Songs with Earlier Histories Than the Hit Version

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Category: 1980s

1980s, Pop

You Should Hear How She Talks About You

First recorded (as “You Should Hear (How She Talks About You)) by Charlie Dore (1981).
Hit version by Melissa Manchester (US #5 1982).

From the wiki: “‘You Should Hear How She Talks About You’, first recorded by Charlie Dore (‘Pilot of the Airwaves’) for her 1981 Listen! album, was written by Dean Pitchford and Thomas R. Snow. Arif Mardin produced Manchester’s 1982 recording, describing the track as ‘a real departure for Melissa because it has a New Wave dance quality [even though] she had been best-known previously for her ballads’ (‘Midnight Blue’, ‘Don’t Cry Out Loud‘). A 1985 interview with Manchester would state she remembers having ‘to be dragged kicking and screaming into [the] studio to record…’You Should Hear How She Talks About You’.’ Manchester’s recording reached #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 in September 1982 to become Manchester’s highest-charting record.”

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1980s, Reggae/Ska

Pass the Dutchie

First recorded (as “Pass the Kuchie”) by The Mighty Diamonds (1982).
Also (as “Gimme the Music”) by U Brown (1982).
Hit version by Musical Youth (UK #1 1982 |US#10/R&B #8/CAN #1/AUS #1/NZ #1/IRE #1/BEL #1/GER #2 1983).

From the wiki: “‘Pass the Dutchie’ was a cover version of two songs: ‘Pass the Kuchie’ by The Mighty Diamonds, which deals with the recreational use of cannabis (‘kouchie’ being slang for a cannabis pipe), and ‘Gimme the Music’ by U Brown.

“For the cover version by Musical Youth, ‘Pass the Kuchie’ was bowdlerized to ‘Pass the Dutchie’, and all obvious drug references were removed from the lyrics (e.g., when the original croons ‘How does it feel when you got no herb?’, the cover version refers instead to ‘food’. ‘Dutchie’ is used as a patois term to refer to a food cooking pot such as a Dutch oven in Jamaica and the Caribbean.) However, ‘Pass the Dutchie’ has since entered into the language itself, denoting a blunt stuffed with marijuana and rolled in a wrapper from a Dutch Masters cigar.

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1980s, Rock

Take On Me

First released by a-ha (NOR #3 1984).
Hit version by a-ha (US #1/UK #2/AUS #1/IRE #2/GER #1/SWE #1/NOR #1 1985).
Also performed by a-ha (2017).

From the wiki: “‘Take On Me’ was written by the Swedish synth-pop group a-ha (Magne Furuholmen, Morten Harket & Pål Waaktaar), and was first recorded as a demo by the group in 1984. The band met with producer Tony Mansfield, an expert in the use of the Fairlight CMI, who mixed their arrangement with electronic instrumentation. The sound was not what a-ha had hoped to achieve, and the album was remixed again. The band then rushed to release ‘Take On Me’ as a single in the United Kingdom but the single flopped. Even so, Warner Brothers’ main office in the United States decided to invest in the band and gave them the opportunity to re-record the song. Alan Tarney, who had previously helmed recording sessions for Cliff Richard and Leo Sayer, produced this new version.

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1980s, Country

Leather and Lace

Written and first recorded (as a demo) by Stevie Nicks with Don Henley (ca. 1980).
Hit version by Stevie Nicks & Don Henley (US #6/MOR #10/CAN #12 1981).

From Songfacts, Stevie Nicks recalls:

‘I wrote this song because Waylon Jennings called me up and asked me to write a song called ‘Leather and Lace.’ It was to be a duet for him and his then-wife (Jessi Colter), and I worked very hard trying to explain what it was like to be in love with someone in the same business, and how to approach dealing with each other. It’s probably the hardest thing in the world to do because it falls out of your hands and into the hands of the world, which tends to want you to not be able to handle it.

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1980s, Pop

The Longest Time

First recorded (as a demo, “The Prime of Your Life”) by Billy Joel (1982).
Hit version by Billy Joel (US #14/MOR #1/CAN #36/UK #25/IRE #18/AUS #15/NZ #24 1984).

From the wiki: “‘The Longest Time’ was written by Billy Joel and first recorded as the demo ‘The Prime of Your Life’ in 1982. The song would later evolve into a tribute of the 1950s doo-wop sounds that Joel loved.

