CYNDI Lauper turned Girls Just Want to Have Fun into an anthem, but the original version was by a creepy bloke singing about getting no sleep due to randy ladies. Madonna's electro anthem Ray of Light started life as a 1971 folk hymn, someone turned down Achy Breaky Heart for being too cheesy and the M Jackson who wrote Blame it on the Boogie is still alive.
RAY OF LIGHT
Hit for: Madonna
Originally by: Curtiss Maldoon
WHO? Curtiss Maldoon were a folky UK duo - a bit like Mumford & Son's grandfathers. In 1971 they released an album that didn't trouble the chart. It contained the song Sepheryn. Clive Maldoon's niece Christine Leach re-recorded Sepheryn in 1997, and played it to a producer she had worked with, William Orbit. Orbit was in the midst of making an album with Madonna. Madonna loved Leach's remake and kept almost all the lyrics and some of the melodies. The lyrics also provided the title `Ray of Light'. Orbit totally de-folked Madonna's version, but there's a reason why Leach, Curtiss Maldoon got some very lucrative co-writing credits - the album they indirectly helped name has sold over 16 million copies and rebooted Madonna's then-ailing career.
Where are they now? Clive Maldoon passed away in 1978, Dave Curtiss is still making music and having his bills paid by Madge.
DON'T CHA
Hit for: The Pussycat Dolls
Originally by: Tori Alamaze
THIS song launched the Pussycat Dolls. But it was originally meant to launch singer Tori Alamaze. Just to show you how ruthless the music industry can be, Alamaze released Don't Cha as her debut single in March 2005. Within days she was dumped from her record label, who gave Don't Cha to the Pussycat Dolls who released it the very next month. Their version is virtually identical to Alamaze's - producer CeeLo just added Nicole Scherzinger's vocals, a rap from Busta Rhymes and took and made the lyrics more PG. It went on to sell six million copies. Good for CeeLo, not so much for Alamaze who didn't write the song.
Where is she now? Tori now runs a blog about music, life, lipstick and coffee.
IF I WERE A BOY
Hit for: beyonce
Originally by: BJ Jean
IF I Were a Boy was meant to be BJ Jean's big breakthrough as an upcoming singer/songwriter. However in 2008 her record label rejected the track, producer Toby Gad played it to beyonce who recorded it. Jean was initially angry, venting on MySpace (hey, it was 2008) but presumably the subsequent royalties eased her pain.
Where is she now? Poor BJ Jean has still yet to release an album, and was last seen in a TV show playing a musician who travels to LA looking to make it big. Ouch.
ON A NIGHT LIKE THIS
Hit for: Kylie Minogue
Originally by: Pandora and Anna Vissi
POP music can be a cruel mistress. Swedish singer Pandora scored her only Australian Top 10 with A Little Bit in 1996. It would be Australian singer Kylie Minogue who had a massive global hit with On a Night Like This - a year after Pandora's version flopped. By 1999 Pandora was in Euro-jail, with albums only being released in Japan. On a Night Like This came from the team behind Cher's Believe. The track was not a single for Pandora, and when it disappeared in 1999, they simply dusted it off and gave it to Kylie for her Light Years album in 2000. The backing track is identical, just with Kylie's vocals instead of Pandora's. It's like celebrity karaoke. At exactly the same Kylie was having a hit with On a Night Like This, Greek singer Anna Vissi also recorded a version for her debut English-language album Everything I Am. She too was no match for our Kylie on the chart.
Where are they now? Pandora's last release was in 2011; Anna Vissi still records (mainly in Greek) and tours.
GIRLS JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN
Hit for: Cyndi Lauper
Originally by: Robert Hazard
MOST people think Cyndi Lauper's signature hit from 1983 was her own creation. No. It was written and recorded by Robert Hazard in 1979. His version is very new wave rock, with spiky guitars that would later be replaced by synths. Lauper also completely changed the context - Hazard's original lyrics were about his being hassled by his mother for being out late due to girls who just wanted to keep him out, er, partying. It's got a bit of a creepy tone with an extra verse Lauper omitted. She said in her autobiography ``He had a verse where a woman comes into his room at night because she wants to have fun and he's telling his dad `We're the fortunate ones'. So now that I'm singing it I'm supposed to get a lobotomy and just kick my legs up in the air and basically say girls just want to have sex?'. Lauper tweaked the lyrics and came up with the `girls … they want … want to have fun' chant. It went on to launch her career.
