Songs You Found Out Later in Life That Weren't Sung by Whoever You Thought Had Sung Them

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well, you get the idea...

Yesterday I heard "Just Got Lucky" by Jo Boxers in that 40-Year-Old Virgin movie, and was thinking back to a time, years ago, when I thought the Style Council sang it. Anyone else with similar stories?

― ken taylrr has gone off the internet because of you (ken taylrr), Monday, 22 August 2005 16:18 (twenty years ago)

i always knew it was the faces, but i didnt know that it was ron wood, not rod stewart that sang the original version of "ooh la la."

― petesmith (plsmith), Monday, 22 August 2005 16:22 (twenty years ago)

I thought Heart sang "Joey."

― Je4nne ƒur¥ (Je4nne Fury), Monday, 22 August 2005 16:22 (twenty years ago)

"Bang On The Drum All Day." I only recently found out this was a Todd Rundgren song. For years, I thought it was by Bad Manners. I have no idea why.

― pdf (Phil Freeman), Monday, 22 August 2005 16:32 (twenty years ago)

For half a decade, I thought Ash sung "Anything, Anything" by Dramarama, because the DJ never said who it was. And Ash did have this song called "I'd give you anything."

― Michael F Gill (Michael F Gill), Monday, 22 August 2005 16:39 (twenty years ago)

I thought "She's A Lot Like You" (the Cars) was the Talking Heads.

I was also shocked to find out that "The Anniversary Song" (the Cowboy Junkies) was not by 10,000 Maniacs.

― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Monday, 22 August 2005 17:21 (twenty years ago)

For decades, I'd have sworn "Horse With No Name" was sung by Neil Young and not, as it turned out, America.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 22 August 2005 17:23 (twenty years ago)

I always thought that "More Than Words" was by Del Amitri.

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Monday, 22 August 2005 17:25 (twenty years ago)

When I was a kid I thought a lot of oldies with British sounding vocals were the Beatles. I didn't even know that "Come and Get It" was Badfinger until fairly recently.

― walter kranz (walterkranz), Monday, 22 August 2005 17:27 (twenty years ago)

> For decades, I'd have sworn "Horse With No Name" was sung by Neil Young and not, as it turned out, America.

er, wow. you just corrected the same misconception for me.

― bchan (bchan), Monday, 22 August 2005 17:28 (twenty years ago)

i recently was reminded that "hole-hearted" was by extreme; i thought "hole-hearted" was by nelson. you and me are gonna rob extreme of all their accomplishments, dom.

― petesmith (plsmith), Monday, 22 August 2005 17:30 (twenty years ago)

i always thought steve miller was somehow associated with "stuck in the middle with you."

― petesmith (plsmith), Monday, 22 August 2005 17:32 (twenty years ago)

i recently was reminded that "hole-hearted" was by extreme; i thought "hole-hearted" was by nelson. you and me are gonna rob extreme of all their accomplishments, dom.

Yeah, but what were Extreme if not simpley the Brunette Nelson (albeit with two other guys who played no part in scoring said hit).

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 22 August 2005 17:35 (twenty years ago)

i always thought steve miller was somehow associated with "stuck in the middle with you."

He's not?!

Wow, this thread is not just confessional, it's educational.

― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Monday, 22 August 2005 17:50 (twenty years ago)

Oh, and I don't know who I thought was behind "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)" but I sure as fuck didn't think it was Kenny Rogers.

― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Monday, 22 August 2005 17:52 (twenty years ago)

"Ebony Eyes" - also not a Steve Miller song.

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Monday, 22 August 2005 17:56 (twenty years ago)

I could've sworn Joe Walsh sang "Play That Funky Music" (and not, as it turned out, some no-names dubbed Wild Cherry).

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 22 August 2005 17:59 (twenty years ago)

young me thought that "the air that i breathe" was air supply. now i blame the hollies and that song for the existence of air supply.

― andrew m. (andrewmorgan), Monday, 22 August 2005 18:00 (twenty years ago)

I always assumed "Red Rubber Ball" was by some band other than Cyrkle but I can't remember which, maybe the Byrds or the Monkees.

