Signing a brand new and therefore untested artist can be a risky move for most labels, so in order to get around this, some labels push their new artists to record cover songs for their debut singles as a sort of test run. Here are 10 artists who recorded cover songs for their debut singles.
1. Nico - "I'm Not Sayin'" by Gordon Lightfoot (1965)
Though Nico would eventually start writing her own music by the late '60s, her earlier work almost entirely consisted of covers and songs written for her by other artists. Her debut single "I'm Not Sayin'" was a cover of a song by Gordon Lightfoot, who released his own version of the song the same year.
2. The Jimi Hendrix Experience - "Hey Joe" by The Leaves (1966)
Although there was some confusion back in the '60s as to who actually wrote "Hey Joe," with singer-songwriter Billy Roberts holding the copyright but garage rock band The Leaves releasing the first recorded version, it certainly wasn't Jimi Hendrix, whose version of the song was released as his debut single in 1966, after The Leaves' version. However, Hendrix's take on the song became the most popular version by far.
3. Black Sabbath - "Evil Woman" by Crow (1970)
Like many of their British contemporaries, Black Sabbath originally formed as a jammy blues rock band, which explains their decision to cover Crow's bluesy "Evil Woman" for their highly influential debut album and release it as their debut single.
4. Rush - "Not Fade Away" by Buddy Holly (1973)
Although Rush has come to define extreme prog-rock virtuosity, they originally formed as a bluesy power trio, like a Canadian version of Blue Cheer, and for their debut single in 1973, they recorded a cover of Buddy Holly's classic "Not Fade Away." Even though it came only three years before the epic 2112, it sounds like an eternity.
5. Patti Smith - "Hey Joe" by The Leaves (1974)
Jimi Hendrix wasn't the only artist to record "Hey Joe" as his debut single. Legendary punk poet Patti Smith recorded the song as her debut in 1974, though her version was augmented with an original spoken-word intro.
6. The Cramps - "Surfin' Bird" by The Trashmen (1979)
The entire point of the Cramps was to take classic rock 'n' roll and inject it with B-movie camp and primal punk energy, so what better way to demonstrate this to the world than to choose The Trashmen's "Surfin' Bird" as their debut single? If you thought the Ramones version was raw, wait until you hear this.
7. The Pretenders - "Stop Your Sobbing" by The Kinks (1979)
For their debut single, legendary new wave band The Pretenders recorded a cover of the Kinks' "Stop Your Sobbing," which led to a relationship between Pretenders singer Chrissie Hynde and Kinks singer Ray Davies, who would eventually have a child together in 1983.
8. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - "In The Ghetto" by Elvis Presley (1984)
Much like the Cramps, the music of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds can be seen as a gothic perversion of American music (yes, I am aware that they're Australian), and no song demonstrates this better than their cover of Elvis Presley's "In The Ghetto" as their debut single.
9. Nirvana - "Love Buzz" by Shocking Blue (1988)
Nirvana recorded quite a few well-received cover songs, most notably for their legendary MTV Unplugged set, but the band's first cover song "Love Buzz," originally by Dutch psych-rock band Shocking Blue, was issued as the band's debut single, and later included on their 1989 album Bleach.
10. The Lemonheads - "Luka" by Suzanne Vega (1989)
In the late '80s, it wasn't really in fashion for alternative rock bands to chase mainstream success, which is why it's so unexpected that the Lemonheads chose to cover Suzanne Vega's "Luka," which had been a Top 10 hit just two years earlier, and release as it as their first single.
What are some other artists that released covers as their debut singles? Let us know down in the comments section below!
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