There are a lot of great 80s cover songs out there that go beyond the 80s.  What are some of your favourites?  Here is one to begin that I quite enjoy …

In 1985, an American R&B group called Starpoint reached #25 in the US with a fantastic freestyle song called Object of My Desire.  While the song only reached #96 in the UK, a cover version by an American DJ named Dana Rayne reached UK #7 in 2005.  I love both versions of this song!

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No Doubt did an excellent job covering this. Captured the original vibe of it.

Tina Turner's "The Best" in 1991 was a cover of Bonnie Tyler's 1988 version...

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Whitney's "Saving All My Love For You" was a cover of Marilyn McCoo's 1978 version...

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Prince wrote this song in 1985 for The Family, then gave it to Sinead in 1990...

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Prince wrote this song in 1985 for The Family, then gave it to Sinead in 1990...

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I have a vague memory of hearing a weird "country" version of this. It was on a tv show, sung by a woman who had been collaborating with Prince at the time

"Hallelujah" is a song written by Canadian singer Leonard Cohen, originally released on his album Various Positions (1984). Achieving little initial success, the song found greater popular acclaim through a recording by John Cale, which inspired a recording by Jeff Buckley in 1994, and over the subsequent years has been covered by many an artist.

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Tina Turner's "The Best" in 1991 was a cover of Bonnie Tyler's 1988 version...



Speaking of Bonnie Tyler originals, her 1983 smash hit "Total Eclipse Of The Heart" was covered by Nicki French in the mid-1990s. (I actually prefer the cover over the original, personally.) Nicki's version was a hit in the States in 1995.

Bryan Adams
"Straight From the Heart"
1983

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2rk70z2G-g

Bonnie Tyler
Straight From the Heart
1983

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvCxMStgLLQ

Bryan Adams
"Straight From the Heart"
1983

Bonnie Tyler
Straight From the Heart
1983

Both those versions are cover songs.  Adams initially wrote that song for a Scottish band called Rosetta Stone.  They released it as a single in 1982 and it failed to chart

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2beOtFytheg

Both those versions are cover songs.  Adams initially wrote that song for a Scottish band called Rosetta Stone.  They released it as a single in 1982 and it failed to chart

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2beOtFytheg


Can a writer cover his own song?  :D

Can a writer cover his own song?  :D


It happens more often than you would think.  Both Michael Bolton and Dan Hill have also done it

Can a writer cover his own song?  :D


Yes they can lol. Climie Fisher (famous for "Love Changes Everything") wrote an album track for Five Star in 1988. He later used his own version of it as a b-side to a single in 1989.

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Mandy Moore covered Five Star's 1985 hit "Let Me Be The One"...


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Dang, I forgot about that Mandy Moore cover


It happens more often than you would think.  Both Michael Bolton and Dan Hill have also done it


Speaking of Dan Hill …

Here is George Benson with the popular 1983 hit In Your Eyes
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11 years later, Dan Hill (who wrote the lyrics to the song) recorded his own version with a singer named Rique Franks, and it was a Top 40 hit in Canada
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Another instance of an artist covering their own song … from the soundtrack of the 1989 film A Nightmare on Elm Street 5; The Dream Child, this is Bruce Dickinson with Bring your daughter to the slaughter.  Despite not being released as a single, it won the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Song that same year.

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The following year, Dickinson was asked to record it with his band, a little known group called Iron Maiden (lol) and the end result gave Maiden their only UK #1 single to date!
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The following year, Dickinson was asked to record it with his band, a little known group called Iron Maiden (lol) and the end result gave Maiden their only UK #1 single to date!

Haha, I remember that getting to #1. My brother loved Iron Maiden!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poY_30yk1g4
David Mead-Human Nature

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqLpko9Gprs
Michael Jackson

One of my most favourite songs of the 80s was Stand back by Stevie Nicks, a Top 10 hit in both Canada and the US during 1983.  While this never charted in the UK, a 2003 version by Scottish DJ Linus Loves peaked at UK #31.  Not only was this version very well done, the music video wonderfully celebrated the dance scene of the typical 80s teen comedy film.  The whole package was just so well done, I cannot recommend this one enough.  In my Top 10 of greatest cover songs of all time, this one is there!

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One of my most favourite songs of the 80s was Stand back by Stevie Nicks, a Top 10 hit in both Canada and the US during 1983.  While this never charted in the UK, a 2003 version by Scottish DJ Linus Loves peaked at UK #31. 


Both videos are great! The Linus video kinda rings a bell, but 2003 is weirdly a long time ago now lol.

Talk Talk It's My Life

No Doubt It's My Life

No Doubt did an excellent job covering this. Captured the original vibe of it.

I originally thought that as well, when they released it in late 2003, but after a while I got bored with it. I personally like the original way better.

Anyways...

Roy Orbison recorded and released "You Got It" in 1988, not long before his untimely passing in December of that year, and it became a big hit in early '89. It was co-written by Jeff Lynne (of ELO) and Tom Petty, both of whom were with him in the supergroup The Traveling Wilburys around that time; they even contributed instrumentation to the recording. In late 1994, Bonnie Raitt covered the song and also scored a hit with her version.

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Crowded House 1986

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Sixpence None The Richer 2002

I enjoyed both versions.

No comment lol. They really took out all the soul on this one.


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One of my most favourite songs of the 80s was Stand back by Stevie Nicks, a Top 10 hit in both Canada and the US during 1983.  While this never charted in the UK, a 2003 version by Scottish DJ Linus Loves peaked at UK #31.  Not only was this version very well done, the music video wonderfully celebrated the dance scene of the typical 80s teen comedy film.  The whole package was just so well done, I cannot recommend this one enough.  In my Top 10 of greatest cover songs of all time, this one is there!

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That song will always remind of when I was in the service. A woman I worked with was teaching me how to use those floor buffers. (The first time I used one, much of the furniture ended up on the other side of the room. lol) I was just about to turn it on and I said to her, "In the words of Stevie Nicks, 'Stand back, stand back'." She started laughing and said, "In the words of Boy George, 'Do you really want to hurt me?'"


Cat

No comment lol. They really took out all the soul on this one.


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The Jets did it better.

In 1984, Hall and Oates had a massive hit called Out of touch that became their 6th #1 in the US.  Oddly enough, it only peaked at #48 in the UK.  20 years later, a British DJ group called Uniting Nations covered just the chorus and it peaked at #7 in the UK

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There's been a bit of trouble with Five Star lately - family issues. So 4 of the 5 siblings (minus lead singer / sister Denise) have re-recorded a new version of their 1985 hit "Let Me Be The One" for 2020. I kinda love the updated version. The other two sisters sing lead this time (Lorraine and Doris).

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Timothy B Schmit, 1984.

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Didn’t realize this was a cover until I heard the original on yacht rock radio.
Restless heart, 1993. I think they do a much better job. While they kept the same feel, they supercharged all the harmonies, and the bass really dressed up the changes and drove it home.

This one is not 100% a cover song, but it's close enough

My Mine - Hypnotic Tango (1983)
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Bananarama - Look on the Floor (Hypnotic Tango) (2005)
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