I've been listening to Maxwell's cover of This Woman's Work on Youtube and the number of people who think it's his song, as in that he wrote it, is shocking to me. Poor Kate Bush!

That said, I had no idea Nothing Compares 2 U was originally a Prince song until only recently, so I don't really have room to talk.

What's the most annoying case of this you have seen, and did you yourself ever get it wrong when it came to who you thought created a certain song?

Natalie Imbruglia's "Torn" is a cover yet I thought until quite recently that it was her song.

Tainted Love by Soft Cell always felt like it should be an original, but was a cover of a Gloria Jones track. Also surprisingly, Twist and shout by The Beatles was a cover.

Without You - the Badfinger song covered by Harry Nilsson.

Black Magic Woman by Peter Green of Fleetwood Mac then covered by Santana.

Until I saw "Jersey Boys", I had no idea that "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" was originally a Frankie Valli song.

Some morons in my age group think Alien Ant Farm did the original Smooth Criminal. They need to listen to some MJ!

This Woman's Work always frustrates me, because Kates version is so much better.

I thought that Don't Let It Go To Your Head by Jordin Sparks was an original track for quite a long time.

Also I was watching the movie Drive on TV a few months back and there was a piece of music on the soundtrack that seemed familiar, but then I realised it was the same song as the track Nightcall on London Grammer's album. At first I just thought that perhaps both versions were covers of some obscure track (Leonard Cohen possibly!), but then I found out that the Kavinsky version in Drive was the original and LG had just covered it!

Wet Wet Wet's Love is all around was by the Troggs. Whitney's I will always love you was a Dolly Parton song.

So many people seem to think I Love Rock 'n' Roll is by Joan Jett & The Blackhearts but it's actually originally by The Arrows and came out in the mid 70's. Also people seem to think the Righteous Bros did the original of Unchained Melody but the original came out in the 50's. Plus The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore is not a Walker Brothers song but is an original by Frankie Valli &The Four Seasons. Actually a whole ton of Frankie Valli/Four Seasons originals were later covered by others, like Bye Bye Baby, Silence Is Golden, Working My Way Back To You and the aforementioned (in an earlier post) Can't Take My Eyes Off You, to name just a few.

I've heard people unaware that Adele's 'Make You Feel My Love' and Amy Winehouse's 'Valerie' were covers in just the past couple of weeks.

My biggest annoyance of that kind though is people believing Birdy wrote 'Skinny Love' rather than Bon Iver.

Rockin All Over The World by Quo. John Fogerty did it originally.

Go Now by The Moody Blues. Bessie Banks original.

Out Of Time by Chirs Farlowe. Rolling Stones original.

(Most Led Zeppelin songs )

Manic Monday - The Bangles & I Feel For You - Chaka Khan again both Prince songs.

Rocking All Over The World was written and sung by John Fogerty two years before Status Quo's version.

I thought all these songs were originals til fairly recently...

My Prerogative - Britney Spears (Bobby Brown cover)
Out From Under - Britney Spears (Joanna Pacitti sung it)
Too Lost In You - Sugababes (Patricia Kass cover)
Sound of the Underground - Girls Aloud (was recorded by a girl group called Orchid but unreleased)

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun , written & first recorded by Robert Hazard not Cyndi Lauper

Tainted Love by Soft Cell and I Love Rock n Roll by Joan Jett.

I also don't believe that there's anyone that thinks Smooth Criminal is an Alien Ant Farm original.

"You Raise Me Up" by Westlife...plus 90% of their other discography.

Obsession by Animotion, for years I thought it was the Human League.

some of blondie's biggest hits have been covers of songs released earlier in the 50s/60s. the tide is high, hanging on the telephone and denis are all covers as well as a few album tracks. i always assumed they were their own until i watched an interview recently

lets face it, when we hear a track and it becomes a hit we assume its the original. in fact most tracks cited on this thread are because the cover was a big hit and the original was a minor hit or 'miss'.

so 'our mistake' is often down to our ignorance (which is understandable). who would have thought the clash 'i fought the law' was a cover of a 1966 original by the bobby fuller four?

a great many big hits were covers, there are many surprises in store.

yep, me too on that.

I didn't realise Respect by Aretha Franklin was a cover; Otis Redding did it originally.

I found that out a few years ago as well. Due to Cyndi's version sounding very 'girly' I was very surprised that it was originally sung by a man, especially as some of the lyrics are seemingly mostly from a girl's viewpoint.


So did I but that is not an example of a song you didn't know was a cover version as mistaking a song as being by another artist is not the same thing, though it might be a good theme for another thread.

The 1966 version of "I Fought The Law" by the Bobby Fuller Four was also a cover. The original version was recorded in 1960 by the Crickets.