Musical Dice -- Same Song Title, Different Songs
Welcome to the music section of my Musical Dice website! For you music trivia enthusiasts, and those who love to learn about the stories behind the music, you've come to the right place! I love sharing my knowledge of music trivia, so that's why I created this section.
Today's article is about songs that have the same title, but are completely different songs -- not remakes. This happens a lot more often than you might think. For example, you may remember "Emotion" by Samantha Sang (#3 in 1978), but Helen Reddy fans will also remember "Emotion" by Helen Reddy (#22 in 1975). Or some of you may remember "It Never Rains In Southern California" by Albert Hammond (#5 in 1972), while others may remember "It Never Rains (In Southern California)" by Tony! Toni! Tone! (#34 in 1991). Or some of you may remember "The Entertainer" by Marvin Hamlisch (#3 in 1974), or "The Entertainer" by Billy Joel (#34 in 1975). This article is dedicated to this and other examples of same titles, different songs.
"Walk On By"
Leroy Van Dyke (#5, 1961)
Dionne Warwick (#6, 1964)
"Baby I Love You"
Aretha Franklin (#4, 1967)
Andy Kim (#9, 1969)
"I'll Never Fall In Love Again"
Tom Jones (#6, 1969)
Dionne Warwick (#6, 1970)
"My Love"
Petula Clark (#1 for 2 weeks, 1966)
Paul McCartney & Wings (#1 for 4 weeks, 1973)
Lionel Richie (#5, 1983)
Justin Timberlake (#1 for 3 weeks, 2006)
"I'm Sorry"
Brenda Lee (#1 for 3 weeks, 1960)
John Denver (#1 for 1 week, 1975)
"Best Of My Love"
The Eagles (#1 for 1 week, 1975)
The Emotions (#1 for 5 weeks, 1977)
"Shining Star"
Earth, Wind & Fire (#1 for 1 week, 1975)
The Manhattans (#5, 1980)
"The Wanderer"
Dion (#2 for 1 week, 1962)
Donna Summer (#3, 1980)
"Only The Lonely"
Roy Orbison* (#2 for 1 week, 1960)
The Motels (#9, 1982)
"Let's Dance"
Chris Montez (#4, 1962)
David Bowie (#1 for 1 week, 1983)
"Stuck On You"
Elvis (#1 for 4 weeks, 1940)
Lionel Richie (#3, 1984)
"All I Need"
The Temptations (#8, 1967)
Jack Wagner (#2 for 2 weeks, 1985)
"Missing You"
John Waite (#1 for 1 week, 1984)
Diana Ross (#10, 1985)
"Take Me Home"
Cher (#8, 1979)
Phil Collins (#7, 1986)
"Baby Love"
The Supremes (#1 for 4 weeks, 1964)
Regina (#10, 1985)
"Sweet Love"
The Commodores (#5, 1976)
Anita Baker (#8, 1986)
"Come Go With Me"
The Dell-Vikings (#3, 1958)
Expose (#5, 1987)
"Midnight Blue"
Melissa Manchester (#6, 1975)
Lou Gramm (#5, 1987)
"Rock Steady"
Aretha Franklin (#9, 1971)
The Whispers (#7, 1987)
"Don't You Want Me"
The Human League (#1 for 3 weeks, 1982)
Jody Watley (#6, 1987)
"Is This Love"
Survivor (#9, 1987)
Whitesnake (#2 for 1 week, 1987)
"1-2-3"
Len Barry (#2 for 1 week, 1965)
Gloria Estefan & the Miami Sound Machine (#3, 1988)
"Don't Be Cruel"
Elvis Presley (#1 for 11 weeks, 1956), Cheap Trick (#4, 1988)
Bobby Brown (#8, 1988)
"Wild Thing"
The Troggs (#1 for 2 weeks, 1966)
Tone Loc (#2 for 1 week, 1989)
"Real Love"
The Doobie Brothers (#5, 1980)
Jody Watley (#2 for 2 weeks, 1989)
Mary J. Blige (#7, 1992)
"Lay Your Hands On Me"
The Thompson Twins (#6, 1985)
Bon Jovi (#7, 1989)
"Without You"
Harry Nilsson (#1 for 4 weeks, 1972), Mariah Carey (#3, 1994)
Motley Crue (#8, 1990)
"Hold On"
Wilson Phillips (#1 for 1 week, 1990)
