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

Edwin Starr - “War” 

“War” was a classic Motown hit for Edwin Starr back when released in June 1970. It helped the singer break through from being in the second string of artists at the label. He’d had a top ten hit with “Twenty Five Miles” a couple of years earlier but nothing since. That wasn’t a good look at Motow and Starr was keen to find another top song to record. 

Elsewhere at Motown, The Temptations released their album Psychedelic Shack album in March 1970. One track was catching the public attention. “War," with its lyrics highlighting the subject's futility, caught the public's attention as opposition to the conflict in Vietnam at that time was growing.  There was a clamor to release it as a single, but the song didn't suit the image of The Temptations so the idea was rejected. Motown, though, agreed another artist could release the song, and that's where Starr came in. 

The two versions of the song are fairly similar. The main difference is that the instrumentation and production are much fuller on the Starr version. It’s a much fuller and funkier sound, The record justified the demand for the single. It was a number-one chart hit and went on to be inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. While the original concern was that it might damage the good name of The Temptations, the single became Starr's signature song. 

Status Quo - “Rockin’ All Over The World”

Status Quo took their highly successful 1977 hit to the world stage when they played “Rockin’ All Over The World” as the opening song of their set at Live Aid in London in 1985. They were also the opening act of the entire show giving the song real prominence. It’s still very much a trademark song for the band and gets regular plays at all sorts of events. 

That tends to label it very much as one of their songs and the original by John Fogerty is often overlooked or not known by people. Fogerty released his version in 1975 on his second solo album after Creedence Clearwater Revival broke up. The Status Quo version applies a heavier guitar sound to the song with the Quo rhythm very evident. Fogerty's is a lighter touch and twangier guitar tune but the chant element of the title as a chorus remains similar on both. Fogerty does, though, give the Quo version his approval and often refers to theirs as the better-known version. 

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