Upstaged Artists

[rockdoctor]

Here is something that I thought of recently. Have you ever heard a song by an artist that you liked but their version got upstaged by another artist? Those I have listed I first heard on the radio but another artist recorded the song and the original version vanished from the airwaves.
Cass Elliot-Oh Babe, What Would You Say? Upstaged by Hurricane Smith.
Eydie Gorme-Touch The Wind. Upstaged by Mocedades as Eres Tu.
The Johnstons- Both Sides Now. Upstaged by Judy Collins.

These are three that I can think of at the moment. What have you heard that got upstaged?

 

[Bobberman]

Tim Moore's Classic "Second Avenue" which was Eclipsed by Art Garfunkel's version good as it was I prefer Tim Moore's original version as it was the first version I heard of it.

 

[rockdoctor]

Tim Moore's Classic "Second Avenue" which was Eclipsed by Art Garfunkel's version good as it was I prefer Tim Moore's original version as it was the first version I heard of it.

I only know of Art Garfunkel's version. I have never heard Tim Moore.

 

[Bobberman]

I only know of Art Garfunkel's version. I have never heard Tim Moore.

You can find him on YouTube

 

[Harry]

As an aside to "Second Avenue",

I like and remember both "Second Avenue" versions battling it out on the charts at the same time. I suspect the song would have charted higher if there hadn't been two versions out at once. Art Garfunkel "won" the battle for highest chart position, but it wasn't all that high.

In fact, Art Garfunkel has apparently had a tortured history with the record. It wasn't from any album but rather a non-album single that was put out in two different 45 versions. The early (and rarer) version was 3:59 in length. Then someone (Art? Columbia?) decided to chop out a whole verse and released - on the same catalog number - a shorter version at around 2:45.

The song was rarely (nearly never) placed on any of Art's compilation albums, and then in 1988, on a comp called just GARFUNKEL, the shortened version showed up. That was the one and only time that it did.

I was lucky back in 1975 to have picked up the original 3:59 version on 45 and it's one of my more successful YouTube entries with over 200,000 views.

 

[Harry]

Certainly one of the big upstagings by an A&M artist has to be "Close To You" by Carpenters. Dionne Warwick had done an earlier version that languished as an album track on one of her albums, but then Richard's arrangement made the song special and he "got it right" as even Burt Bacharach admitted.

And another one might be "Fool On The Hill" by Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66. It's not easy to upstage the Beatles, but I think this one managed to do just that. The Beatles version just sort of laid there on the MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR release, while Sergio and company took it to the top of the charts.

 

[Mr Bill]

I.R.S. Records artist The Buzzcocks' "Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've)" was released in 1978 and reached #12 on the UK charts. 8 years later, fellow I.R.S. artist Fine Young Cannibals' cover version (from the soundtrack of Jonathan Demme's Something Wild feature) reached #9 on the UK charts. I can't say which is better as they are so drastically different in style. However it is a terrific song either way.

Buzzcocks:

Fine Young Cannibals:

--Mr Bill

 

[rockdoctor]

Certainly one of the big upstagings by an A&M artist has to be "Close To You" by Carpenters. Dionne Warwick had done an earlier version that languished as an album track on one of her albums, but then Richard's arrangement made the song special and he "got it right" as even Burt Bacharach admitted.

And another one might be "Fool On The Hill" by Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66. It's not easy to upstage the Beatles, but I think this one managed to do just that. The Beatles version just sort of laid there on the MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR release, while Sergio and company took it to the top of the charts.

Another one for this line would be One Less Bell To Answer by the 5th Dimension. Dionne had recorded it but not released it as a single. In addition Brasil '66 upstaged Dusty Springfield with The Look of Love. I never heard either before about the fall of 1969.
I am actually aiming for songs that were getting airplay at the time they got upstaged. The three I listed in the original post were getting airplay at their time of being upstaged.

 

[Harry]

I am actually aiming for songs that were getting airplay at the time they got upstaged.

Fair enough.

 

[jfiedler17]

I only know of Art Garfunkel's version. I have never heard Tim Moore.

I loooooove Tim Moore! Truly one of the great overlooked talents of the '70s and '80s. He was formerly a member of the short-lived Elektra band Gulliver (whose members also included Daryl Hall), released a one-off solo 45 for ABC (during which he also sang backup on the pre-Can't Buy a Thrill Steely Dan non-LP single "Dallas"), and then signed to A Small Record Company for his self-titled debut album, which "Second Avenue" originally hailed from (as well as countless other great tunes like "A Fool Like You," "Charmer," "Aviation Man," "When You Close Your Eyes," etc.; nearly every last track on the album was eventually covered by some well-known artist or another, like Cher, Etta James, Cliff Richard, or The Zombies' Colin Blunstone). After the label folded just as the album was picking up momentum, Asylum quickly signed him and re-issued it, and he'd go on to cut four more albums for the Elektra/Asylum family between 1976 and 1985. His second album includes the original version of "Rock and Roll Love Letter" (one of the all-time great power-pop songs), which would go on to be a sizable worldwide hit for the Bay City Rollers.

Very nice guy, too! After finally belatedly discovering his music a couple years back via an impulse purchase of his self-titled debut, I wrote a feature article about the album for a (sadly now-defunct) music website I used to regularly write columns for, and he kindly went out of his way to reach out and tell me how much he liked and appreciated the piece, which meant quite a great deal to me.

 

[Michael Hagerty]

I am actually aiming for songs that were getting airplay at the time they got upstaged. The three I listed in the original post were getting airplay at their time of being upstaged.

So, actually, you're talking about cover battles and who won them.

 

[rockdoctor]

So, actually, you're talking about cover battles and who won them.

Essentially Yes.
The songs I listed were getting airplay when the newer covers showed up and the original ones that I was hearing got shoved aside. Another one was by a woman whose last name was Curry and that was With A Little Help From My Friends. It was upstaged by Brasil' 66 and I never heard Curry's version again. Same with the original three posted.

 

[rockdoctor]

I loooooove Tim Moore! Truly one of the great overlooked talents of the '70s and '80s. He was formerly a member of the short-lived Elektra band Gulliver (whose members also included Daryl Hall), released a one-off solo 45 for ABC (during which he also sang backup on the pre-Can't Buy a Thrill Steely Dan non-LP single "Dallas"), and then signed to A Small Record Company for his self-titled debut album, which "Second Avenue" originally hailed from (as well as countless other great tunes like "A Fool Like You," "Charmer," "Aviation Man," "When You Close Your Eyes," etc.; nearly every last track on the album was eventually covered by some well-known artist or another, like Cher, Etta James, Cliff Richard, or The Zombies' Colin Blunstone). After the label folded just as the album was picking up momentum, Asylum quickly signed him and re-issued it, and he'd go on to cut four more albums for the Elektra/Asylum family between 1976 and 1985. His second album includes the original version of "Rock and Roll Love Letter" (one of the all-time great power-pop songs), which would go on to be a sizable worldwide hit for the Bay City Rollers.

Very nice guy, too! After finally belatedly discovering his music a couple years back via an impulse purchase of his self-titled debut, I wrote a feature article about the album for a (sadly now-defunct) music website I used to regularly write columns for, and he kindly went out of his way to reach out and tell me how much he liked and appreciated the piece, which meant quite a great deal to me.

I had found the album Gulliver as a cutout for 88 cents. I did not like it. I believe that I had seen it listed on an Elektra inner sleeve so I knew of its existance and since Elektra had great albums that I had heard, I took a chance with this.

 

[Michael Hagerty]

Essentially Yes.
The songs I listed were getting airplay when the newer covers showed up and the original ones that I was hearing got shoved aside. Another one was by a woman whose last name was Curry and that was With A Little Help From My Friends. It was upstaged by Brasil' 66 and I never heard Curry's version again. Same with the original three posted.

The three that I can think of off the top of my head:

• "Dreams of the Everyday Housewife" (1968). Wayne Newton released it as a single first, with a two-week head start on Glen Campbell's cover. Glen's version got Top 40, MOR and Country airplay. Wayne peaked at #60. Glen made #32 (but #3 Country).
• Petula Clark and Andy Williams both released "Happy Heart" the same week in 1969. Pet had a better track record than Andy at that point---Andy hadn't cracked the Top 30 in five years---but Pet stalled at #62 (her worst showing ever on the Billboard Hot 100), while Andy made it to #22.
• "Theme from Love Story" (1971). A three-way cover battle, with Henry Mancini's single released first, and took off until two weeks later when the version used in the soundtrack of the film by Francis Lai was released, and some stations switched. The next week, Andy Williams' cover shipped---and ended up the winner, peaking at #9. Mancini came in second, peaking at #13 and Francis Lai third at #17.

 

[rockdoctor]

The three that I can think of off the top of my head:

• "Dreams of the Everyday Housewife" (1968). Wayne Newton released it as a single first, with a two-week head start on Glen Campbell's cover. Glen's version got Top 40, MOR and Country airplay. Wayne peaked at #60. Glen made #32 (but #3 Country).
• Petula Clark and Andy Williams both released "Happy Heart" the same week in 1969. Pet had a better track record than Andy at that point---Andy hadn't cracked the Top 30 in five years---but Pet stalled at #62 (her worst showing ever on the Billboard Hot 100), while Andy made it to #22.
• "Theme from Love Story" (1971). A three-way cover battle, with Henry Mancini's single released first, and took off until two weeks later when the version used in the soundtrack of the film by Francis Lai was released, and some stations switched. The next week, Andy Williams' cover shipped---and ended up the winner, peaking at #9. Mancini came in second, peaking at #13 and Francis Lai third at #17.

I never heard the Wayne Newton's Dreams or Petula Clark's Happy Heart on the radio. I did hear the different versions of Love Story.
That is a good list.

 

[Michael Hagerty]

I never heard the Wayne Newton's Dreams or Petula Clark's Happy Heart on the radio. I did hear the different versions of Love Story.
That is a good list.

Remarkably, one of the largest and most successful Top 40 stations in America, KHJ in Los Angeles, chose Wayne over Glen---and it went top five:



And it wasn't just KHJ---WOR and WMCA, New York, WHBQ, Memphis, KGB, San Diego, WLS, Chicago and WRKO, Boston all played Wayne instead of Glen.

Petula's version of "Happy Heart" got play on such major Top 40s at KISN, Portland, KOL and KJR, Seattle, WIXY in Cleveland, KILT in Houston and WMEX, Boston.

 

[rockdoctor]

Remarkably, one of the largest and most successful Top 40 stations in America, KHJ in Los Angeles, chose Wayne over Glen---and it went top five:



And it wasn't just KHJ---WOR and WMCA, New York, WHBQ, Memphis, KGB, San Diego, WLS, Chicago and WRKO, Boston all played Wayne instead of Glen.

Petula's version of "Happy Heart" got play on such major Top 40s at KISN, Portland, KOL and KJR, Seattle, WIXY in Cleveland, KILT in Houston and WMEX, Boston.

Harry,
The two primary stations that I would listen to here were WTAR and WCVU, both AM. Othere were WGH and WNOR, both AM as well. The latter two had the harder edge type of music. 9 of the listed songs from your list got a lot of airplay on the first two that I listed.

 

[Harry]

I think you mean Michael with that CD artwork list.

Our station in Philly played Andy Williams' "Happy Heart".

 

[rockdoctor]

I think you mean Michael with that CD artwork list.

Our station in Philly played Andy Williams' "Happy Heart".

I did. Sorry Michael.

 

[Mr Bill]

With that clarification that you meant cover battles in the same time frame, I'd have to say never mind the Buzzcocks*/FYC comparison.

But that "cover battle" situation doesn't seem to happen much these days. I believe it was more common back in the 60s when artists personally hot-footed their records to radio stations in hopes of being the next big thing... And that worked for many artists in the early days of rock (and country).

One that comes to mind for me is the song "Alley Oop." Though I was just a toddler when it came out, it is nationally considered to be a (novelty) hit by the Hollywood Argyles. But in Los Angeles (where I grew up) a version by Dante and the Evergreens was the version that charted locally. To their dying day my parents, if you asked "who did the song 'Alley Oop'?" they would tell you "That was Dante and the Evergreens." In their mind the Hollywood Argyles where the "posers." Visiting some of their surviving friends on a recent trip out there to assist my invalid brother, we got to talking about L.A. radio in the 60s and some of the classic on-air personalities, like Dick Whittington, Gary Owens, Geoff Edwards, Charlie Tuna (the original) and others and even THEY talked about how they loved Dante and and don't understand why the version by the Argyles is the one that survives...

--Mr Bill
* See what I did there? IYKYK...

 

[Rudy]

@Mr Bill has it--back in the 50s and 60s, and even earlier in the 70s to a lesser extent, it wasn't uncommon for many versions of a song to be released around the same time. And there were times when, again, a label would rush a single into the market to beat one already on the charts, as they felt theirs had more "magic" and stood a good chance on the charts. I would have to re-read some of my Joel Whitburn books to see where alternate versions were mentioned. I think it was more common when composers/lyricists cranked tunes out of places like the Brill Building for anyone to cover, vs. that point when we entered the singer/songwriter era and things were done more individually.

 

[Michael Hagerty]

One that comes to mind for me is the song "Alley Oop." Though I was just a toddler when it came out, it is nationally considered to be a (novelty) hit by the Hollywood Argyles. But in Los Angeles (where I grew up) a version by Dante and the Evergreens was the version that charted locally.

I don't mean to be a pain in the.....

But, having heard a Bill Ballance 1960 KFWB aircheck where he back-announces The Hollywood Argyles' version of Alley-Oop, I had to go looking.

KFWB, then the #1 station in Los Angeles, didn't play Dante---The Hollywood Argyles went to #1 and stayed there for three weeks.

There was only one other fulltime top 40 station in L.A. at the time---KRLA. It also did not play Dante, but did play The Hollywood Argyles, and it was number one there for three weeks as well.

To their dying day my parents, if you asked "who did the song 'Alley Oop'?" they would tell you "That was Dante and the Evergreens." In their mind the Hollywood Argyles where the "posers." Visiting some of their surviving friends on a recent trip out there to assist my invalid brother, we got to talking about L.A. radio in the 60s and some of the classic on-air personalities, like Dick Whittington, Gary Owens, Geoff Edwards, Charlie Tuna (the original) and others and even THEY talked about how they loved Dante and and don't understand why the version by the Argyles is the one that survives...

I'm astonished that all those air personalities (none of whom were working in L.A. when the record was a hit) were moved to make their feelings known about it.

It wasn't just a regional thing. The Hollywood Argyles and the Dante record both debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 the same week. Dante stalled at #15. The Argyles went all the way to #1.

 

[Mark-T]

I had heard the Boones released Postman a couple of weeks before the Carpenters. But I don't know the exact dates.