# Songs you didn't know were remakes **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 25, 2014, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-know-were-remakes/689244 "2014-05-25T21:20:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-know-were-remakes/689244/101 "2014-06-03T17:36:10Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > As was mentioned upthread, this is one of those cases where the author credits on the liner notes (assuming you bought the album on LP, of course…) don’t match the performer, which sets off the “aha! Cover!” alarm. Heh, I heard it for years on the radio - never actually bought it on LP, when those were common. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-know-were-remakes/689244/102 "2014-06-03T18:37:54Z")
George Harrison’s 1987 #1 hit “Got my Mind Set on You” was originally recorded and released by obscure R & B singer James Ray in 1962. ---
**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:** [June 4, 2014, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-know-were-remakes/689244/103 "2014-06-04T13:57:43Z")
> [@LateComer](#): > > [Kenny Rogers’ The Gambler](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gambler_%28song%29) written by Don Schlitz and originally recorded by Schlitz and Bobby Bare. Wow! That is Rogers’s signature song, and I always thought he wrote it. Arlo Guthrie’s City of New Orleans has a interesting backstory: It was written and recorded by Steve Goodman, who approached Arlo after one of his concerts and asked him to listen to it. Arlo responded “Buy me a beer and I’ll listen to it.” They went to the nearest bar, Steve bought the bee,r and Arlo listened. Steve asked him what he thought of it, and Arlo responded “Buy me another beer and I’ll record it.” And the rest is history. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2014, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-know-were-remakes/689244/104 "2014-06-08T02:54:24Z")
I recently discovered that “Step On” by Happy Mondays is a cover of “He’s Gonna Step On You Again”, a song from 1971 by John Kongos. [- YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Lm0N4YCkgk) ---
**Author:** ![Made\_in\_Macau](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eada6e/32.png) [@Made\_in\_Macau](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Made_in_Macau)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2014, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-know-were-remakes/689244/105 "2014-06-08T11:33:50Z")
‘My Boy Lollipop’ by Millie was originally recorded by Barbie Gaye in 1956. It was her manager who had changed it from the originally written 'My Girl Lollipop’.[My Boy Lollipop - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Boy_Lollipop) MiM ---
**Author:** ![Jamicat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c67d28/32.png) [@Jamicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamicat)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2014, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-know-were-remakes/689244/106 "2014-06-08T20:01:49Z")
I Love Rock N Roll-Joan Jet-Arrows No You Don’t-Pat Benetar-Sweet Hard To Handle-Black Crows-Otis Redding ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-know-were-remakes/689244/107 "2014-06-09T00:01:30Z")
Didn’t know Universal Soldier wasn’t a Donovan original. Buffy Sainte-Marie penned it. ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-know-were-remakes/689244/108 "2014-06-09T00:30:56Z")
Guster’s “The Harder They Come” was written and recorded by Jimmy Cliff way back in 1972. And I feel extremely stupid not to have known that. But I heard Guster’s version first. ---
**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:** [June 9, 2014, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-know-were-remakes/689244/109 "2014-06-09T00:34:29Z")
> [@Accidental\_Martyr](#): > > I recently discovered that “Step On” by Happy Mondays is a cover of “He’s Gonna Step On You Again”, a song from 1971 by John Kongos. > > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Lm0N4YCkgk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Lm0N4YCkgk) Wow. I never knew that either. I knew most of them in this thread, but not this and “The Gambler.” (And I’m starting to feel my age at only 39, as a number of the songs posted in this thread I’m shocked to hear people didn’t know were covers, as I remember the originals on the radio.) ---
**Author:** ![pnkflyd11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a3d4f5/32.png) [@pnkflyd11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pnkflyd11)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-know-were-remakes/689244/110 "2014-06-12T17:40:17Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > Another oldie - I had no idea that “Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)” was originally a Bertolt Brecht poem set to music by Kurt Weill in the 1920s. I only knew the version by the Doors. I was going through the posts expecting to add this myself. One of my favorite Doors’ songs. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-know-were-remakes/689244/111 "2014-06-12T19:28:04Z")
Two more big ones that have slipped though the cracks: - [Quincy Jones’ 1981 hit “Ai No Corrida”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2eSFBoE2Ts) (#28 US, #14 UK) was written and [originally recorded by Chaz Jankel](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9C2c2dZnIj4) (formerly with Ian Dury & The Blockheads). - Van Halen’s 1978 album track [“Ice Cream Man”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2RKWJD5ops) was a credited cover of [John Brim’s 1969 original](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELjj5HBwTu4) (which was recorded in 1953, and waited 16 years for release!). ---
