Covers that are more well known than the original

That I have the radio on in the car?

yeah yeah.. will young fanboy

Mr Tambourine man- beautifully arranged by the Byrds, awful originally by Dylan. likewise All I really wanna do (is baby be friends with you).

Dear Prudence – Siouxsie and the Banshees was originally a Beatles song I think?

Byrds Tambourine Man is the perfect pop single – what more could you want in a radio song?
How about This Mortal Coil's cover of Song to the Siren? Probably more known than the original fantastic Tim Buckley version. They're both brilliant though.

House of the rising sun, by the animals…..Original dates back to the twenties or so and (I think)Woody Guthrie

Cover, or sampled – I'm still not entirely sure!

8)

Hallelujah – Jeff Buckley

Originally by Leonard Cohen who I beleive he himself admits Buckleys cover is better.

Bringing this back to slightly more of the modern era,

No Doubs version of it's my life, originally a Talk Talk song

Red hot chilli peppers, higher ground originally by stevie wonder

Red hot chilli peppers, higher ground originally by stevie wonder

See, this is where we start to fall down – I don't think I've ever heard the Chillis version, but I know Wonder's original well.

can i still pleed youthfull ignorance at 27?

claptons insipid cover of " cocaine " might have given jj cale a leg up carreer- wise but is nowehere near as good as the origonal despite frantic guitar noodling

mrBenn… as I read the title of this thread the first thought was Jeff Buckley's version of Hallelujah

another one..

Natalie Imruglia's Torn (Considered the original) was originally recorded by some Norweigian bird…

however – I will let Natalie off cos she is better looking and sings better than said Norweigian bird..

claptons insipid cover of " cocaine "

Clapton insipid ? 🙄 No disrespect to JJ Cale but Claptons 'noodling' made a classic of a merely ordinary arrangement by Cale. IMHO of course.

Hidden track on Amy Macdonalds new album "Dancing in the Dark" originally by Springsteen. Great, but I wouldnt expect anything else of her.

Any Dylan song you can think of is done better by someone else. Fact

Moneys too tight to mention – Simply Red, originally done by the Valentine Brothers

Rolling stones – Love in Vain. originally done by Robert Johnson.

Hey Joe – Jimi Hendrix, no one really knows who was the actual writer of this, but quite a few bands had done it before him

Rhinestone Cowboy done by Glen Campbell, oringal done by Larry Weiss

Red hot chilli peppers, higher ground originally by stevie wonder

See, this is where we start to fall down – I don't think I've ever heard the Chillis version, but I know Wonder's original well.

What an empty void your life must be.Both are great songs imo…..

Seriously?

Weak of cover of the weakest track on Innervisions AFAIAC

Remember when I first heard "Eve Of Destruction" by Barry McGuire in the late 70's.I thought **** me someone has murdered this classic Dickies song,LOL 😉

Seriously?

Weak of cover of the weakest track on Innervisions AFAIAC

Yes mate,but then if we all liked the same stuff what a boring place the world would be to live in…..

Father & Son….. murdered by Boyzone, masterpiece by Cat Stevens.

Bringing this back to slightly more of the modern era,

No Doubs version of it's my life, originally a Talk Talk song

Kidding, right? No way is the useless No Doubt version better known than the excellent original.

stilltortoise – Member

Any Dylan song you can think of is done better by someone else. Fact

Umm you are being a little loose there, its more than fact, its scientifically proven, by extensive research, funded by unbiased high court judges, with transparent bank accounts.

DrJ – Member

Bringing this back to slightly more of the modern era,

No Doubs version of it's my life, originally a Talk Talk song

Kidding, right? No way is the useless No Doubt version better known than the excellent original.

As a Talk Talk devotee, I love the No Doubt version, they both have merit..

"without you" – versions by Neilson and Mariah Carey are both more well known than the original by UK band Badfinger – both of the writers killed themselves, partly down to issues over money from that song

Marvi Gaye's "Heard it Through the Grapevine" was sung first by Gladys Knight and the Pips

"I Wanna Be you Man" by the Stones was written by Lennon and Mccartney, and sung by Ringo on the first Beatles album

Think more people might know St Ettienne's "only love can break your heart" than Neil Young's original (debateable that one)

Agree it's partly a generation thing.

My daughter was playing 'Just Can't Get Enough' by The Saturdays in the school band the other day… most of her friends oblivious to the fact it is of course an (inferior ;-)) cover of the early (Vince Clarke penned) Depeche Mode original.

Vince has done well from his songs being covered,

Not sure it falls into the same category but Alison Moyet was well p!ssed when the Flying Pickets 'Only You' went to number one (Yazoo got it to number 2).

'Dollar' also got an Erasure song 'Oh L'Amour' much higher in the charts than Erasure did.

Strangely enough Erasure had chart success of course with their 'Abba' covers EP.

The tide is high – originally late 60s by the paragons – original rocksteady. Covered by blondie and atomic kitten amongst others

kula shaker – hush – deep purple
vic reeves – dizzy –
manics – theme from Mash –

Fuel My Fire – The Prodigy, original by L7
Little Red Rooster – The Rolling Stones, original by Howling Wolf

Because the Night by Patti Smith, originally by Bruce Springstein or how ever you spell it.

Also Handbags and Gladrags by Rod Stewart and Sterophonics was originally by Chris Farlowe.

not much to do with the thread as such but can anyone forget the murdering of Ever fallin in love?(with someone you shouldn't have) by Fine Young Cannibals. Jeezus what a festering pile that effort was.

I can't think of any off hand except perhaps Mungo Jerrys 'in the summertime' which although credited to one of the mungos has roots in a much earlier Jamaican Ska tune.. can anyone name it for me?

I know it…it went like this:

"Grab an Outspan, small ones are more juicy naturally"

Back to the question, are Dr & the medics remembered for Spirit in the Sky ahead of Norman Greenbaum? UB40 associated with Red Red Wine more than Neil Diamond? Hey Joe…you think of Hendrix rather than whoever did it first (I can't even remember)

Best cover version though, Red Sky Coven -> Wonderful World 8)

Anything Elvis did was a cover, and pretty well known.

The saints are coming – greenday/u2. Originally by the Skids!
How many people have covered Unchained Melody!?
Kingston Town UB40…
Rolf Harris – Stairway to Heaven 😆

Nightclubbing by Grace Jones. Totally different and so much better than Iggy Pop's original

Staright Outta Compton -Nina Gordon 🙂

Another Judas Priest cover, Diamonds and Rust written by Joan Baez
or
Only Women Bleed written by Alice Cooper and sung by Julie Covington

the Deep Purple version of Hush is also a cover, originally written in 67 by Joe South for Billy Joe Royal
but i'll agree with a few others here and say it's age based whether something appears more popular or not