Less famous covers that you knew before the more famous originals

me too...I remember thinking the Los Lobos version was the original when I was a kid

I heard the Blues Magoos version of "I Can Hear the Grass Grow" before I heard the original by The Move. Not a very famous song, either version. but still...

I just had a friend ask me if I had a copy of "this really great R.E.M. song, 'All I Have To Do Is Dream.'"

Various songs appearing on The Residents Present the Third Reich 'n' Roll including "Double Shot of My Baby's Love"

anybody that grew up in the 80s will be shortly naming a Bananarama song

Psuedo Echo's cover of "Funky Town", originally by Lipps Inc.

Several Beatles' covers of mainly Chuck Berry numbers.

Beatles cover >>>>>>more famous>>>>>>> Chuck Berry original

Embarassingly (because based on Chairs Missing and Pink Flag and even the Dome albums I always considered myself a huge Wire fan) I heard the Fisherspooner version of "The 15th" first

Also Souled American's version of Little Feat's "Six Feet Of Snow," which by the way is one of the best cover songs ever

REM's cover o' "Superman"
Nazareth's cover of "This Flight Tonight" (it took fukken decades before I heard the 'riginal:)

I know the Monroe recording is not the "original", but it's certainly at least one of the best versions of the song:

I heard my parents and various friends and relatives sing "Happy Birthday" to me & my sister long before I heard the recording of Marilyn Monroe singing to JFK.

Uh, make that best known

loads of Spacemen 3 covers - "Will the Circle Be Unbroken", "Che", "MaryAnne", "Rollercoaster", "Starship"

altho I guess most of those aren't "famous" really

Bill Medley: "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother"

Love & Rockets - "Ball of Confusion"

Elton John "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" before The Beatles

Hall & Oates' "You've Lost That Loving Feeling" before The Righteous Brothers

Elton John "Pinball Wizard" before The Who.

Talking Heads - "Take Me To the River"

Many, many Bob Dylan songs. I didn't even start listening to Dylan until I was 22 or 23.

Snuff - I Think We're Alone Now

Testament - Nobody's Fault
I had no idea that this was a cover until I mentioned to someone that I couldn't understand why that song was so horribly much worse than the rest of the album. Fellow looked at me and asked if I'd heard of Aerosmith. Pfft! (Hmm, I don't actually know if it -is- a famous Aerosmith song. For all I know it might be a b-side. I've never heard the original, thankfully.)

Phil Collins - "Tomorrow Never Knows"

the fall - victoria
mirage - tomorrow never knows
bangles - live

superchunk - train from kansas city

Given my age, I think I'm allowed to not be embarrassed by knowing Paul Young's "Love Will Tear Us Apart" before encountering Joy Division.

rainy day - holocaust
rail - back of a car
this mortal coil - kangaroo
teenage fanclub - free again

clearly i was a late arrival to big star

Many, many Bob Dylan songs. I didn't even start listening to Dylan until I was 22 or 23.

I'd claim that most famous cover versions of Dylan songs are actually more famous than the originals.

Such as?

All Along the Watchtower
Mr. Tambourine Man

Yeh.

Camper Van Beethoven's "Insterstallar Overdrive" - not IO but, for me: "Pictures of Matchstick Men"
Love & Rockets - "Ball of Confusion" - yes

also:
"Tower of Song" - Jesus & Mary Chain
"People are Strange" - Echo & the Bunnymen
"Rawhide" - Dead Kennedys
"Radar Love" - White Lion

that was me that told you that Oystein. and that song doesn't suck.

Kristin Hersh - Trouble

Elton John "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" before The Beatles

-- Joe, Monday, 12 November 2007 21:57 (1 hour ago) Link

Elton John "Pinball Wizard" before The Who.

-- snoball, Monday, 12 November 2007 21:59 (1 hour ago) Link

Oh yes, my mom was/is an Elton fan, so these. In fact, I've still never heard the original "Pinball Wizard".

Al Kooper's version of "Season of the Witch"
Blood, Sweat & Tears "40,000 Headmen"
Patti Smith "Gloria"

In fact, I've still never heard the original "Pinball Wizard".

Lucky boy.

Actually, come to mention it...

The New Seekers "Pinball Wizard" before The Who.

Add the following to the list by Shakey of Dylan covers more famous than the originals:

All I Ever Want To Do - The Byrds
My Back Pages - The Byrds
If You Gotta Go Go Now - Manfred Mann
The Mighty Quinn - Manfred Mann
If Not For You - Olivia Newton-John
I Shall Be Released - The Band

Arguably also "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" (Clapton, GnR) although Dylan's own version of that song has become quite famous too.

number one cup - the monkey song

(haha 'famous')

Bad News- Bohemian Rhapsody
Minutemen- Dr. Wu

All of the Minutemen's covers except the Creedence ones. Most of them I've heard the originals since hearing the covers, but I still haven't ever heard the original "Ack Ack Ack." And I only heard the Meat Puppets' original "Lost" for the first time in the last couple of months.

