# Post the original versions
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-the-original-versions/958879
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Tags:** music
**Created:** [February 4, 2022, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-the-original-versions/958879 "2022-02-04T03:55:38Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2022, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-the-original-versions/958879/1 "2022-02-04T03:55:38Z")
In another post I was saying that I found Lowen and Navarro’s version of “We Belong” superior to Pat Benatar’s. @Mr. Dibble replied:
> [@2022 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Nominees](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2022-rock-and-roll-hall-of-fame-nominees/958807/41):
>
> That is only the “original” in the sense that Lowen and Navarro wrote the song. They only released their own version years after Benatar did. Hers is the original.
Probably right. I mean, AIUI they often make a demo recording to present to people who might want to record the song. But that version may not ever be released.
I thought we might list some versions recorded by the composers here.
I’ll begin with Bonnie Bramlett’s version of “Superstar,” on which she received songwriting credit, and was covered by the Carpenters.
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2keQophViU)
Then I’ll add Badfinger’s “Without You,” made famous by Nilsson (and Mariah Carey).
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wMwor2RBCQ)
And here’s Billy Preston performing “You Are So Beautiful.”
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pamGV3B_nQ)
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### Author:  [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2022, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-the-original-versions/958879/2 "2022-02-04T04:05:22Z")
Brinsley Schwarz’ Nick Lowe penned original recording of “(What’s So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding”. Most people will rather know the Elvis Costello version, produced by Lowe.
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1J1CfXFlI4c)
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### Author:  [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2022, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-the-original-versions/958879/3 "2022-02-04T04:11:21Z")
It’s really not THAT obscure, but many people don’t know that Aretha Franklin’s “Respect” was an Otis Redding cover (she remodeled and made her own):
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEgKSj1VHZ0)
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### Author:  [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2022, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-the-original-versions/958879/4 "2022-02-04T04:24:46Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#):
>
> Brinsley Schwarz’ Nick Lowe penned original recording of “(What’s So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding”. Most people will rather know the Elvis Costello version, produced by Lowe.
Speaking of Nick Lowe: Lowe’s bandmate in Rockpile, Dave Edmunds, made the original recording of the song “Queen of Hearts,” which most American music fans associate with Juice Newton (who recorded it two years later).
However, Edmunds didn’t write it, so I am not sure it fits the OP’s idea: it was written by pedal-steel guitarist Hank DeVito, who was a longtime member of Emmylou Harris’s band.
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lD77pgC20Ac)
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### Author:  [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2022, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-the-original-versions/958879/5 "2022-02-04T04:32:29Z")
So, this one probably fits the OP better:
Prior to Electric Light Orchestra, Jeff Lynne was in a British band, The Move, which was very successful in England, but never really broke through in the U.S. On the final album for The Move, in 1971, before the three remaining band members (Lynne, Bev Bevan, and Roy Wood) formed Electric Light Orchestra, they recorded a Lynne-penned song, “Do Ya.”
Five years later, Lynne re-recorded the song with ELO; that version (with which most people are more familiar) was a top 40 hit in the U.S. Lynne chose to remake the song, in part, because Todd Rundren’s Utopia had been playing it in concert, leading some to believe that it was a Rundgren song.
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2I5kH0klENs)
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### Author:  [@Mark\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Finn)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2022, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-the-original-versions/958879/6 "2022-02-04T12:21:53Z")
A few decades before Lonnie Donegan (and the BBC not wanting anything to do with brand names): [Billy Jones & Ernest Hare - Does the Spearmint Lose Its Flavor on the Bedpost Overnight 1924 - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23gCTWWGhxw)
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### Author:  [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2022, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-the-original-versions/958879/7 "2022-02-04T12:30:49Z")
funny thing ive always thought he sang it too slow and EC sang it too fast but I had one video where they sang it perfectly together and whatever show they did it on had it taken down and I’ve never found it again …
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### Author:  [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2022, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-the-original-versions/958879/8 "2022-02-04T13:10:37Z")
Speaking of Todd Rundgren, early on he was in a band called The Nazz. Here’s the original version of one of Todd’s songs that became a huge solo hit for him a few years later.
