----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Sager, Greg" <greg.sager@bankofamerica.com>
> This thread actually commenced as a discussion of the "best cover 
> version of all time to reach the American Top 40", which is why the 
> first three suggestions were "The Loco-Motion" by Grand Funk, "You 
> Really Got Me" by Van Halen, and "All Along The Watchtower" by Jimi 
> Hendrix. The Ramones and Wilson Pickett obviously didn't qualify 
> with their covers.

Tell that to Joel Whitburn: Pickett's "Sugar Sugar" hit #25 in 1970, 
and I still hear it on oldies satellite radio stations today.

And if that's your criterion, give it up for the Beatles' version of 
the Isleys' "Twist and Shout," which hit the charts TWICE, in '64 and 
'86!

And in the category of "hit covers that only pop geeks knew were 
covers in the first place," I nominate Natalie Imbruglia's cover of 
Ednaswap's "Torn," which hit the charts mostly because it was so much 
better than the original, which was only a couple years old at the 
time.

S