Ten Classic Rock Covers That You Forgot Were Covers

Classic rock is my passion. I feel confident in my knowledge of classic rock covers and originals, but I still learn something new every day. When it comes to cover songs, we sometimes forget how much rock n roll has borrowed from others.  Led Zeppelin is known as "the band that never wrote a bad song," but they didn't write them all... in fact, sometimes they gave credit, and sometimes it's questioned as to whether they should have given, but didn't.

Everyone knows that Rock N Roll would not exist without The Blues.  You are welcome to disagree with that statement, but I would suggest doing some homework first.  Most rock artists will list blues artists as their influencers and many rock songs were originally blues songs. And, of course, you're always welcome to catch up on your Classic Rock News.

The '70s glam-rock that was HUGE in the UK, didn't really make its way across the pond until a decade later. but it was a HUGE influence on our American hairbands of the '80s.

Did you know this? I found out, literally, today. LOL... I'm not proud, just honest. I was talking to my boss about cover songs and he said, "You know Paul Pena, right?" I had a blank look on my face so he pulled this video up on YouTube. Listen and be amazed.

I was researching cover songs for the Blue Plate Special on the Power Lunch and I saw "Dazed and Confused" which left me dazed and confused.  I thought this song was Led Zeppelin's for so long... it's not true.  The song was originally written and performed by Jake Holmes... although to give credit where credit is due. Led Zeppelin heavily borrowed from a lot of songs, but they made everyone their own. The lyrics of "Dazed and Confused" are significantly different along with, obviously, the arrangement, but can hear the bones of the original. 100%

So much of Rock N Roll comes from The Blues. "Back Door Man" was written by Willie Dixon and recorded by Howlin' Wolf in 1960. Willies Dixon also wrote Led Zeppelin's “You Shook Me” and “I Can’t Quit You Baby."

Tommy James & the Shondells originally released "Mony Mony" in 1968, but a for all the '80s teens, this song belonged to Billy Idol.

Alan Merril wrote this song in the '70s and performed it with The Arrows.  It was actually a rebuttal song to The Rolling Stones's "It's Only Rock and Roll."  About a decade later, Joan Jett wanted to record this song with The Runaways, but they passed on it.  Once she went solo, she recorded it and the rest is history.

This one is a bit convoluted.  Iggy Pop and David Bowie wrote this song together, but it first appeared on Iggy's debut album, The Idiot, in 1977.  David Bowie released it in 1983 (prime MTV year).  Bowie's rendition peaked at #10 in the U.S. and went to #2 in the UK.

More than one One-Hit Wonder's song was actually a cover.  "Tainted Love" was written and performed by Gloria Jones and released in 1976.

The song "New York Groove" was written by Russ Ballard, an English musician and producer.  It was first recorded by the Eglish glam-rock band, Hello in 1975.  Ace Frehley recorded it for his solo album in 1978... Remember when all four KISS members decided to release solo albums.... on the same day?

UK glam-rock of the '70s was a HUGE precursor for the '80s Hairbands in the U.S.  Ironically, Quiet Riot didn't want to cover this song by Slade (it went to #1 in the UK in 1973).  It was their producer's idea to cover it.  Quiet Riot lead singer, Kevin DuBrow tried to tank it, but when the band started playing, there was no going back.  The song helped take Quiet Riot's album, Metal Health, to #1 in 1983.

I was born and raised in Michigan.  I was a teen when I first heard "Smokin' in the Boys Room," performed by Motley Crue.  I had no idea, for DECADES that Ann Arbor's Brownville Station had released the song first and that I was listening to a cover done by Motley Crue.

I was blown away by the WCSX request lines when Lee called me to request this song.  I said, "Who did the original?"  Lee said, "Etta James."  My mind was blown.  Etta James is such an OG. Again, you learn something every day!  Thanks for the call and info, Lee!

Before we talk about the most played videos on MTV, do you remember the first video you saw on MTV? I do. It was "Rock the Casbah" by The Clash. My mind was blown. I have to give MTV credit for exposing me to music that I didn't know existed.  Because of this, I attribute my lasting love of 80's-90's Alternative Rock to my days of watching MTV.