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLH-9fiCTU0)
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### Author:  [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2022, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-the-original-versions/958879/9 "2022-02-04T15:22:52Z")
Everyone seems to think of **Downtown Train** as a Rod Stewart song, but Tom Waits wrote it and does it better IMO.
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQDIsGLmld0)
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### Author:  [@dirtball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dirtball)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2022, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-the-original-versions/958879/10 "2022-02-04T15:38:06Z")
“Bad Case of Loving You” was one of Robert Palmer’s biggest hits, but I’m sure that situation fattened up Moon Martin’s bank account considerably.
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SBjO44tIz8)
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### Author:  [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2022, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-the-original-versions/958879/11 "2022-02-04T17:00:34Z")
People! were a one-hit wonder, with a slow, psychedelic, mysterious song called simply “I Love You.” It’s pretty much forgotten today, but so hypnotic that once you hear it, the song haunts you.
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xO5rKF2w_ro)
No one remembers it’s the cover of a Zombies b-side, written by their bassist Chris White.
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ViYPQSZlg8)
Totally ironic that so many of British Invasion songs were covers of obscure American b-sides until the Brits got good enough to have their own b-sides covered by Americans.
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### Author:  [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2022, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-the-original-versions/958879/12 "2022-02-04T17:09:21Z")
They Might Be Giants’ _New York City_ was a cover of a song by Cub, a cuddlecore trio from Vancouver. Neko Case was an early member of the band. I saw them open for TMBG in '96 and they were fantastic, but broke up a few months later.
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFKThNh5Vqk)
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### Author:  [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2022, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-the-original-versions/958879/13 "2022-02-04T17:18:15Z")
Amoureuse by Veronique Sanson
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PD6Ux7cNxM)
Later a hit for Kiki Dee. US version was called Emotion and was, I believe, a hit for Helen Reddy.
j
Interesting aside: VS was, for a while, Mrs (Stephen) Stills.
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### Author:  [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2022, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-the-original-versions/958879/14 "2022-02-04T17:19:31Z")
Carole King, _Pleasant Valley Sunday_
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YrG25GPZG8)
Laura Nyro, _Eli’s Comin’_
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ve6PSCUOYvE)
Jackie DeShannon, _Bette Davis Eyes_ (aka WTF!)
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAQsOJbs-yo)
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### Author:  [@psiekier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psiekier)
#### Post date: [February 5, 2022, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-the-original-versions/958879/15 "2022-02-05T04:41:34Z")
Obligatory?
[![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qu_ozjAu_vM)
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### Author:  [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)
#### Post date: [February 5, 2022, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-the-original-versions/958879/16 "2022-02-05T05:12:04Z")
The original of the Steve Miller hit. Jet Airliner by Paul Pena.
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BP8mX4xugno)
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### Author:  [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)
#### Post date: [February 5, 2022, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-the-original-versions/958879/17 "2022-02-05T05:24:31Z")
**The Banjo Song** by The Big Three 1963
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uqnN3ek2vI)
begat
**Venus** by The Shocking Blue 1969
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPj2zCSrkoU)
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### Author:  [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)
#### Post date: [February 5, 2022, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-the-original-versions/958879/18 "2022-02-05T06:07:21Z")
Until a few years ago, I had no idea that “Step On” by the Happy Mondays was a cover version.
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4N2Ul7ll-FM)
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### Author:  [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)
#### Post date: [February 5, 2022, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-the-original-versions/958879/19 "2022-02-05T06:40:24Z")
The Carpenters version is more well known isnt it?? Well heres the original
[![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/JNBV5hofD_U/hqdefault.jpg "OFFICIAL Klaatu "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft"") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNBV5hofD_U)
Seems like Three Dog Night have several hits that were covers they made more famous…ok now after some investigating, the vast majority of their hits were written by others…the fuh…
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rugANIlIpbQ)
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### Author:  [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)
#### Post date: [February 5, 2022, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-the-original-versions/958879/20 "2022-02-05T07:17:10Z")
Robert Hazard never got to commercially release his own recording of **Girls Just Want To Have Fun** , but the demo has an amazing New Wave sound and a bridge that got left out of Cyndi Lauper’s version altogether.
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aLNwOxPsjg)
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