00:04Welcome to WatchMojo, and today, we're looking at hit singles with a history of failure for
00:10other artists, whether they originated or covered the song.
00:21The boys are back in town, then Lizzy, happy Mondays.
00:31Ever since it topped the Irish charts in 1976, then Lizzy's signature song has arguably become
00:37Rock's signature anthem for camaraderie, so British alt-dance legends Happy Mondays thought
00:43it would be appropriate to announce their reunion in 1999 by covering The Boys Are Back In Town.
00:53Number 24 in the UK charts was a solid peak, but a major disappointment for the hype surrounding
00:59the comeback single.
01:00Any further momentum was killed by critical panning of the chaotic baggy style and Sean
01:06Ryder's slurred vocals.
01:15Happy Mondays still has a dedicated fanbase several breakups and reunions later, but they haven't
01:22been back in the top 40 since their disgrace to Thin Lizzy, True Faith, New Order, George
01:28Michael.
01:34No, George Michael's pop mega hit Faith was not originally done by synth rockers New Order,
01:40but maybe he was counting on the funny misconception when he covered the classic True Faith for the UK
01:46charity Comic Relief.
01:47I used to think that the day you would never come.
01:52The music video was produced in support of the telethon Red Nose Day 2011.
01:56Unfortunately, Michael's slower auto-tune twist on his normally golden voice was laughable
02:02for all the wrong reasons.
02:08It's more tragic that this bad contribution to A Good Cause dropped from number 27 to 70
02:14on the UK singles chart within two weeks.
02:17Michael's True Faith does at least rank highly on many publication lists for worst cover songs
02:23of all time.
02:32Red Red Wine
02:33Neil Diamond, UB40
02:41Before becoming a pop rock titan, Neil Diamond tried to break into the late 60s folk scene with
02:47ballads like Red Red Wine.
02:48Even for that time, a mournful lament about lovelorn drinking couldn't do much better than
02:54number 62 on the Billboard Hot 100.
02:56Just one thing makes me forget Red Red
03:02Somehow, it proved much more successful on the British reggae scene of the 1980s when UB40
03:08altered the ballad into a breezy jam.
03:10A radio cut topped the UK charts before the album version hit number one in Diamond's native
03:16US.
03:25The singer-songwriter himself considers the reggae Red Red Wine to be one of the best covers
03:31of his work.
03:32It certainly has more club appeal than Diamond's version has… saloon appeal.
03:43Bette Davis Eyes
03:45Jackie DeShannon
03:47Kim Carnes
03:48Her hair is Harlow gold
03:52Her lips are sweet surprise
03:55Veteran hitmaker Jackie DeShannon tucked her honky-tonk tribute to one of Hollywood's
04:00most distinctive faces into the 1975 album, New Arrangement.
04:05Bette Davis Eyes wasn't intended to be a hit single, but the whole album fell into obscurity.
04:15Bette Davis Eyes
04:17Seven years later, Kim Carnes and producer Val Garay released their own new arrangement as
04:22an unexpected gem of the synth-pop era.
04:25This haunting version of Bette Davis Eyes topped the Billboard Hot 100 at number one for nine
04:31weeks before winning the Grammys for Song of the Year and Record of the Year.
04:35Credit cover
04:36Stand on the side
04:38She's got
04:39Bette Davis Eyes
04:44Most listeners now are unaware that Carnes did not originate this classic, but DeShannon
04:50has offered nothing but support for its success.
04:53Tainted Love
04:54Gloria Jones
04:55Soft Cell
05:03This Ed Cobb's soul composition once seemed to be tainted.
05:07Despite Gloria Jones' fiery vocals, Tainted Love was condemned to the B-side of the already
05:12disappointing 1965 single for My Bad Boy's Comin' Home.
05:16Take, not give, and best not live
05:20Oh, Tainted Love
05:22But its surprising popularity at British clubs in the 1970s proved its commercial potential
05:28to the synth-pop duo Soft Cell.
05:30With a slower tempo, a cold synth pulse, and dramatic gothic vocals, this version of Tainted
05:36Love spent an astonishing 43 weeks on the U.S. Hot 100.
05:40Sometimes I feel I've got to run away
05:45It would become a staple of 80s New Wave, with most of the many more covers that followed
05:51referencing Soft Cell.
05:52At least they boosted worldwide recognition of Jones' version as a classic.
05:57Take my tears and that's not nearly all
06:01Tainted Love
06:02Nothing compares to you.
06:05The family, Sinead O'Connor
06:07It's been 7 hours and 13 days
06:13It's not the commercial comparison you'd expect for a song originated by Prince, but
06:18he wrote Nothing Compares to You for the family.
06:21This little-known ensemble of his Paisley Park protégés failed to score a wide audience
06:25with their lone 1985 album, where the souljam languished as Track 6.