As much as I loved my MTV, it was back in the early days when MTV really was MUSIC TELEVISION.. that's when you had me, fools. One of our recent Throwback Thursday tracks, "Sledgehammer" by Peter Gabriel, made me think about MTV and wonder... "What were the most played videos on MTV?"

"Sledgehammer" HAS to be on the list. In my opinion, this video was groundbreaking. It was one of the first to use stop-motion claymation. "Sledgehammer" had Stephen Johnson directing the video... he had given a similar treatment to The Talking Heads' "Road To Nowhere" the year before.

These types of videos are not plentiful. I have to believe that the budget dollars and time required to put them together were all insanely high.

The "Sledgehammer" video cost a ton of money and had some crazy issues. Peter Gabriel kept getting electrocuted by his light-up suit. They had to Scotchlite tape HIM and THE ENTIRE SET to fix the problem. 

I read that they also used model chickens for the chicken dances in the video.  The chickens are postmortem.  As a result, the shelf life was an issue. I'm going out on a limb and saying they went through a LOT of chicken models. I know. It is gross.  Suddenly, the chicken dances seem less funny to me, but let's move along.

At the end of the day, "Sledgehammer" was a ground-breaking video and well received. In 1987, "Sledgehammer" swept the MTV Video Music Awards.

MTV debuted on August 1st, 1981. Chances are good you and I both know the first song: "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles.  I have recently rewatched Pat Benatar's "You Better Run" video.  It's so great to see her at a time when she's about to take off. Third: Rod Stewart's "She Won't Dance With Me."

Oh, and a sidenote of trivia that I love, did you know that the first "rap" song played on MTV was Blondie's "Rapture?" To check out more of the first day of MTV's videos CLICK HERE.  Now let's find out which songs were the most played videos on MTV.  My list is reflective of actual play on MTV.

Dear Lord... the boobs.  Models who did not know how to play instruments were deliberately chosen and it shows.  The biggest thing I remember about this video from back in the day was the one model that didn't seem to have as much "support" as the others.  This was discussed in our high school lunches.  How come NO ONE told her? Nobelmania.com tracked all the ladies in the video down and interviewed them roughly 30 years after the video was made.

"Sabotage" started out as a joke. Songfacts talks about Beastie Boys' producer, Mario Caldato, was beyond frustrated at the lack of work getting done on the album (the studio had a basketball hoop and skate ramp that might have been distracting). Ad-Rock responded by spitting out a verse about how Caldato was ruining their fun.  It became the theme of the song, the biggest single on the album, and one of the most played video on MTV.

Side note:  I have not heard this song the same way since I discovered the story behind the lyrics "Where do we go now?"  You can read the whole story here: Classic Rock Songs that Started as Jokes. Axl was asking the question, "Where do we go now?" to the producer.

Many would agree that this collaboration revived Aerosmith's career. Rick Rubin said in the book I Want My MTV: "The record and the video had a huge effect on both groups. It opened the door to Run-D.M.C.'s full suburban crossover, and it reminded people how great Aerosmith was."

I KNEW it had to be one of the top videos!  "Sledgehammer" earned a record-setting 10 nominations at the 1987 MTV Video Music Awards. The video won nine VMAs, which was also a record.

Not only is this song one of the most played by MTV, but it also has more than 1.5 BILLION hits on YouTube. I love a lot of the music that gets put in the box of "grunge." When "Smells Like Teen Spirit" came out, it was a game changer, It was different than anything I'd heard before it. I remember where I was when I first heard this song.  That is impact.

The director of this video, David Fincher, also directed Alien 3.  He went on to direct several more videos for Madonna and several more blockbuster movies including Fight Club, Seven, and Panic Room.

"Thriller" is 100% iconic. This video stands the test of time and is still bad a$$ in my book. "Thriller" has been changing Halloween costumes and wedding party entrances since its inception.