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Thread started 10/27/17 4:19pm

MickyDolenz

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Remakes you like better than the originals

O'Bryan - You And I
Nancy Wilson - Guess Who I Saw Today
Aretha Franklin - Respect
Aretha Franklin - Jumpin' Jack Flash

Manfred Mann's Earth Band - Blinded By The Light
Johnnie Taylor - The Lady In Red
Run-DMC - Walk This Way

The Jets - La La Means I Love You

Thelma Houston - Don't Leave Me This Way

Earth Wind & Fire - Got To Get You Into My Life

Billy Idol - To Be A Lover

Billy Idol - Mony Mony (live version, I don't like the studio version)

Swing Out Sister - Am I The Same Girl
Jackson 5 - Who's Lovin' You

Brand New Heavies - I Don't Know Why

Creedence Clearwater Revival - I Heard It Through The Grapevine

B.B.King - The Thrill Is Gone

Minnie Riperton feat. Jose Feliciano - Light My Fire
George Benson - Breezin'
George Benson feat. Patti Austin - Moody's Mood
Manhattan Transfer - The Boy From New York City
Color Me Badd - The Bells

Gap Band - Going In Circles
Los Lobos - La Bamba
Bill Haley & His Comets - Rock Around The Clock
Sam Cooke - Cousin Of Mine
David Lee Roth - Just A Gigolo / I Ain't Got Nobody
Otis Redding & Carla Thomas - Tramp
Rolling Stones - Harlem Shuffle
Marlena Shaw - Yu Ma / Go Away Little Boy
5th Dimension - Wedding Bell Blues
Whitney Houston - Saving All My Love For You
Isley Brothers - Lay Lady Lay
Wham! - If You Were There
Chubby Checker - The Twist
Stevie Wonder - For Once In My Life

You can take a black guy to Nashville from right out of the cotton fields with bib overalls, and they will call him R&B. You can take a white guy in a pin-stripe suit who’s never seen a cotton field, and they will call him country. ~ O. B. McClinton
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Reply #1 posted 10/27/17 8:38pm

datdude

Creep - Luther Vandross
I Feel 4 U - Chaka Khan
It's My Life - No Doubt
Tainted Love - Soft Cell
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Reply #2 posted 10/27/17 9:12pm

phunkdaddy

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Chante Savage - I Will Survive

Gap Band - Going In Circles

Graham Central Station - Ain't No Fun To Me, I Can't Stand The Rain

GQ - I Do Love You

Brownstowne - I Can't Tell You Why

Sharon Bryant - Foolish Heart

Average White Band - If I Ever Lose This Heaven

Lakeside - I Wanna Hold Your Hand

Isley Brothers - Summer Breeze

Don't laugh at my funk
This funk is a serious joint
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Reply #3 posted 10/28/17 12:02am

Comser

Kim Wilde - If I Can’t Have You ; You Keep Me Hangin On
Whitney Houston - Look Into Your Heart ; Greatest Love Of All
Taylor Dayne - Can’t Get Enough Of Your Love
Lisa Stansfield - Never, Never Gonna Give You Up
Diana Ross - Ain’t No Mountain High Enough
Stacy Lattisaw - Love On A Two-Way Street
George Michael - Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me
Madonna - American Pie
Dolly Parton - I Will Always Love You (I like her 1982 remake of the original from the 70s)
Real McCoy - Come And Get Your Love
Ace Of Base - Don’t Turn Around
Dionne & Friends - That’s What Friends Are For

These are a few I can think of for now.....
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Reply #4 posted 10/28/17 5:46am

TonyVanDam

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The Power Station -- Bang A Bong
Janet Jackson -- One More Chance

Vanilla Fudge -- Keep Me Hangin' On

Kim Wilder -- Keep Me Hangin' On

Chaka Khan -- I Feel For You

The Pointer Sisters -- Echos Of Love

The Pointer Sisters -- Angry Eyes

Prince -- Betcha By Golly, Wow

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Reply #5 posted 10/28/17 6:47am

hausofmoi7

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I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man - Jordan Knight

I like what Robin Thicke did with the production.
It was a great song that he had to work with by one of the great songwriters.


.
[Edited 10/28/17 6:54am]
“It means finding the very human narrative of a man navigating between idealism and pragmatism, faith and politics, non- violence, the pitfalls of acclaim as the perils of rejection” - Lesley Hazleton on the first Muslim, the prophet.
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Reply #6 posted 10/28/17 6:56am

hausofmoi7

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Knocks Me Off My Feet - Luther Vandross.
Superstar - Luther Vandross



.
[Edited 10/28/17 7:07am]
“It means finding the very human narrative of a man navigating between idealism and pragmatism, faith and politics, non- violence, the pitfalls of acclaim as the perils of rejection” - Lesley Hazleton on the first Muslim, the prophet.
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Reply #7 posted 10/28/17 4:10pm

UnderMySun

Kim Carnes- More Love

Melissa Manchester- You Should Hear How She Talks About You, Johnny And Mary

Pointer Sisters- Fire

Linda Ronstadt- Hurt So Bad

[Edited 11/5/17 18:32pm]

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Reply #8 posted 10/28/17 4:39pm

anc282

GEORGE MICHÆL sang this song so much better.

