We’ve all heard that old adage that the original version of the song is the best. The truth of the matter is that your opinion of this probably has more to do with nostalgia than musical merit. What floats your boat as you’re growing up, the influences you’re exposed to, and the times – good and bad – that you associate with a song are more likely to sway you. Music tends to be subjective like that.
But those who cling to the maxim of originals being best can sometimes be in for a nasty shock. What if what they think is the original, simply isn’t?
A prime example of how this can take people by surprise was when Whitney Houston topped the UK charts for what seemed like the better part of 1992. You couldn’t avoid ‘I Will Always Love You’. It was everywhere. Undeniably a powerfully performed ballad by a singer with a string of original hits under her belt, who was to suspect it was a cover? It was only when radio DJs, perhaps sick of having to hear that booming vocal for the umpteenth time, started playing the Dolly Parton original as an alternative, that the vast majority of the nation became aware of it.
To be fair, the fact that Dolly did it first is probably well known to you, because the familiarity and longevity of the song helped spread the fact.
But are there other popular songs out there posing as something they’re not? How many more are spawned from a less famous version? You’ll no doubt be surprised that there are quite a few.
Back in 2004, a backing singer for the hip-hop twosome OutKast called Tori Alamaze was looking for a hit to launch...
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The full review can be found in Pro Mobile Issue 129, Pages 38-42.