― Aaron A., Monday, 22 August 2005 18:03 (twenty years ago)

This is sort've a tangent from this thread. Before the age of video, it was usually pretty rare to see much of your favorite music being performed outside of the concert hall. As such, I had various preconceptions about Pink Floyd based solely on one of the posters included in the vinyl edition of Dark Side of the Moon. I presumed that it was the guy in the picture that turned out to be keyboardist Rick Wright that was performing the vocals (and not, the guy in the picture who turned out to actually be Roger Waters or the dude in the pic that turned out to be Dave Gilmour). Does that make sense?

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 22 August 2005 18:03 (twenty years ago)

yeah - ive been wrong about who was the singer in a band... cant think of any examples offhand, but i know its happened.

― petesmith (plsmith), Monday, 22 August 2005 18:12 (twenty years ago)

Red Rubber Ball was written by Paul Simon, for what it's worth.

But Rick Wright's vocals are so underrated! Why, my 2nd ilx thread ever was about that.

― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Monday, 22 August 2005 18:15 (twenty years ago)

I was really surprised to find out a guy named William DeVaughn sang my favorite 'Curtis Mayfield' song (namely, Be Thankful For What You Got).

Leaving aside the photos, I was confused for years about who in Pink Floyd sang what and who wrote what. And *then* I found out about Syd Barrett.

― Billy Pilgrim (Billy Pilgrim), Monday, 22 August 2005 18:29 (twenty years ago)

young me thought that "the air that i breathe" was air supply.
ME TOO!

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Monday, 22 August 2005 18:31 (twenty years ago)

I thought Bowie sang "All the Young Dudes" or whatever that song is called.

― PB, Monday, 22 August 2005 18:33 (twenty years ago)

More education, from upthread--I guess it's obvious now that I think about it, but I always thought it was Ronnie Lane that sang 'Ooh La La' since he wrote it. I forgot all about Ron Wood.

― Billy Pilgrim (Billy Pilgrim), Monday, 22 August 2005 18:35 (twenty years ago)

bowie WROTE "all the young dudes", and mott styled their version after him. thats close...

― petesmith (plsmith), Monday, 22 August 2005 18:38 (twenty years ago)

For years I thought/assumed that "Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)" and "Dancing in the Moonlight" were by the same band.

Similarly, it took me years to learn that "Rescue Me" was by Fontella Bass and not Aretha.

― Joe McCombs, Monday, 22 August 2005 18:49 (twenty years ago)

I thought Lady Madonna was a Billie Joel song.

Due to confusing pause button editing on a compilation of songs I recorded from the John Peel show my friend bought an AR Kane lp under the misapprehension that they were Godflesh.

― Raw Patrick (Raw Patrick), Monday, 22 August 2005 18:50 (twenty years ago)

I thought Bowie sang "All the Young Dudes"

He reclaimed it, too - it's been a live staple lately.

― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Monday, 22 August 2005 18:51 (twenty years ago)

not just lately... i feel like he's been doing that one for years. last i saw him, in 96, he was doing it then, along with a few VU covers

― ken taylrr has gone off the internet because of you (ken taylrr), Monday, 22 August 2005 19:29 (twenty years ago)

Alan Wilder (of Depeche Mode) on the video for _Get the Balance Right_ :

"The video, confusingly, features myself lipsyncing Dave's voice over the first verse. This was because the director didn't actually know who the singer of the band was and for some reason made the assumption that it was me. As an indication of our naivety, we were too embarrassed to point out his mistake. Consequently, the final cut of the promo remains this way today."

― Some Guy, Monday, 22 August 2005 22:27 (twenty years ago)

I thought Bowie sang "All the Young Dudes" or whatever that song is called.

You ain't the only one...

― Edward Bax (EdBax), Tuesday, 23 August 2005 01:08 (twenty years ago)

I thought "Sign Of The Gypsy Queen" was some late period Blue Oyster Cult song.
Turns out it's April Wine.

― chad (chad), Tuesday, 23 August 2005 02:56 (twenty years ago)

As a six-year-old in the 70's, for the longest time I thought "Brother Louie" was by the Staple Singers, not Stories. For a white guy, Ian Lloyd's phrasing and raspy voice was pretty damn close to Mavis Staples.

