10 Unheralded Covers That Deserve More Recognititon
8. I Believe In A Thing Called Love - Lemar (Original: The Darkness)
BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge has produced some amazing content for lovers of cover versions over the years alongside some fantastic live acoustic performances. So much so that they have been releasing compilation albums annually of the best of them since 2006
It's on that original 2006 release, simply titled 'Radio 1's Live Lounge', that we find this cover version.
Former 'Fame Academy' runner-up Lemar eventually proved himself to be a somewhat decent and successful soul singer in the years that followed. Along the way, he dropped into the Live Lounge to deliver this stripped back take on The Darkness' camp !*$% rock classic.
Backed only by a soulful electric guitar (which strips the intricate riffs and licks of the original all the way back), Lemar weaves in moments from both Marvin Gaye's 'What's Going On?' and 'All My Life' by K-Ci & Jo Jo to compliment his stunning vocal performance.
Say what you will about how talented reality show singers truly are; in my view, it takes a certain amount of talent to hear the potential for a soul version in this record. To then deliver it in such a way that you'll kick yourself for not thinking of it before? Genius.
Of all the reinventions on this list, this is probably the only one where song, style and singer all blend into perfection.