Hey, a hit is a hit! Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the musical artists whose major success or public profile came about as a result of covering other artists.
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00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the musical artists whose
00:13major success or public profile came about as a result of covering other artists.
00:26Number 10.
00:27Alien Ant Farm – Smooth Criminal The success of a recorded cover song as a
00:37single can often be a double-edged sword for artists such as Alien Ant Farm.
00:43On one hand, their cover of Michael Jackson's Smooth Criminal became a musical calling card
00:48for the group.
00:49Yet, it was this breakout achievement that also became an albatross around the band's
00:54neck.
01:01Alien Ant Farm always possessed a knowing sense of humour, evidenced by the fact they
01:07titled their first two albums Greatest Hits and Anthology, respectively.
01:11Yet it was perhaps this irreverence that hampered fans from taking other Alien Ant Farm singles,
01:17such as movies, seriously enough to solidify a commercial career.
01:22But hey, we'll always have that Smooth Criminal music video, right?
01:35Number 9.
01:36Great White – Once Bitten, Twice Shy The world of 1980s hair metal was full of
01:42artists that took creative liberties after the success of their initial, more aggressive
01:47outings.
01:55Artists like Cinderella shifted to a bluesy approach after their debut album, and L.A.'s
02:00Great White followed a similar career path.
02:03The band's first two records for EMI and Capitol Records were heavy 80s hard rock.
02:15Now, Once Bitten from 1987 was Great White's biggest studio success up until that point.
02:22However, a cover of Ian Hunter's Once Bitten, Twice Shy on Great White's fourth album would
02:28forever cement their creative legacy.
02:39The cover was a certified chart success for Great White, despite subjective critical claims
02:45that their hardest-rocking years were in the rear view.
02:55Number 8.
02:56UB40 – Red Red Wine Fans can pretty much take their picks as to
03:07which of UB40's many, many recorded covers served as their best.
03:13What's obvious, however, is how this English reggae-infused pop group is largely known
03:18more for these covers than their own recorded hits.
03:21This isn't to say that UB40 didn't achieve recognition with songs like Food For Thought,
03:26but laypersons are probably more familiar with songs recorded by UB40 that they didn't
03:32write.
03:33Neil Diamond's Red Red Wine was a huge hit for UB40, as was their take on Can't Help
03:42Falling In Love, which was popularized by Elvis Presley.
03:46Heck, the band even collaborated with the Pretender's Chrissy Hynde on a cover of
03:50Sonny and Cher's I Got You Babe.
04:00Number 7.
04:01The Black Crows – Hard To Handle Atlanta, Georgia's The Black Crows are not
04:13widely considered to be one-hit wonders of anything, with many fans having gravitated
04:18towards their soulful, bluesy roots-rock sound.
04:22That said, those unfamiliar with their work are probably most aware of The Black Crows'
04:27biggest commercial hit, a cover of Otis Redding's Hard To Handle.
04:38This is probably due to how respectfully The Crows recorded their cover, retaining all
04:44of the song's gritty swagger and style, while adding their own harder-edged rock spin
04:49to the arrangements.
04:50The results may have brought The Black Crows into the mainstream, but it was their work
04:54ethic that kept them popular with fans.
05:04Number 6.
05:06Quiet Riot – Come On Feel The Noise The average pop fan could be forgiven for
05:18not knowing the history of Los Angeles' Quiet Riot dating back to the 1970s.
05:24The group's early work featured Randy Rhoads prior to that guitarist's tenure with Ozzy
05:28Osbourne.
05:29However, it would take until 1983 for Quiet Riot to fully adopt the rumblings of heavy
05:35metal and turn it into major chart success.
05:38Metal Health made history as the first album of its kind to reach number one on the Billboard
05:43charts.
05:44It achieved this goal via the title track.
05:54But perhaps more tellingly, a cover of Quiet Riot's 70s contemporaries Slade – Come
06:00On Feel The Noise was a huge deal for the band, effectively making Quiet Riot's heavy
06:05metal glam sound fresh for the 1980s.
06:15Number 5.
06:16Joan Jett & The Blackhearts – I Love Rock and Roll It was Britain's The Arrows that
06:21first recorded their glam rock hit, I Love Rock and Roll, during the 1970s.
