Fugees scored their first of four Top 10s with this cover of a song Roberta Flack took to Number 6 in 1973 under the full title Killing Me Softly With His Song. But it was the vocal acrobatics – and an all-important key change – from Leona Lewis that spent two weeks at the top in 2008. The 2015 cover version went turbo and overtook the original to peak at 2. Poor Alamaze immediately dubbed them "The Copycat Dolls". Along comes Jonas Blue, however in an even faster car. Number One and was expected to equal that success in the U.S., but ended up sticking at Number … meanie_and_old. The group’s storming version spent four weeks at the top in 1986. Only one Rod Stewart single has sold a million copies in the UK, and it started out as flop three years earlier for The Sutherland Brothers Band. By Colin PatersonBBC News entertainment correspondent. The Chart  1 Ultravox - Vienna (1981) 2 The Pogues feat. The best-selling single of 1981 in the US (spending nine weeks at number one) was originally a 1975 album track by Jackie DeShannon, complete with a big band intro and country-style steel guitar. Answer Save. However, three years later, another version with her new band The Blackhearts topped the US charts for seven weeks and caused plenty of dimes to be put into jukeboxes. 1 song on the country charts in 1963. However, it didn’t get much play as an acoustic number, so Johnny Cash rearranged and re-recorded it to create a No. It spent a total of four weeks at Number 2 and finished up as the fifth biggest song of the year. Johnny Cash’s version, itself a cover of an unreleased (in the UK, at least) Nine Inch Nails song, peaked at 39. Got My Mind Set On You - George Harrison (1987). Rockin' All Over the World was the song that opened Live Aid. Their breakthrough single Denis was a New Wave gender-swapping take on Randy and The Rainbows' doo-wop hit Denise, which made the US Top 10 in 1963. Lauryn Hill’s powerful vocal – plus, of course, Wyclef Jean saying “one time” in the background quite a lot – helped the Fugees’ version rocket to Number 1 for 5 weeks beginning June 1996. Rockin' All Over The World - Status Quo (1977). The original, from Steve Winwood, didn't even make the Top 10 when originally released in 1986 – it stalled at Number 13. unlucky for Steve! Rarely do cover versions done purely for novelty reasons work in any but the most superficial ways, and that may be one reason people respond so strongly to singer-songwriter Mead's version of this Thriller-era Michael Jackson classic. Of course, real chart geeks will tell you that Blondie's version was itself a cover of a song previously sung by the Paragons and Gregory Isaacs – but Blondie were the first act to take it into the chart. It reached number two in the UK and topped the US chart. Don had only made it to Number 2. See all ABBA's singles and albums in their Official Chart archive. It reached number two on both sides of the Atlantic. .css-1hlxxic-PromoLink:link{color:inherit;}.css-1hlxxic-PromoLink:visited{color:#696969;}.css-1hlxxic-PromoLink:link,.css-1hlxxic-PromoLink:visited{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}.css-1hlxxic-PromoLink:link:hover,.css-1hlxxic-PromoLink:visited:hover,.css-1hlxxic-PromoLink:link:focus,.css-1hlxxic-PromoLink:visited:focus{color:#B80000;-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;}.css-1hlxxic-PromoLink:link::after,.css-1hlxxic-PromoLink:visited::after{content:'';position:absolute;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;left:0;z-index:2;}Stars unite for BBC Music collaboration, BBC Music video: The full cast of stars - in pictures, PM hails post-Brexit free trade deal with EU. In 1987, Harrison decided to return to music after spending much of the 1980s making films. Speaking of higher… one of 2019's unlikeliest, yet biggest hits, brought together a late, great legend and a Norwegian DJ. It missed the UK charts. But, nine years later, Jimmy Somerville’s band the Communards made the song the smash it had been waiting to be. The first person to release it as a single was teen idol David Cassidy, who took the track to number 11 in the UK charts in August 1975. Remember, we’re not talking about sales – the only numbers that count here are those all-important chart positions. The song reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1970, eventually selling over 7.5 million copies worldwide. Here are 10 