10 Famous Songs You Had No Idea Were Covers

5. David Bowie €“ China Girl (EMI)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iTNrtU15Xk Only half a cover perhaps, but deserving of a place because the story behind it is interesting. Bowie and Iggy Pop wrote this song together in the late 1970s on toy instruments, and Iggy later recorded it for his 1977 album, The Idiot. Iggy's frantic, scuzzy original sounds like it was recorded in the middle of a nervous breakdown, a far cry from the sleek 80s pop of Bowie's more well-known cover. But the rendition of 'China Girl' that they allow on the radio was actually recorded by Bowie as a favour. In the early 1980s, Iggy Pop was overwhelmed by financial troubles, prompting Bowie to re-record the song. The success of the release, which reached the top 10 in both the UK and the US, garnered enough proceeds for Iggy to find financial security for the first time in his career.