― Rev. Hoodoo (Rev. Hoodoo), Tuesday, 23 August 2005 02:59 (twenty years ago)

And while we're back there in the 70's, there were a couple of Booker T. & the MG's songs I heard on oldies radio that I was almost 99 and 44/100% sure was Jimmy Smith.

― Rev. Hoodoo (Rev. Hoodoo), Tuesday, 23 August 2005 03:00 (twenty years ago)

I thought Pat Benetar's "Heartbreaker" was the Runaways for a year or so.

― Gogi Ormsby-Gore (Arthur), Tuesday, 23 August 2005 03:20 (twenty years ago)

I thought "Sister Christian" was by BTO for YEARS!

― Roger Fidelity (Roger Fidelity), Tuesday, 23 August 2005 03:37 (twenty years ago)

My wife thinks that Bill Calahan and David Berman are all side projects of Lou Reed.

And my idiot driver Eric thinks that Third Uncle is a Bauhaus song.

― sleeve (sleeve), Tuesday, 23 August 2005 03:43 (twenty years ago)

I was confused for years about who in Pink Floyd sang what and who wrote what.

I didn't realize until the other week that Gilmore sang Breathe.

― kyle (akmonday), Tuesday, 23 August 2005 03:45 (twenty years ago)

A friend once told me Paranoid Android was by Jeff Buckley, so I bought everything by Buckley only to not be able to find the song I loved.

― glenny g2003 (glenny g2003), Tuesday, 23 August 2005 03:50 (twenty years ago)

Years ago I went and bought a bunch of Beastie Boys cds trying to find _Killing In The Name_ (I didn't know of the song the name at the time).

― Some Guy, Tuesday, 23 August 2005 04:25 (twenty years ago)

I was slightly shocked that "See My Baby Jive" is not by the Rubettes but by the founder of ELO.

― Sith Vidious, Tuesday, 23 August 2005 16:00 (twenty years ago)

"The video, confusingly, features myself lipsyncing Dave's voice over the first verse.

This has always been my idea for a video, to have another member of the band lip-synch the song than the actual singer. It'd especially be cool if there were two lead vocalists in the band, and the videos kept the songs switched up.

Bob Nastanovich lipsynchs Mark Ibold's part in the video for "Stereo", but that's hardly anything.

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Tuesday, 23 August 2005 16:10 (twenty years ago)

I thought "Stuck in the Middle With You" was a solo John Lennon track.

Compare the sound of the vocal at "clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right," and it sounds a bit like John's vocal in "The Ballad of John and Yoko," where he sings, "the way things are going, they're gonna crucify me."

Think about it.

― The Mad Puffin (The Mad Puffin), Tuesday, 23 August 2005 17:05 (twenty years ago)

For some reason "Don't Dream It's Over" is a Howard Jones song in my mind, not Crowded House.

― zaxxon25 (zaxxon25), Tuesday, 23 August 2005 17:09 (twenty years ago)

I thought for years that Prince sang "Oh Sheila". And that Bruce Springsteen sang "On The Dark Side".

― Deric W. Haircare (Deric W. Haircare), Tuesday, 23 August 2005 18:44 (twenty years ago)

well, those were two very concerted efforts to confuse. Their management would probably declare success on both fronts.

― zaxxon25 (zaxxon25), Tuesday, 23 August 2005 19:23 (twenty years ago)

My wife thinks that Bill Calahan and David Berman are all side projects of Lou Reed.

Is she taken? Oh wait.

― Allow Me To Hump Thee (joseph cotten), Tuesday, 23 August 2005 19:30 (twenty years ago)

"This has always been my idea for a video, to have another member of the band lip-synch the song than the actual singer. "

see: Dead Milkmen's "Punk Rock Girl" video. I thought the guy singing in the video was actually the lead singer for a very long time.

― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 23 August 2005 19:34 (twenty years ago)

Wha?

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Tuesday, 23 August 2005 19:36 (twenty years ago)

I used to think "Real Men" was sung by Billy Joel and not Joe Jackson.

― Elwyn Chow (I say we take off and nuke the), Wednesday, 24 August 2005 04:30 (twenty years ago)

TWO GIRLS FOR EVERY BOY

― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Wednesday, 24 August 2005 04:58 (twenty years ago)

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