I've always thought their remake of the Righteous Brothers' "You've Lost That Loving Feeling" was really quite great. Which lead me to thinking about other great remakes. Which lead me to thinking of compiling a list of other great remakes. I don't know. My brain needs something to do right now.
So here's my list. Great songs. Great remakes. At least according to me. Accordingly:
"I Heard It Through the Grapevine" Marvin Gaye
Here's a remake that many may not realize is a remake. Sometimes the remake can outshine the original so much that most people forget the original ever existed. In this case the original you've forgotten was by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles. But I don't think Smokey is crying too much. He's written a number of classic songs by many artists that no doubt keep him warm at night.
BTW Marvin Gaye's version of "Grapevine" happens to be one of those songs I've heard so many times over my lifetime, I really don't need to hear it again. And I love Marvin Gaye. But, please, this song and "Sexual Healing," as great as they are, can be given a rest as far as I'm concerned.
"You've Lost That Loving Feeling" Hall & Oates
Blasphemy! They've simplified the Phil Spector's Wall of Sound sound! But in a good way. Really good cover of a legendary song. Plus, it's Hall & Oates. Need I say more?
"Pretty Woman" Van Halen
Do we dare declare the 80s the decade of the great remake? Nah. But here's another example that happens to be from that era. Van Halen took Roy Orbison's "Pretty Woman" and did a stellar job rocking it out a bit.
My gosh, I don't think I've seen this video in 25 years. Warning: It takes 90 seconds before the song really starts, and those 90 seconds are kind of creepy. But when it kicks in it's a nostalgic trip back to the David Lee Roth era of Van Halen. That band was fun and at the top of it's game. Eddie VH was the guitar god of the 80s!
"Blue Bayou" Linda Ronstadt
As a kid growing up in the 70s certain songs seemed everywhere. "Hotel California" by the Eagles, "Best of My Love" by the Eagles... hell, anything by the Eagles. This song was everywhere too. But for good reason. It's a great cover of Roy Orbinson's classic hit from the 50s. Linda was one of the top singers of the 70s and it's a shame nowadays you wouldn't even know it. I don't know how much Love Linda gets anymore, but if it's as little as I think it is, it's a sad oversight.
"Crying" KD Lang
Roy Orbinson for the trifecta! He's bowling a turkey, I tell you! Or if you're a singer and want to cover a song, go full Orbinson. His songs seem to lend themselves to good remakes. But what I appreciate about this remake is, well, KD was one of the great voices of the mid to late 80s. Simply amazing. Simply beautiful. And in picking this song she was able to fix one glaring problem on the original - the last note Roy sings on the song is horribly off key.
"Groovy Kind of Love" Phil Collins
I'm gonna switch it up here. I admit, this Phil Collins' hit from the non-hit movie "Buster" was a guilty pleasure of mine back in 1988. I had no idea until almost two decades later that the song was a remake. Doh, why wouldn't that dawn on me about a song with the word "groovy" in the title?
And as I type, I was going to totally credit the original version of this song to The Mindbenders. Which I was totally stoked about because once I discovered their so very 60s sounding version, I fell in love and kicked Phil Collins' version to the curb. But it seems that's not the case. The original version was recorded in 1965 by Diane & Annita (never heard of them either) and has been remade many times ever since. Maybe because songwriters Toni Wine and Carole Bayer Sager heavily based it on the Rondo movement of Sonatina in G major, op. 36 no. 5 by Muzio Clementi. Who knew? And who said cheesy pop songs can't be classy!
"Superman" REM
I first heard this song on a Superman themed TV series that shall remain nameless. Oh, okay, it was the 90s and it was "Lois & Clark." Yes, I watched the show religiously. I stand by my nerdom.
What I didn't know back in the 90s was that this song was a remake. Originally done in the 60s by the band The Clique, the two versions don't sound to far off from each other - except REM manages to give the song a little more life. On a sad note, if you watch the scene from "Lois & Clark" on DVD or streaming online in which this song was used, you'll notice a different song in it's place. I guess they couldn't get the sync rights to the music. Which is too bad because the song they replaced it with suuuuucks!
"Guess I'm Dumb" The Wondermints
This is perhaps a song that only has interest to me. But it's one of my all time favorite songs. Actually written by Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys, which he recorded in 1965 with then session musician, sometime touring Beach Boy, pre-Rhinestone Cowboy Glen Campbell as a solo record. 45 rpm, baby.
What I love about the Wondermints' take is while the Brian Wilson/Glen Campbell version is very much in the vain of Brian's sound during 1965 (think "California Girls") the Wondermints took the song and re-imagined it as Brian may have recorded in a year later in 1966. Their version could easily be an outtake from the seminal Beach Boys album "Pet Sounds."
Sadly, I can't find a clip of the Wondermints version on the internet. That ain't right!
Hey, whatta ya know? Found it! Ok, I uploaded it to soundcloud.
"Got to Get You Into My Life" Earth, Wind & Fire
It's not often you best the Beatles with their own songs. It's not ever you best the Beatles with their own songs! But if I were to pick one "fluke" this would be it. It really is better than the original. The Beatles wrote "Got to Get You Into My Life" but there's just something wholly unsatisfying about their recording. It's like they needed to finish up the album and didn't have time to fully realize the potential of this song.
But the Beatles failure is EW&F's benefit. Their version from the universally panned 70s film "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" was a sparkling gem shining amongst the rubble.
"Come Together" Aerosmith
Another gem in the rubble of the Sgt. Pepper 70s movie fiasco. The Steves' Tyler and Perry give the Beatles "Come Together" a fantastic spin. While it won't topple the original the way Earth, Wind & Fire does with "Got To Get You Into My Life," it is a really good cover. Aerosmith would live to see better (and no doubt cleaner) days in the decades to come. And Steve Tyler would go on to become a judge on American Idol...and still manage not to seem like a total sell out. Genius.
"Mr. Roboto" Jeffster
And last and probably least, I really couldn't finish this post without including the world's greatest fictional cover band. From the TV show "Chuck" I bring you JEFFSTER!
Really, I had a difficult time picking which of their cover songs done on the show to pick for it's horrible awesomeness. Their first appearance singing Toto's "Africa"? Their hilarious version of Salt N Pepa's "Push It" performed in a maternity ward? However, nothing, I say nothing, could beat the epic-ness of their version of "Mr. Roboto." The guns, the gowns, the knives, the wedding cake, the bride, the groom, the machine gun toting parachuting Marine airborne squad, Morgan Fairchild, Bruce Boxlietner, Chevy Chase, Scott Bakula, the roman candles and the sprinklers! E P I C !
Sadly the embed request on this video has been dismantled by YouTube but you can click here Mr. Roboto by Jeffster to see all the fun
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