Songs with Earlier Histories Than the Hit Version

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Tagged: England Dan & John Ford Coley

Broken Hearted Me

First recorded by England Dan & John Ford Coley (1978).
Hit version by Anne Murray (US #12/C&W #1/CAN #15 1979).

From the wiki: “‘Broken Hearted Me’ was written by Randy Goodrum (‘You Needed Me’, ‘It’s Sad to Belong’), and was first recorded in 1978 by England Dan & John Ford Coley for their album Dr. Heckle and Mr. Jive. It was later covered by Anne Murray. ‘Broken Hearted Me’ was Murray’s fourth #1 single on the US Country chart, and her seventh overall appearance on the Billboard Hot 100.”

What’s Forever For

First recorded by England Dan & John Ford Coley (1978).
Hit version by Michael Martin Murphey (US #19/C&W #1/CAN #1 1982).

From the wiki: “‘What’s Forever For’ is a song written by Rafe VanHoy and first recorded by England Dan and John Ford Coley on their 1978 album Dr. Heckle & Mr. Jive. The song saw its biggest success when it was recorded by Country music artist Michael Martin Murphey. It was released in June 1982 as the third single from his album, Michael Martin Murphey.”

We’ll Never Have to Say Goodbye Again

Written and first recorded by Jeffrey Comanor (1975).
Also recorded by Deardorf & Joseph (1976).
Hit version by England Dan & John Ford Coley (US #9 1978).

From the wiki: “‘We’ll Never Have to Say Goodbye Again’ was written by Jeffrey Comanor, and was first recorded by him in 1975 for release on the album A Rumor In His Own Time.

“‘England’ Dan Seals became familiar with the song while working as a session guitarist on a 1976 cover recording by Deardorf & Joseph. Three years later, in 1979, Seals and his partner, John Ford Coley, covered ‘We’ll Never Have to Say Goodbye Again’ themselves and took the song into the US Top 10 (included on their album Some Things Don’t Come Easy).”

Love is the Answer

Written by Todd Rundgren and first recorded by Utopia (1977).
Hit version by England Dan & John Ford Coley (US #10/MOR #1 1979).

From the wiki: “‘Love Is the Answer’ is a song written by Todd Rundgren for his band Utopia. It is the closing track on their 1977 album Oops! Wrong Planet.

“A cover version by England Dan & John Ford Coley reached #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in May, 1979. John Ford Coley was quoted as saying: ‘Of all the songs we released as singles, [this] was my favorite. The song first of all had a classical base, and the middle had a gospel section which I loved.'”