It ’s tough enough for a song to become a ecumenical smash , but what about those song that became hits without industry bread and butter ? Or that were n’t even supposed to be I in the first place ? These nine songs managed to top the charts despite the odds .
1. “ERUPTION” // VAN HALEN
No song illustrate Eddie Van Halen ’s proficient art and all - around musical brain like this one - and - a - half - minute instrumental . But the song was n’t meant for public consumption when it was first recorded . Van Halen was simply warming up early one morning in the studio apartment , and producer Ted Templeman decided to put the exercise on magnetic tape . The producer decided to admit the recording as - is on the band ’s 1978 self - titled debut — to the mortification of the guitarist , wholater enjoin , " To this day , whenever I hear it , I always think , ' Man , I could ’ve played it well . ' " Fans do n’t seem to correspond : The racetrack is systematically vote asone of the greatest guitar solo of all fourth dimension .
2. “SWEET CHILD O' MINE” // GUNS N' ROSES
One of Guns n ' rose ' most memorable riffs was also the result of a warm - up . While hang out during preproduction for the lot ’s 1987 debut , Appetite for Destruction , Slash started noodling around witha string - skipping exercise . Axl Rose overheard the resulting riff , and the following day during dry run , he coaxed his loth guitarist into replay the melody and started singing along . The net intersection stayed at No . 1 for two calendar week in 1988 .
3. “APPLAUSE” // LADY GAGA
Gaga wrote somewhere in the vicinity of 100 song for her 2013 elbow grease , ARTPOP , andclaimsthis Sung almost overleap the cut . It was Interscope Record headway Jimmy Iovine who ID’d the track as the album ’s first individual , after get wind it during a listening session of 40ARTPOPcontenders . As usual for the record - biz veteran , his instincts were right : The Song dynasty went all the way to No . 4 .
4. “ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST” // QUEEN
Queen did n’t originally intend to release this sparse , channel - laden transcription as a undivided . Drummer Roger Taylor even lead so far as tosay"That will never be a hit , " of the cut off 1980’sThe Game . It was Michael Jackson , visiting the stripe wing after an L.A. show , who win over the band otherwise . The King of Pop knew what he was talking about : The birdsong went to No . 1 and remains Queen’sbest - sell singlein the States .
5. “THRIFT SHOP” // MACKLEMORE & RYAN LEWIS
By all right , thisGrammy - winninghip - hops jewel never should have been a exclusive , let alone a No . 1 striking . The Seattle - base duo self - exhaust their recording in August 2012 , as thefourthsingle off their albumThe holdup . After six month of building a devoted following through touring and societal media ( and without any mainstream promotion ) , the song finally strike the top of the charts in February 2013 .
6. “STAY (I MISSED YOU)” // LISA LOEB
Macklemore was the first label - less creative person to go to No . 1since 1994 , when Lisa Loeb did the same matter with the lead - off single from theReality Bitessoundtrack . Were it not for the fact that she was protagonist and neighbors with the film ’s lead , Ethan Hawke , who pressed for the song ’s comprehension on the soundtrack , the singer - songwriter might still be toiling in obscurity .
7. “LOSER” // BECK
When Beck recorded this song in 1991 , he never mean it to be a Gen X anthem . alternatively , he was simply trying out some rap to impress manufacturer Karl Stephenson , at whose house he was immortalize at the fourth dimension . Perhaps influenced by Stephenson ’s coxa - hops ties , the then - unknown Isaac M. Singer , who did from time to time rap during his show between songs , freestyled some lyric poem in the spirit of Public Enemy . The song ’s far-famed chorus—“I’m a loser , baby , so why do n’t you drink down me”—was Beck ’s response to get a line his attack play back to him ; as he latersaid , " When they act it back , I was like , ' I ’m the worst rapper ! ' " Three years later , the Sung went into heavy rotation on wireless and MTV , and those lyrics became the bill poster song for a unexampled genre called " slacker rock . "
8. “YOU AIN’T SEEN NOTHING YET” // BACHMAN TURNER OVERDRIVE
The lyrics to BTO ’s 1974 No . 1 smash were as much a zany as those in " Loser . " Randy Bachman , while make BTO ’s third album , Not Fragile , used the song as an instrumental to test out the equipment in the studio apartment , perfecting the sound for the tracks in reality signify for the record . The lyric poem were something he ’d blab out off the cuff , stuttering as a gentle poke at his brother , who was known for having an factual stammer . But when Mercury Records head Charlie Fach heard the Sung while wait for the lot ’s next undivided , he knew he ’d found a hitting and insisted they let in it on the album . According to Bachman , the strain appears — at Fach ’s insistence — just as it was when they used it to test the studio , despite the guitar being out of tune !
9. “CHERRY PIE” // WARRANT
This 1990 smasher also would n’t have exist if not for the label ’s pressure — literally . Warrant were all set to hand over their 2nd album to Columbia Records when label president Don Ienner forebode request another track . Ienner was looking for a monolithic hit—“another ' dearest In An Elevator , ' " according to Warrant singer Jani Lane — and had n’t heard one on the record as it stood . Lane react by writing " Cherry Pie " overnight . The song lead to No . 1 and remains one of Warrant ’s best - known contributions , but because of its history , it ’s never sat well with the band . Lane even went so far as totell VH1 , " I could dash myself in the f**king head for write that song . "
