Not sure if this topic has been done before, but what are some 80's hits that were cover songs do you enjoy?

Here's a whole bunch of good ones (with the original artist who made it famous in brackets) ...

Beechwood 4-5789 - The Carpenters (The Marvelettes)
Bette Davis Eyes - Kim Carnes (Jackie DeShannon)
Breakaway - Tracey Ullman (Jackie DeShannon)
Can't Take My Eyes Off You - Boys Town Gang (Frankie Valli)
Come and Get Your Love - Boys Town Gang (Redbone)
Come Go With Me - The Beach Boys (Del-Vikings)
Come See About Me - Shakin' Stevens (The Supremes)
Daddy's Home - Cliff Richard (Shep and the Limelites)
Everything I Own - Boy George (Bread)
Hold On - Santana (Ian Thomas) *
Hands Up (Give Me Your Heart) - Sway (Ottawan) *
I Hear A Symphony - Eria Fachin (The Supremes)
Iko Iko - The Belle Stars (The Dixie Cups)
Iko Iko - Natasha (The Dixie Cups)
It's My Party - Dave Stewart and Barbra Gaskin (Lesley Gore)
Kiss - Art of Noise with Tom Jones (Prince) *
Needles and Pins - Tom Petty and Stevie Nicks (Jackie DeShannon)
New England - Kirsty MacColl (Billy Bragg)
Power of Love (You Are My Lady) - Air Supple (Jennifer Rush) *
Red Red Wine - UB40 (Neil Diamond)
Right Before Your Eyes - America (Ian Thomas)
Runaway - Luis Cardenas (Del Shannon)
Runner - Manfred Mann (Ian Thomas) *
Sign of the Times - Mensroom (Belle Stars) *
Since I Don't Have You - Don McLean (The Skyliners)
Spirit in the Sky - Doctor and the Medics (Norman Greenbaum)
Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore - Nielsen and Pearson (The Walker Brothers)
Sunshine Reggae - Nancy Martinez and Allen Harris (Laid Back) *
They Don't Know - Tracey Ullman (Kirsty MacColl)
Yeh Yeh - Matt Bianco (Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames)
Young at Heart - The Bluebells (Bananarama) *

* the original was an 80's song also

I liked that remake from T Ulmann and I always liked Kepp me hangin on by Kim Wyld was it?  well anyways, I liked that and Funkytown by Oh man, I cant remember the name of the band but that was catchy.. the little boy I would babysit at the time loved that song!

I liked that remake from T Ulmann and I always liked Kepp me hangin on by Kim Wyld was it?  well anyways, I liked that and Funkytown by Oh man, I cant remember the name of the band but that was catchy.. the little boy I would babysit at the time loved that song!


Funkytown by Pseudo Echo.  I completely forgot about that one.  It was good yes :)

[quote author=whis

my fav was and still is:  venus  from bananarama,  kinda funny too, i remember liking the shocking blue version as well! about 20 years earlier! ;D

La Bamba by Los Lobos (Richie Valens)

Got My Mind Set On You - George Harrison (I don't know who did the original)

Funkytown by Pseudo Echo.  I completely forgot about that one.  It was good yes :)


That was the name of that band... I loved the version of that song.

"Venus" by Bananarama is my favorite.  :)

I also remember "Baby I Love Your Way/Freebird" by Will to Power in late 1988/early 1989, which was a combination of the Peter Frampton and Lynyrd Skynyrd's songs respectively. It got plenty of radio airplay during this period.

All songs previously recorded by another artist (or other artists).  My list only includes songs that were made famous (or at least semi-famous) by another performing artist; also excluding songs in the public domain.

