Fair enough. I was thinking more of Sinatra and the performer/song-writer angle.

I find it hard to believe you didn't know these were covers.

The Sweet and Suzi Quatro fall into this category. Pretty much every early hit from both of 'em were written by Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman - but it was a well-known fact so it was never a revelation or a surprise to find out.

I was surprised when I found out the Cramps didn't write songs like "Strychnine" and "The Crusher", but their concept allows them to plunder a bottomless back catalogue of old obscurities (like the Detroit Cobras are doing).

And for what it's worth, "Dover Beach" is (IMO) the best song the Bangles ever did - and All Over The Place was their best album - so their songwriting is solid in my book.

They did write the majority of their material but there are a lot of cover versions across the albums.

Jimi Hendrix had a good deal of cover tunes, and was especially famous for some of his arrangements (the story about him being able to play one of the Beatles' tunes live before they did comes to mind). But it's not like he made a career out of it. But it definitely improved his success.

UB40 have always been better known for their covers, but some of their strongest songs are not covers. I think it's made them percieved somewhat as musical lightweights when there's quite a lot I like in their body of work.

Oh, and Manfred Mann's Earth Band -- they were practically a one-hit wonder with "Blinded by the Light". I actually have most of their later catalog, and they're quite good, but they treat covers almost as standards, and were guaranteed to do at least one per album. Some standouts:

Demolition Man
Redemption Song
three songs off of Greetings from Aspbury Park (Blinded..., Spirits..., and "For You")
I forget how many others.

That's a good example for this thread. Manfred Mann's entire singles career was covers, starting with "Do Wah Diddy".

The definitive version. Better'n Grace, better'n Stink and Stew.

When I worked in the brewery in Germany, they were coming to town. People were beyond excited.

I think they are lightweights, but that said you are right that virtually all of their best songs are the non-covers. I'm thinking the earlier, more dub-oriented work which isn't bad. When you hear their covers compared to the originals, they just don't compare at all.

Which one? Back when they released records, I got the import first, then the US. The two mixes were significantly different. I haven't picked up the remaster (of Somewhere in Afrika), which I believe has both versions (not sure about that, though).

Would have to be the US version, got mine in a cut-out bin about 15 years ago. Don't know that I've ever heard the import version.

Sinead O'Connor is a first-rate songwriter but the success of "Nothing Compares 2 U" dwarfed anything else she had, and she's known as a one-hit wonder to the likes of VH1.

I suppose the Dickies qualify.

The first Led Zep album? (Even some of the originals were covers.)

Several of Robert Palmer's hits were covers:
Bad Case of Loving You
Every Kinda People
Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley
You Are in My System
I Didn't Mean to Turn You On

Rod Stewart, even in his early '70s "good" years, was doing plenty of covers.