Have you ever listened to a song and thought, “This would have been great if (fill in the blank) had sung it!”?
This thought came to me on the way to work today while I was listening to Elton John belting out “I’m Still Standing”- “You know, this would have worked if Billy Joel had sung it instead”.
What about you?
Billy Joel is awesome. Just wanted to say that while I ponder the question. Brb.
Just looking for clarity - are we looking for songs that we think would be / would have been bigger hits if covered by another artist? Or songs that are B sides or album fillers that we think would have been hits if sung by someone else. Or just ‘as big as’ a hit as the title says?
Or just songs that we’d love to hear a cover of by another artist?
And I’ll add to the Billy Joel love, he is problematic at times as an individual, but I do love his music. I’d love to see some covers of his earlier work especially by Gabe Dixon band, which tbh has lovely music, but always feels it should have a version of the big Explicit Sticker saying “Band inspired by Billy Joel.”
Big hits that might have been just as big, if not bigger, with another singer.
Every Bob Dylan song ever.
Which singer? Which song?
This isn’t a “Name singers you don’t like” thread, btw.
I genuinely always feel guilty having these impure thoughts, but I think there’s a good sized chunk of the Led Zeppelin library that would be improved had Roger Daltrey been the singer.
And, to be clear, I don’t mean The Who, I mean Roger fronting Led Zeppelin instead of Robert Plant.
Well, ignoring the hundreds of examples from actual history. I think Roy Orbison should have dipped into the Dylan catalog in the late 60s and plucked out some ballads like “Just Like a Woman”.
Excluding covers of songs that were already hits, can you think of a hit song that would have been better if someone else had sung it instead? We already have multiple threads about cover songs, and I really don’t want to go down that road.
I’ve always thought Neil Sedaka’s “The Immigrant” was something of an odd choice for Neil; it’s a politically barbed socially relevant song, sung as a sweet gentle ballad by a singer otherwise known for singing about how breaking up is hard to do.
Neil Young should take it and do the ordinary Neil-Youngish things to it and perhaps bring a lot more attention to the song and its powerful lyrics.
This is why I had to ask - because if it’s covers, it’s an easy question. For alternate original singers, it’s a bit more difficult. For me, I’m a huge John Denver fan (sue me!), and I have nothing against his voice, but sometimes he’s just too damn nice. Some of his songs I think would have been more interesting if sung by a powerful female vocalist, something ‘Eagle and Hawk’ sung by a young Stevie Nicks as an example.
REM’s End of the World We Know It sung by James Brown.
That’s great HYAHHH, it starts with an earthquake GOOD GOD!
I suspect that there’s a lot of overlap between Billy Joel and Elton John in terms of what songs would have been successful for either of them. A lot of it is because they’re somewhat similar in terms of their era and style, and they’re both very talented.
I mean, an Elton John “Piano Man” could have been spectacular, just like a Billy Joel “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting” could have been great as well.
I suspect pretty much any of Katy Perry’s popular songs could have been done by Lady Gaga equally as successfully for much the same reasons, and to some degree, vice-versa. (not all of Lady Gaga’s songs would work for Katy Perry, but ones like “Just Dance” could).
Same for a bunch of those 1970s country rock bands like Molly Hatchet, Lynyrd Skynyrd and 38 Special. I sort of think their songs could have been more or less interchangeable.
I heard some comedian (back when John Denver was on the radio all the time). He did a bit with his guitar titled “If John had to live in the real world.” And I still remember his version of Annie’s Song (“You fill up my senses / like a night in the forest…”)
You rendered me senseless…
in a fight in a warehouse…
Same for every Rush song, except the instrumentals.
I’ll agree with that one. I’ve stated many, many times that I think they’re all great musicians, but Geddy’s voice irritates me to the point that I don’t listen to any of their music and the band as a whole is in my ‘don’t like’ category.
“Jeremy” could have been a bigger hit if it was sung (and actually enunciated) by Darius Rucker (Hootie and the Blowfish) instead of Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam)
Are you thinking of Edwin Starr?
A Billy Joel version of “Empty Garden” would have been interesting.
It’s the 21st century, fer Og’s sake! Why can’t I buy a Rush album and pick my vocalist?
.
(Actually, I did that over fifty years ago and got a Bob Dylan album with Roger McGuinn’s voice and 12-string Rickenbacker, and the rest is history…)