Compare some of your faves. Which songs should have never been remade? Which remakes sounded better than the original? Or is it a tie since the interpretation is so different. Here are a choice few:

"Twist and Shout" - The Isley Brothers vs. The Beatles

I was more familiar with The Beatles version, and even tho I love me some Isley Brothers, I would have to give the edge to fab 5 remake.


"Got to Be There" - The Jackson 5 vs. Chaka Khan

It's a tie. The Jackson 4 version is a classic. Chaka's interpretation and powerhouse sound gets me everytime.


"I Still Believe" - Brenda K. Starr vs. Mariah Carey

Gotta give it to the one hit wonder. I don't recall if it was a major hit. It was popular in the late 80's. Then ex-friend remakes the song and tries to show her up. By then I was tired of Mariah, so Brenda gets my vote.

"What You Won't Do (Do For Love)" - Bobby Caldwell vs. Go West

It's a classic for Bobby so he would get the obvious edge, but Go West did a pretty good remake.

funkyslsistah said:

Go West?!? I never heard that version and I'm rather sceptic... but I'll take your word for it however, Roy Ayers did a pretty gogod job on that song as well, I like his rendition very much... still the original can't be beat in a million years!

Mariah's remake of "I Still Believe" sucks It just didn't have the power and the emotion of the original by Brenda K.Starr

Some remakes I really like are:

Knock On Wood - Amii Stewart
Heard It Through The Grapevine - Roger
I Feel For You - Chaka Khan
I Do Love You - GQ
Love On A Two Way Street - Stacy Lattisaw

Other than those rare exceptions, I usually prefer originals.

vainandy said:

yep, Grapevine is surely one of the best covers ever! I also enjoyed when Roger did "In The Midnight Hour"

some others I like:
Chimes - I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
Stephanie Mills - How come you don't call me






could it be I mentioned those in previous threads in the past? I suddenly have this strange feeling of Deja vu....


however... I also very much like Roger's version of I heard it through the Grapevine

vainandy said:

Rahiem from GQ ( bass player and lead singer) Idolized Billy stewart they also did sitting in the park

Oops, I forgot that one. I like that one too. I also forgot Chaka Khan's "My Love Is Alive".

That's another good one I forgot.

Jackie Wilson Vs The Chi Lites "you got me walkin"

Luther's Creepin' is better than Stevie's.

...


What do Y'all think of these covers and originals?



James Taylor's version of "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)" vs Marvin Gaye's original...



The Isley Brothers' version of "Hello, It's Me" vs. Todd Rundgren's original...


Luther Vandross's version Of "A House Is Not A Home" vs any of Burt Bacharach's original versions...



Luther Vandross's version of "Anyone who had A Heart" vs. Dionne Warwick/Burt Bacharach's original...



New Birth's version of "Wildflower" vs. the Skylark original....


Friends of Distinction's vocal version of "Grazin' In The Grass" vs Hugh Masekela's original instrumental...



Young Holt Unlinmited's instrumental, "Soulful Strut" vs. Barbara Acklin's original vocal version, "Am I The Same Girl"...




Luther Vandross's version of "If Only For One Night" vs. Brenda Russell's original...



The Isleys' version of "Summer Breeze" vs the Seals and Crofts original....





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[Edited 10/19/05 10:32am]

Stymie said:

Hmmm...sorry I'd have to disagree. Wasn't that around the time when Luther recorded a bunch of remakes? It wasn't bad, it just didn't leave me the same feeling I get from Stevie's.

Why do you prefer Luther's?

paligap said:

I didn't know that! I wonder if I've heard the Barbara Acklin before..

CinisterCee said:

well swing out sister did a cover of the cover of the cover

TheRealFiness said:

Yup!!

Oh, and which version of "La la Means I Love You" do y'all like?

Damn, how many times has that been covered?



....
[Edited 10/19/05 10:37am]

paligap said:

i always dug the J5 version

TheRealFiness said:

Yeah, I think that'd be my favorite, too.....



...

Any cover Luther or Isleys did is as good as the original and sometimes it's far superior.

Isleys: "Listen to the Music", "Summer Breeze", "It's Too Late", "Brother, Brother, Brother", "Hello It's Me", "Spill The Wine", "Lay Lady Lay" "Love The One You're With" "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight".

Luther: "Creepin'", "A House Is Not A Home", "Love Won't Let Me Wait", "Havin' A party (medley with original "Bad Boy", "If This World Were Mine (duet with Cheryl Lynn), "Since I Lost My Baby"

and there are more of both.



Oh, the Luther version of "Creepin' matches up to Stevie cuz Luther gets that chest growl thing rumbling he and it just rocks the whole house and when you catch on to those fine-ass background singers taunting the fellows with "You creep" it's a total freak-out!!

funkyslsistah said:

Stevie sings that song like he's bored to me. Except for Minnie's beautiful voice in the end, I can do without it altogether.

In regards to "Hello It's Me", The Isley version is better than the version Todd Rundgren did for Something/Anything, but the original version Todd made with the Nazz is better than both.

Stymie said:

I can see that. I always felt the song as if somebody is creepin' into the dream, almost in an understated, subtle way. That's how his version comes across to me.

TheRealFiness said:

I like the Swing Out Sister cover of a cover of the cover.

paligap said:

Both versions are classics, and I hesitate to say I prefer one over the other. I'll give Isleys' version the edge if only because it's so different from the original.



I know I'm in the minority on this one, but I don't like Luther's version of A House is Not a Home. Not a bit. Dionne's version is a perfect pop record!




Again, no competition. This song may very well be my favorite Warwick recording. So haunting and beautiful.


Okay, this one I cannot choose! Both are exquisite in their own individual ways!

PFunkjazz said:

That whole project is great! I love their take on OHIO. I don't think there's another group that did remakes as well as they did. They actually reconstructed the songs...even their own when they re-worked That Lady.

funkyslsistah said:

what am i gonna do with u

Covers I like better than the originals:

Superstar - Luther Vandross over The Carpenters
Red Red Wine - UB40 over Neil Diamond
Everytime You Go Away - Paul Young over Daryl Hall and John Oates (though I like their version too.)
Twist And Shout - The Beatles over The Isley Brothers
More Than A Woman - Tavares over the Bee Gees
I Will Always Love You - Whitney Houston over Dolly Parton
The Greatest Love of All - Whitney Houston over George Benson
The Man Who Sold The World - Nirvana over David Bowie
Nothing Compares 2 U - Sinead O'Connor over Prince
I Feel For You - Chaka Khan over Prince

728huey said:

Everyone has their preferences, I know. But you really prefer Whitney's version of I Will Always Love You to any of Dolly's versions?

Superstar is a favorite of mine, and another Luther cover that I'm only so so about. The Carpenters' take on it is actually a cover, too.

vainandy said:

Yes! Definitely those two, along with some of my other favorite remakes, but not necessarily prefered:

Together - Tierra

All I Do Is Think Of You - Troop

Do Me, Baby - Melissa Morgan

Natural High - Def Con 4