# Moments when you realized a hit song was actually a cover **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 22, 2019, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moments-when-you-realized-a-hit-song-was-actually-a-cover/828189 "2019-01-22T11:16:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moments-when-you-realized-a-hit-song-was-actually-a-cover/828189/21 "2019-01-22T17:12:28Z")
Anyone remember Kim Carnes’ recording of [Bette Davis Eyes](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPOIS5taqA8)? Hard to believe [this was the original](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAQsOJbs-yo). ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moments-when-you-realized-a-hit-song-was-actually-a-cover/828189/22 "2019-01-22T17:14:28Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Anyone remember Kim Carnes’ recording of [Bette Davis Eyes](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPOIS5taqA8)? Hard to believe [this was the original](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAQsOJbs-yo). Good one. That’s new to me! ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moments-when-you-realized-a-hit-song-was-actually-a-cover/828189/23 "2019-01-22T17:50:49Z")
A fantastic percentage of the British Invasion songs, both singles and album cuts, turned out to be covers of obscure American songs. Most of us didn’t know that at the time because nobody wrote about rock history and nobody played oldies. If you missed those songs originally you have to be fantastically plugged in to some older kids’ record collections to hear them at all. I think the tide turned in 1968. One-hit wonder People put out [I Love You](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xO5rKF2w_ro), an earworm for the ages. I almost fell over when I learned it was a Zombies album cut. Speaking of Fun Boy Three, how many of their fans knew that “It Ain’t What You Do It’s the Way That You Do It” (with Bananarama) was first released in the 1930s? Four recordings appeared in 1939, by Jimmie Lunceford, Harry James, and Ella Fitzgerald, and Nat Gonella and His Georgians. That’s an all-star lineup. And a wonderful bit of trivia. Tiffany’s cover of a Tommy James hit was followed at number one by Billy Idol’s cover of a Tommy James hit, “Mony Mony.” I think that’s the only time in rock history that two covers of the same artist hit number one back to back. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moments-when-you-realized-a-hit-song-was-actually-a-cover/828189/24 "2019-01-22T17:50:59Z")
I thought “Mockingbird” was an old “traditional” children’s song, and that James Taylor & Carly Simon had originated the male/female duo of it. [Wrong on both counts](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mockingbird_(Inez_%26_Charlie_Foxx_song)) > [@wiki](#): > > The original single was credited to Inez Foxx with vocal accompaniment by her brother Charlie, as they alternated the lyric on a syllabic basis.Considered something of a novelty song, it was a great success for them upon its release by Sue Records (Symbol Records), reaching number 2 on the U.S. Top Black Singles / Rhythm & Blues chart and number 7 on the U.S. popular music singles chart in late summer 1963. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moments-when-you-realized-a-hit-song-was-actually-a-cover/828189/25 "2019-01-22T18:16:35Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > 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. Get off my lawn! I remember the original by Tommy James. He also recorded Mony Mony, which was later a hit for Billy Idol. And he recorded Crimson and Clover, which was covered by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. ---
**Author:** ![phreesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@phreesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phreesh)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moments-when-you-realized-a-hit-song-was-actually-a-cover/828189/26 "2019-01-22T18:39:10Z")
What is happening?! I’m into music and I’d say that I thought about 80% of these were originals. Ignorance fought! ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moments-when-you-realized-a-hit-song-was-actually-a-cover/828189/27 "2019-01-22T18:52:30Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > And a wonderful bit of trivia. Tiffany’s cover of a Tommy James hit was followed at number one by Billy Idol’s cover of a Tommy James hit, “Mony Mony.” I think that’s the only time in rock history that two covers of the same artist hit number one back to back. Oh, that is pretty cool! I didn’t realize the Tiffany song got as high as #1. I guess I must have just sanitized it from my memory. I do remember “Mony Mony” quite well, though. (Although I was partial to the Tommy James version. – I have something bouncing around in my brain that the name of the song came from some big neon marquee outside a hotel Tommy James was staying at that flashed “Mony” all night long at him, inspiring the song.) ETA: Okay, I was somewhat close, I guess: > [@](#): > > True story: I had the track done before I had a title. I wanted something catchy like “Sloopy” or “Bony Maroney,” but everything sounded so stupid. So Ritchie Cordell and I were writing it in New York City, and we were about to throw in the towel when I went out onto the terrace, looked up and saw the Mutual of New York building (which has its initials illuminated in red at its top). I said, “That’s gotta be it! Ritchie, come here, you’ve gotta see this!” It’s almost as if God Himself had said, “Here’s the title.” I’ve always thought that if I had looked the other way, it might have been called “Hotel Taft”. [Wikipedia link.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mony_Mony) ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moments-when-you-realized-a-hit-song-was-actually-a-cover/828189/28 "2019-01-22T18:55:17Z")
The first time I recall this happening to me was when I heard the original Status Quo version of [Pictures of Matchstick Men](https://youtu.be/QQyB5buEV5s), which I had always thought was a Camper Van Beethoven original. I liked the original so much better that I remade my mix tape and replaced it. (This was a while ago :)). ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moments-when-you-realized-a-hit-song-was-actually-a-cover/828189/29 "2019-01-22T18:57:36Z")
I was surprised to discover the UFO’s _Alone Again Or_ was originally done by some band from LA that I had never heard of. (Love) ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moments-when-you-realized-a-hit-song-was-actually-a-cover/828189/30 "2019-01-22T19:00:18Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > 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. Speaking of Tommy James and the Shondells, they also did the original version of “Mony Mony,” which for years I only knew as a Billy Idol song. Which I mostly knew as a song you played at college frat parties, where nobody would mind when you shouted out obscenities between the verses. Speaking of Tiffany, round about the time of her popularity, the Bangles had a hit single with “Hazy Shade of Winter.” I forget exactly how I found out, but I remember being very surprised to learn that it was a cover of a Simon and Garfunkel song. It didn’t sound like S&G at all to me. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moments-when-you-realized-a-hit-song-was-actually-a-cover/828189/31 "2019-01-22T19:11:32Z")
Well, first of all you have to define “cover”. I have had three definitions: 1. The first version is “original” the rest are covers. This would make all tunes not done by the writer = covers. 2. The first recorded for sale version is “original” the rest are covers. 3.The first version to hit the charts is “original” the rest are covers. I like #3 myself. Certainly, many many hit songs are such that the big hit version of is the one we all think of. To say that it is just a “cover” because the songwriter plinked it out on her/his piano before selling it is ridiculous. However, Otis Redding’s take on the OPs song would still be the original, since it charted in the top 40. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moments-when-you-realized-a-hit-song-was-actually-a-cover/828189/32 "2019-01-22T19:23:41Z")
Another one for me, as a child of the 80s, was “Once Bitten Twice Shy” which I always thought was a Great White hair metal original. It wasn’t until around '99, '00 that I discovered it was actually an [Ian Hunter](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKgQO6sILug) (of Mott the Hoople–“All The Young Dudes” if that doesn’t ring a bell) original. I assume our UK readers are scratching their heads, as I’m sure they probably haven’t heard the Great White version and are probably somewhat familiar with the original. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moments-when-you-realized-a-hit-song-was-actually-a-cover/828189/33 "2019-01-22T19:25:40Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Well, first of all you have to define “cover”. > > I have had three definitions: > > 1. The first version is “original” the rest are covers. This would make all tunes not done by the writer = covers. > > 2. The first recorded for sale version is “original” the rest are covers. > > 3.The first version to hit the charts is “original” the rest are covers. > > I like #3 myself. Certainly, many many hit songs are such that the big hit version of is the one we all think of. To say that it is just a “cover” because the songwriter plinked it out on her/his piano before selling it is ridiculous. > However, Otis Redding’s take on the OPs song would still be the original, since it charted in the top 40. For me, it’s #1 or #2. Definitely not #3. Most successful covers are under-the-radar songs that never hit the charts, or were album tracks that were never released as single to chart in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moments-when-you-realized-a-hit-song-was-actually-a-cover/828189/34 "2019-01-22T19:25:53Z")
