Cover Versions
The song has been covered by many artists, with many of the covers becoming hits of their own. Jimmy Cliff's version, released a few months after Stevens released the original version, reached number eight on the UK Singles Chart. Surprisingly, Stevens' version was not released as a single in the UK. Some of the subsequent covers have also been in the reggae style, indicating that they may be covers of Cliff's version, as opposed to direct covers of Cat Stevens' original arrangement. An example of this would be Maxi Priest's version of the song. Recorded and released as a single in 1988, this version also did well on the charts, reaching number five on the UK Singles Chart and #25 on the US Billboard Pop Singles Chart. In 1993, the band Mr. Big released a cover of the song as a single, charting at #27 on the Billboard Hot 100, #33 on the Top 40 Mainstream #33 and #12 on the Mainstream Top 40.
In 1971 Barry Manilow recorded Could it Be Magic, which features the same refrain melodically and lyrically ("Baby, I love you").
In 1987, Jonathan King accused Pet Shop Boys of plagiarising the melody of "Wild World" for their UK #1 single "It's a Sin". He made the claims in The Sun, for which he wrote a regular column during the 1980s. King also released his own cover version of "Wild World" as a single, using a similar musical arrangement to "It's a Sin", in an effort to demonstrate his claims. This single flopped, while Pet Shop Boys sued King, eventually winning out-of-court damages, which they donated to charity.
In 2000, Brazilian pop group Pepê & Neném recorded a version of the song in Portuguese, Nada me faz esquecer (Nothing makes me forget).
In 2006, Littlest Things, the third single released by Lily Allen from her debut album, Alright, Still, was noted as having similarities with Wild World in its introduction.
On July 7, 2007, the song was performed twice at the Live Earth concerts. James Blunt sang it at Wembley Stadium in London, England, while Yusuf Islam (formerly Cat Stevens) himself sang it in Hamburg, Germany.
In November 2008, the Tea for the Tillerman CD was re-issued in a deluxe version which included the original demo of Wild World.
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