examples of tracks that have become so synonymous with one act that many people do not realise that it is not the original. BBC Culture: The TV shows that helped us through 2020. Four years later, Cyndi Lauper totally changed the meaning, altering the line "All my girls have got to walk in the sun" to "I want to be the one to walk in the sun" and describing it as a song "for all the women around the world to remember our power". Every record which reached No 1 in the U.K. Singles Charts at Christmas, since records began in 1952. Originally, this was a piano ballad by Barry Manilow in 1971, based on chord progressions of Frédéric Chopin’s ‘Prelude in C Minor, Opus 28, Number 20’. Blondie came across the song by their fellow New Yorkers on a K-Tel compilation, changed the sex and added a verse in broken French. The original never charted but following an outcry by fans, it did reach Number 36 the same week Alexandra’s went to Number 1. In 1996, he teamed up with Christine Leach, the niece of one of the duo, Clive Maldoon, to record a version. Yes, this actually happened. The Sutherland Brothers benefited from the exposure as well, making the top five the following year with Arms of Mary. A subsequent version by The Voice contestant Leah McFall managed a Number 36 placing last year. 5 "Louie Louie" by The Kingsmen (written by Richard Berry; originally performed by Rockin' Robin Roberts and the Wailers) Wand. Alongside her Number 1 with Kleerup, with Every Heartbeat, one of Swedish popstar Robyn's biggest UK hits was the mighty Dancing On My Own, which peaked at 8 in 2010. Not only was it Christmas number 1, but it was the biggest selling song of 2000. .css-1xgx53b-Link{font-family:ReithSans,Helvetica,Arial,freesans,sans-serif;font-weight:700;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;color:#FFFFFF;}.css-1xgx53b-Link:hover,.css-1xgx53b-Link:focus{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;}Read about our approach to external linking. 5. Altogether now: aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah BABY! Touring the UK in 1976 with her first band The Runaways, she saw the power-pop trio Arrows perform the track on their weekly ITV music show. 19 Lou Bega, ‘Mambo No.5’ (2001) The Source and Candi Staton’s version of You Got The Love – itself not the original, and actually borrowing a backing track from Frankie Knuckles' tune Your Love – first reached 4 in 1992. Arrows' legendary manager Mickie Most was not impressed with the song and made it a B-side. No need for a spoiler alert – we all know what the number one is. .css-orcmk8-HeadlineContainer{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-box-pack:justify;-webkit-justify-content:space-between;-ms-flex-pack:justify;justify-content:space-between;}Brexit: Boris Johnson hails free trade deal with EU.css-1dedj2h-Rank{-webkit-align-self:center;-ms-flex-item-align:center;align-self:center;color:#B80000;margin-left:3.125rem;}1, Brexit: What you need to know about the UK leaving the EU2, US parties wrangle in Congress after Trump shuns Covid stimulus bill3, Brexit: Seven things changing in January and others that remain unresolved4, California man 'kills fellow Covid patient with oxygen tank'5, Chrissy Teigen 'sad she will never be pregnant again'6, Daniel Pearl: Court orders release of man accused in journalist's murder7, Brexit: How European leaders reacted to EU-UK trade deal8, Portugal outrage after Spanish hunters massacre 500 wild animals9, Covid: Mexico and Chile begin mass vaccination programmes10. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Relevance. X Factor winner Alexandra had a Number 1 with this cover of a Leonard Cohen track in 2008. This song, hailed by critics and musicians as a masterpiece of pop production, was a U.K. In 1979, Robert Hazard wrote Girls Just Wanna Have Fun in 15 minutes in a motel bath. Check out the Official Charts team's rundown of the best singles and albums of 2020, including…, Tenet debuts at Number 1 on the final Official Film Chart of 2020, Christmas Number 1: LadBaby retains strong lead, Boris Johnson protest song enters Top 10, Rihanna aiming to take her music "to a different level" in 2021, Ladbaby's Don't Stop Me Eatin' is the biggest trending song in the UK, Official Charts staff pick their favourite songs and albums of 2020, Paul McCartney heading for first solo Number 1 album in over 30 years with McCartney III, Listen to Ed Sheeran's new single Afterglow, LadBaby makes a flying start for the 2020 Xmas Number 1, The naughty list: The strangest bids for Christmas Number 1, See the chart runs of each version of Lady Marmalade, See all ABBA's singles and albums in their Official Chart archive, See all Leona Lewis's UK hit singles and albums, See all Pet Shop Boys' UK hit singles and albums, See every chart entry for Up On The Roof in our archive. It is often said that what makes a great cover is the artist having "made the song their own". 5 – Bob The Builder. But there is so much more to Boston than that one iconic track… 10. Just a few months later, Bob The Builder scored his second UK number 1 with a cover of Mambo No. You couldn't move without hearing Portugal. Snow Patrol’s sweeping ballad did well on release in 2004, reaching Number 5 and selling over 460,000 copies. Still, at least it was a one off… Mambo No. VideoThe poet, the queen and 120-year-old chocolate, Five families; five very unusual Christmases, Catwalk icon Stella Tennant's career in pictures. In 1974, Manilow changed the name and had a US number one. Every Number 1 album by a female solo artist, The female solo artists with the most Number 1 albums, Ghost of Christmas past: Festive songs that don't get played enough, While we've heard these songs everywhere for decades, it's only in recent years that these Christmas standards have…, The weird and wonderful that tried their luck at getting a Christmas Number 1, with mixed results, A certified BOP! Santa explains what a Covid Christmas looks like. What can we expect for 2021's Oscars ceremony? 1 at Christmas since the inception of the charts in 1952. In 1986, the British girl group Bananarama helped get the song back to No. The general public, however, had other ideas, and demand was so high, the single was released midway through the campaign for the Pet Shop Boys’ second album Actually. Elvis’s version reached Number 9 in 1972. Dance producer William Orbit was a fan of their delicate psychedelic song Sepheryn, with its refrain "Quicker than a ray of light". .css-14iz86j-BoldText{font-weight:bold;}BBC Music has launched .css-yidnqd-InlineLink:link{color:#3F3F42;}.css-yidnqd-InlineLink:visited{color:#696969;}.css-yidnqd-InlineLink:link,.css-yidnqd-InlineLink:visited{font-weight:bolder;border-bottom:1px solid #BABABA;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}.css-yidnqd-InlineLink:link:hover,.css-yidnqd-InlineLink:visited:hover,.css-yidnqd-InlineLink:link:focus,.css-yidnqd-InlineLink:visited:focus{border-bottom-color:currentcolor;border-bottom-width:2px;color:#B80000;}@supports (text-underline-offset:0.25em){.css-yidnqd-InlineLink:link,.css-yidnqd-InlineLink:visited{border-bottom:none;-webkit-text-decoration:underline #BABABA;text-decoration:underline #BABABA;-webkit-text-decoration-thickness:1px;text-decoration-thickness:1px;-webkit-text-decoration-skip-ink:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;text-underline-offset:0.25em;}.css-yidnqd-InlineLink:link:hover,.css-yidnqd-InlineLink:visited:hover,.css-yidnqd-InlineLink:link:focus,.css-yidnqd-InlineLink:visited:focus{-webkit-text-decoration-color:currentcolor;text-decoration-color:currentcolor;-webkit-text-decoration-thickness:2px;text-decoration-thickness:2px;color:#B80000;}}a survey to find the greatest cover version of all time. They would also go on to top the charts with The Tide Is High, originally by Jamaican band The Paragons, and have a hit with Hanging On The Telephone, the only single ever released by The Nerves. Entered both UK and US charts at No 1. Cover versions are a huge part of pop and though many regard the original version of a song as the definitive, there are plenty of people who reckon it takes a cover version to really make a song sparkle. 'Hold my macrobiotic beer,' said Madonna, who lopped a full four minutes off the track, got William Orbit to do some knob-twiddling, Rupert Everett (!) The previous year, the original version by Tori Alamaze was such a flop it caused the singer to be dropped by her record company. We’ll leave fans of both bands to argue that one out, shall we? Number ones in each year [ edit ] The Beatles topped the chart 17 times during the 1960s, more than any other act that decade. But the stars of TV show Soldier Soldier marched all the way to the top. 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