Where is he now? Hazard died of cancer in 2008 but made a pretty penny from Girls.
The rest of the list is at the source since ONTD's rules only allow to post 5
Source
RAY OF LIGHT
Hit for: Madonna
Originally by: Curtiss Maldoon
WHO? Curtiss Maldoon were a folky UK duo - a bit like Mumford & Son's grandfathers. In 1971 they released an album that didn't trouble the chart. It contained the song Sepheryn. Clive Maldoon's niece Christine Leach re-recorded Sepheryn in 1997, and played it to a producer she had worked with, William Orbit. Orbit was in the midst of making an album with Madonna. Madonna loved Leach's remake and kept almost all the lyrics and some of the melodies. The lyrics also provided the title `Ray of Light'. Orbit totally de-folked Madonna's version, but there's a reason why Leach, Curtiss Maldoon got some very lucrative co-writing credits - the album they indirectly helped name has sold over 16 million copies and rebooted Madonna's then-ailing career.
Where are they now? Clive Maldoon passed away in 1978, Dave Curtiss is still making music and having his bills paid by Madge.
DON'T CHA
Hit for: The Pussycat Dolls
Originally by: Tori Alamaze
THIS song launched the Pussycat Dolls. But it was originally meant to launch singer Tori Alamaze. Just to show you how ruthless the music industry can be, Alamaze released Don't Cha as her debut single in March 2005. Within days she was dumped from her record label, who gave Don't Cha to the Pussycat Dolls who released it the very next month. Their version is virtually identical to Alamaze's - producer CeeLo just added Nicole Scherzinger's vocals, a rap from Busta Rhymes and took and made the lyrics more PG. It went on to sell six million copies. Good for CeeLo, not so much for Alamaze who didn't write the song.
Where is she now? Tori now runs a blog about music, life, lipstick and coffee.
IF I WERE A BOY
Hit for: beyonce
Originally by: BJ Jean
IF I Were a Boy was meant to be BJ Jean's big breakthrough as an upcoming singer/songwriter. However in 2008 her record label rejected the track, producer Toby Gad played it to beyonce who recorded it. Jean was initially angry, venting on MySpace (hey, it was 2008) but presumably the subsequent royalties eased her pain.
Where is she now? Poor BJ Jean has still yet to release an album, and was last seen in a TV show playing a musician who travels to LA looking to make it big. Ouch.
ON A NIGHT LIKE THIS
Hit for: Kylie Minogue
Originally by: Pandora and Anna Vissi
POP music can be a cruel mistress. Swedish singer Pandora scored her only Australian Top 10 with A Little Bit in 1996. It would be Australian singer Kylie Minogue who had a massive global hit with On a Night Like This - a year after Pandora's version flopped. By 1999 Pandora was in Euro-jail, with albums only being released in Japan. On a Night Like This came from the team behind Cher's Believe. The track was not a single for Pandora, and when it disappeared in 1999, they simply dusted it off and gave it to Kylie for her Light Years album in 2000. The backing track is identical, just with Kylie's vocals instead of Pandora's. It's like celebrity karaoke. At exactly the same Kylie was having a hit with On a Night Like This, Greek singer Anna Vissi also recorded a version for her debut English-language album Everything I Am. She too was no match for our Kylie on the chart.
Where are they now? Pandora's last release was in 2011; Anna Vissi still records (mainly in Greek) and tours.
GIRLS JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN
Hit for: Cyndi Lauper
Originally by: Robert Hazard
MOST people think Cyndi Lauper's signature hit from 1983 was her own creation. No. It was written and recorded by Robert Hazard in 1979. His version is very new wave rock, with spiky guitars that would later be replaced by synths. Lauper also completely changed the context - Hazard's original lyrics were about his being hassled by his mother for being out late due to girls who just wanted to keep him out, er, partying. It's got a bit of a creepy tone with an extra verse Lauper omitted. She said in her autobiography ``He had a verse where a woman comes into his room at night because she wants to have fun and he's telling his dad `We're the fortunate ones'. So now that I'm singing it I'm supposed to get a lobotomy and just kick my legs up in the air and basically say girls just want to have sex?'. Lauper tweaked the lyrics and came up with the `girls … they want … want to have fun' chant. It went on to launch her career.
Where is he now? Hazard died of cancer in 2008 but made a pretty penny from Girls.
The rest of the list is at the source since ONTD's rules only allow to post 5
Source