I’ve never been big into Bill Withers, though I do quite enjoy covers of his songs, like The S.O.U.L. S.Y.S.T.E.M.’s 1993 hit with “Lovely Day” (a clubland recast, courtesy of production partners Cliviles and Cole) and the occasional American Idol use of Withers’ back catalog, including eventual winner Kris Allen’s take on “Ain’t No Sunshine” last season.

But for me, the Bill Withers cover that continues to reign over all others is Club Nouveau’s “Lean On Me” from 1987. I appreciate when a cover is more than a carbon-copy of the original, and by trading off vocal parts and joining together in the chorus, Club Nouveau took Withers’ message of personal support and made it a public declaration. The funkified rhythm track fits the change nicely, adding a welcome celebratory vibe, too.

Another reason the Club Nouveau version personally resonates is that my classmates and I closed out a grade-school talent show back then with a singalong performance of the track. Because “Lean On Me” had only been recently released to radio, the single wasn’t in stores, so someone taped the song from the radio (how quaint, right?), and I transcribed the lyrics from Withers’ original 45 so we could learn them. On stage, we definitely had a lot of fun with the “We be jammin'” and “Pump it up” parts toward the end.

Bill Withers spent three weeks at #1 with “Lean On Me” in 1972, and 15 years later, Club Nouveau came along to take the song to the top again. In fact, it was 23 years ago on this very day that their cover of “Lean On Me” reached the summit, camping out for two weeks. The song’s second success also snagged Withers a Grammy for Best R&B Song the following year.

Currently (and somewhat sadly, though certainly fattening Withers’ wallet), “Lean On Me” features in a new commerical for Brawny paper towels.

Purchase Club Nouveau – “Lean On Me” via iTunes, Amazon MP3.