1981 Soft Cell: Tainted Love (writer: Ed Cobb; previous performers: Gloria Jones, Edith Swan)
1988 Coil: Tainted Love (w: Ed Cobb; pp: Gloria Jones, Edith Swan, Soft Cell)*
1983: Talking Heads: Take me to the River (w: Al Green; pp: Al Green)
1982: New Order: Turn the Heater On (w: Keith Hudson; pp: Keith Hudson)
1980: Psychedelic Furs: Mack the Knife (w: Weill/Brecht; pp: Bertolt Brecht, Louis Armstrong, Bobby Darin, et al.)**
1984: Aztec Camera: Jump (w: Van Halen; pp: Van Halen)
1983: Siouxsie and the Banshees: Dear Prudence (w: Lennon/McCartney; pp: The Beatles, The Five Stairsteps, Jaco Pastorius et al.)
1987: Siouxsie and the Banshees: The Passenger (w: Iggy Pop; pp: Iggy Pop)
1981: Elvis Costello: Why Don't You Love (Me Like You Used To Do) (w: Hank Williams; pp: Hank Williams)
1986: The Residents: Kaw-Liga (w: Hank Williams; pp: Hank Williams)+
1985: The Pogues: Dirty Old Town (w: Ewan MacColl; pp: The Dubliners; Spinners, Clancy Brothers, Rod Stewart et al.)
1989: Rod Stewart: Downtown Train (w: Tom Waits; pp: Tom Waits)
1987: The Bangles: Hazy Shade of Winter (w: Paul Simon; pp: Simon and Garfunkel)
1983: Annabel Lamb: Riders on the Storm (w: The Doors; pp: The Doors)
1980: The Silicon Teens: Memphis Tennessee (w: Chuck Berry; pp: Chuck Berry, The Beatles; Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis et al.)
1985: Love and Rockets: Ball of Confusion (w: Whitfield/Strong; pp: The Temptations; Edwin Starr; Tina Turner)
1988: The Smiths: (Marie's the Name) His Latest Flame (w: Pomus/Shuman; pp: Elivs Presley)%
1980: Grace Jones: She's Lost Control (w: Joy Division; pp: Joy Division)
1980: The Human League: Gordon's Gin (w: Jeff Wayne; pp: Jeff Wayne)@
1986: The Violent Femmes: Children of the Revolution (w: Marc Bolan; pp: T-Rex)
1983: David Bowie: China Girl (w: Iggy Pop; pp: Iggy Pop)
1986: Peter Gabriel: This is the Picture (Excellent Birds) (w: Anderson/Gabriel; pp: Laurie Anderson)***
1980: Bauhaus: Rosegarden Funeral of Sores (w: John Cale/pp: John Cale)++
1980: Bauhaus: Telegram Sam (w: Marc Bolan/pp: T-Rex)
1982: Bauhaus: Ziggy Stardust (w: David Bowie; pp: David Bowie)
1982: Bauhaus: Third Uncle (w: Brian Eno/pp: Brian Eno)
1982: Midge Ure: The Man Who Sold the World (w: David Bowie; pp: Lulu)
1981: The Cars: Funtime (w: Iggy Pop; pp: Iggy Pop)^
1980: OMD: Waiting for the Man (w: Lou Reed; pp: Velvet Underground, Lou Reed,  Nico, Mo Tucker, David Bowie, et al.)
1981: Gary Numan: On Broadway (w: Lieber/Stoller/Mann/Weil; pp: The Drifters, Frank Sinatra, Bobby Darin, George Benson et al.)^^

*     A two-fer--Coil covering Soft Cell's cover
**   Recorded 1980, though not widely released until 1994 b-sides comp.
*** Though released in 1984 on Laurie Anderson's "Mister Heartbreak," this is not technically a cover because Gabriel co-wrote original
+    Another two-fer, The Residents use the rhythm section from Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" on this cover of Kaw-Liga.
++   Slated for "In A Flat Field" but not released until CD version of that album (1989)
^    Not a studio track, recorded live in both 1979 and 1981, unclear which version appears on "Pleasure Principle" CD.
^^ 1981 demo not released until The Cars' "Just What I Needed" anthology released in 1995, only technically '80s.
&    Not a studio track, recorded live 10/23/86, National Ballroom, Kilburn, London
@  Music used for ad campaign by Gordon's Gin company

^ The Silicon Teens 8)

They did a great version of 'Red River Rock' (originally by Johnny and the Hurricanes)

1980: Bauhaus: Rosegarden Funeral of Sores (w: John Cale/pp: John Cale)++


++   Slated for "In A Flat Field" but not released until CD version of that album (1989)





They must've had different album tracks US/UK then.  I can't recall the album name at the moment but I know I had this on a Bauhaus album that I owned in about 1983/84

"You Can't Hurry Love" and "A Groovy Kind of Love" by Phil Collins
"You Keep Me Hangin' On" by Kim Wilde
"California Girls" and "Just a Gigolo" by David Lee Roth
"Red Red Wine" by UB40

Funkytown by Pseudo Echo.  I completely forgot about that one.  It was good yes :)

That would be one of my favorites. O0

"Always Something There To Remind Me" by Naked Eyes would also be on my list. It was originally done in 1970 by R.B. Greaves (altho I don't know his version).

Man, I never realized so many of those were remakes. I am partial to Tracy Ulman's "they don't know about us"

I think this a funny occurance for a 80's cover song:

R&B singer "Cherelle" did a song in 1984 called "Didn;t Mean To Turn You On" so in 1985 Robert Palmer did a cover of "Didn;t Mean To Turn You On" but it was a good cover I thought. When I first heard Cherelle's version(and that was very recently too) I was confused I;m like did Robert Palmer do this song first and Cherelle covered or was it vice versa. Luckily Wikepedia cleard this issue up for me yesterday when I was reading about Cherelle's career. Most people probably think "Didn;t mean To Turn You On" was an original song by Robert Palmer.

1980 - Hall & Oates, "You've Lost That Lovin'Feeling" (Righteous Bros.)
1982 - Phil Collins, "You Can't Hurry Love" (Supremes)
1985 - David Lee Roth, "California Girls" (Beach Boys)
1987 - Billy Joel, "Back In The U.S.S.R." (Ya like the Beatles? ;) )
Probably more I can't think of right now...

Your Pal,
Doc
8)

1969- Sisters of Mercy/Iggy Pop
Dear Prudence- Siouxsee & the Banshees/ Beatles
Crimson & Clover- Joan Jett /Tommy James
Hot child in the city- Joan Jett /Nick Gilder
You keep me hangin on- Kim Wilde/Vanilla Fudge/ Supremes
Ziggy Stardust- Bauhaus/David Bowie