Worst Cover Songs

By Janie Gaither
July 15th, 2008

Covers songs have been around for years and are pretty common in popular music. A cover is a new rendition or rival version of a previously recorded song. The key to a cover is not necessarily remaking a song but reworking, interpreting and changing a song. Nowadays, musicians often play covers as a tribute to the original performer or group. These interpretations are also used to introduce a new band due to the familiarity of an original track. There are also cover bands around every corner that devote their talent towards playing tribute to a specific band.

Beginning in the early 20th century, cover versions emerged on phonograph record labels. Companies that released records of commercial success would often have different musicians ‘cover’ the hit song in hopes of cashing in on the previous success of the tune. But, did you know that the ‘covers’ have quite a storied history in America?

Back in the days of segregated radio stations, if a black act had a hot record, the white kids would want it played on their radio stations. This often prompted the record companies to bring a white band/artist into the recording studio to create a “whiter” version of the song to push over these airwaves. For instance, record labels groomed artists like Pat Boone and Bill Haley to cover songs by an artist like Little Richard. And, as one would guess, the new versions initially outsold the originals.

And, did you know that there is an incentive to record numerous versions of a song, particularly in different genres, in today’s industry? The reason being is that songwriters and publishers are paid royalties even though the artists are not.

With that, I’ve made a list of some of the worst cover songs (in my opinion):

“(Sittin’ on the) Dock of the Bay” by Michael Bolton (Otis Redding cover)