Cover versions you didnt know were covers....

And 30 years later, the kids are shocked that The Sound of Silence was not originally by Disturbed....and the cycle continues.

 

Another that occurred to me was Tracey Ullman covering Kirsty MacColl’s “They Don’t Know,” basically verbatim. MacColl was pretty much unknown in the US when Ullman’s version was a hit here. I got into MacColl later on and was pleasantly surprised to see she’d written the song.

 

Artists have two lives: the one they present to people and is part of their personna, and the real one that the public does not see, the real person.

 

he did not go both ways. people often make judgments based on what they see and what they believe. Prince had stated often that he did a lot of what he did to piss off the record company. he was an astute enough businessman to know what sold, and in the early 80s, androgyny and sex was the biggie. He may not have approved on Wendy and Lisa's being lesbians, but he sure played it up.

To take another example: Phil Oakley, the guy who formed The Human League, was totally straight complete with a wife, but he sure played up the gender-bending.

What you see is not always what you get. It is foolish to judge someone by their cover just as it is silly to assume that an artist always writes songs about themselves.

 

There is zero evidence from Prince himself, or from anyone who knew him, that he "went both ways". And there is ample evidence that he was enthusiastically heterosexual.

Not that it matters to his musical legacy.

 

IMHO, Linda Ronstadt made a career of doing covers - and arguably outdid the originals time and time again. Yes, I know, she had her own originals too, but her covers!!!

 

"I Heard It Through the Grapevine" by Gladys Knight and the Pips. It was the first version I heard, and besides, it sounded "older."

 

Umm... yeah. From the legendary Didjits! If you like that song, you should definitely check them out.

 

"Tainted Love" by Soft Cell. After hearing the original by Gloria Jones, I like her version better.

 

You probably think Michael was straight, too. XD

 

The first time I heard[That's How Heartaches Are Made-The Marvelettes]I didn't know that[Baby Washington]had done the original.

 

It took me a long time to realise that Rockin' All Over The World, one of Status Quo's most iconic tracks, was a cover of a John Fogerty number

 

Black Sabbath - Evil Woman
Montrose - Good Rockin' Tonight
R.E.M. - Strange

 

A couple already mentioned - Tainted Love, for example. Others:

Naked Eyes - Always Something There to Remind Me
Hall & Oates - Family Man
Paul Young - Everytime You Go Away
Musical Youth - Pass the Dutchie
Doobie Brothers - Jesus is Just Alright
The Byrds - Turn! Turn! Turn!
Jimi Hendrix - Hey Joe
Toni Basil - Mickey
Blondie - The Tide Is High*
Huey Lewis - Do You Believe in Love
Natalie Imbruglia - Torn

* Had no idea that was a cover until like 25 years after Blondie's version came out.

 

Valerie by Amy Winehouse, originally a Zutons song. Didn't know this for a number of years.

 

A few of these are like "Sheesh! You didn't know?"

Not gonna pick out examples, that's unfair.

 

I didn't know that "Go Now" by the Moody Blues was a cover. It was written by Milton Bennett and Bessie Banks' ex-husband, Larry Banks.

 

Here's another one for you by Aretha's sister, Erma Franklin.

 

Because hardly anyone in North America had heard the Arrows' version. My copy of it was on a cut-out imported U.K. cassette (1990: Glam Crazee! 20 Original Glam Rock Hits: Virgin VTMC 1). -It got to an indoor soccer game day compilation cassette (C-90).-
Another game day compilation cassette had Matthews Southern Comfort's version of "Woodstock".
Finally, probably many of you are unaware Black Sabbath's first single release was a cover. More puzzling to me, but absolutely more on-topic for this thread, was when Black Sabbath got to Ohio on their first U.S.A. tour: They objected to an old Black guy doing a Creedence Clearwater Revival cover of "I Put A Spell On You" opening for them.
Yeah - you know who the old Black guy was.

 

Huey Lewis and the News - Heart and Soul; originally by Exile.

Cyndi Lauper - All Through the Night; written and originally recorded by Jules Shear.

 

Oh geez, all the early blues tunes done by classic rock bands

 

Woodstock, I’m sure its already been pointed out was a Joni Mitchell Song, then CSNY, they Matthews Southern Comfort. All excellent by the way

 

Oh so many hits and album tracks from British Invasion groups and American Garage bands were "borrowed" from R&B/soul groups in the '60s and '70s.

I assume most people know Grand Funk Railroad's hit "The Loco-Motion" is a cover of the 1962 Little Eva tune. But fewer people know "Some Kind of Wonderful" was a cover of a 1967 not-quite-a-hit for the Atlantic vocal group the Soul Brothers Six.

 

That one was a bit hard to miss, as it was part of an all-covers album!