# Songs you would have sworn were sung by somebody else. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 1, 2009, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-would-have-sworn-were-sung-by-somebody-else/512239 "2009-10-01T15:36:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-would-have-sworn-were-sung-by-somebody-else/512239/101 "2009-10-06T02:09:41Z")
[quote=“42fish, post:91, topic:512239”] “On the Dark Side” by John Cafferty, not Bruce Springsteen From the soundtrack to the movie Eddie and the Cruisers. About a ‘Springsteen-esque’ band. The movie is average but the soundtrack is good. All by John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band. If you like Cafferty but haven’t seen the movie, rent it sometime, (for the music, he’s not in it). Footnote: the actor who plays the sax player in the movie is Cafferty’s real sax player Michael “Tunes” Antunes. ---
**Author:** ![Pray\_for\_peace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Pray\_for\_peace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pray_for_peace)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-would-have-sworn-were-sung-by-somebody-else/512239/102 "2009-10-06T02:41:43Z")
I thought _Ruby Tuesday_ was by the Mamas and the Papas, not the Rolling Stones. ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-would-have-sworn-were-sung-by-somebody-else/512239/103 "2009-10-06T03:22:18Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Not any specific song, but I can’t tell Mark Knopfler’s and Chris Rea’s voices apart, so any time I hear a song by one or the other that I don’t know I generally assume it’s the other one. > > For the longest time I thought Rea had been the lead singer of Dire Straits and gone solo or something. I was gonna say, “Chris Rea, the guy who sings ‘Lady In Red’ and ‘Don’t Pay The Ferryman,’ right? I don’t get it.” Then I realized that the tool I was thinking about was Chris _de Burgh_. :smack: Punchable guy. Anyway, the only Rea song I know is “Fool If You Think It’s Over,” which doesn’t sound much like Knopfler to me, but maybe it’s his other songs? I suffered for months trying to figure out who sang “Don’t You Evah” - I thought it was Beck and went through his entire catalog trying to figure out which song it was. To make matters worse a radio host here in town used the start of the song for bumper music. No lyrics, just the groove and some chatter. I don’t even remember how I came to learn that it was Spoon (from here in Austin). I thought “Up All Night” by the Boomtown Rats was a Bowie song. For any Britfunk fans out there, I thought “Starchild” by Level 42 was an Earth, Wind, and Fire song. Early U2 and Simple Minds sound very similar. In fact, I think Simple Minds was the better band for a time. The Alarm also sound U2-ish. ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-would-have-sworn-were-sung-by-somebody-else/512239/104 "2009-10-06T04:42:04Z")
> [@Flip\_Pancake](#): > > I thought ‘Brown Eyed Girl’ was by the Rolling Stones. You thought the vocal was Mick? ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-would-have-sworn-were-sung-by-somebody-else/512239/105 "2009-10-06T04:55:12Z")
Any one think that Donovan’s _“Catch the Wind”_ was Dylan? I did. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-would-have-sworn-were-sung-by-somebody-else/512239/106 "2009-10-06T17:26:58Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > _Surf City_ sounds like the Beach Boys except it’s Jan and Dean. _Little GTO_ sounds like Jan and Dean except it’s Ronny and the Daytonas. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2009, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-would-have-sworn-were-sung-by-somebody-else/512239/107 "2009-10-07T20:02:03Z")
I thought Dire Straits “Walk of Life” was Bruce Springsteen. In R&B, I thought Silk’s “Freak Me” was by Keith Sweat. I insisted to my then-girlfriend that it was. Nope. However, according to Wikipedia, “In 1992, Sweat discovered the group Silk, and helped craft their debut album” So I was kinda sorta less than fully wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Lethal\_Babydoll](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3be4f8/32.png) [@Lethal\_Babydoll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lethal_Babydoll)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-would-have-sworn-were-sung-by-somebody-else/512239/108 "2009-10-08T11:14:21Z")
Sometimes when I catch Bowie’s “Fame” in the middle I think right away, “Pink Floyd. All right!” But alas, no. Great song though. Sounds a lot like my faves Floyd to me. ---
**Author:** ![Tezcatlipoca](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Tezcatlipoca](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tezcatlipoca)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2009, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-would-have-sworn-were-sung-by-somebody-else/512239/109 "2009-10-14T19:29:50Z")
I thought “Eminence Front” was by Peter Gabriel, until I got XM Radio and discovered that it was The Who. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2009, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-would-have-sworn-were-sung-by-somebody-else/512239/110 "2009-10-14T23:03:32Z")
> [@Tezcatlipoca](#): > > I thought “Eminence Front” was by Peter Gabriel, until I got XM Radio and discovered that it was The Who. I’m a huge Who fan and I’ve heard that song described several times as sounding more like a Pete Townshend solo song than a Who song. I think it’s a fair description, not just because Townshend is doing the lead vocals (he normally took lead on a couple of songs per album) but because it just isn’t the Who’s usual musical style. Thinking of Peter Gabriel, here’s one from my mother. I was talking to her a while back and she mentioned that the radio station she listens to in the car had been playing “Sledgehammer” a lot and she was getting sick of it. Then she said “I did find out it’s by Peter Gabriel though, because the DJ said so. I always thought it was by M.C. Hammer.” I burst out laughing, and she said “What, did you think that to?” When I regained my composure I said, “No, I’m laughing because NO ONE has ever thought that before.” “Well, he sings about being a hammer! How was I supposed to know?” ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2009, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-would-have-sworn-were-sung-by-somebody-else/512239/111 "2009-10-15T00:57:46Z")
