Songs that have far exceeded their popularity when first released

I apologize if this has already been done.

Thinking of songs that have become wildly popular beyond what they actually charted. (U.S. charts only, so mostly Billboard)

Among my first choices is "Bohemian Rhapsody." It only reached No. 9 on the Hot 100 but ranks in the top 20 of all-time great songs and is considered Queen's signature song.

Another is "Don't Stop Believing." Probably my fourth or fifth favorite song on Journey's wonderful "Escape" album but thanks, in part, to Tony Soprano has become one of the most overplayed and popular songs ever.

 

Ha I was going to say "Don't Stop Believing," which I believe peaked at no. 9 on the charts in '81 or so.

I'll add U2's "One," which peaked at no. 10 in 1992 but is now, I think, considered their signature song over "With or Without You."

Aerosmith's "Dream On" didn't hit the top 10 until a re-release in 1976, three years after it was recorded, but I'd argue peaking at no. 6 doesn't do justice to its status as one of the great AOR songs of all-time.

 

"Sweet Caroline."

"Country Roads."

Both popular songs for a month or two when they came out. Now everyone in the country knows them, thanks (or no thanks) to being played for singalongs at every sporting event in the country.

I hear songs like "TNT," etc., still being played today at games. I wonder what the students think. As a college student in 1972-76, it would be like hearing Al Jolson at a game. "Yes, sir, that's my baby" wasn't a big song at City Stadium or the Robins Center.

 

Don’t think The Pixies’ “Where Is My Mind?” was ever a hit. But Fight Club raised its status a decade after release and now you’ll hear it quite often in TV shoes and movies. Bigger today than when it came out. Hell, it can even turn off your Google alarm.

And of course Stranger Things turned Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” into an even bigger phenomenon than it was 40 years prior. Probably got her into the Rock Hall.

 

Nirvana’s “Something in the Way,” after being on The Batman soundtrack.

Pretty much anything by Nick Drake, but especially Pink Moon, after it was used in that cell-phone (?) commercial a few years ago.

 

"Piano Man" peaked at no. 25 in the mid-70s and is now considered a top-100 song of all-time. Unless you hate it, in which case it's the worst song of all-time!

An interesting subthread would be songs that would have been monstrous hits but were never officially released as singles. There's dozens of grunge smashes that would qualify, along with "U Can't Touch This," which hit no. 8 based solely on single sales. If it'd been officially released it probably would have shattered all pre-Soundscan records for runs at no. 1.

 

I was a high school senior when "Thunderstruck" was released. That's the equivalent of hearing "Put Your Head On My Shoulder" at my high school's sporting events.

Along these lines and tying into the original post, Tina Turner's "The Best" peaked at no. 15 in 1989. I don't know if it became her signature song, but it was certainly widely perceived as one of her biggest songs and a stadium anthem to boot.

 

I'm a big Steely Dan fan, and "My Old School" only reached No. 63 on the charts....but it is one of the most widely played of their songs, is almost always on their greatest hits albums and is considered one of their best.

 

Another song that fits is "Shout" by the Isley Brothers (crossthread). I think it barely reached the top 50 but is known by everyone from 3 to 80 years old. While, I believe, originally a church song, almost every sports team has probably played it at some point.

 

I want to say a VW ad? I recall a sticker with the logo placed on his CDs.

 

Bob Seger's "Old Time Rock & Roll" got released twice--in the '70s and post-"Risky Business"--and somehow fared worse the second time (no. 48) than the first time (no. 28). It's the most popular jukebox song of all-time and surely more associated w/Seger than his lone no. 1 hit, "Shakedown."

 

There was a run of movies in the mid 80s, early 90s that seemed to rely heavily on the Atlantic Records R&B catalogue. Think of the Big Chill soundtrack, some Dan Ackryoyd movies, various movies where dudes started showing up wearing wayfarers.