**Author:** ![MentalGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/439d5e/32.png) [@MentalGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MentalGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-know-were-remakes/689244/112 "2014-06-13T01:56:34Z")
[The original version of “Louie, Louie”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-2CKsaq5r8) with lyrics that can be understood. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-know-were-remakes/689244/113 "2014-06-13T12:25:00Z")
> [@Accidental\_Martyr](#): > > “Romeo and Juliet.” I have the opposite reaction. I’ve heard the Dire Straits version so many times that the Indigo Girls version sounds a bit odd to me. I do like the Indigo Girls though. The Killers cover it too, rather well. ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-know-were-remakes/689244/114 "2014-06-13T12:53:23Z")
George Thorogood’s “Move It On Over” was originally a Hank Williams, Sr. hit in 1947. Covered by many people. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-know-were-remakes/689244/115 "2014-06-13T12:59:07Z")
> [@K364](#): > > Guster’s “The Harder They Come” was written and recorded by Jimmy Cliff way back in 1972. > > And I feel extremely stupid not to have known that. But I heard Guster’s version first. It was an entire _movie._😉 ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-know-were-remakes/689244/116 "2014-06-13T13:20:22Z")
“[Baby I’m Down](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JM5mtgvuyl8)” by Leslie West/Mountain was remade/reworked by Clutch into “[Immortal](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AjibPHIS8c).” Later, Mountain then covered “[Immortal](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSdu3PyusZE).” ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-know-were-remakes/689244/117 "2014-06-13T13:30:20Z")
A young Fleetwood Mac recorded “[Somebody’s Gonna Get Their Head Kicked In Tonite](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ri7bQ-nxq3g)” under the name Earl Vince & The Valiants as a B-Side to “Man of the World.” Later it was [covered](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8hDw6mS2pI) by scottish punk band The Rezillos, and their version has been covered by [other punk bands](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUYjxOLmQPo) over the years. ---
**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:** [June 13, 2014, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-know-were-remakes/689244/118 "2014-06-13T15:40:40Z")
An odd one I just ran across. Dionne Warwick, Stevie Wonder, Elton John, and Gladys Knight combined for the superhit “That’s What Friends Are For” in 1986, which also won the Grammy as Song of the Year. It wasn’t written for them. Warwick heard it first in the movie _Night Shift_, where it was sung by… Rod Stewart. She saw the movie on a late show on television and ran to the studio. Whitney Houston did something similar when she covered George Benson’s “Greatest Love of All,” from the 1977 movie _The Greatest_. Barry Manilow had a #1 smash on the Adult Contemporary chart in 1983 with “Read 'Em and Weep,” taken from Meat Leaf’s album _Dead Ringer_. Paul Young’s “Everytime You Go Away” was taken off of Hall and Oates’ 1980 album _Voices_, ---
**Author:** ![chancetx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cdc98d/32.png) [@chancetx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chancetx)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-know-were-remakes/689244/119 "2014-06-14T16:44:31Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > I didn’t initially know that Hootie & The Blowfish’s “I Go Blind” was originally recorded by a Canadian band called 54-40. That explains why it’s the only Hootie and the Blowfish song I ever liked! ---
**Author:** ![chancetx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cdc98d/32.png) [@chancetx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chancetx)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-know-were-remakes/689244/120 "2014-06-14T16:53:01Z")
Heart’s “Alone” was originally recorded by a group called I-Ten, which included the songwriters Tom Kelly and Billy Steinberg. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YrY5tnHy14](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YrY5tnHy14) Celine Dion’s “It’s All Coming Back To Me Now” was originally recorded for a Jim Steinman studio project called Pandora’s Box. Elaine Caswell performed the lead vocals. Celine’s version appears to use pretty much the exact same backing track as the Pandora’s Box version but I gotta admit, Celine’s vocals blow Elaine out of the water. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ssqr4eKryw](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ssqr4eKryw) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-know-were-remakes/689244.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-didnt-know-were-remakes/689244.md?page=7)