Search results
Jan 5, 2019 · Criteria: These cover songs/remakes of the 1980s are ranked according to their initial and lasting popularity, influence and acclaim, as well as their cultural impact. The greatness of an original record is not taken into consideration. To qualify as a cover version, the song has to be neither the first recorded nor the first released version ...
- Cover Songs 1990S
Definition:The term "cover version" originally referred to a...
- 100 Greatest Cover Songs and Remakes
Criteria: These cover songs/remakes are ranked according to...
- Cover Songs 2000S
For sake of this list, versions of songs which fit the newer...
- Cover Songs 1990S
- 20 Sonic Youth – Into The Groove Original: Madonna
- 19 M Ward– Let’s Dance Original: David Bowie
- 18 Calexico – Love Will Tear Us Apart Original: Joy Division
- 17 Nada Surf – If You Leave Original: OMD
- 15 Alien Ant Farm – Smooth Criminal Original: Michael Jackson
- 14 STRFKR – Girls Just Want to Have Fun Original: Cyndi Lauper
- 13 Ian Brown – Billie Jean Original: Michael Jackson
- 12 Johnny Cash – Personal Jesus Original: Depeche Mode
- 11 Weezer – Africa Original: Toto
- 10 Faith No More – I’m Easy Original: The Commodores
Credited to Ciccone Youth, this improbable Madonna cover by Noo Yoik noiseniks Sonic Youth was cut from The Whitey Album, an LP built around their fascination with the Material Girl. We’ve chosen not their take on Burning Up but their version of Maddie’s 1985 smash, Into The Groove. Staggeringly, it’s as loyal to the discordant, feedback-heavy Soni...
Let’s Dance is one of David Bowie’s slickest tracks, a glorious, clear-eyed slice of party-funk that won him his biggest hit in years. M Ward’s 2007 cover version, recorded for Taika Waititi’s comedy flick Eagle Vs Shark, strips back all of that Nile Rodgers tinsel, reclaiming it as a tender folk-blues number. It’s worth checking out the covers alb...
There have been oh-so-many cover versions of Joy Division’s signature number (including Squarepusher, José González, Fall Out Boy, Nouvelle Vague, Soul Asylum and, of course, Paul Young), but our pick comes from alt-country oddballs Calexico who recorded this Americana-inflected take in 2005. Audaciously refashioning the central melody, it’s a rosi...
Recorded originally for John Hughes’ cult romcom Pretty In Pink, If You Leave became Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark’s highest-charting single in the US, where it peaked at No.4 in May 1986. When 00s teen drama The OCfashioned an episode around Hughes’ film, they reached out to alternative rock band Nada Surf to cover OMD’s iconic, movie-closing ...
The dreadfully-named Alien Ant Farm have failed to make much of an impact after this, their – admittedly dope – debut single. A guitared-up take on Jacko’s 1988 dance classic, it was certainly an MTV favourite in the early 00s (with its video depicting frontman Dryden Mitchell frolicking with a pet monkey and pastiching Jackson’s iconic crotch grab...
It’s worth noting that Cyndi Lauper’s 1983 single was itself a cover of a song written and first recorded in 1979 by new wave muso Robert Hazard (he reportedly dashed off the track in just 15 minutes whilst in the tub). Lauper, however, took the number to soaring chart heights, creating an effervescent feminist anthem. Three decades later, indie ou...
“You’re never going to improve on a Michael Jackson song if you cover it,” so proclaimed former Stone Rose Ian Brown, a brave man who took on not just one, but two Jacko classics at the turn of the millennium. A fully Brownified take on Jackson fave Billie Jean was released as a double A-side with his similarly idiosyncratic version of Thriller. Es...
The Man In Black’s American Recordings series threw up a plethora of bang-up covers, some blindingly obvious and some that were, for a sexagenarian country legend, rather more leftfield. It was producer Rick Rubin who suggested this sleazy, sinister cut off Depeche Mode’s Violator album for Cash’s 2002 long-player, American IV: The Man Comes Around...
In December 2017, a Twitter account was set up with the sole purpose of convincing American alt-rockers Weezer to wax a version of Toto’s MOR favourite Africa. Just to be contrary, the band first put out a cover of Toto’s Rosanna, before succumbing and releasing their irony-heavy version (they even brought in “Weird Al“ Yankovic to replace singer R...
We can’t imagine Faith No More are particularly happy now, three decades down the line, that I’m Easyremains their biggest worldwide hit. Although they were most likely pissing themselves in the studio, it’s a surprisingly – no pun intended – faithful cover of the Lionel Richie-composed original. Which is probably why their fans detested it so much...
May 22, 2023 · Following those two remakes, nine covers of ‘80s Hot 100 top 10s hit the top 10 in the ‘90s; three did so in the 2000s; and one did in the ‘10s. Newest on the list is Luke Combs ’ version ...
- Jon O'brien
- Kim Carnes – Bette Davis Eyes. File this under ‘covers you never knew were covers.’ Well, not unless you’re familiar with the lesser-known recording output of Brill Building songwriter Jackie DeShannon.
- Chaka Khan – I Feel For You. Like many peerless pop moments, Melle Mel’s stuttering Chaka Khan shout-out on I Feel For You happened purely by accident.
- The Bangles – Hazy Shade Of Winter. One of the few occasions where Simon And Garfunkel came close to rocking out, Hazy Shade Of Winter also allowed The Bangles to replicate the harder-edged sound of their live shows.
- Yazz And The Plastic Population – The Only Way Is Up. What better way to signal the arrivalof an instant house-pop classic than the blaring of a train horn?
People also ask
What are some '80s music covers?
Are 80s cover versions good or bad?
Are classic songs from the 1980s still popular?
Are 80s songs still popular today?
80's Covers & Remakes · Playlist · 186 songs · 2.2K likes
Nov 18, 2022 · 49. Daughter, “Get Lucky” (Daft Punk) Of the many treatments given Daft Punk’s ubiquitous 2013 single, this cover by U.K. alt poppers Daughter, may be the sexiest. Elena Tonra’s reverb ...
Dec 21, 2023 · Below, you'll find a complete list of our favorite '80s music covers including "Fast Cars" by Luke Combs, originally sung by Tracy Chapman, Weezer's "Africa" made famous by Toto, and more. Let ...
