Mike Nesmith wrote Linda Ronstadt's first hit, "Different Drum," before he joined The Monkees. He played an intentionally bad version of it on the show.
One of the last hits with a track made up almost entirely of uncleared samples is "Groove Is In The Heart" by Deee-Lite in 1990. Soon after, courts ruled that samples needed to be cleared.
"Dark Fantasy" by Kanye West opens with a reinterpretation of Cinderella as read by Nicki Minaj.
The song used in introductions by the Chicago Bulls and many other sports teams is "Sirius" by The Alan Parsons project, the opening track on the Eye In The Sky album.
Cheap Trick's original version of "I Want You To Want Me" was countrified and kind of hokey. When they sped it up for their Live At Budokan album, it became a huge hit.
"You Get What You Give" by The New Radicals was the first hit song to use the word "frenemies" in the lyrics.
A selection of songs made to be terrible - some clearly achieved that goal.
Was "Pearl" Eddie Vedder's grandmother, and did she really make a hallucinogenic jam? Did Journey have a contest to name the group? And what does KISS stand for anyway?
Some songs get a second life when they find a new audience through a movie, commercial, TV show, or even the Internet.
How Bing Crosby, Les Paul, a US Army Signal Corps Officer, and the Nazis helped shape rock and Roll.
It wasn't her biggest hit as a songwriter (that would be "Bette Davis Eyes"), but "Put a Little Love in Your Heart" had a family connection for Jackie.
Bridesmaids, Reservoir Dogs, Willy Wonka - just a few of the flicks where characters discuss specific songs, sometimes as a prelude to murder.