“The released promotional single, in 1984, would be recorded quasi-a capella: Only one musical instrument, a bass guitar, is present in the arrangement. All other sounds in the song are Joel’s vocals (14 different background tracks), along with the percussive sounds of finger-snaps and hand-claps.”

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1980s, Rock

There She Goes

First recorded by The La’s (1988).
Remixed by The La’s (US #49/UK #57 1990).
Also recorded by The Boo Radleys (1992).
Other hit version by Sixpence None the Richer (US #32/UK #14 1999).

From the wiki: “‘There She Goes’ was written by British singer/guitarist Lee Mavers and recorded first by Mavers’ band, The La’s. The first version of the song, produced by Bob Andrews, was released by The La’s in 1988, and again in January 1989, but failed to chart. A remixed version was issued as a single on 22 October 1990 and hit #13 in the UK charts (and later hit #49 in the U.S.). It was the biggest success The La’s were ever to enjoy and remains the song for which the band is chiefly remembered. In May 2007, the NME magazine placed the song at #45 in its list of the 50 Greatest Indie Anthems Ever.

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1980s, Soul

I Believe in You and Me

First recorded by The Four Tops (R&B #40 1982).
Also recorded by Marilyn McCoo & Billy Davis, Jr. (1983), David Peaston (1991).
Hit version by Whitney Houston (US #4/R&B #4/UK #16 1996).

From the wiki: “‘I Believe in You and Me’ is a ballad written in 1982 by Sandy Linzer and David Wolfert, and first recorded and released by The Four Tops in 1982. In 1983, Marilyn McCoo & Billy Davis, Jr. (formerly of The 5th Dimension) recorded the first cover of the song for their album Solid Gold. David Peaston would win the Soul Train Music Award for Best R&B/Soul or Rap New Artist in 1991 for his recording.

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1980s, Pop

Wind Beneath My Wings

First released by Roger Whittaker (1982).
Also recorded by Sheena Easton (1982)
Hit versions by Colleen Hewett (AUS #52 1982), Lou Rawls (US #65/MOR #10/R&B #60 1983), Gladys Knight & The Pips (as “Hero (Wind Beneath My Wings)” US #104/MOR #23/R&B #64 1983), Gary Morris (C&W #4/CAN #10 1983), Bette Midler (US #1/UK #5/AUS #1/NZ #4 1989).

From the wiki: “Wind Beneath My Wings’ (sometimes titled ‘The Wind Beneath My Wings’ and ‘Hero’) was written in 1982 by Jeff Silbar and Larry Henley. They recorded a demo of the song, which they gave to publisher and songwriter (and one-time Buddy Holly cohort) Bob Montgomery (‘Heartbeat‘, ‘Love’s Made a Fool of You‘, ‘Misty Blue‘).

“Silbar recalls, ‘It was on a Friday that we gave a tape of our demos to Bob Montgomery. Then when we saw Bob on Monday, he immediately told us he loved ‘Wind Beneath My Wings.’ Then he had a surprise for us. He played us a beautiful, ballad version of the song that he had recorded over the weekend. We couldn’t believe how fantastic it sounded. We both had tears in our eyes. Bob had taken our rough, midtempo demo and produced a new version which truly showed the potential of the song.” who, then, recorded his own demo version of the song – changing it from the mid-tempo version he was given to a ballad.’

“Silbar and Henley then shopped the song to many artists, eventually resulting in Roger Whittaker becoming the first to release the song commercially. It appeared on his 1982 studio album, also titled The Wind Beneath My Wings. It was also recorded by Australian artist Colleen Hewett in 1982, becoming a minor local hit in 1983.

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1980s, Pop

I Can Dream About You

First recorded by Winston Ford (1984).
Hit version by Dan Hartman (US #6/UK #12/CAN #11/AUS #3/IRE #4 1984).
Also recorded by Hall & Oates (2004)

(Below: Original motion picture audio)

From the wiki: “‘I Can Dream About You’ was written by Dan Hartman and first appeared in the 1984 movie Streets of Fire, where it was performed by the fictional group The Sorels. The real voice behind the version used in the movie was Winston Ford, but Hartman’s version was the one used on the soundtrack and released as a single.

