# Songwriters who rarely get credit for the songs they wrote **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 6, 2008, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-who-rarely-get-credit-for-the-songs-they-wrote/462334 "2008-09-06T13:02:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-who-rarely-get-credit-for-the-songs-they-wrote/462334/61 "2008-09-11T06:43:58Z")
> [@DooWahDiddy](#): > > Ah, but you neglected to mention that “Total Eclipse of the Heart” is _from_ “Tanz der Vampyr”, so the original version of the song was in German. Wow! I never knew about any of this, but I can already tell you there is some FUN YouTubing to be done for “Dance of the Vampire”! ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-who-rarely-get-credit-for-the-songs-they-wrote/462334/62 "2008-09-11T06:57:37Z")
> [@DooWahDiddy](#): > > Ah, but you neglected to mention that “Total Eclipse of the Heart” is _from_ “Tanz der Vampyr”, so the original version of the song was in German. Oops! [According to Wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanz_Der_Vampire) “70% of the musical score written by Steinman was recycled from his earlier projects”. First ever performance of _Tanz der Vampyr_ was in 1997- postdating Bonnie Tyler’s performance of “Total Eclipse of the Heart” by 14 years. ---
**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:** [September 11, 2008, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-who-rarely-get-credit-for-the-songs-they-wrote/462334/63 "2008-09-11T07:14:46Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > I’ll give a plug to a guy many Americans have never heard of (I imagine he’s much better known in England): Graham Gouldman, one of the best songwriters of the British Invasion era. > > Among his songs: > > “Heart Full of Soul” and “For Your Love,” the only top ten hits the Yardbirds ever had in the U.S. > > “Bus Stop” and “Look Through any Window” by the Hollies > > He was later a co-founder of the band 10cc, and wrote or co-wrote many of their hits. Oh good call. I’m a 10cc fan and learned this recently. He’s already been mentioned, but I think of Neil Diamond - his songs for the Monkees in particular. I always thought Dave Edmunds was the genius behind “Queen of Hearts,” which Juice Newton recorded and had great success with… turns out some guy named Hank DeVito wrote it. His signature song, “I Hear You Knocking,” is a cover of a Smiley Lewis song. Also, how about Bernie Edwards and Nile Rodgers? “We Are Family” - Sister Sledge “I’m Coming Out,” “Upside Down” - Diana Ross Or Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis: “I Didn’t Mean To Turn You On” - Robert Palmer “Can You Stand The Rain” - New Edition “Control” - Janet Jackson (Janet is a co-writer) “Human” - Human League ---
**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:** [September 11, 2008, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-who-rarely-get-credit-for-the-songs-they-wrote/462334/64 "2008-09-11T07:20:02Z")
Oh, and even though I hate these guys, Stock Aiken Waterman _ruled_ the UK pop scene in the 80s: “Never Gonna Give You Up,” “Whenever You Need Somebody,” Rick Astley “I Should Be So Lucky,” Kylie Minogue “Respectable,” Mel and Kim Those are the famous ones. They did about a million songs, and they have that same sound… ---
**Author:** ![DooWahDiddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@DooWahDiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DooWahDiddy)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-who-rarely-get-credit-for-the-songs-they-wrote/462334/65 "2008-09-11T16:44:23Z")
> [@bienville](#): > > Oops! [According to Wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanz_Der_Vampire) “70% of the musical score written by Steinman was recycled from his earlier projects”. > > First ever performance of _Tanz der Vampyr_ was in 1997- postdating Bonnie Tyler’s performance of “Total Eclipse of the Heart” by 14 years. Okay, I didn’t realize that! That’s kind of disappointing he recycled so much. It’s still a treat to hear the song sung in German, though. You should check it out! ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-who-rarely-get-credit-for-the-songs-they-wrote/462334/66 "2008-09-11T16:57:30Z")
Carole King wrote (or co-wrote) a ton of songs. One Fine Day. (The Chiffons 1963) Up On The Roof (The Drifters 1962) Will You Love Me Tomorrow? (The Shirelles 1960) Some Kind Of Wonderful (The Drifters 1962) The Loco-Motion (Several) You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman (Aretha Franklin 1967) as well as others. It’s kind of a shame that she’s only really well known for Tapestry. ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-who-rarely-get-credit-for-the-songs-they-wrote/462334/67 "2008-09-11T17:03:16Z")
Patsy Cline’s best known song “crazy” was written by Willie Nelson. I have an album where he sings the song himself, and it’s just as good (maybe better) than the Patsy Cline version. ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-who-rarely-get-credit-for-the-songs-they-wrote/462334/68 "2008-09-11T18:22:24Z")
> [@Mosier](#): > > Patsy Cline’s best known song “crazy” was written by Willie Nelson. I have an album where he sings the song himself, and it’s just as good (maybe better) than the Patsy Cline version. He gave a great performance of it when he and Johnny Cash did their VH1 Storytellers special. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-who-rarely-get-credit-for-the-songs-they-wrote/462334/69 "2008-09-11T18:40:47Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > People also assume that any Beatles song was written by the Beatles. While that was true later on, in the beginning, they recorded songs by Goffin/King, Burt Bacharach, Smokey Robinson, Leiber/Stoller, Carl Perkins, Buddy Holly, and (perhaps most incongrously) Meredith Willson (from **The Music Man** ). Also Chuck Berry (who usually gets credit for his songs, but “Brown Eyed Handsome Man” is sometimes misattributed to Buddy Holly or someone). Anyway, just echoing Willie Dixon. If it’s a blues song that you’ve heard more than once, just assume he wrote it: “Spoonful”, “Little Red Rooster” , “Hoochie Coochie Man”, “You Need Love” (turned into “Whole Lotta Love” by Zep), “Wang Dang Doodle”, “I Just Want to Make Love to You” and way too many more. [Willie Dixon - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_Dixon#Songs) ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-who-rarely-get-credit-for-the-songs-they-wrote/462334/70 "2008-09-11T18:50:04Z")
> [@Hippy\_Hollow](#): > > He’s already been mentioned, but I think of Neil Diamond - his songs for the Monkees in particular. I read a quote from Diamind in which he said that he describes a certain area of his house as teh “Monkees wing.” ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-who-rarely-get-credit-for-the-songs-they-wrote/462334/71 "2008-09-11T19:48:07Z")
Two songs written by Joni Mitchell are commonly attributed to other folks: **Both Sides Now** - originally made a hit by Judy Collins. **Woodstock** - the CSN version is more famous. The latter case is apparently a sore subject with Mitchell. In several interviews I’ve read, she seems to think that David Crosby takes too much credit for getting her career off the ground. She stated once (no cite) that Crosby often seemed to imply that she only wrote the song because of his direct inspiration, when in fact she had written the song before she ever had a chance to talk to him about the festival. ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-who-rarely-get-credit-for-the-songs-they-wrote/462334/72 "2008-09-12T00:57:34Z")
> [@Mosier](#): > > Patsy Cline’s best known song “crazy” was written by Willie Nelson. I have an album where he sings the song himself, and it’s just as good (maybe better) than the Patsy Cline version. Amazingly he does that song as a duet with Susan Tedeschi which I think is a fantastic complement to a young blues singer. But I’m just a big fan of ST. My favorite video of her [here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBo_dZAnjoc) singing a Clapton tune while her husband makes it look easy to play slide guitar. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-who-rarely-get-credit-for-the-songs-they-wrote/462334/73 "2008-09-12T01:25:10Z")
Otis Redding wrote **Respect** and his version even made it into the Top 40. Aretha’s version blew it away. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-who-rarely-get-credit-for-the-songs-they-wrote/462334.md?page=3)