Since SATCHMO can cheat, I'll cheat, too!
Here's a post I made in a reggae thread, Flower Child:
I looked up the one reggae-style song for which I actually remember the title:
"Red Red Wine."
I learned that the original song was written by
Neil Diamond! Huh, I thought to myself. Huh. That doesn't sound very promising as a reggae song...and it isn't. The song is more of a ballad and I don't think I missed much by never having heard it before today.
The song was then covered by
Tony Tribe, a Jamaican rocksteady singer who recorded a reggae-influenced version in 1969. I feel Tribe's version is a little better than the original. Many other people covered this song, too.
Finally, in 1983,
UB40 created the version that I always liked and that probably most of you have heard. I don't think I heard this song when it came out in 1983 but later in college, so it brings back memories of dorm rooms and drunk people and failed love.
As an aside, I really think the UB40 song is pretty and melancholy, but drinking oneself into oblivion to forget someone is not a very productive coping mechanism!! Maybe that's why people like the song: it shows human frailty...and sometimes it is nice to know you aren't the only weak one pining away stupidly for someone. Since I hate wine, I'd probably just use some nice fruit juice...maybe rice drink mixed with coconut-pineapple juice (yum!).
Here you can compare the progression of songs, culminating in UB40's performance of "Red Red Wine," which I enjoy the most:
ORIGINAL: Neil Diamond - Red Red Wine (written and sung by him) - 3rd place
Tony Tribe - Red Red Wine (cover) (1969) - 2nd place
UB 40 - Red Red wine (cover) (1983) - my favorite!
-
1st place!!!