“In a Songfacts interview with the film’s musical director, Kenny Vance, he recalled ‘The same guy that sings lead on that and ‘Countdown to Love’, a song that I wrote for the film, was a guy working at a Radio Shack (Winston Ford), and I think when you look at the film and The Sorels are singing it live in the movie, that was the version that was supposed to come out, and I recorded that version. But then when Dan Hartman heard it, I don’t know what happened next, but I know that he took that guy’s voice off and he put his own on, and he had a hit with it. Hollywood is a very slippery place.’

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1980s, Soul

Get Here

Written and first recorded by Brenda Russell (R&B #37 1988).
Hit version by Oleta Adams (US #5/MOR #3/R&B #8/UK #4/CAN #27/IRE #4 1990).

From the wiki: “‘Get Here’ was written by American singer/songwriter Brenda Russell (‘Piano in the Dark’) which became an international hit via a 1990 recording by Oleta Adams. Russell wrote the song while staying at a penthouse in Stockholm, Sweden: the tune came to her as she viewed some hot air balloons floating over the city, a sight Russell recalls set her ‘really tripping on how many ways you can get to a person’ (the eventual song’s lyrics include the line: ‘You can make it in a big balloon but you’d better make it soon’).

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1980s, Pop

Self Control

Co-written and first recorded by Raf (ITA #1/SWZ #1 1984).
Other hit version by Laura Branigan (US #4/UK #5/CAN #1/GER #1/SUI #1 1984).

From the wiki: “‘Self Control’ was co-written by Italian singer Raffaele Riefoli (‘Raf’) with Giancarlo Bigazzi (who had also co-written Branigan’s hit ‘Gloria‘) and Steve Piccolo. The song was first recorded by Raf but both it and Branigan’s recording weres also released contemporaneously in Europe, with both songs ascending various Euro music charts at the same time.

“Branigan’s version first hit #1 in Germany on June 15, 1984; Raf’s version first hit #1 in Italy on June 23, 1984. The only other territory where Raf topped the charts was in Switzerland but Branigan’s recording, there, would end the year as Switzerland’s most-successful single. ‘Self Control’ also afforded Branigan a #1 hit in Austria, Sweden and South Africa and was also a smash hit for Branigan in Norway (#2), Ireland (#3), Australia (#3) and the UK (#5).”

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1980s, Rock

Every Little Thing She Does is Magic

First recorded (as a demo) by Strontium 90 (1976, released 1997).
Hit version by The Police (US #3/UK #1/CAN #1/IRE #1/AUS #2/NED #1/NZ #7 1981).

From the wiki: “Sting wrote the song, he thinks, as early as 1975. Sting (who earned the nickname when wearing a black and yellow sweater with hooped stripes while onstage with the Phoenix Jazzmen in the mid-1970s) recalls ‘When I moved to London in 1975, I was struggling to make a living. I auditioned at the Zanzibar in Covent Garden. I sang ‘Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic’ and the guy said: ‘We need commercial hit songs. We don’t need this kind of stuff.”

“An early demo of the song, recorded in the house of Mike Howlett in the autumn of 1976 by the predecessor band of the Police, Strontium 90, can be heard on Strontium 90: Police Academy released in 1997 on Ark Records.

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1980s, Pop

Almost Paradise

Co-written and first recorded (as a demo) by Eric Carmen (1984).
Hit version by Mike Reno & Ann Wilson (US #7 1984).

http://youtu.be/yN38Qc9Fn4c

From the wiki: “‘Almost Paradise’ was co-written by Dean Pitchford and Eric Carmen (‘Hungry Eyes‘) for the Footloose movie soundtrack. According to Pitchford: “That song was written in a day, but in an 11-hour, 12-hour day. The next morning we went into the studio and into the office of our director, who had an upright piano installed in his office specifically to hear all the songs as I created them, with my various collaborators. Eric and I went in and we sang – I brought a girlfriend of mine in to sing the female part, and Eric sang the male part, and that sold that song.”

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1980s, Country

Heartbroke

First recorded by Rodney Crowell (1980).
Also recorded by Guy Clark, songwriter (1981), George Strait (1982), The Marshall Tucker Band (1982).
Hit version by Ricky Skaggs (C&W #1/CAN #1 1982).

From the wiki: “‘Heartbroke’ was written by Guy Clark, and originally recorded by Rodney Crowell on his 1980 album But What Will the Neighbors Think. Clark, the following year, included his version of ‘Heartbroke’ on the album, The South Coast of Texas. Guests on that album included Crowell (as both performer and producer) , Ricky Skaggs, Rosanne Cash, and Vince Gill as well as numerous other well-known session players.

