Not every tribute is appreciated! Join us as we explore memorable cover versions that didn't sit well with the original artists. From rock legends to folk icons, these musical interpretations sparked controversy, led to public feuds, and sometimes even legal battles. Which cover do you think deserved the criticism?
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00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the musical interpretations
00:12that the original performer publicly denounced, or worse.
00:23Number 10. Elvis Costello, Linda Ronstadt.
00:27It's no surprise that versatile folk artist Linda Ronstadt is a fan of Elvis Costello.
00:37The surprise that the feeling wasn't mutual came out after she interpreted four of his songs.
00:44Ronstadt covered Allison in 1978, then Party Girl, Girls Talk, and Talking in the Dark for one 1980 album.
00:52She was even faithful to their new wave style.
00:54I miss talking in the dark when the parking and the body rolls through.
01:01Nonetheless, Costello told Record World that the covers were like sheer torture,
01:07and that the whole Mad Love album was a waste of vinyl.
01:10He later expressed regret for his harsh reaction to a more mainstream artist paying her respects.
01:16Don't come any closer, don't come any nearer.
01:19Ronstadt's Allison and Mad Love were ultimately successful,
01:24though she told Billboard that she understood Costello's frustration with someone else claiming his art.
01:30You say you don't lie.
01:34Number 9. Blinded by the Light.
01:37Manfred Mann's EarthBand.
01:39Bruce Springsteen arguably broke out with the underdog anthem Blinded by the Light.
01:44Mad man drummers, bombers, and Indians in the summer with a teenage diplomat.
01:50But it's better known as the signature song of Manfred Mann's EarthBand.
01:55In the dunce with a boss, as the adolescent bumps his way into his head.
02:01Unfortunately, the boss wasn't impressed with a drastic prog rock rearrangement.
02:07On VH1 Storytellers, he expressed his dismay over the cover commercially outpacing the original
02:13by mocking an infamous change to the lyric.
02:16While the original chorus boasted cut loose like a deuce in reference to a deuce coupe,
02:22many thought Chris Thompson sang something besides revved up like a deuce.
02:27Revved up like a deuce, you know the runner in the night.
02:30In a 2025 interview with Guitar Player, Thompson recalled Springsteen telling him directly
02:36that he hated EarthBands Blinded by the Light.
02:39Both versions are still considered classics, even if one visionary doesn't see it that way.
02:49Number 8. You're My Home.
02:51Helen Reddy.
02:52You can't help but sing along to a Billy Joel ballad.
02:55When you look into my eyes.
03:00Of course, he'd rather one particular gifted singer hadn't.
03:04Written for Joel's wife, the sincere piece, You're My Home,
03:08was given the full orchestral pop treatment by Helen Reddy.
03:11It always comes as a surprise.
03:15The original artist blasted this interpretation at a concert
03:18that he didn't realize was being attended by a representative of Reddy's.
03:23Oh, I'll never be a stranger, and I'll never be alone.
03:28Joel revealed this in a 1998 interview with Uncut Magazine,
03:33and that the incident nearly led to legal action.
03:36Reddy resolved the issue by promising Joel that she would never again cover his music.
03:41He hated to admit that his response was more enthusiastic than his feelings about the initial tribute.
03:47I need you in my house, cause you're my home.
03:52Number 7. If I Needed Someone.
03:55The Hollies.
03:56If any band should have thick skin for music covers, it's the Beatles.
04:00It was a very different story in 1965, especially as the world hadn't heard
04:07If I Needed Someone when the demo leaked to the Hollies.
04:11If I needed someone to love.
04:15They released their version as a single on the exact day the Beatles debuted the album, Rubber Soul.
04:22If I needed someone.
04:24George Harrison, the song's writer, dismissed the Hollies' cover and overall sound in an interview with NME.
04:32If I had some more time to spend, then I guess I'd be with you, my friend.
04:40This sparked a public feud between the two British Invasion favorites.
04:44The Hollies' Graham Nash later blamed the backlash for the single's commercial disappointments,
04:50but admitted in his autobiography that the circumstances of the cover were in bad taste.
04:56Thankfully, he and Harrison wound up becoming friends.
04:59If I Needed Someone.
05:03If I Needed Someone.
05:06Number 6. Where the Streets Have No Name.
05:09I Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You, Pet Shop Boys.
05:14It doesn't seem like Alt-Rock Pioneers U2 and synth-pop icons Pet Shop Boys would cross paths.
05:20Why not throw in Frankie Valli?
05:30The crooner never commented on Pet Shop Boys' mashup between Where the Streets Have No Name and Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You.
05:37I want to break down the walls that hold me inside.
05:43U2's Bono, however, put out a statement asking, what have we done to deserve this?
05:49Sure, this was a playful reference to another Pet Shop Boys song, but the sentiment was serious.