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Reply #9 posted 10/28/17 5:46pm

RJOrion

"Got To Get You Into My Life"-earthwind&fire

"Where Have All The Flowers Gone?"- earthwind&fire
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Reply #10 posted 10/28/17 5:47pm

RJOrion

"Who's Loving You" - Jackson5
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Reply #11 posted 10/28/17 6:08pm

ThePanther

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MickyDolenz said:

Manfred Mann's Earth Band - Blinded By The Light


Earth Wind & Fire - Got To Get You Into My Life

Creedence Clearwater Revival - I Heard It Through The Grapevine


Minnie Riperton feat. Jose Feliciano - Light My Fire


Bill Haley & His Comets - Rock Around The Clock


Some interesting/odd choices here. I know "Blinded by the Light" hit US#1 for Manfred's Earth Band, but I personally much prefer Springsteen's original, which captures giddy adolescence a lot better, I think. I love Earth Wind & Fire, but actually "Got to Get You Into My Life" is the one track on their Greatest Hits I don't like -- The Beatles' original is perfect enough, and the EW&F recording kind of drags, for me. It doesn't have the jump of the original. You're probably the first person I've ever heard rate CCR's "Grapevine" above Marvin Gaye's (itself a cover)... interesting choice, but odd. "Light My Fire" is perfect by The Doors, and did not need to be covered.

I never thought of 'Rock Around the Clock' as a cover. If Wikipedia is correct, it was written specifically for Bill Haley, but Sonny Dae and His Knights (who?) somehow got to it first. However, they recorded it only 23 days before Bill Haley and the Comets, so I'm wondering if Bill Haley even heard it before he recorded it himself. Anyway, I just listened to Sonny Dae's cut, and it kind of blows, so I guess you are right. wink

The thing is, a lot of old songs from, say, the 1940s, 50s, and even into the 60s -- "I Heard it Through the Grapevine" is a good example --, I don't really think of the alternate versions as "covers", unless a previous version is really iconic or was incredibly successful. It was just more commonplace then for various artists to record the same song.

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Reply #12 posted 10/28/17 6:11pm

ThePanther

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Comser said:

Madonna - American Pie


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Reply #13 posted 10/28/17 6:24pm

TrivialPursuit

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Natalie Imbruglia - "Torn"

Donna Summer - "MacArthur Park"

Laura Branigan - "Gloria"

Laura Branigan - "Self Control"

Laura Branigan - "The Power of Love" (also covered by Celine Dion, for reference)

Cher - "The Power" (an Amy Grant original 4 years prior)

[Edited 10/28/17 18:31pm]

"eye don’t really care so much what people say about me because it is a reflection of who they r."
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Reply #14 posted 10/28/17 7:04pm

MickyDolenz

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ThePanther said:

"Light My Fire" is perfect by The Doors, and did not need to be covered.

I don't like The Doors at all other than 1 song, and Light My Fire isn't it. I've only heard 4 or 5 songs by them and wasn't really interested. They're one of those acts I've heard very little. Really I heard the Minnie version of Light My Fire first. I wasn't aware it was a remake like I wasn't aware Blinded By The Light & Respect were remakes. Then later I heard the Jose Feliciano solo version. I didn't hear The Doors version until the late 1980s on some TV commercial. Before that I hadn't heard them at all. Most of my relatives either listened to R&B, soul, blues, or gospel. Maybe a few jazz & country listeners, but there was nobody who listened to The Doors or white groups in general for the majority of them, except acts like AWB, Teena Marie, Tom Jones, Elvis, & Doobie Brothers. As far as CCR, I like the long jam at the end, which the Gladys Knight & The Pips & Marvin Gaye versions don't have. Kind of what other bands of the time like Vanilla Fudge & Rare Earth were doing. Technically Marvin's was recorded first, but Berry Gordy didn't like it so didn't release it and put out Gladys version. I like their versions though.