“The following year, ‘Heartbroke’ would be covered solo by Skaggs and released by him in July 1982 as the first single from his album Highways & Heartaches, becoming Skaggs’ third #1 on the US Country chart.

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1980s, Rock

Pink Cadillac

Written and first recorded (as a demo) by Bruce Springsteen (1982)
Released as non-album B-side by Bruce Springsteen (US Rock #27 1984).
Other hit version by Natalie Cole (US #5/R&B #9/UK #5/NZ #4/GER #5/SUI #2 1988).

From the wiki: “Bruce Springsteen originally wrote ‘Pink Cadillac’ as ‘Love Is a Dangerous Thing’ in December 1981 with lyrics distinct from the eventual ‘Pink Cadillac’ and first recorded by Springsteen as a solo acoustic demo in early January 1982 during the sessions for the Nebraska album. The automobile imagery was inspired by Elvis Presley’s 1954 rendition of ‘Baby Let’s Play House’ in which Presley replaced the original lyric ‘You may get religion’ with ‘You may have a pink Cadillac’, a reference to the custom-painted Cadillac which was then Presley’s touring vehicle.

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1980s, Pop

Holding Back the Years

Originally recorded by The Frantic Elevators (1982).
Hit version by Simply Red (UK #51/#8 BEL/#3 NETH 1985 |US #1/UK #2/CAN #6/IRE #1/AUS #22 1986).

From the wiki: “Frontman of Simply Red, Mick Hucknall, first began writing ‘Holding Back the Years’ when he was 17 while living at his father’s house. Hucknall’s mother left the family when he was three; the upheaval caused by this event later inspired him to write the song while he was a fine arts student at Manchester School of Art. The chorus did not come to him until many years later. Hucknall’s early group, The Frantic Elevators, first recorded the song in 1982. Bandmate Neil Moss was also co-credited with the song’s composition.

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1980s, Pop

Careless Whisper

First recorded by George Michael (1983).
Hit version by Wham! (US #1/UK #1/IRE #1/AUS #1/JPN #1/SUI #1 1984).

From the wiki: “‘Careless Whisper’ was co-written by George Michael with Andrew Ridgeley, the other member of the duo Wham!. The song went through at least two rounds of production: The first was during a trip Michael made to Muscle Shoals, Alabama, where he went to work with producer Jerry Wexler at Muscle Shoals Studio. But, Michael was unhappy with that production and, almost a year after returning to England, decided to re-record and produce the song himself, at Sarm Studios, West London, this time coming up with the version that was finally released. The Wexler-produced version did, eventually, see the light of day – but only later on, as a (4:41) B-side ‘Special Version’ on 12”, released in the UK and Japan.

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1980s, Rock

Don’t Turn Around

First recorded by Tina Turner (B-side 1986).
Hit versions by Luther Ingram (R&B #55 1987), Aswad (R&B #45/UK #1 1988), Neil Diamond (MOR #19 1992), Ace of Base (US #4/MOR #7/CAN #1/UK #5/IRE #5/SWE #2/AUS #19 1994).

From the wiki: “‘Don’t Turn Around’ was written by Diane Warren (‘Because You Loved Me’) and Albert Hammond (‘The Air That I Breathe‘, ‘To All the Girls I’ve Loved Before‘). It was originally recorded by Tina Turner and first released as the B-side to the single ‘Typical Male’ in 1986. Warren is said to have been disappointed that Turner’s record company treated the song only as a B-side, not even releasing it on any of Turner’s albums.

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1980s, Pop

Caribbean Queen (No More Love on the Run)

Co-written and first recorded/released as “European Queen” by Billy Ocean (GER #2/SUI #3/NETH #20 1984).
Also recorded as “African Queen” by Billy Ocean (SA #7 1984).
Other hit version (as “Caribbean Queen”) by Billy Ocean (US #1/R&B #1/MOR #1/UK #6/CAN #1/NZ #1 1984).

From the wiki: “‘Caribbean Queen (No More Love on the Run)’ was co-written and co-produced by Billy Ocean with Keith Diamond, and was recorded using the same backing track under different titles for different parts of the world resulting in the earlier versions ‘European Queen’ and ‘African Queen’.

