Handbags and Gladrags, both the Rod Stewart and Stereophonics versions.
i didnt know about the rod stewart version, not until the stereophonics covered it. for me, the best known version is chris farlowes which is an all time fave. but i dont think many are aware of it and the stereophonics will surely be the 'best known'..
If both versions are well known you'll probably pick the one you like best and as I think Gary Jules version was the most miserable pile of dross I've heard I'd always go for TFF's version.
the 'generation thing'.... i agree with its nick about 'mad world', but many who bought gary jules version are unlikely to have known much about the original, if anything.
so there clearly is a 'generation thing' when it comes to covers.
In fact the Marilyn Manson version is clearly based on the Soft Cell cover, I'm not sure he ever even heard the Gloria Jones original beforehand.
I'm not sure the generational thing always applies, Only You and Valerie had both been hits just a year before their even more successful covers.
i wasnt aware of the gloria jones original until soft cells success.
fair point, re the generation thing. obviously there would usually need to be a gap between 2 successful versions, but isnt that what a 'generation' is anyway?
Re 'Tainted Love', when the Soft Cell record came out I already knew the song very well, but couldn't for the life of me remember who had recorded it before. I was convinced it was a Motown artist, someone like The Supremes or The Temptations. In those pre-internet days, it was years before I found out it was Gloria Jones.
Speaking of The Supremes, has anyone mentioned 'You Can't Hurry Love'. I fear the 1982 Phil Collins version may be better known now than the Supremes 1966 original.
Not to most people over 45 I imagine. This, like many songs on this thread, is just a song that is better known to younger people who may not even know that it's part of a cover. However, make no mistake Are 'Friends' Electric was gigantic in its day.
I think the impact the original had compared with any subsequent cover is what's more important.
The Verve's version of The Stones' song Bittersweet Symphony. Probably in the top five covers EVER.
Not a cover.
An original song that sampled a riff from an orchestral version of the Stones' song "The Last Time".
What's more, the riff that was sampled was composed by the orchestral version's arranger and not by MIck Jagger and Keith Richards, although they are the ones who receive some of the royalties for "Bittersweet Symphony" as copyright law does not favour arrangers.
An original song that sampled a riff from an orchestral version of the Stones' song "The Last Time".
What's more, the riff that was sampled was composed by the orchestral version's arranger and not by MIck Jagger and Keith Richards, although they are the ones who receive some of the royalties for "Bittersweet Symphony" as copyright law does not favour arrangers.
Not to most people over 45 I imagine. This, like many songs on this thread, is just a song that is better known to younger people who may not even know that it's part of a cover. However, make no mistake Are 'Friends' Electric was gigantic in its day.
I think the impact the original had compared with any subsequent cover is what's more important.
I think the FM was saying it's better known than the Adena Howard original Freak Like Me
I wonder through time and recognition that the original versions can become better known again. For example is Gloria Jones original version of 'Tainted Love' as well known now as the later more successful versions by Soft Cell and Marilyn Manson?
It can. If someone decides to play the original on an advert or whatever that bring it to peoples attention.
When it comes to Tainted Love I'd say Soft Cell's version is the best known, Gloria Jones is second and Marilyn Manson last by a long way.
I wonder through time and recognition that the original versions can become better known again. For example is Gloria Jones original version of 'Tainted Love' as well known now as the later more successful versions by Soft Cell and Marilyn Manson?
im sure in the case of 'tainted love' soft cells success certainly made gloria jones version better known.
i tend to think that its the first version of a song that we hear that becomes our individual 'best known'.
i cant think of an original i prefer to a cover that id heard and known first. i do like some covers as much as some originals, but in every case id heard and was familiar with the original first.
oh right, i thought it was the other way around fair play
To be fair as a group I don't think eighth wonder had much to do with the song, as far as I am aware it was written for Patsy Kensit, rather than eighth wonder...it probably would have been more accurate to be released as a single by the Pet Shop Boys feat. Patsy Kensit....as she was the only member from the band that actually performed on the single.
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Similarly, I think Warm This Winter is better known as a Gabriella Cilmi song than a Connie Francis song.
If I Ever Fall I Love by East 17 could be better known that the Shai original which is a travesty.
And the fact that Communards hideous version of Don't Leave Me This Way is better known by some that Teddys sublime original is horrific
i didnt know about the rod stewart version, not until the stereophonics covered it. for me, the best known version is chris farlowes which is an all time fave. but i dont think many are aware of it and the stereophonics will surely be the 'best known'..
which highlights this
VVVVVVV
the 'generation thing'.... i agree with its nick about 'mad world', but many who bought gary jules version are unlikely to have known much about the original, if anything.
so there clearly is a 'generation thing' when it comes to covers.
eighth wonder - im not scared which would also fit in the 'rare/ forgotten 80's' thread.
In fact the Marilyn Manson version is clearly based on the Soft Cell cover, I'm not sure he ever even heard the Gloria Jones original beforehand.
I'm not sure the generational thing always applies, Only You and Valerie had both been hits just a year before their even more successful covers.
i wasnt aware of the gloria jones original until soft cells success.
fair point, re the generation thing. obviously there would usually need to be a gap between 2 successful versions, but isnt that what a 'generation' is anyway?
Speaking of The Supremes, has anyone mentioned 'You Can't Hurry Love'. I fear the 1982 Phil Collins version may be better known now than the Supremes 1966 original.
Not to most people over 45 I imagine. This, like many songs on this thread, is just a song that is better known to younger people who may not even know that it's part of a cover. However, make no mistake Are 'Friends' Electric was gigantic in its day.
I think the impact the original had compared with any subsequent cover is what's more important.
Not a cover.
An original song that sampled a riff from an orchestral version of the Stones' song "The Last Time".
What's more, the riff that was sampled was composed by the orchestral version's arranger and not by MIck Jagger and Keith Richards, although they are the ones who receive some of the royalties for "Bittersweet Symphony" as copyright law does not favour arrangers.
Woosh!!
I think the FM was saying it's better known than the Adena Howard original Freak Like Me
Not really a cover it was written for them by the Pet Shop Boys. The boys then covered it on their album.
oops! I didn't know about that song - which proves the poster's point I guess!
When it comes to Tainted Love I'd say Soft Cell's version is the best known, Gloria Jones is second and Marilyn Manson last by a long way.
oh right, i thought it was the other way around
im sure in the case of 'tainted love' soft cells success certainly made gloria jones version better known.
i tend to think that its the first version of a song that we hear that becomes our individual 'best known'.
i cant think of an original i prefer to a cover that id heard and known first. i do like some covers as much as some originals, but in every case id heard and was familiar with the original first.
To be fair as a group I don't think eighth wonder had much to do with the song, as far as I am aware it was written for Patsy Kensit, rather than eighth wonder...it probably would have been more accurate to be released as a single by the Pet Shop Boys feat. Patsy Kensit....as she was the only member from the band that actually performed on the single.
most people were better singers than cilla
Original version by Chas Jankel (from The Blockheads) who also composed and wrote the song.