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Songs Which Sound Like The Beatles But Aren't By The Beatles...

posted 6 months ago by FootOfDavros (8716)
42 replies | jump to latest

... Yesterday I was stumped for several hours attempting to identify a Beatles song which started with the lyrics "My Aunty something" which I was sure had to be on the white album or Abbey Road but was in fact on neither nor anywhere else Beatles-wise.

In the end it turned out the song was Auntie Iris by Pilot. Next thing I know I was putting together a Beatles sound-a-like playlist on the old Spotify.

Anyway, I'm looking for some additional entries to the playlist, so please share with me any songs you've got which you've always thought sounded very Beatles like...

[–] mikethemartian (7005) 6 months ago

There is a song from the 1930s “September in the Rain” that sounds a lot like a Beatles song. They even recorded a demo of it when they were starting out. It was mentioned in an episode of Mad Men.

[–] GolfnGuitars (3123) 6 months ago

This song was influenced big-time by The Beatles...a one-hit wonder, but one of the greatest songs of the 1980s: "I Don't Mind At All" by Bourgeois Tagg.

https://youtu.be/3gUDMeIEMMI?si=M6gT1qmrD53ZSxbv

[–] OnanTheBarbarian (13183) 6 months ago

Oasis obviously:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmpRLQZkTb8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tI-5uv4wryI

[–] FootOfDavros (8716) 6 months ago

Thanks. Oasis definitely maybe have a few sound-a-likes but I'm going with one song per artist and the one I already picked was All Around The World.

Even the video for that (which seems to have past me by at the time) is pure Beatles:-
https://youtu.be/bdT8ixdxPX4?si=69LoLJGJdjzr7Uel

[–] OnanTheBarbarian (13183) 6 months ago

The Rutles:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qf8y7v0WIE

[–] mikethemartian (7005) 6 months ago

They were bigger than Rod.

[–] OnanTheBarbarian (13183) 6 months ago

Nah, I'd say Rod Stewart was bigger than the Rutles.

[–] capuchin (3371) 6 months ago

Maybe Klaatu? A Canadian duo from the 1970s. Their most famous song is 'Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft', which was later covered by The Carpenters. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P38SbPBOV1s

Initially, they put no detailed credits on their records and a strong rumour came about that they were The Beatles.

Radiohead's Karma Police lifts directly from Sexy Sadie if that kind of 'quoting' is useful... Tears For Fears' Sowing the Seeds of Love is an obvious Beatles 'flower power' pastiche...

E.L.O. 'Mr Bluesky'? Too obvious?

More direct copy-cat songs:

Lies by the Knickerbockers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4FsMlzPwT8

Little Hans by Eric Woolfson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=is5_lw5uhL0

That's all I can think of off the top of my head.

[–] FootOfDavros (8716) 6 months ago

Wow, that Little Hans is perfect! Definitely adding that, thanks. Never heard it before...

I would have gone with Mr Blue Sky as well but for some reason Diary Of Horace Wimp came instantly to mind when I was thinking of ELO and I'm just going with one song per artist.

Sowing the Seeds is another good call but already in my list.

[–] FootOfDavros (8716) 6 months ago

Sadly, Little Hans is a no show on Spotify. Which is a shame as it was perfect.

[–] capuchin (3371) 6 months ago

Ah, that is a shame. But it is pretty obscure, I suppose. I can't even remember where I heard it. And I had to look up the artist as I only remembered the name of the song. So perhaps not that surprising.

[–] Bubbathegut (18253) 6 months ago

Klaatu Barada Ncoughcoughcough

[–] Nanook (2056) 6 months ago

Always thought XTC's album Skylarking was Beatle-esque, especially "Summer's Cauldron," "Grass" and "Season Cycle."

[–] FootOfDavros (8716) 6 months ago

Brilliant! Thanks - Season Cycle is the one... Will be going into the playlist 👍.

[–] Nanook (2056) 6 months ago

HTH! And glad you liked it. It's really a great album, one that was at the time, 1986, pretty out of left field for an edgy new wave band like XTC.

[–] FootOfDavros (8716) 6 months ago

Yeah, I'll definitely give the album a full listen later. The other two sounded good as well, just that one was the most obvious McCartney Penny Lane sounding...

[–] AndyKing1967 (39874) 6 months ago

Day After Day - Badfinger: -
https://youtu.be/XonFZjuyc6E?si=rS0XhZX978voRYvV

A beautiful song produced by George Harrison, who also plays slide guitar 🎸

[–] FootOfDavros (8716) 6 months ago

It's definitely got a Beatles quality - especially when the solo kicks in. But are you saying George's actually playing on it?

If so, it's not allowed (going by my 100% fabricated rules 😂)...

[–] AndyKing1967 (39874) 6 months ago

George played slide guitar, so disqualified ☹️

[–] FootOfDavros (8716) 6 months ago

Ah shame.

Funnily enough just before you posted that I was listening to Back When We Was Fab. Also very Beatles sounding by the former Beatles.

[–] AndyKing1967 (39874) 5 months ago

Produced by Jeff Lynne.

[–] jacotodd47 (2402) 6 months ago

Well, there are tons of them.

Perhaps better to point out bands with a Beatlesque sound.....

In the 1970s, the furor for a Beatles reunion was outlandish. A band named Klaatu released an album called "3:47 EST" in 1976. Many thought Klaatu was actually The Beatles operating under a pseudonym because the sound was so similar.

Also, in the 1970s John Lennon called this band "Sons of the Beatles"...

Electric Light Orchestra

Lastly, in the 1990s, a band named Oasis tried to capture the Beatle sound.