“Released first on the Continent, ‘European Queen’ went Top 10 in German and Switzerland, and Top 20 in the Netherlands and Austria. ‘African Queen’ peaked at #7 on the South Africa singles chart. ‘Caribbean Queen’ topped both the US and Canadian singles charts, both the Billboard R&B and Adult Contemporary charts, and New Zealand’s Singles chart, and went Top-5 in Australia and Top-10 in the UK and Ireland. ‘Caribbean Queen’ also won the 1984 Grammy Award for Best Rhythm & Blues Vocal Performance.”

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1980s, Country

When You Say Nothing At All

First recorded by Keith Whitley (C&W #1 1988).
Other hit versions by Alison Krauss & Union Station (US #53/C&W #3/CAN #7 1995), Ronan Keating (UK #1/IRE #1/AUS #3/NZ #1/ 1999), Deborah Blando & Roan Keating (as “O Amor Fala por Nós”) (2002).

From the wiki: “‘When You Say Nothing at All’ was written by Paul Overstreet and Don Schlitz (‘The Gambler‘), and is among the best-known hit songs for three different performers: Keith Whitley, who took it to the top of the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart in 1988; Alison Krauss, whose version became her first solo Top 10 Country hit in 1995; and Irish pop singer Ronan Keating, whose version was his first solo single and a chart-topper in the United Kingdom in 1999.

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1980s, Pop

That’s What Friends Are For

First recorded by Rod Stewart (1982).
Hit version by Dionne Warwick, Elton John, Stevie Wonder & Gladys Knight (US #1/R&B #1/UK #16/CAN #1/AUS #1 1985).

From the wiki: “‘That’s What Friends Are For’ was written by Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager (‘Everchanging Times‘) and was first recorded in 1982 by Rod Stewart for the soundtrack of the film Night Shift.

“The Dionne Warwick & Friends cover recording in 1984 was a one-off collaboration featuring Warwick, Gladys Knight, Elton John and Stevie Wonder. It was released as a charity fund-raising single in the U.S. and U.K. to benefit the American Foundation for AIDS Research. Sales from the song raised over US$3 million for that cause.”

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1980s, Pop

Everchanging Times

First recorded by Siedah Garrett (MOR #30/R&B #44 1987).
Other hit version by Aretha Franklin feat. Michael McDonald (MOR #11/R&B #19 1992).

From the wiki: “‘Everchanging Times’ was co-written by Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager (‘That’s What Friends Are For‘) and was first recorded by Siedah Garrett for the Baby Boom movie soundtrack. Released as a single, Garrett’s arrangement peaked at #44 on the R&B singles chart.

“In 1992, ‘Everchanging Times’ was covered by Aretha Franklin for her thirty-sixth studio album What You See Is What You Sweat with Michael McDonald having featured vocals. The song served as the fourth single from the album. Franklin’s single did not chart on the Billboard Hot 100 but did peaked at #11 on the Adult Contemporary singles chart and #19 on the Hot R&B chart.”

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1980s, Pop

Hungry Eyes

Written and first recorded (as a demo) by Franke & The Knockouts (1987, released 1999).
Hit version by Eric Carmen (US #4/UK #82/CAN #2 1987).

From the wiki: “Songwriters Franke Previte and John De Nicola, of Franke & The Knockouts, wrote and first recorded the song as a demo that would find its way onto the Dirty Dancing movie soundtrack. (The pair also composed ‘(I’ve Had) the Time of My Life’ for the same movie.) Franke & The Knockouts recorded for Millenium Records, which was helmed by Jimmy Ienner, who asked Franke for songs when Ienner began producing the Dirty Dancing soundtrack. Previte remembers: ‘Jimmy had closed his label and ‘Hungry Eyes’ was a song on my demo reel, because I was trying to get a new recording contract. No one thought the song had a chance. I guess history proves them wrong.’

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1980s, Country

Ashes by Now

Written and first recorded by Rodney Crowell (US #37 1981).
Hit version by Lee Ann Womack (US #45/C&W #4 2000).

From the wiki: “”Ashes by Now” is a song written and recorded in 1981 by American country artist Rodney Crowell. Before its release as a single, it served as the B-side to his 1978 single ‘Elvira‘. A cover version was recorded by fellow country artist Lee Ann Womack. Womack’s rendition of the song was released in October 2000 as the second single from her third studio album, I Hope You Dance.

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