Surely you've heard of Olivia Newton-John? Long before she went to the US, starred in "Grease" and married one of her dancers, she had a hit in Australia with her version of "Banks of the Ohio". That was back in about 1971 or 72. I thought that was what she used to springboard her career into the US. I could be wrong. We used to listen to the song (and the rest of the hit songs) on the big double-decker bus on the way to school (we rode a bus a lot like that one at the tram museum yesterday - had great fun telling the kids about what it was like, and the time we brought a powerline down in the street beside where husband & family lived - before I'd ever met them).
ONJ's version had some bright, sparkly music backing it, which seemed really odd considering the lyrics. Very early Seventies. Weird. But because it was a GIRL singing it, they changes the words to suit. And it didn't work. I think that one was a John Farrar produced release. He did a lot of her earlier stuff.
But hey, it was only an example! I'm glad I didn't describe the time I searched for "Ich bin Schnappi, das kleine Krokodil".
Enjoy the searches, folks. And once you begin searching like this, you will discover some amazing stuff.
Marg