80s artists willing to re-record their hits for a quick buck

I agree 100% with you about those recordings. No, I´m glad they are not the only versions available - I still love and prefer the originals. But Roy Orbison put all his soul into the remakes, so they are still great, and the CD is a treasured possession, nonetheless.

 

Peter Noone re-recorded his Herman's Hermits hit 'I'm Into Something Good' for the 1988 "Naked Gun" movie soundtrack. Leslie Nielsen also starred in the music video with Peter.

 

"Round and Round" by someone named Ratt Attack???

Color me very curious. Is this some sort of fourth version of Ratt fronted by someone who played bass with them for five minutes? Or did they actually get some soundalike band to record it and give them this terrible name?

 

I started laughing and couldn't get past Disc 1, #1 Loverboy - Turn Me "Lose"

What a crock.

 

You missed the Debbie Gibson hit "Folish Heart"!

 

70s/80s country star Gene Watson re-recorded a number of his biggest hits and fan favorites on "Best Of The Best," a 1CD on his own label which delivers quality production values, a terrific lineup of musicians and perfect vocal performances from Gene. I consider this collection to be an album in itself, because the quality is astounding and his voice sound incredible after all these years. Gene licenses these recordings and sells this CD at his merch table for about $20. This CD is also distributed and can be purchased through most music retailers.

'Love In The Hot Afternoon'

 

Surprised it hasn’t been more common place.

In Jazz and Country it’s pretty much standard operating.

 

The Romantics were rock stars during the 1980s, but didn't re-record their hits until more recently which is very surprising. Commercials on TV and radio utilized the original studio version of 'What I Like About You.'

'What I Like About You' re-recording by The Romantics

 

'One In A Million' re-recording by The Romantics

 

'Talking In Your Sleep' re-recording by The Romantics

 

To their credit, the Stryper remakes were solid efforts, and made for a very listenable and enjoyable product...unlike many of these similar-minded projects.
See: Mr. Blue Sky by Jeff Lynne's ELO...awful...

 

Yeah, Gusto signed a deal for the Musicor catalog, so Gene Pitney and George Jones on Gusto weren't re-records.

 

It came with a box of other stuff. I didn't specifically buy this...

 

I have two compilations of remakes by Skeeter Davis and Bobby Bare. I love the original hits, but these are dreadful. This is the Skeeter Davis disc:
I think this is the Bobby Bare compilation:


Skeeter Davis is sadly no longer with us, and her voice was gone by the time she recorded these. Bobby Bare always had that lazy drawl, but it was even more pronounced on these recordings. And the backing is pure plastic on both, IIRC.

Cliff Richard - you knew this was coming, didn´t you? - has routinely re-recorded many of his hits and misses on various projects - as B-sides or album cuts, but they are always radically rearranged to sound different. They are not at all interchangeable with the originals. I like many of them, including this remake of his 1959 No. 1 UK hit "TRAVELLIN´ LIGHT". A simple, melancholy country ballad reimagined as chamber music!

 

And the B-side of that 1959 hit single was the dynamic... eh... "DYNAMITE", a 50s rock´n´roll song. In 1980 - discofied version. Not saying it´s great, but different.

 

At least he tried something different. The same can´t be said for his 2009 album with The Shadows - "REUNITED". Same songs, same arrangements - just an older voice, and the songs having been recorded in different studios all over the world.

 

Gordon Ligthfoot rerecorded his songs for Gord's Gold, Vol. 2 in 1988 and it was a Gold record.

 

Remakes? Surely it would have cost more money to get these artists into a studio again than it would have been to have paid for the licensing. Did Starship and Asia really reform just so that this could go in the bargain bin at Walmart? Why wasn't Starship handing out licensing for free at that point? And what would the dancefloor look like with Little River Band going up against Bow Wow Wow and power ballads? Too many questions.

 

John Denver also re-recorded his RCA hits for Windstar releases. These are two of them I remember. I prefer the originals, but they are not bad.



(This was also released as a multichannel SACD... which I have.)





Look at those credits!

 

The remakes on the first Gord's Gold are quite good.

The less said about Gord's Gold 2, the better.

 

They obviously didn't waste any money on proof reading the track list and then passed the savings on to you.

 

I don't hear much difference.



https://www.amazon.com/Round-Greatest-Hits-Rat-Attack/dp/B0009NZ364

 

Both Gang of 4 and Fischer-Z did re-recordings compilations, and both were pretty damn good.

 

Ah - makes sense!

You gotta admit it was a perplexing development. "No one in their right mind would buy this crap - but I did!"