Our final song to reach #1 by two different artists is also the one with the longest span between releases — 27 years.
‘Lady Marmalade’ first reached the top spot in 1974, recorded by the girl group Labelle (Patti Labelle sang the lead vocal). Patti later claimed to not know the French-language refrain (“Voulez-vous coucher avec moi, ce soir?”) meant “Would you like to sleep with me tonight?”
I was prepared to call today’s Song of the Day another unnecessary rehash of a classic tune, but then I listened to it.
Don’t get me wrong. The 1970 Jackson 5 recording of ‘I’ll Be There’ is a stone-cold classic and the only version of the song the world needs. But I have no complaint with Mariah Carey’s treatment of the song 22 years later as part of her 1992 MTV Unplugged performance.
I’ll go out on a limb and say that, for every one of the nine singles to reach #1 by two different artists, the original is superior. Would anybody really pick Club Nouveau over Bill Withers, or Kim Wilde over The Supremes? Bananarama’s pop sheen over the 60s rock of The Shocking Blue?
Perhaps nowhere is the gap between versions more clear than in today’s example, ‘When a Man Loves a Woman.’ Percy Sledge had a #1 hit with his soulful performance in 1966, and 25 years later Michael Bolton registered one of only two #1 hits in his career with his 1991 recording.
The next song to reach #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 by two different artists is ‘Lean On Me,’ which first topped the charts in 1972 for its writer, Bill Withers.
That soulful rendition wasn’t exactly crying out to be recreated, but that didn’t stop R&B group Club Nouveau from trying their hand at it in 1987. The quintet made their version of the track the lead single on their debut album, Life, Love & Pain.
Al Green’s 2003 album I Can’t Stop has shown up on Random Weekends twice before, both times in 2015. And both times, I used the space to comment that this isn’t an album I’ve ever actively listened to, but rather one I consider nice background music. I must have really meant it.
That seems like a rather lazy approach. Surely there is something interesting to say about this album.
Meet Me In Montauk 