06:30Cause nothing compares
06:35No, nothing compares
06:37But it stood out to Sinead O'Connor, whose raw string rendition was the lead single off
06:43her 1990 album, I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got.
06:47This chart-topping, Nothing Compares to You, turned the Irish sensation into a global star,
06:52much to Prince's resentment.
06:54Nothing compares to you.
07:01He eventually came to accept his song as O'Connor's signature, though his first demo recording
07:07from 84 became a posthumous hit in 2018.
07:11Suspicious Minds
07:13Mark James, Elvis Presley
07:15We're caught in a trap
07:19I can't walk out
07:21Singer-songwriter Mark James let out his marital anxieties in 1968, but the vulnerability didn't
07:28quite pay off.
07:29Radios largely ignored Suspicious Minds, but it was quickly dug up by producer Chips Mo Man
07:34and served to the king of rock and roll.
07:36And we can build our land
07:39On Suspicious Minds
07:42Elvis Presley recorded a country-soul variation of Suspicious Minds as part of his historic 1969
07:48comeback, backed by American Sound Studios' legendary session band, The Memphis Boys.
07:54The genre-bending ballad exploded to the top of the Billboard Hot 100, becoming mythologized
07:59as Presley's final number-one hit and one of the greatest songs in his catalog.
08:09While it's unfair to overlook the original artist, James believed that Suspicious Minds
08:14was truly meant for the king.
08:17I've got my mind set on you
08:18James Ray, George Harrison
08:21I've got my mind set on you
08:26The Rudy Clark penned I've Got My Mind Set On You was debuted by singer James Ray and producer
08:32Hutch Davies' own orchestra and chorus.
08:34Unfortunately, the calypso-infused swing single failed to chart, with no boost coming from Ray's
08:40tragic death, just a few months later.
08:49Almost 25 years afterward, George Harrison paid his respects with a mix of 60s R&B throwback
08:55and 80s pop flair.
08:56The slightly-retitled Got My Mind Set On You triumphantly soared to number one on the Billboard
09:01Hot 100 as the lead single off the 1987 comeback, Cloud Nine.
09:06I've got my mind set on you
09:12The Evil Dead 2-inspired music video was itself massive on MTV.
09:17Ray's swan song has been on everyone's mind ever since, albeit usually with Harrison's
09:23voice.
09:24Say it on you
09:26Say it on you
09:29Dancing in the Moonlight
09:31Buffalongo
09:31King Harvest
09:33Now we get it on most every night
09:36And when that moon gets big again
09:40American tourist Sherman Kelly was recovering from a horrific assault in St. Croix when he
09:45wrote about peace and celebration.
09:47His band, Buffalongo, released Dancing in the Moonlight in 1970, but the upbeat single was
09:53a commercial bust.
09:54Dancing in the Moonlight
09:58Everybody's feeling warm and right
10:01Two years later, the French-American group King Harvest conveyed their own unity with a cover recorded
10:07in Paris.
10:08The band would, ironically, go on hiatus shortly after the recording session.
10:12Dancing in the Moonlight
10:15Everybody's feeling warm and right
10:18Then, with breezy harmonies and an infectious keyboard hook, the orphan single gradually climbed to number 13 on the Billboard
10:25Hot 100.
10:26A dedicated following continued to expand to make King Harvest's Dancing in the Moonlight an enduring feel-good classic.
10:34Everybody's dancing in the moonlight
10:37Everybody's dancing in the moonlight
10:40It's amazing what can be accomplished from people coming together to party.
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10:5224-7. Always on, always live.
10:55Are you not entertained?
10:57I Love Rock and Roll
10:59Arrows
11:00Joan Jett and the Blackhearts
11:02I saw her dancing there by the record machine
11:06The 70s British glam wave couldn't carry the arrows after their breakout touched too much.
11:12Even the punchy I Love Rock and Roll sank into obscurity as the B-side to the under-promoted single
11:18Broken Down Heart.
11:19Enter the Blackhearts, as Joan Jett caught the hidden gem on TV and gave it her stripped-down punk grit.
11:26It's singing
11:26I love rock and roll
11:29It's a good long time in the gym, my baby
11:31This version topped the Billboard Hot 100 for seven weeks, becoming an unlikely stadium staple and a favorite for covers.
11:39I Love Rock and Roll even announced Britney Spears' 2001 foray into rock, promptly ended by the infamous commercial and
11:47critical bomb.
11:48I Love Rock and Roll
11:51So come and take your time and dance with me
11:54There's just no rocking like Joan Jett or even the arrows.
11:58But let's not totally dismiss flops that could go platinum with the right voice.
12:03I Love Rock and Roll
12:05So come take your time and dance with me
12:08What are some other covers that topped the original or got buried on the charts?
12:13Chime in in the comments below.
12:16I Love Rock and Roll
12:16I Love Rock and Roll
12:17I Love Rock and Roll
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