This afternoon I went out to Walmart and wound up buying more stuff than I could carry back with me on the bus, so I hailed an Uber. The driver who picked me up asked me what kind of music I like, and I answered that I like classic rock, so she fidgeted around on her satellite radio in search of a classic rock channel. She eventually found a Grateful Dead channel, which I told her I was cool with. She tuned in in the middle of a lengthy instrumental jam, and the screen on her dashboard said it was a live recording from Davis, CA in 1971.
As I was listening in, the jam came to its conclusion, and Pigpen McKernan jumped in with;
Baby, here I am, I’m the man on the scene
I can give you what you want, but you gotta come home with me
“The Dead covered the Black Crowes? That’s cool.” was my first thought. My second thought was “Wait, 1971 happened before 1990, right?”
Looked it up when I got home and I found out that “Hard to Handle” was originally an Otis Redding song. I’ve been hearing the Crowes’ version on the radio for decades, and I never had any idea they didn’t create it.
Ever had a moment where you first realized that a current/recent song you liked was actually a cover of an older number? Please share.
I was a big fan of Cyndi Lauper when her solo album debuted (She’d had an unsuccessful band called “Blue Angel” before), and had no idea “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” was a cover until I read a review of it back in '83(or was it '84?).
“Ca Plane Pour Moi” by Plastic Bertrand was the first French rock and roll song I ever liked, but it was a cover of “Jet Boy, Jet Girl” by the Damned, and I never knew until 20-30 years later. First time I ever heard of the French version of a song being cleaner than the American version.
The only time I’ve had that happen when the song was in its first run of radio play was Len’s cover of Kim Wilde’s Kids in America (I actually kind of prefer Len’s…Sharon Costanzo’s voice appeals to me more than Wilde’s…).
I’ve had it happen a bunch of times with songs that were a few years out (Soft Cell’s Tainted Love, and Pet Shop Boys’ version of Go West come to mind immediately…), of course.
It’s more complicated than that. It’s really two different songs with the same backing track, recorded independently. It’s not perfectly clear, but the Elton Motello version came out before the Plastic Bertrand song was released. And the lyrics of the two are completely different, the French lyrics of “Ca Plane Pour Moi” are mostly nonsense.
I’ve loved Tracey Ullman for as long as I’ve been aware of her, before the TV show, with her album “You Broke My Heart in 17 Pieces.” The best song on the album was “They Don’t Know.” Paul McCartney was in the video. I only just this year discovered that the song is a cover of a Kirsty McColl original; they were both on the STIFF label and McColl actually sang backing vocals for Ullman’s cover.
I loved Lauper’s All Through The Night, and found out decades later it was a cover of a song by Jules Shear. If you listen to his, it’s a whole different feel.
I prefer Cyndi’s. Much moodier, which matches the lyrics.
Although I LOVE the almost-acapella cover by Girlyman! Even more moody.
I know Weird Al always has a mix of parody songs and originals on most of his albums.
I though for the longest time that White & Nerdy was an original since I’m not into rap music and had never heard (Riding Dirty?).
I wasn’t aware of Kate Bush’s original version of Wuthering Heights until fairly recently, only having heard Pat Benatar’s 1980 recording. FTR. though I dig me some KB, I think Pat’s version is superior.
Not quite a cover, but I only recently discovered that the Go-Go’s “Our Lips are Sealed,” while released first by the Go-Gos, was co-written with the Specials/Fun Boy Three singer Jerry Hall. It appears that in the UK, the Fun Boy Three version of the song is the better known of the two, while here in the US, I’ve never heard that version until I looked up the Youtube video. I love both versions. Apparently, the story is that Jane Wiedlin had a fling with Jerry Hall when the Go-Gos were touring with the Specials in the US, and this song was written by the both of them about this affair (Jerry Hall had a girlfriend back in the UK at the time.)
I think I learned this on the podcast Coverville, but it was probably in the last 10 years or so that I found out I Think We’re Alone Now, was originally a 60’s song by Tommy James…and a good one at that, it’s not that it was an obscure, unknown b-side.
As a child of the 90’s I didn’t really have a chance to know any other version than Tiffany’s.
Yeah, this one is such a trip because the song is a PERFECT fit for Lauper and the original is…not great. It’s a very odd one.
One of the mind blowers from me was finding out both “Why Does the Sun Shine?” and “Istanbul (Not Constantinople)” by They Might Be Giants were covers. The originals of both are solid, but the songs just fit the vibe of TMBG’s early catalog so darn well.
One that surprised me and I didn’t learn of until about five to ten years ago was that Toni Basil’s “Hey Mickey” was basically a cover (with adjusted lyrics, and a cheerleader chant tacked on) of “Kitty” by Racey.
Terry Hall - the Jerry in The Specials was Jerry Dammers. From this side of teh Atlantic, I only heard the Go-Go’s version relatively recently and it’s ace!
I was surprised to learn that Foghat’s I Just Wanna Make Love To You was originally written and recorded by Willie Dixon, and Etta James did a version way back in 1957 : Etta James Version
I’m a bit embarrassed to admit that I didn’t realize the Mama’s and the Papa’s “I Call Your Name” was a Beatles song first. The two are different enough, and the Beatles’ version isn’t, imo, played as often.
In the same vein, I was shocked to hear master bluesmen of the 30s and 40s performing Led Zeppelin songs!
I usually read liner notes, but must have missed that the Zep songs weren’t original. This was, of course, back before they became more widely know for this.
That’s funny. I grew up in the 80s and 90s (born '75) and I don’t even remember Tiffany’s version–that is, I remember that she had a version of it, and I seem to remember her being a redhead wearing a jean jacket, but I don’t recall what it sounds like. I do remember her as a brief pop icon along with Debbie Gibson, but I don’t remember any of her music (but I remember Debbie Gibson’s “Lost in Your Eyes” and “Electric Youth.”) I was I guess a bit odd as I listened to oldies stations (which at that time was late-50s to late 60s, maybe touching the very early 70s, but no later than 1972) so “I Think We’re Alone Now” by Tommy James and the Shondells was the definitive version and played regularly.