The original was good, but it was the RADICALLY different cover version that was the hit

Cafe Society
1

Inspired by this thread, of course.

There must be quite a few examples of these around. The one that started me thinking was This Flight Tonight. There’s nothing wrong at all with the original – but it was the wildly different cover that was the hit.

Original version – Joni Mitchell

Hit version – Nazareth (UK #11, Germany #1, apparently)

So: this might be a bit of fun. And I’d like to see just how different from the original we can get. It would be good if you can post both the original and the cover version. And remember, we’re looking for covers that were hits.

What have you got?

j

BTW – the follow up single by Nazareth was the Boudleaux Bryant classic, Love Hurts – but a version surprisingly faithful to the Everly Brothers original – and really rather good.

2

“Blinded by the Light” is the first song that comes to mind (#1 hit for Manfred Mann’s Earth Band, not a hit for Mumbly Bruce).

3

The first song that comes to mind is “Queen of Hearts”. The original recording by Dave Edmunds in 1979 was excellent (slightly country-tinged rock n’ roll), reaching #11 on the charts in the U.K. but never having much impact in the U.S.

The version that became a U.S. hit was the straight country version by Juice Newton, of which my opinion is bleah.

4

First thing that came to mind was “heartbeats” by The Knife.
A great song but Jose Gonzalez put out a very different version that I believe was the much bigger hit. Very nicely done. I prefer the original but YMMV.

5

mumbly Bruce
Manfred Mann

j

6

Richard Berry’s Louie Louie was not a hit single but the one by the Kingsmen hit #2.

Neil Diamond’s Red Red Wine hit #62 but UB40’s cover hit #1.

7

Bob Dylan’s “All Along The Watchtower” was catchy, but no comparison to Jimi Hendrix’s take on the song.

8

A good portion of early Van Halen hits were covers, but not all were radically different just rocked up a bunch

9

Valerie by the Zutons

Versus Amy Winehouse/Mark Ronson cover (I actually had no idea it was Mark Ronson ft Amy Winehouse rather than just an Amy Winehouse song until I googled the video just now)

10

Pete Seeger.

The Byrds.

11

Gary Jules’ cover of Mad World.

12

Please include the name of the song. In this case, it’s Turn Turn Turn.

13

Joe Cocker’s versions of “Cry Me a River,” “With a Little Help from my Friends,” and “The Letter” were radically different from the originals.

14

FWIW - UB40 thought they were covering a Tony Tribe song. In which case their cover is little different from what they thought was the original. Therefore, props to Tony Tribe.

j

15

The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face by Roberta Flack was very different from the folk versions by Peggy Seeger, Kingston Trio et. al.

16

Cry me a river - Julie London - Joe Cocker

The letter - The Box Tops - Joe Cocker

Mad World - Tears for Fears - Gary Jules

j

17

“The Tide Is High” was originally recorded by the Paragons in 1967. But it was the 1980 version by Blondie and the 2002 version by Atomic Kitten that hit Number One.

18

Louie, Louie.
Originally by Richard Berry and the Pharaohs
Most famously covered by the Kingsmen

19

When Jackie DeShannon recorded a little ditty she wrote called Bette Davis Eyes she couldn’t have possibly imagined that Kim Carnes would come up with this different arrangement.

But the most extreme version I can think of is the Motown classic, You Keep Me Hangin’ On. Diana Ross and the Supremes has a decidedly different take than Vanilla Fudge.

20

Torn.
Written by Ednaswap. Performed live, but they never released a recording.
Translated into Danish, and covered by Lis Sorensen in 1993.
Released by Ednaswap in English in 1995.
Covered by Natalie Imbruglia in 1997.