You can take a black guy to Nashville from right out of the cotton fields with bib overalls, and they will call him R&B. You can take a white guy in a pin-stripe suit who’s never seen a cotton field, and they will call him country. ~ O. B. McClinton
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Reply #15 posted 10/29/17 5:21am

anc282

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Reply #16 posted 10/29/17 7:16am

AlexdeParis

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I prefer almost every Whitney Houston cover:
Saving All My Love for You
The Greatest Love of All
All the Man That I Need
I Will Always Love You
I Believe in You and Me

The Isley Brothers and Aretha Franklin recorded a boatload of covers and more often than not I prefer their versions. Cyndi Lauper gets a gold star for “All Through the Night” because the original is tragically bad.

Virtually every Smokey Robinson song Michael Jackson covered is an improvement:
Who’s Lovin’ You
(Come ‘Round Here) I’m the One You Need
The Love I Saw in You Was Just a Mirage
Darling Dear

More controversially:

Off the top of my head, the only cover of a Stevie Wonder song that I prefer is little Mike's “With a Child’s Heart.” I love Luther but I’ll take a hard pass on his Stevie covers every time. How he managed to wring all the sexiness out of “Creepin’” is mystifying.

Troop has done it twice IMO, because I prefer their takes on “Sweet November” and “All I Do Is Think of You.”
"Whitney was purely and simply one of a kind." ~ Clive Davis
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Reply #17 posted 10/29/17 11:46am

MickyDolenz

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Roberta Flack - Killing Me Softly

Elvis Presley - Suspicious Minds

Blondie - The Tide Is High

Tesla - Signs

New Edition - Mr. Telephone Man

Randy Travis - It's Just A Matter Of Time

Al Green - For The Good Times

Al Green - How Can You Mend A Broken Heart

Isley Brothers - Twist & Shout

The Beatles - Twist & Shout

Phil Collins - You Can't Hurry Love

Phil Collins - Groovy Kind Of Love

Mötley Crüe - Smokin' In The Boys Room

The Carpenters - Close To You

George Benson - Unchained Melody

A Taste Of Honey - I'll Try Something New

A Taste Of Honey - Sukiyaki

Glen Campbell - Southern Nights

Glen Campbell - Rhinestone Cowboy

Third World - Now That We Found Love

O'Jays - Wildflower

The Wiz movie cast - Everybody Rejoice

Rod Stewart - Some Guys Have All The Luck

Roger feat. Mighty Clouds Of Joy - Midnight Hour

You can take a black guy to Nashville from right out of the cotton fields with bib overalls, and they will call him R&B. You can take a white guy in a pin-stripe suit who’s never seen a cotton field, and they will call him country. ~ O. B. McClinton
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Reply #18 posted 10/29/17 8:23pm

Goddess4Real

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Here are some of my all-time fav remakes ......Rocket Man by Kate Bush (1991)

Pinball Wizard by Elton John (1975)

Let's Stay Together by Tina Turner (1983)

Fire by The Pointer Sisters (1978)

Whenever I Lay My Hat by Paul Young (1983)

[Edited 10/29/17 20:27pm]

[Edited 10/29/17 20:29pm]

Keep Calm & Listen To Prince
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Reply #19 posted 10/30/17 5:32am

KoolEaze

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Girls Just Wanna Have Fun- Cindy Lauper

Betcha By Golly Wow -Prince

Summer Breeze- The Isley Brothers

I Can´t Make You Love Me- George Michael

All Along The Watchtower- Jimi Hendrix

Walk On By- Isaac Hayes

A Case Of You- Prince

One Of Us- Prince

" I´d rather be a stank ass hoe because I´m not stupid. Oh my goodness! I got more drugs! I´m always funny dude...I´m hilarious! Are we gonna smoke?"
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Reply #20 posted 10/30/17 9:08am

namepeace

"Walk On By" -- Isaac Hayes

"Proud Mary" -- Ike and Tina Turner

"Love You Down" -- Me'Shell Ndgeocello

"My Favorite Things" -- John Coltrane

"White Christmas" -- The Supremes

"Hello, It's Me" -- The Isley Brothers

"Light My Fire" -- Al Green

"Spartacus Love Theme" -- Bill Evans

"Stella By Starlight" -- Ray Charles

"Addicted To Love" -- Tina Turner (live, 1988)

[Edited 10/30/17 9:14am]

Good night, sweet Prince | 7 June 1958 - 21 April 2016

Props will be withheld until the showing and proving has commenced. -- Aaron McGruder
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Reply #21 posted 10/30/17 9:10am

namepeace

MickyDolenz said:


Run-DMC - Walk This Way


The Jets - La La Means I Love You


Thelma Houston - Don't Leave Me This Way


Earth Wind & Fire - Got To Get You Into My Life


Swing Out Sister - Am I The Same Girl

B.B.King - The Thrill Is Gone


George Benson - Breezin'


