wasn’t fucking around when he wrote that song. He committed suicide just a few months later. But since this is the Dope, I assume y’all already knew that.
Jesus, Mary and Joseph that woman has an incredible voice, though. :eek:
There’s only one LEGITIMATE version. 