Probably a lot of Jesus and Mary Chain songs, including:

Vegetable Man (Pink Floyd)
Mushroom (Can)

Also:

"On Tape" by Teenage Gang Debs (Pooh Sticks)
"Mobo" by The Dustdevils (Hose, see Rick Rubin)
"Heartbeat" by Big Black (Wire)
"I Love Her All the Time" Camper Van (Sonic Youth)
a bunch of Feelies covers, inluding Dancing Barefoot, Sedan Delivery, etc.
"A Fifth of Beethoven" (I was young)
"Black Diamond" by The Replacements (Kiss)
"Citadel" by Red Kross (Stones)

Let's add the Wedding Present's version of "Box Elder" RIGHT
HERE...

Counting Crows - Big Yellow Taxi

...

'Black Night' by Vic Reeves (the Deep Purple ditty)

I heard Li Yuchun's cover of Shakira's "Eyes Like Yours" before I ever heard Shakira, at all.

Is the original Talk Talk more famous than Alice Cooper's version? I've been listening to that since it came out, and I just heard the original for the first time yesterday.

The F.U.'s version of Green Beret.

The Soft Pink Truth's cover of Crass's 'Do They Owe Us A Living?'

The Breeders - Happiness Is A Warm Gun
U2 - Helter Skelter
Aerosmith - I'm Down
Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel - Here Comes The Sun

http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B00002MVQO.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

Boyz II Men - Yesterday

What audience does TATU cater to (actual question)?

― to party with our demons (Sund4r)

Compared to The Smiths? I’d say rockist vs popist. Nowadays the lines are blurred but it didn’t feel that way in the early 00s.

As I said, I suspected The Smiths original was the most popular version but in my experience I don’t know many Smiths or TATU fans, I’m just going by the reaction whenever that song is played. Usually friends born 88-onwards know it by the cover.

I don’t care about that song in particular, but I do get frustrated when I play “Running up that hill” in a social gathering and I hear someone telling me “oh good one! The Placebo song!”

Interesting. The Smiths song was even used in car commercials here in the early 00s. The only TATU song I've heard (and the only one that charted in Canada, based on Wikipedia) is "All The Things She Said". If I expected people to know a cover of "How Soon Is Now", it would probably the one that was used for Charmed (Love Spit Love?).

However, the first version of "How Soon Is Now" that I heard was the Meatmen's, which is definitely a candidate for this thread.

Anyhoo to expand on the TATU vs The Smiths audience: I think people who were listening to TATU were very most likely not into indie/jangle rock from the 80’s or even aware of who The Smiths were.

Maybe in England the experience was different, maybe the Smiths were still a popular band in the teenage demographic in the early 00s.

I thought they were big in Mexico?

They are, but they’re actually more popular in the mexican communities in California, not in Mexico per se. Also not for my particular demographic. Everyone I’ve spoken to born after 1990 don’t seem to be aware or have a strong opinion on them.

Yeah, they're not a band I find cross over that great with younger people here either ime. I've never known a non-ilxor who listens to TATU, though.

Again, this is pretty much my isolated experience so take it with a grain of salt. In the late 90s/early 00s internet was pretty much a luxury in Mexico and there wasn’t much outsider influence. Older, legacy bands were only shared either by older siblings and friends or via MTV or VH1 and I don’t think I ever watched a The Smiths video on either. I think I became aware of The Smiths until my mid 20’s and it was via internet. It wasn’t until my late 20’s that I actually overheard them in a social context - via “This Charming Man” - and it was actually in Spain not in Mexico.

Yeah, they're not a band I find cross over that great with younger people here either ime. I've never known a non-ilxor who listens to TATU, though.

― to party with our demons (Sund4r)

I don’t know anyone who still listens to TATU but “all the things she said” and “how is soon is now?” were extremely popular in my demographic when they came out. Nowadays they’re more of a “hey remember this band?” sort of thing.

I can see “all the things she said” was pretty much a top 10 hit everywhere except the US: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_the_Things_She_Said

The cover of “How soon is now” was only a top 10 hit in Chile, Mexico, Sweden, Russia and Greece. Might explain why I perceive it as a more popular song than what it actually was.

The Residents, "Good Lovin'" / The Rascals, "Good Lovin'".

There's bound to be other Residents' tracks because they often covered songs that were 60s US hits but did nothing in the UK.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtuUpoiKQtQ

Great, didn't look at th evideo playing since it started with a record label picture.
Oh well .
mainly posted because it would be teh opposite of the thread.
Covers of odd choices by artists well known for other stuff
THihk this should be sharable
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QV8KN9fDaE.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfnOaLQHKh8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-QT3AWtcjI