Top 20 Songs You Probably Didn't Know Were Covers

Remember the TV series "The Wonder Years"? Remember it's theme song? Yep, it was Joe Cocker's "With a Little Help of My Friends"... it sounds as dazzling as it did when he first performed it at Woodstock. One of the best covers of all time, no doubt. Of course, I'm assuming here that most everyone would know that this is a cover of a song Lennon & McCartney wrote for the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album. No surprise there. However, there are my hit songs that are really covers of obscure songs or minor hits from one-hit wonders that time forgot. Can you tell me who sang the original version of I Love Rock'n'Roll?... nope, it was not Joan Jett... although Joan Jett's cover was the version that reached #1 for a bunch of weeks and became a world-wide phenomenon... You see what I'm getting at here?... If you do, then you'll find this list amusing and surprising. These are my Top 20 Songs You Probably Didn't Know Were Covers...



01. I Love Rock'n'Roll - The Arrows (not Joan Jett & The Blackhearts and certainly NOT Britney)




02. Bette Davis Eyes - Jackie DelShannon (not Kim Carnes)




03. Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft – Klaatu (not The Carpenters)




04. The Tide is High - The Paragons (not Blondie)



05. Angel of the Morning - Marlee Rush (not Juice Newton)



06. Girls Just Want to Have Fun - Robert Hazard (not Cyndi Lauper)



07. Tainted Love - Gloria Jones (not Soft Cell or Marilyn Manson)




08. Me and Bobby McGee - Kris Kristofferson (not Janis Joplin)





09. Love Hurts - Everly Brothers (not Nazareth or Roy Orbison or Joan Jett or…)




10. A Groovy Kind of Love – The Mindbenders (not Phil Collins)




11. The Crying Game - Dave Berry (not Boy George)





12. Twist & Shout – The Isley Brothers (not the Beatles)



13. Always on My Mind - Brenda Lee (not Elvis or Willie Nelson or Pet Shop Boys)




14. Red Red Wine - Neil Diamond (not UB40)




15. Nothing Compares to 2 – Prince (not Sinead O’Connor)




16. Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood - Nina Simone (not The Animals or Santa Esmeralda)



17. New York New York - Liza Minelli (not Frank Sinatra)



18. Blinded by the Light – Bruce Springsteen (not Manfred Mann)



19. Seasons in the Sun – Kingston Trio (not Terry Jacks or Westlife).
NOTE: Actually, the Kingston Trio version is the original version in English of the song "Le Moribond" by Belgian singer-songwriter Jacques Brel, but that is fodder for another list.



20. Wimoweh - Pete Seeger (not “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” by The Tokens or Tight Fit or Robert John or the soundtrack of Disney’s The Lion King)
Note: This song is actually based on a 1939 South African song entitled “Mbube” (Zulu for “Lion”) and originally recorded by Solomon Linda.




Related Previous Postings:

Top 20 Cover Songs

Top 20 Forgotten Songs from the 80's
Top 20 Worst Covers Ever
Top 20 Great but Forgotten One Hit Wonders
Top 20 Minor Hits from Major Artists

Top 20 Worst Covers Ever

My very first Top 20 list was for the Top 20 Best Cover Songs ever. I thought it would be cool to start off the year with the exact opposite… je je je… These are weird, unforgivable cover songs that should have never been recorded or performed. In other word, what the hell were you thinking here? How dare you? These are my Top 20 worst cover songs ever.

01. Avril Lavigne - Chop Suey


02. Jonas Brothers - Take On Me


03. Celine Dion & Anastascia – You Shook Me All Night Long



04. Scissor Sisters - Comfortably Numb



05. Mariah Carey - Bringing On The Heartbreak



06. Tatu - How Soon Is Now



07. Paulina Rubio - I Was Made For Lovin' You


08. Shakira - Back In Black


09. Tori Amos - Smells Like Teen Spirit


10. Dolly Parton - Stairway To Heaven


11. Britney Spears – I Can Get No Satisfaction


12. Madonna - American Pie



13. Britney Spears - I Love Rock’n’Roll

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThZ9MgKjE1Q

14. Faith Hill – Another Piece of my Heart

15. Jessica Simpson – These Boots Were Made For Walking



16. Hilary Duff - My Generation





17. Macy Gray - Creep

18. Kelly Osbourne - Papa Don't Preach

19. Olivia Newton - Ring Of Fire


20. Willaim Shatner - Rocket Man



EXTRA: Calle 8 – Thriller / Billie Jean

Top 20 Cover Songs

To me, a great cover song is NOT a paint-by-number note-for-note rendition of the original. Instead, an artist should be able to take an original, run with it and turn it into a brand new masterpiece - one which does not even reminisces of the original. These are the top 20 best cover songs of all time according to me (as of today):

1. Cake – I Will Survive



2. Metallica – Turn the Page



3. Alien Ant Farm – Smooth Criminal



4. Isarael Kamakawiwo’ole - Somewhere Over the Rainbow



5. Travis – Hit Me Baby One More Time



6. Rufus Wainwright – Hallelujah



7. Live – I Walk the Line



8. Queensryche – Scarborough Fair



9. Chris Cornell – Billie Jean



10. Scorpions – Dust in the Wind



11. Jacek Koman & Ewan McGregor - El Tango de Roxanne



12. Maroon 5 – Pure Imagination



13. Bono – I Am the Walrus



14. Tom Jones & Cardigans – Burning Down the House



15. Fear Factory - Cars
16. Santa Esmeralda – The House of the Risin’ Sun
17. Queensryche – Heaven on their Minds
18. Bangles – A Hazy Shade of Winter
19. Zwan – The Number of the Beast
20. Billy Connelly – Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite