Raised by Radio

The Remake…doing someone else’s song. There was a time when we frowned upon that, probably because we may have thought it was lazy to just remake someone else’s songs.

But it was commonplace in the 60’s for several artists to do the same song, sometimes on the charts at the same time! I think it was in the early 70’s that groups/singers started remaking songs that weren’t very big hits in in the 60’s, songs that may have been “lost hits”. One example was Eddie Floyd’s version of “Knock on Wood” in 1967. It peaked at #28, but when Amii Stewart remade it in 1978, it went all the way to #1. I remember when I found out that it was a remake, I asked my mom if she remembered the original, she didn’t.

But here it is…I LOVE A GOOD REMAKE!!! I have a lot of favorites, I love hearing a song that I remember being redone by another artist, I think it is way cool!! Ok…here are just a few of my favorite remakes from the 80’s first. I’ll make this a bit of a series:

Here we go…Al Green and Annie Lennox teaming up to remake “Put a Little Love in Your Heart”…the hit from 1969 by Jackie DeShannon, who was an amazing singer and songwriter in the 60’s. The original went all the way up to #4 and the 1988 version went all the way up to #9.

Full disclosure, when I was in the 4th grade, we performed the Jackie DeShannon song in school, so it stuck with me. And who thought to raise back up Al Green, one of the great voices from the 70’s and pair him with Annie Lennox one of the great voices of the 80’s. For me, it was pure magic on the radio, I couldn’t get enough of that song!!

How about “You Can’t Worry Love” remade by the phenomenal Phil Collins in 1983! It was a sign of things to come in the decade for him. I remember hearing the original on the radio in 1966 by the Supremes, it went to #1. Phil’s version went to #10. A perfect track for the early 80’s!!

Last one for now and my all-time favorite remake. But this is split, there are folks who love this remake like me, and those who hate it!! The original was from one of the biggest albums of the 70’s “Frampton Comes Alive”…I’m talking about “Baby I Love Your Way” by Peter Frampton. Great song that went all the way up to #12. Oh, but in 1988, when Will to Power remade it, and made it a melody with the song “Freebird” by Lynard Skynard, I nearly drove off the road when I first heard it!!

It hit the sweet spot, as I loved the Frampton version at 15 years old, then fell in love again at 28 years old!! I’m just not sure why some say this was the worse remake ever…but that is the beauty of music. Some love what you hate/vice versa. This song recently came on a countdown show in my car, my wife was with me, and I turned it up and reminded her this song went to #1. She looked at me and said “Really? How?” That says it all. Ok…I’m anxious to hear from you…what are some of your favorite remakes? It can be from any decade. Here are the songs: