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. 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.
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