06:33A young Joan Jett heard that song during her tenure with The Runaways, and used this
06:37as an inspiration for recording her own, eventual hit cover of the tune.
06:42Jett's new group, The Blackhearts, recorded what's largely considered as the definitive
06:47version of I Love Rock and Roll, but Joan didn't stop there.
06:51She and The Blackhearts also are known for songs like Bad Reputation, as well as yet
06:56another cover, this time of Crimson and Clover by Tommy James and the Shondells.
07:07Yet it's I Love Rock and Roll that's most closely associated with the Joan Jett brand
07:12today.
07:21Number 4.
07:22Manfred Mann's Earth Band – Blinded By The Light
07:33The career of Manfred Mann honestly didn't need a hit cover of Bruce Springsteen's
07:37Blinded By The Light to achieve creative validation.
07:41The keyboardist's achievements speak for themselves.
07:44Whether it was early hits like the theme tune 54321, to Britain's Ready Steady Go, or
07:51heady jazz rock trips recorded as Manfred Mann's Chapter 3.
08:01That said, Mann just seemed to have a knack at picking great covers.
08:06Whether it was Bob Dylan's Mighty Quinn in his early days, or the aforementioned Springsteen
08:10tune with Manfred Mann's Earth Band.
08:19This version completely eschews Bruce's folky rock vibe with full-on synthesized prog.
08:26It screams 1970s in all the best ways and became a defining tune for the Earth Band.
08:39Number 3.
08:41Soft Cell – Tainted Love
08:49It's remarkable how close the arrangements are between these two versions of Tainted
08:53Love, recorded 25 years apart.
08:56The 1964 Gloria Jones version of Tainted Love is a straightforward R&B jam with a righteous
09:03vocal, superb backup singer work, and a driving, repetitive backbeat.
09:14Soft Cell kept most of this relatively intact in 1981 when they plugged in their synthesizers
09:20and drum machines to lay their own stamp on Tainted Love.
09:24The main difference is Soft Cell's emphasizing the punchiness of the rhythm, plus singer
09:28Mark Allman's vocal is a bit more dramatic and gothic.
09:32In the best possible way, of course.
09:42Number 2.
09:43The Animals – The House of the Rising Sun
09:53The House of the Rising Sun is a traditional Americana folk song with a history that dates
09:58back to the US's origins in England.
10:07Perhaps it's fitting, then, that Britain's The Animals achieved such chart success with
10:12their cover version.
10:14The Animals and their creative leader Eric Burden layered The House of the Rising Sun
10:18with proto-psychedelia that was steeped in the blues.
10:28A 1940s recording of the song by blues legend Lead Belly is also a blues classic.
10:35The Animals version became a bumper for the 60s British invasion.
10:39Burden would eventually get heavier into a blues rock sound after this hit, but Alan
10:44Price's spooky organ sound made this take on The House of the Rising Sun an atmospheric
10:49anthem.
10:56Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
11:00The Ataris – The Boys of Summer
11:03Gave Don Henley a pop-punk makeover
11:10Los Lobos – La Bamba
11:13A soundtrack cover that turned them into stars
11:22Tesla – Signs
11:24Hard Rock Goes Acoustic
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11:50The Jimi Hendrix Experience – All Along The Watchtower
11:54There just seems to be something special about the songwriting prowess of Bob Dylan that
11:59makes his music so open to interpretation by other artists.
12:10The legacy of Jimi Hendrix has obviously lived on without piggybacking upon Dylan, yet we
12:16also cannot ignore the fact that the Experience's cover of All Along The Watchtower was huge
12:22for the group.
12:31Sure Jimi's purple haze and fire are amazing, but this cover captures the mood and zeitgeist
12:37of the turbulent 1960s like no other.
12:40Let's forget for a minute how Hendrix's incendiary guitar playing influenced heavy
12:45metal or how the Experience's albums possessed tons of great deep cuts.
12:50All Along The Watchtower, frankly, just stands alone exemplifying the cover song as transformative
12:57arts.
13:05Do you like any of these covers more than the original?
13:08Let us know in the comments.