I thought that “Lunatic Fringe” (actually by Red Ryder) was done by Pink Floyd. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2009, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-would-have-sworn-were-sung-by-somebody-else/512239/112 "2009-10-15T02:42:25Z")
> [@Tezcatlipoca](#): > > I thought “Eminence Front” was by Peter Gabriel, until I got XM Radio and discovered that it was The Who. I didn’t know who that song was by for a looong time, but I wouldn’t have guessed The Who. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2009, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-would-have-sworn-were-sung-by-somebody-else/512239/113 "2009-10-15T02:48:53Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > My Sirius radio is really teaching me that I don’t know as much about music as I thought I did. I was fairly certain that “Western Union” was by the Monkees. Nope. It’s the Five Americans. But honestly, doesn’t [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Rod7dFrmJA) sound just like the Monkees? Especially the chorus. Especially disappointing since our own **aha** (Mike Rabon, right?) was a member of The Five Americans and performed on that song. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2009, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-would-have-sworn-were-sung-by-somebody-else/512239/114 "2009-10-15T03:57:25Z")
Put me down as initially thinking Styx - Renegade was Billy Squire. ---
**Author:** ![Enuma\_Elish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5e9695/32.png) [@Enuma\_Elish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enuma_Elish)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2009, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-would-have-sworn-were-sung-by-somebody-else/512239/115 "2009-10-15T06:25:35Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > I’m a huge Who fan and I’ve heard that song described several times as sounding more like a Pete Townshend solo song than a Who song. I think it’s a fair description, not just because Townshend is doing the lead vocals (he normally took lead on a couple of songs per album) but because it just isn’t the Who’s usual musical style. > > Thinking of Peter Gabriel, here’s one from my mother. I was talking to her a while back and she mentioned that the radio station she listens to in the car had been playing “Sledgehammer” a lot and she was getting sick of it. Then she said “I did find out it’s by Peter Gabriel though, because the DJ said so. I always thought it was by M.C. Hammer.” > > I burst out laughing, and she said “What, did you think that to?” > > When I regained my composure I said, “No, I’m laughing because NO ONE has ever thought that before.” > > “Well, he sings about being a hammer! How was I supposed to know?” In that same vein, I always thought “Play that Funky Music, White Boy” was by the Average White Band. I lost a bet to an old boss a few years back when he gleefully told me the song was by Wild Cherry and then subjected me to 45 minutes of Wild Cherry’s place in the rock pantheon. I still want that time back. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-would-have-sworn-were-sung-by-somebody-else/512239/116 "2009-10-17T01:42:37Z")
I didn’t know that Gloria Estefan’s [Turn the beat around](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnvZ-pmAeLw) was a cover of [Vicki Sue Robinson.](http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7206127925923846960#) The songs are practically identical. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-would-have-sworn-were-sung-by-somebody-else/512239/117 "2009-11-20T21:35:16Z")
Bumping this because I just learned that [It’s so nice to be with you](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cFm2a5vykc) was from a one-hit wonder band called Gallery and not Neil Diamond. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-would-have-sworn-were-sung-by-somebody-else/512239/118 "2009-11-20T21:52:15Z")
> [@Hippy\_Hollow](#): > > I was gonna say, “Chris Rea, the guy who sings ‘Lady In Red’ and ‘Don’t Pay The Ferryman,’ right? I don’t get it.” Then I realized that the tool I was thinking about was Chris _de Burgh_. :smack: Punchable guy. > > Anyway, the only Rea song I know is “Fool If You Think It’s Over,” which doesn’t sound much like Knopfler to me, but maybe it’s his other songs? Try _Road to Hell_. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Surb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ce73a5/32.png) [@The\_Surb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Surb)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2009, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-would-have-sworn-were-sung-by-somebody-else/512239/119 "2009-11-22T00:13:01Z")
I didn’t know until last year that Lay Lady Lay was Bob Dylan. I had to look it up on Wiki just to verify because I thought I heard it wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2009, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-would-have-sworn-were-sung-by-somebody-else/512239/120 "2009-11-22T05:41:32Z")
> [@kirk1168](#): > > “Love Is Like Oxygen” is by Sweet, not ELO. I was deep into my thirties before I found that out… Wait a second…What?..you mean…well sonofabi… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-would-have-sworn-were-sung-by-somebody-else/512239.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-would-have-sworn-were-sung-by-somebody-else/512239.md?page=7)