Performers whose breakthrough hit was a cover song... [View All]

[gmoney]

I contend that most "original material" bands or singers are well-advised to have one cool cover song in their repertoire, as that gives audiences, radio programmers, etc,. something they can connect with directly. "Oh have you heard the new whosits record? They do a great cover of _______."

Obviously, cover bands, and performers that are primarily doing standards (jazz for instance) aren't quite what I'm thinking of. Nor am I thinking of performers who hire songwriters, like a lot of pop and country performers. And I'm not sure I'd count older acts like the Rolling Stones, or the Beatles, who did a lot of covers as was common back then.

I used to have a fairly long list in my mind, but it's fading... can you guys help me flesh out the list?

Two that come to mind are Talking Heads with their version of Al Green's "Take me to the River" and Black Crowes with Otis Redding's "Hard to Handle". Or even Limp Bizkit with their cover of George Michael's "Faith" would count. Wondering if Bonnie Raitt's cover of John Hiatt's "Let's Give 'em Something to Talk About" would count or not.

Anyway, i throw it out to you, in a thread that will sink like a stone, posted at 2am...