From Deseret News archives:

Song remakes

Published: Friday, Jan. 12, 2007 8:57 a.m. MST
 |  E-MAIL | PRINT | FONT + - 
When Echo & the Bunnymen remade the Doors' "People Are Strange" for the 1987 vampire film "Lost Boys," it made remakes for movies hip.

Remakes are nothing new for movies, but in recent years it has become quite the trend to cover old pop songs.

OK, remakes have been around for years. For example the Drifters' 1964 hit "Under the Boardwalk" was remade in 1978 by Billy Joe Royal, then again in 1987 by Bruce Willis (yes, that Bruce Willis), and yet again in 1999 by John Mellencamp.

Bob Dylan's songs have been repeatedly remade throughout the years, as well as those by Ben E. King, the Beatles and numerous other classic-rock singers and groups.

More recently, teen idols have been remaking classic-music charters. In 2001, Britney Spears remade Joan Jett's "I Love Rock and Roll," 20 years after it hit No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 100. And a couple of years ago, Mandy Moore released an entire album of covers, titled "Coverage," which featured Cat Stevens' "Moon Shadow," Carole King's "I Feel the Earth Move," XTC's "Senses Working Overtime" and Joe Jackson's "Breaking Us in Two," to name a few.

Story continues below
Even pop music pioneers have done remakes. Before Johnny Cash passed away last year, he tapped into Nine Inch Nails ("Hurt"), Depeche Mode ("Personal Jesus") and Gordon Lightfoot ("If You Could Read My Mind").

Yusuf Islam, known earlier in his recording career as Cat Stevens, released a comeback album a couple of weeks ago, and one of the songs is the Animals' 1965 hit "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood," which was also covered by Santa Esmerelda in 1978.

Even Nine Inch Nails has gotten into the remake mode, doing Gary Numan's "Metal" and Joy Division's "Dead Souls."

Rock music's Prince of Darkness Ozzy Osbourne released an album titled "Under Cover." His victims included the Beatles' "In My Life," Joe Walsh's "Rocky Mountain Way" and the Rolling Stones' "Sympathy for the Devil."

Speaking of "Sympathy for the Devil," Guns N' Roses remade that song for the 1994 film "Interview With the Vampire." And speaking of GN'R, Sheryl Crow remade the band's breakthrough hit "Sweet Child O' Mine" for 1999's "Big Daddy" soundtrack.

The list goes on — and that doesn't even touch the pub-band remakes. The Supersuckers have covered everything from the Commodores' "Sail On" to OutKast's "Hey Ya." Me First and the Gimme Gimmes have made a career of albums full of remakes, including Broadway tunes, rock tunes, country tunes and even rhythm & blues, including "Don't Cry for Me Argentina," "Stairway to Heaven," "Jolene" and "Natural Woman."

Probably one of the more thought-out collections of remakes is Tori Amos' 2001 album "Strange Little Girls," which features a haunting remake of Eminem's "97' Bonnie & Clyde," Slayer's "Raining Blood" and Joe Jackson's poignant "Real Men," but not her cult-classic remakes of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" or the Rolling Stones' "Angie." Those, along with her remake of Led Zeppelin's "Thank You," however, can be found on her "Crucify" extended-play album.

Even metal bands Lacuna Coil and Disturbed have mined some of the '80s new-wave pop. Lacuna Coil recently remade Depeche Mode's "Enjoy the Silence," and Disturbed is famous for leading arena sing-a-longs onto its remake of Tears for Fears' "Shout."

A lot of artists are drawn to classic pop songs because they are recognizable and have a built-in audience. And some are better than others. But musicians need to be aware that a remake can also be viewed as a shortcut to creativity.

Just listen to the aforementioned Britney Spears remake of "I Love Rock and Roll" to understand.


E-mail: scott@desnews.com

Comments

You can be the first to comment on this story.

Image
Ben Devries, Associated Press

Blues rock singer Sheryl Crow remade Guns N' Roses' hit "Sweet Child O' Mine" in 1999 for her "Big Daddy" soundtrack.

previousnext

Latest comments

That game was amazing! I think this will really help the sport grow in Utah....

Real Champions

Congrats on a great win. Utah as a whole should be proud not just of a major...

Congrats Real Salt Lake! but, they aren't the first major sports team to...

RSL regroups, dominates 2nd half

I told ALL of you how much i liked NED Pure irony his contributions vs x...

RSL wins MLS Cup on penalty kicks

this is to NevadaUTE @ 10:25!!! I love soccer, I love Real and it brought a...

Real Champions

wow!!! amazing. UTAH JAZZ DO SOMETHING!!!

Glenn Beck to enter politics?

So much fear and anger from Beck lovers. You all lost the last election, we...

RSL wins MLS Cup on penalty kicks

This is the most emotion I have had watching a sporting event since my...

Nicky Rimando is my hero! I love that guy. He has had his detractors, but...

Real Champions

Two stars means nothing! We played as a team and it showed! I'm still in...

Advertisements