First of all: Great list.
There are a few entries that I find puzzling, though. I Don’t Know Why, for instance, while I enjoy Brand New Heavies, their version doesn’t come close to Stevie’s. How Can You Mend a Broken Heart? – Bee Gees’ version is superior. Killing Me Softly seems to me like a bit of a stretch, since, if I recall correctly, they were released pretty close to one another?
I like the Heavies version better than Stevie's and any other remake such as John Mellencamp & The Jackson 5. The other 2 I didn't even know they were covers until much later, the internet era in the case of Roberta Flack's song or it might have been on
Pop Up Video on VH1. Same for the Isley Brothers, Minnie Riperton, & a few others. I had never heard Otis Redding's
Respect either, I don't think his was a single. I think people in general tend to like the version they heard first. I don't really dig the Bee Gees version that much, it's alright. My relatives played Al Green records all the time, they didn't have Bee Gees records other than the
Saturday Night Fever era ones. So Al is who I'm more familiar with. I never heard of Bob Dylan until
We Are The World. But I heard a lot of Isley Brothers. Like Burt Reynolds said to Sally Field in
Smokey & The Bandit "When you tell somebody somethin', it depends on what part of the United States you're standin' in - as to just how dumb you are." 🤣 They had been talking about the entertainment they were into. Carrie asked Bandit if he liked
A Chorus Line & Elton John. He said no, then Bandit asked her if she liked NASCAR driver Richard Petty & country singer Waylon Jennings. She hadn't heard of them.