Los Lobos - La Bamba

Bill Haley & His Comets - Rock Around The Clock

Marlena Shaw - Yu Ma / Go Away Little Boy

Wham! - If You Were There

Chubby Checker - The Twist


Stevie Wonder - For Once In My Life


I'd agree on all but Wham! (though it's a hand-in-glove cover)

Good night, sweet Prince | 7 June 1958 - 21 April 2016

Props will be withheld until the showing and proving has commenced. -- Aaron McGruder
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Reply #22 posted 10/30/17 6:00pm

214

KoolEaze said:

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun- Cindy Lauper

Betcha By Golly Wow -Prince

Summer Breeze- The Isley Brothers

I Can´t Make You Love Me- George Michael

All Along The Watchtower- Jimi Hendrix

Walk On By- Isaac Hayes

A Case Of You- Prince

One Of Us- Prince

Summer Breeze is such a great version, love it.

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Reply #23 posted 10/30/17 8:51pm

phunkdaddy

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New Birth - Wildflower, I Can Understand It

Isaac Hayes - I Stand Accused

Gene Chandler - You Threw A Lucky Punch

Don't laugh at my funk
This funk is a serious joint
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Reply #24 posted 10/30/17 8:57pm

RJOrion

Marvin Gaye may have had a bigger commercial hit with "Grapevine" but his version was not better than the original...the instrumental track was funkier on GK & The Pips version, and Gladys sang the shit outta that joint (sounding like a younger more soulful Tina Turner)...dont let the charts and airplay fool you...and as much as i love The Isley Brothers music, Seals & Crofts version of "Summer Breeze" had a certain ethereal spirit to it that The Isleys didnt duplicate...

*throws 2 cents on the ground*

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Reply #25 posted 10/30/17 11:04pm

TrivialPursuit

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anc282 said:

GEORGE MICHÆL sang this song so much better.


YES! An old Was (Not Was) track from a few years prior.

"eye don’t really care so much what people say about me because it is a reflection of who they r."
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Reply #26 posted 10/31/17 4:18am

phunkdaddy

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RJOrion said:

Marvin Gaye may have had a bigger commercial hit with "Grapevine" but his version was not better than the original...the instrumental track was funkier on GK & The Pips version, and Gladys sang the shit outta that joint (sounding like a younger more soulful Tina Turner)...dont let the charts and airplay fool you...and as much as i love The Isley Brothers music, Seals & Crofts version of "Summer Breeze" had a certain ethereal spirit to it that The Isleys didnt duplicate...




*throws 2 cents on the ground*



I'm with you on the Pips version of Grapevine. As much as I like Seals and Crofts version of Summer Breeze ain't no way in hell I'm taking their version over the Isleys. Listening to the song anticipating the buildup to Ernie Isley's soaring lead guitar gives me a Ruuuush everytime. That boy took notes very well from Hendrix.
[Edited 11/4/17 22:19pm]
Don't laugh at my funk
This funk is a serious joint
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Reply #27 posted 10/31/17 5:05am

Dancelot

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RJOrion said:

Marvin Gaye may have had a bigger commercial hit with "Grapevine" but his version was not better than the original...the instrumental track was funkier on GK & The Pips version, and Gladys sang the shit outta that joint (sounding like a younger more soulful Tina Turner)

I agree. but I have to add that Roger Troutman tops both above versions

Vanglorious... this is protected by the red, the black, and the green. With a key... sissy!
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Reply #28 posted 10/31/17 12:22pm

MickyDolenz

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Dancelot said:

but I have to add that Roger Troutman tops both above versions

I like CCR's version better than Roger's version too.

You can take a black guy to Nashville from right out of the cotton fields with bib overalls, and they will call him R&B. You can take a white guy in a pin-stripe suit who’s never seen a cotton field, and they will call him country. ~ O. B. McClinton
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Reply #29 posted 10/31/17 12:27pm

MickyDolenz

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namepeace said:

MickyDolenz said:


Run-DMC - Walk This Way


The Jets - La La Means I Love You


Thelma Houston - Don't Leave Me This Way


Earth Wind & Fire - Got To Get You Into My Life


Swing Out Sister - Am I The Same Girl

B.B.King - The Thrill Is Gone


George Benson - Breezin'


Los Lobos - La Bamba

Bill Haley & His Comets - Rock Around The Clock

Marlena Shaw - Yu Ma / Go Away Little Boy

Wham! - If You Were There

Chubby Checker - The Twist


Stevie Wonder - For Once In My Life


I'd agree on all but Wham! (though it's a hand-in-glove cover)

I didn't know Thelma's was a remake until the mid-1990s.

You can take a black guy to Nashville from right out of the cotton fields with bib overalls, and they will call him R&B. You can take a white guy in a pin-stripe suit who’s never seen a cotton field, and they will call him country. ~ O. B. McClinton
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