“Respect” by Aretha Franklin was written, recorded and released by Otis Redding 2 years prior. “Hound Dog” by Elvis Pressley was recorded and released by Big Mama Thornton 3 years prior. It was written by Leiber and Stoller. Both songs were changed in substantial ways for the cover versions. The “Just a Gigolo/I Ain’t Got Nobody” medley that was a hit for David Lee Roth is practically a note-for-note cover of the Louis Prima version. Both songs were well established standards that had been recorded many times before Prima paired them up. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moments-when-you-realized-a-hit-song-was-actually-a-cover/828189/35 "2019-01-22T20:17:57Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > For me, it’s #1 or #2. Definitely not #3. Most successful covers are under-the-radar songs that never hit the charts, or were album tracks that were never released as single to chart in the first place. Or the original song was a hit so many years ago, the current generation of music fans isn’t familiar with it (but their parents may be - that’s how I personally found out about “Istanbul (Not Constantinople)”) or the original was a hit in another country. Hootie & The Blowfish’s “I Go Blind” is a remake of a song by a Canadian band called 54-40. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moments-when-you-realized-a-hit-song-was-actually-a-cover/828189/36 "2019-01-22T20:20:43Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > I thought “Mockingbird” was an old “traditional” children’s song, and that James Taylor & Carly Simon had originated the male/female duo of it. > > [Wrong on both counts](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mockingbird_(Inez_%26_Charlie_Foxx_song)) Not really wrong about the “traditional children’s song” - first line of the Wiki entry > [@](#): > > **Mockingbird**" is a [1963](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1963_in_music) song written and recorded by [Inez and Charlie Foxx](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inez_and_Charlie_Foxx), based on the lullaby "[Hush Little Baby](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hush_Little_Baby) ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moments-when-you-realized-a-hit-song-was-actually-a-cover/828189/37 "2019-01-22T20:44:18Z")
Blondie’s **Hanging on the Telephone** is by a group called The Nerves. Didn’t know that until recently. ---
**Author:** ![Reindeer\_Flotilla](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reindeer_flotilla/32/3024_2.png) [@Reindeer\_Flotilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reindeer_Flotilla)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moments-when-you-realized-a-hit-song-was-actually-a-cover/828189/38 "2019-01-22T20:56:26Z")
When I found out Soft Cell’s _Tainted Love_ was a cover, the world didn’t make sense anymore. [Here’s the original.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSehtaY6k1U) ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moments-when-you-realized-a-hit-song-was-actually-a-cover/828189/39 "2019-01-22T21:00:08Z")
> [@lost4life](#): > > Blondie’s **Hanging on the Telephone** is by a group called The Nerves. Didn’t know that until recently. Huh! An educational thread, this 🙂 Natalie Imbruglia’s big hit [_Torn_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VV1XWJN3nJo) is a sorta cover - the people who wrote it had various projects that recorded versions of it. Natalie’s was the one that made money. [Lis Sørensen - Brændt](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fO5syjCX0xs) [Ednaswap - Torn](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OoEdfB7l18) ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moments-when-you-realized-a-hit-song-was-actually-a-cover/828189/40 "2019-01-22T21:04:00Z")
> [@Reindeer\_Flotilla](#): > > When I found out Soft Cell’s _Tainted Love_ was a cover, the world didn’t make sense anymore. [Here’s the original.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSehtaY6k1U) Pop Trivia: Gloria Jones was later Marc Bolan of T-Rex’s band-mate and partner, and she was driving the car when Marc was killed in a crash. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moments-when-you-realized-a-hit-song-was-actually-a-cover/828189.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moments-when-you-realized-a-hit-song-was-actually-a-cover/828189.md?page=3)