Five top songs many people will be shocked to find are covers

I’m usually not a great fan of cover songs. It can depend a lot, though, on which version of a song you hear first. As a general rule, it seems rare that a cover version tops the original. Especially where you know well and love the original version.

That can all change if you hear and get to know the cover version first. That sets the norm, the standard, and anything else then becomes change, which we are often reluctant to accept. That in turn tends to mean the whole topic of cover songs can become a generational thing. You may not even be aware of the original artist never mind their first version of the song. It can then come as a shock to realize a song is actually a cover.

There are plenty of examples around, though, where it’s no big secret or surprise. It is either well-known already or has been pointed out many times. It’s no great reveal that the many versions of “Hallelujah” as a song all follow the Jeff Buckley original. Or that “Nothing Compares 2U” was a Prince and the Family song first. 

Five songs that may come as a shock that they were covers

The five songs here are perhaps less obvious covers, there may be a shock or two in there. They just aren't as obvious or well-known covers as many others. In each case they had been released as a single or album track by another artist, previously.

Soft Cell - “Tainted Love” 

This was a huge international hit for Soft Cell back in 1981. It was number one in charts around the world. The song took longer to have an impact in the US; it broke into the Billboard Hot 100 at number 90 in February 1982 eventually climbing to number eight in the summer of that year. “Tainted Love" spent 43 weeks on the Hot 100 that year. 

The original version was released as a B-side on a single many years earlier. Back in 1964 for R&B star Gloria Jones, with Glen Campbell playing lead guitar on the song.  The A-side was “My Bad Boy's Comin' Home" but it didn’t have any chart success. “Tainted Love,” though, found its way to the UK and became a Northern Soul dance club hit. That led to an updated version from Jones in 1976, but again with no success. Soft Cell added the song to their set list having picked it up from the clubs. That was followed by their own single release and that huge hit. 

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