Surf City, Dead Man’s Curve, and Little Old Lady from Pasadena.
When I was a kid I always thought these were Beach Boys songs.
I didn’t even know who Jan & Dean were.
Terry Stafford had a hit with “Suspicion” in 1964. To this day (as evidenced by a Goggle search of “Suspicion Elvis”) many people still think it was Elvis Presley.
Chris Isaak’s “Wicked Game” always sounded like Roy Orbison, to me.
I thought “Stuck in the Middle With You” was Lennon-esque Beatles. I woudl have bet you $5 it was either Beatles or solo Lennon.
When I was young, anytime I heard the chorus to All the Young Dudes by Mott the Hoople, I thought it was the Beatles or Lennon.
And I’m still convinced New Order’s Dreams Never End is actually a Joy Division song. The vocals sound more like Ian Curtis than Bernard Summner. Sure same band basically and right at the time of the transition, but still!!! 
Whenever I hear “Stay” by Pink Floyd off Obscured by Clouds I always think I’m suddenly listening to “Day after Day” (or whatever it’s called) by Badfinger. Now we just need a Beatles song that sounds like Pink Floyd – hmmm, Across the Universe?
The first few times I heard **Silent Lucidity ** by Queesnryche, I thought it was some old Pink Floyd song that I’d just never heard before.
randwill, good call on Suspcion by Terry Stafford- probably one of the best examples I was looking for. However, coincidence or not, Elvis did record a version of this song, which was not a big hit I don’t think, two years before Terry Stafford’s version. Never heard Elvis’ version, but maybe this is a case of Stafford doing Elvis better than Elvis could.
"A Girl Like You" by Edwyn Collins.
The first time I heard it I thought, “Hey, that’s a cool David Bowie song.”
“Public Execution” by Mouse and the Traps sounds like Bob Dylan
“Rescue Me” by Fontella Bass sounds like Aretha Franklin (which is kinda odd given that “Rescue Me” predated Aretha’s commercial breakthrough with “Respect”)
“Up in a Puff of Smoke” by Polly Brown sounds like Diana Ross
“Back of My Hand (I Got Your Number)” by the Jags sounds like Elvis Costello
I originally thought it was Bjork.
This only gets more confusing when you realize that there actually does exist a more-obscure-than-not version of the Beatles singing this song
(Anthology 3, disc two, track 18).
I always thought “Don’t Dream It’s Over” by Crowded House sounded just like Billy Joel. I’ve asked a lot of people about this, and they all say I’m crazy.
I already know that–my question is, does anyone else think it sounds like Billy Joel?
Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress by The Hollies sounds very much like Creedence Clearwater Revival to me.
I’ll be damned…it fooled me up until about three minutes ago.
:smack:
Now I know why this song isn’t in any CCR best of albums.
“Breathe” by Anna Nalick constantly fools me into thinking it’s either Sheryl Crowe or Avril Lavigne doing a Crowesque song.
That’s understandable since there was a lot of interaction between the Beach Boys and Jan & Dean. For example, Brian Wilson co-wrote “Surf City” and Jan & Dean sang back-up on the Beach Boy’s cover of “Barbara Ann.”
For me, when I was really young I used to think Steve Wonder’s “Don’t You Worry About a Thing” was actually by Sergio Mendes and Brasil '66/‘77. Also, when I first heard Joe Cocker’s cover of "Feelin’ Alright" and The Sir Douglas Quintet’s “She’s About a Mover,” I thought they were both done by Ray Charles.
Well, I just learned today that A Horse with no Name was not sung by Neil Young.
The House of the rising Sun sounds to me like Mick Jagger is the one singing.
I think I know what you mean (the tone on “catch a deluge in a paper cup”) but overall, not really.
Wow, some of the Web lyrics sites attribute Horse with No Name to Neil Young. Must remember to read everything with a grain of salt.