If you are fascinated and/or infatuated by the concept of “One Hit Wonders” aka artists who only ever had one big breakthrough pop hit, I have a treat for you, you big nerd (FYI: I’m a nerd so I can call you that). Over at Cover Me, your holy haven of everything related to the world of cover versions, we are ranking THE BEST COVERS OF ONE HIT WONDER SONGS EVER. We are breaking things down by decade starting with the ’50s and ’60s and will be storming on through to the 2000’s over the next few months. Anyway, the ’50s were posted last week and as of today, you can check out the best covers of songs by an assortment of ’60s One Hit Wonders, ranked, blurbed, and gathered in a handsome stack for your listening enjoyment. I got to write about three insanely beautiful covers of three staggeringly beautiful songs: “Everlasting Love”, “Sukiyaki” and that eternal port in a storm, “O-o-o-h Cild”.
For the sake of transparency, I will now confess that one of these covers is by (freakin’)U2.
Like many humans, I have mixed feelings about U2 which I will be happy to share if you corner me at the right moment (and yes, it will probably involve me reciting dialogue from the band’s 1988 doc, “Rattle and Hum” in a disrespectful fashion). But, gotta say it, their manic-volcanic version of Robert Knight’s old soul nugget “Everlasting Love” is an absolutely bitchin’,smokin’, steamrollin’ monster. And for the precisely three minutes and 22 seconds it takes to unspool, I f*cking love U2.
So please come listen to and read about those covers and many more here!
And hey! It is time for the latest WEEKLY NEW WONDERS PLAYLIST featuring the finest new tunes that have crossed our path over recent days. They are full of sundown and neon lights (with a little dirt thrown in) and are here to hold you. Fall in love below on Soundcloud or Spotify.
Listen on Soundcloud
Listen on Spotify
PICKING UP ROCKS 
Cant wait to read the Cover piece! One of the songs is on my all time favorites. 🙂
Sent from my Boost Samsung Galaxy A32 5G
LikeLike
I’ve been busy at work and have a lot of catching up to do on PUR. This was a great place to start. Love the Taste of Honey but not so sure about the U2. The Valerie Carter cover is one that I’ve always been very fond of and Ooh Child is definitely one of those songs that can create a mood and just take you away for 3 minutes or so to a happy and promising and positive place. One of my favorite songs ever. I’ve checked my itunes and realised that I have 11 x different versions of Ooh Child. ( And Jackson Browne – Hold Out- is an underrated gem. I’d forgotten that That Girl Could sing was about V.C.) In fact – playing Ooh Child and then Tighter,Tighter by Alive and Kicking right after and you’re set up for a great day!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love Hold Out! Supremely underrated! And for the record, I love Carl Carlton’s version of “Everlasting Love” and was on the fence about whether to write about his version or U2’s…whom I have genuinely mixed feelings about 😉 Val’s “Ooh Child ” continues to be a powerful and transcendent listening experience for me and I totally feel you on the song. As an aside, I love the mini-version Laura Nyro does. It’s a bonus track on the Gonna Take a Miracle reissue and it’s gorgeous. Also Tighter, Tighter rules!!! I’m currently putting the finishing touches on a couple of epics ( one for PuR and one for Cover Me) which will be posted within the next couple of weeks and looking forward to hearing your thoughts!
LikeLike
Yeah, I have that Laura Nyro cd too, and that version just makes me well up. It also makes me want to learn how to play piano!
And it’s Robert Knight all the way for me on Everlasting Love.
I’m looking forward to your “epics”. I really enjoy your writing.
Take care.
Dave
LikeLike