En Vogue (#2 for 1 week, 1990)
"Step By Step"
Eddie Rabbitt (#5, 1981)
New Kids On The Block (#1 for 3 weeks, 1990)
"Hanky Panky"
Tommy James & the Shondells (#1 for 2 weeks, 1966)
Madonna (#10, 1990)
"Close To You"
The Carpenters* (#1 for 4 weeks, 1970)
Maxi Priest (#1 for 1 week, 1990)
"Release Me"
Esther Phillips (#8, 1963), Englebert Humperdinck* (#4, 1967)
Wilson Phillips (#1 for 2 weeks, 1990)
"One More Try"
George Michael (#1 for 3 weeks, 1988)
Timmy T. (#1 for 1 week, 1991)
"Rescue Me"
Fontella Bass (#4, 1965)
Madonna (#9, 1991)
"Good Vibrations"
The Beach Boys (#1 for 1 week, 1966)
Marky Mark & the Funky Bunch feat. Loleata Holloway (#1 for 1 week, 1991)
"I'll Be There"
The Jackson 5 (#1 for 5 weeks, 1970), Mariah Carey feat. Trey Lorenz (#1 for 2 weeks, 1992)
The Escape Club (#8, 1991)
"Don't Cry"
Asia (#10, 1983)
Guns 'N' Roses (#10, 1991)
"Count On Me"
Jefferson Starship (#8, 1978)
Whitney Houston/CeCe Winans (#8, 1996)
"You're The One"
The Vogues (#4, 1965)
SWV (#5, 1996)
"Too Much"
Elvis Presley (#1 for 3 weeks, 1957)
The Spice Girls (#9, 1998)
"Heartbreak Hotel"
Elvis Presley (#1 for 8 weeks, 19566)
Whitney Houston feat. Faith Evans & Kelly Price (#2 for 3 weeks, 1999)
"Cry Me A River"
Julie London (#9, 1955)
Justin Timberlake (#3, 2003)
"Just The Way You Are"
Billy Joel (#3, 1978)
Bruno Mars (#1 for 4 weeks, 2010)
SPECIAL NOTES: The artists with the asterisk(*) beside their name, indicate that their song of the given title, has a sub-title, but most people only refer to the song by its main title, regardless of whose song it is. By the same token, some song titles were not included in this list because even though there is more than one song with the same title, one song has a sub-title, which is often referred to, which distinguishes it from the other song(s) of the same title. For example, "Sweet Dreams" is the main title of a song by Air Supply (#5 in 1982), as well as one by the Eurythmics (#1 for 1 week in 1983). But most people refer to the sub-title in the Eurythmics' song, saying "Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)." Another example of this is "You Got It" by Roy Orbison (#9 in 1989), and "You Got It (The Right Stuff)" by New Kids On The Block (#3 in 1989).
You may have noticed that I left one-word song titles out of this article. That's because they were covered in a previous article devoted to one-word song titles. Plus, I pretty much kept my list of song titles to ones where all the songs hit the top ten.
All that said, there are a few more song titles that fall under this category that I feel I have to mention: There is "Holiday," which was a #16 hit for the Bee-Gees in 1967, as well as "Holiday" by Madonna, which reached #16 for her in 1984 (totally different songs, of course). There's "Human Touch" by Rick Springfield, which reached #18 for him in 1983. A different "Human Touch" reached #16 for Bruce Springsteen in 1992. Finally, there is "I Love You," which, I feel was a very under-appreciated song for Donna Summer, only reaching #37 in 1978, as well as "I Love You" by the Climax Blues Band, which reached #12 for them in 1981. This song, I sand as I proposed to my wife. That's all for now! ☺