A few months ago, I stumbled across a trailer for a student film called ‘Vampire Weekend’ by a young man called Ezra Koenig. (Not much happened with the film, but you might notice Koenig went on to steal the title for the name of his band.)

The soundtrack of the trailer featured a version of the 1975 Rod Stewart anthem ‘Sailing’, featuring sparse instrumentation and a low synth drone. I wondered which hip Brooklyn collective had spawned it, so I was surprised to find that it wasn’t a cover at all—it was the original, by unheralded UK folk-rock act the Sutherland Brothers. They released the track in 1972 and it sank without a trace, despite some initial BBC1 radio play.



And the version that Rod Stewart made famous:



It got me thinking. How many other songs are out there, that are covers of some unheralded, unsung hero, toiling away on the pub circuit while their song gets Rod Stewart laid?

We investigate:

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Natalie Imbruglia - 'Torn'



Original: Ednaswap



You’ll be forgiven for not knowing who the hell Ednaswap are. They were grunge pop also-rans who had the good fortune of working with particularly persistent producer (and former Cure bassist) Phil Thornally in 1993.

Together with Thornally, they wrote a fairly innocuous pop tune called ‘Torn’ in 1993. Like a dog with a bone, Thornally thrust the song on every act he worked with for the next few years. Firstly, Norwegian singer Lis Sørensen cranked out an awful Norwegian version titled "Brændt", then Ednaswap released their grungey version, then another Norse poppet, Trine Reine in 1996, this time in English. You with me? Thornally then handed it to Imbruglia, who finally hit paydirt in 1997.

It proves the old saying: ‘Never give up until your song is a one-hit wonder for an ex soap star who will milk it for 14 years and judge a talent show.’

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Tina Turner – 'The Best'



Original: Bonnie Tyler



Persistence is a common thread in the surprise cover version game. Bonnie Tyler, already a success with ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’, released her version of ‘The Best’ in 1988 and it did nothing. Turner took the tune and added her own garble to the already gravelly song—it went bananas.

Turner reprised the single in 1992, joined by our very own Barnesy. Apparently the song was about Rugby League all along.



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INXS/Jimmy Barnes - 'Good Times'



Original: The Easybeats



Barnesy is a common thread in the surprise cover game. This song was featured on the Lost Boys soundtrack in 1987, and was a highlight of 80’s Oz rock, with two of our leading lights joining forces here. For some reason, it never occurred to me that it wasn’t written by a Farris, or by Don Walker—or even Ian Moss—but rather, was a Vanda and Young concoction—an Easybeats song. Released in 1968, it was a local hit. The 1987 version, with added singlet and mullet, went global, peaking at number 18 in the UK.

The Saints (well, Chris Bailey and some other dudes) repeated the ‘steal an Easybeats song for a soundtrack’ trick the following year by covering ‘The Music Goes Round My Head’, for the soundtrack of the greatest Australian film of all time®, Young Einstein.



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