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Post by Robin on Feb 26, 2017 18:37:51 GMT 1
"Baby Can I Hold you Tonight" by Tracey Chapman was far superior to the Boyzone version.
Also, although never a single, "Comfortably Numb" by Pink Floyd is a thousand times better than the dreadful Scissor Sisters cover which became a top 10 hit, though you still probably wouldn't say it was more successful.
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Post by Doctor Blind on Feb 26, 2017 18:42:02 GMT 1
Matt cardle cover of biffys many of horror, and I love Johnny cash hurt. Me too - but I think Leona's cover was terrible. (I was just acknowledging that it was in turn a Nine Inch Nails cover - though both very different versions which I like )
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Post by Whitneyfan on Feb 26, 2017 19:20:35 GMT 1
I forgot about Matt Cardle. Also add to that, Leon Jackson's hideous version of 'When You Believe'.
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vastar iner
Member
I am the poster on your wall
Posts: 17,421
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Post by vastar iner on Feb 27, 2017 7:38:55 GMT 1
Slight irony that this thread was started by whitneyfan, given her success with "I Will Always Love You" compared to Dolly Parton's lack of it...
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SheriffFatman
Member
Been spending most our lives living in the Cheshire countryside
Posts: 10,928
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Post by SheriffFatman on Feb 28, 2017 17:15:02 GMT 1
I absolutely love Scissor Sisters' version of Comfortably Numb, to me that is the perfect example of how to do a cover version well. They took a song which was already excellent but not terribly well known, and discovered a whole new dimension within it. An excellent record, and one of the only things they did which I really like.
In some ways a thread about cover versions that have been done well would be more exciting, but I expect that's been done already. I would be naming lots of Bob Dylan songs in that - I am a huge fan, but one of my favourite things about him is that he inspires other artists to re-record his songs in exciting new ways.
To me the worst type of cover versions, from a musical point of view, are those which are just an uninspired copy of a good song which adds nothing else to it and is just for the purposes of making money. Often these are for charity though so the motive is good even when the music definitely isn't. The number one single when my oldest son was born was Everybody Hurts by Helping Haiti - a rotten and now long forgotten cover for a very noble cause.
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Post by Earl Purple on Feb 28, 2017 17:57:46 GMT 1
'Seasons in the sun' by Westlife was awful (there are probably quite a few examples by them), but the original Terry Jacks version was also a massive hit. Here is the original English language adaptation of "Seasons In The Sun" of the Jacques Brel original "Le Moribond" from 1963: One of those cases of "Oh I didn't know that wasn't the original"... People often get wrong who did the original, thinking an earlier cover version was the original. I've discovered a lot of "earlier" versions of songs during my retro time, and those were US top 40 hits...
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Post by Earl Purple on Feb 28, 2017 17:58:22 GMT 1
I'd nominate Tommy James & The Shondells version of "I Think We're Alone Now" but may just be biased.
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Post by Laurence on Feb 28, 2017 23:10:56 GMT 1
DJ Sammy and his version of 'Heaven' Btw although I'd give the bland original by Bryan Adams 2/10, I'd give DJ Sammy version 0/10 so qualifies
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Post by smokeyb on Mar 1, 2017 0:09:50 GMT 1
Dancing in the Street by Jagger & Bowie got to number 1 in the UK, but the original by Martha & the Vandellas only reached number 4.
Bruce Willis got higher in the US charts with Respect Yourself than the original version by the Staple Singers.
I think I prefer the original versions.
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Post by Earl Purple on Mar 1, 2017 10:20:32 GMT 1
Bruce Willis also got to #2 with "Under The Boardwalk" while the Drifters only got to #45 or so. In my 1964 chart "Under The Boardwalk" by the Drifters beat a lot of other great songs to the top.
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Post by popchartfreak on Mar 1, 2017 11:55:51 GMT 1
No-one's mentioned Wet Wet Wet. They massacred The Troggs and The Beatles and were well rewarded for the effort. I will stand up for their original songs like Goodnight Girl and Wishing I Was Lucky, though, which were great. Scissor Sisters Comfortably Numb is genius, that's how you do cover versions, nothing like the originals and with flair. Mariah Carey's version of Without You was only good to me in the viral youtube version by the talent show Far Eastern lady who spoke no English and rewrote the words into nonsense google it...
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Post by suedehead on Mar 1, 2017 12:34:48 GMT 1
No-one's mentioned Wet Wet Wet. They massacred The Troggs and The Beatles and were well rewarded for the effort. I will stand up for their original songs like Goodnight Girl and Wishing I Was Lucky, though, which were great. Scissor Sisters Comfortably Numb is genius, that's how you do cover versions, nothing like the originals and with flair. Mariah Carey's version of Without You was only good to me in the viral youtube version by the talent show Far Eastern lady who spoke no English and rewrote the words into nonsense google it... Ah yes, the infamous Ken Lee The Wets' cover versions were indeed horrific. I was never much of a fan of their original songs either, but they were at least better than those two monstrosities. I hated the Scissor Sisters' version of Comfortably Numb originally but I have grown to appreciate it more.
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Post by Earl Purple on Mar 1, 2017 12:43:45 GMT 1
I'm listening to the original "Love Is All Around" now as part of my 1967 playlist.
Donny Osmond managed to do a pretty bad job of some classics. Paul Anka's version of "Puppy Love" is somewhat better than Donny's. Not that familiar with Tab Hunter's "young Love" but I think that was #1 too. Cliff's "The Twelfth Of Never" isn't that good but better than Donny Osmond's version. Not familiar with Johnny Mathis's version which is possibly the original but there may be an older version than his.
Donny also covered "I'm Leaving It All Up To You" with Marie and Dale & Grace (I think that was the original) was better (But whilst Dale & Grace definitely recorded it sometime earlier, I'm not sure if that was the original either).
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