Songs you didn't realise were covers

[hoarahloux]

I almost grew up with Natalie Imbruglia's Torn. I used to put the music video channels on TV in the early morning before my parents got up. I loved it, she was one of my first crushes. I watched the video of it over and over again and was bemused how the man was so normal when she was so incredible.

It wasn't until much later I found out that the song was a cover, and the original by Ednaswap was almost identical so it wasn't even an interesting cover!

I was just about to post a link to the Heineken advertising campaign where this song was covered, but then I saw one of the celebrities in the video and thought "no, best not". It was still a very funny campaign though.

Totally different song, same title.
[edited to add - I didn’t see @D12troop had already said this]

Like Gloria by Van Morrison and by Laura Brannigan are different songs with the same name (Brannigan’s is an English cover version of an Italian pop song). And at least 3 songs called Power Of Love in the mid 80s.

Sane title isn’t always the same song.

Nirvana's 'Where did you sleep last night' is a cover:

"In the Pines", also known as "Black Girl" and "Where Did You Sleep Last Night?", is a traditional American folk song which dates back to at least the 1870s, and is believed to be Southern Appalachian in origin. The original song's author is Leadbelly, his stage name, or Huddie William Ledbetter (January 1888 – December 6, 1949).

I always get terribly confused with "What Is Love" by Howard Jones and "What Is Love" by Haddaway.

Don't even get me started on "The Power Of Love".

I remember more than Hounds of Love from The Futureheads but I have seen them live a number of times over the last few years.
Got to love some Maximo Park though.

Showing my age here, but Chris Rea made it famous first!

I don't think he made it as famous as Elkie Brooks did. Her version was all over top of the pops, but I don't recall Chris's version being the same.

Now I want to hear that.

Mandy by Barry Manilow. I always think of him as a songwriter, but one of his biggest hits was a cover of a Scott English song; Barry just changed the name to Mandy from Brandy. Scott's version is much better.

I really love when a band covers a song but really changes it.

Lewis capaldi singing "sometimes" by Brittany spears. It's amazing and heartbreaking

Guy Chambers produced the Robbie Williams version so I wouldn’t say it was nothing to do with him, the RW version was far and away more commercially popular.

Without You, of which there are popular versions by Mariah Carey and Nilsson is a cover of a Badfinger song.

Could it be Magic - Take That, cover of the far superior Barry Manilow original.

yeah, he kinda wrote it too.

Only realised Soft Cell's 1981 Tainted Love was a cover a few years ago.

Heard Paul O' Grady play the original recorded by Gloria Jones in 1964 on his show. Paul was an avid Northern Soul fan.

Other way round :-)

Going back to Robbie Williams and Karl Wallinger, love this story. Karl Wallinger was such a brilliant song writer and I still feel sad that he's not around anymore. Williams is such a knob.

But this thread is making me realise how old I am as not sure that there have been many surprises on here. 'What's love got to do with it' is such a turgid plodder of a song, I can't see why anyone would care who'd sang it.

And so, so much worse.

Although using Wallinger’s former band mates was not exactly classy.

Robbie Williams was a son of a bitch about it. He claimed repeatedly that “it was the best song he ever wrote” while Karl Wallinger was almost killed by a brain aneurysm and was in no position to correct that.

It’s not like Robbie needed more fame. It was a dick move.

I’m not sure Wallinger ever forgave Guy Chambers for all that. But at least the money helped while he was unable to work.

Cross posted with @SwedishEdith

I didn’t realise at first that the Dream Academy’s Please Please Please was a Smith’s cover.

I don't remember anything by Dream Academy other than Life in a Northern Town!

I disagree - it was a top ten hit and wouldn't have got there without being played on the radio. AW was a far higher profile artist and it was on the Mark Ronson album which was everywhere. The Zutons definitely got plenty of airplay at the time.

When kiss kiss came out everyone was saying that the original had been number one in Turkey for 10 years or something!

Bloody hell 😬

What?!