05:5512 years later, Neal Tennant told the tabloid The People that he and Bono had made amends.
06:08It took a long time for them to find their way out of this petty genre feud.
06:12Now we just need to know what Valli thought of the crossover.
06:15Number 5. Street Spirit. Fade Out. Peter Gabriel.
06:26Incidentally, the relationship between Radiohead and Peter Gabriel didn't fade out.
06:31It ended abruptly when Gabriel covered one of his fellow art-rock legend's most beloved songs.
06:37Rose of houses are burned down on me.
06:44Before his more solemn interpretation of Street Spirit was released, he told NME that he sent it to Tom York.
06:51I can feel their blue hands touching me.
06:58The band was set to, in turn, do Gabriel's wallflower for the Scratch My Back cover project.
07:05Well, he never heard back.
07:07Gabriel was later informed that Radiohead were not pleased with his interpretation,
07:12though they've never given their side of the story.
07:18All Gabriel can say is that he can understand their apprehension toward his artistic liberties.
07:29The bigger artistic loss is that the world missed out on Radiohead's version of Wallflower.
07:34Again.
07:37Number 4. Old 55. Eagles.
07:41It's one thing for Tom Waits to dismiss the particular way another artist adapts his music.
07:48Well, my time went so quick.
07:51I will lick it and split me.
07:54But his response to the Eagles' soft-rock twist on the jazz folk ballad Old 55 was just the beginning of the rant.
08:02In a 1975 radio interview, Waits harshly described the cover as a little antiseptic.
08:15A year later, he told NME that he just didn't like the Eagles in general.
08:19As exciting as watching paint dry were his exact words.
08:29Even if the Eagles' All 55 was technically more upbeat than Waits's, he felt that it lacked creativity.
08:37Granted, Glenn Frey once mentioned at a concert that the royalty checks helped him and Waits make peace.
08:43Number 3. You Really Got Me.
08:52Van Halen.
08:53The Kinks was an interesting way to follow the screaming guitar solo eruption on Van Halen's debut album.
08:59You'd think that the original artists would appreciate such maverick rock as much as anyone.
09:12Girl, you really got me now.
09:15You got me so like this bad night.
09:18But in 2010, Dave Davies told Classic Rock magazine that he found this rendition of You Really Got Me to be artlessly technical.
09:26He was further disheartened by a concertgoer believing that the Kinks were the ones doing the covering.
09:40At least Ray Davies found Van Halen's You Really Got Me to be good for a laugh.
09:45Considering that this version is as popular as the original, one could say that the Davies brothers just didn't really get it.
09:53You really got me.
09:55You really got me.
09:56You really got me.
09:58Number 2. Summer Breeze.
10:01Type O Negative.
10:02The soft rock icons Seals and Crofts are way off-key from Type O Negative.
10:08See the burdens hanging in the living room
10:10In the evening of Friday night
10:13As much as their doom metal cover of Summer Breeze sounds like a parody, it's still pretty toned down.
10:21The song was originally rewritten as an eight-minute-long, lyrically-lewd epic under the title Summer Girl.
10:28But when the demo reached Seals and Crofts, they were deeply offended.
10:40Thus, a shorter, more faithful version of Summer Breeze was recorded for the album Bloody Kisses.
10:47The Summer Girl demo was leaked shortly thereafter.
10:50This hidden gem is definitely not for soft rock enthusiasts, but it's nice to know that Type O Negative had enough respect for the original artists to more or less clean up their act.
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11:26Number 1. Dazed and Confused
11:28The Yardbirds slash Led Zeppelin
11:31Innovative songwriter and guitarist Jimmy Page has long-faced allegations of plagiarism.
11:37Even Led Zeppelin's debut album was tainted by a belated writing credit to Anne Breeden for Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You.
11:45Baby, baby, baby, I'm Gonna Leave You.
11:51But Dazed and Confused was an unprecedented scandal.
11:55In 1967, Jake Holmes performed the folk ballad while opening for Page's band, The Yardbirds.
12:01I'm dazed and confused
12:04As it stays, it goes
12:06They then adapted the song with just enough changes to credit Page as sole songwriter
12:12before Zeppelin made it a signature song.
12:20Holmes sued for copyright infringement in 2010
12:24and at last received an Inspired by credit.
12:28It was the ultimate statement about what a musician thought of a cover.
12:32Of course, we could never confuse what Holmes thought about being excluded from the classic he originated.
12:42Where do you stand on these and other covers?
12:48And on where the original artists stand on them?
12:51Give your interpretation in the comments.
12:53Every word you say
12:56Every game you play
13:00Hey!
13:03No!
13:06No!
13:08No!
13:10No!
13:11No!
13:11No!
13:11No!
13:12Just...
13:12No!
13:12No!
13:13No!