Suggs had a 2nd top 10 hit with "Cecelia", which some people might not realise is a song by Simon & Garfunkel.

I'm surprised nobody has posted this yet :D

 

 

So how about the reverse of this: songs everyone thinks are covers that actually aren't?

 

I've noticed EVERYONE seems to think 'All I Want For Christmas Is You' is a cover. Like, last Xmas I was telling my mum that Mariah Carey did the original, and she was CONVINCED that she'd been hearing the song for much further back than the 1990s and that she'd heard it when she was a kid. :lol:

I used to think that as well! Was kinda glad when I found out Mariah's was the original, so it's not another case of an awful cover being more well-known than the original.

 

Shayne Ward's 'That's My Goal' comes to mind for this and maybe a few of Westlife's original songs.

Edited June 21, 201312 yr by Bré

I used to think that as well! Was kinda glad when I found out Mariah's was the original, so it's not another case of an awful cover being more well-known than the original.

 

Shayne Ward's 'That's My Goal' comes to mind for this and maybe a few of Westlife's original songs.

 

What do you mean Westlife have done original songs? :blink:

I thought Red Dragon's 'Compliments on Your Kiss' was a cover for years, cus it came out at the same time there was a trend for 90s reggaefying older songs (Dawn Penn's 'You Don't Love Me', CJ Lewis's 'Sweets for My Sweet', Bitty McClean's 'Dedicated to the One I Love' etc). Was really surprised when I found out it was actually an original track.

I used to think that as well! Was kinda glad when I found out Mariah's was the original, so it's not another case of an awful cover being more well-known than the original.

 

Shayne Ward's 'That's My Goal' comes to mind for this and maybe a few of Westlife's original songs.

I'm shocked 'That's My Goal' isn't a cover. My favourite winners single off The X Factor UK tbh (my favourite winners single comes from Samantha Jade's 'What You've Done To Me' of the Australian version, from the ones that I've heard... 'Sound Of The Underground' (I know it's not from The X Factor) is also even better... More original songs as winners singles plz).

Edited June 22, 201312 yr by Juranamo

IIRC, 'That's My Goal' was rejected by Westlife - I think they recorded it as an anthem for some sporting contest but it was never used.

On the subject of Christmas songs, Kylie Minogue's version of Santa Baby is unfortunately more well known than the Eartha Kitt original :( I've no idea why, Kylie's cover is awful

All I Want from Christmas Is You obvo sounds like a classic 60s pop song so it's not wonder people thought it was around before 1994.

Natalie Imbruglia Torn is a cover - can't remember who did the original and im sure I read somewhere Christina Aguilera's What A Girl Wants is a cover too.

 

One that I never knew for years was a cover that i just found out recently was Madness and One Step Beyond originally by Prince Buster.

I remember being quite shocked that 'What A Girl Wants' was a cover. It was hard enough to believe that somebody thought that song was worth recording once, let alone twice. And 'Torn' has cropped up a few times in this thread already.

 

Yeah, I was thinking of mentioning 'One Step Beyond' too. I presume more people realised it was a cover at the time, since it was the follow-up to a song about Prince Buster, and the B-side of that was another of his songs (which they were also named after) but it seems to have gone down in history with their version now. I think it's been mentioned before, but their version of 'It Must Be Love' is the better-known one now too. Not sure about 'Sweetest Girl' though.

On a related note, I'm guessing a lot more people know the Specials version of 'A Message To You Rudy' than the original.

www.whosampled.com is a very useful website, it also also some details about cover versions and remixes there too.

I remember being quite shocked that 'What A Girl Wants' was a cover. It was hard enough to believe that somebody thought that song was worth recording once, let alone twice.

Who did the original then?

 

Wikipedia says that it was written by 2 writers who pitched the song, but it doesn't say it was recorded and released by anyone prior to Aguilera.

 

 

 

Pet Shop Boys - Always on my mind (Elvis)

Pet Shop Boys- Go West (Village people)

Kylie Minogue -The locomotion (Eva)

 

Actually, TBH I just read the headlines about 'What A Girl Wants' so I don't really know the true story of it. I just mentioned it to get the dig in. But presumably there was some reason they said it about that song rather than the bigger 'Genie In A Bottle', which she didn't write either.

 

I'm not sure I can agree that the PSB version of 'Always On My Mind' is more famous than Elvis (even if you count his as original) but I think you're right with 'Go West'. And 'It's Alright' too, of course.

Definitely not on the "Go West" front. - Village People all the way.

Maybe it depends on how old people are, but I'm sure if you asked most people who sung Go West they'd say the PSBs.

 

I didn't know it was a cover until about a decade later.

Westlife, they covered that Daughtry song but I'd say the Westlife one is better known, in the UK at least.

All I Want from Christmas Is You obvo sounds like a classic 60s pop song so it's not wonder people thought it was around before 1994.

 

Well, it's in that style and it's an obvious pastiche, but it's really doesn't compare to the Spector-era Christmas tunes.

Should also point out that a song isn't really a "cover" if there was an unreleased version by another act at around the same time - it's pretty common practice for songwriters to hawk their songs to more than one act. I'd say a cover has to be a song that was written by the artist that recorded it originally, or at least a recorded song that is synonymous with an act (e.g. Elvis) and then re-recorded by another significantly later. Some of the suggestions on here are a little trite.