'Somewhere Over the Rainbow' by Judy Garland (although a Cliff Richard cover got to #11 :puke:)

 

'I Fall to Pieces' by Patsy Cline

 

'Baby Got Back' by Sir Mix-A-Lot

 

'Sgt Pepper/With A Little Help From My Friends' by Beatles

 

'Kissing You' by Des'ree (probably her most remembered due to Romeo + Juliet yet never charted in the top 40)

 

I don't think album tracks or songs which weren't officially released as singles should count in this thread. It should be songs which were released as singles but for whatever reason failed to become hits, yet they're universally known. I still don't think anything's going to top Brown Eyed Girl as the most famous non-charting single.

'Somewhere Over the Rainbow' by Judy Garland (although a Cliff Richard cover got to #11 :puke:)

 

'Baby Got Back' by Sir Mix-A-Lot

 

A few covers of '[somewhere] Over The Rainbow' have charted:

• Matchbox got to #15 with a medley of 'Over The Rainbow' and 'You Belong To Me' in 1980.
• Eva Cassidy's version got to #42 in 2001.
• The Cliff Richard version that got to #11 in 2001 (as you already mentioned), which was a medley with 'What A Wonderful World'.
• Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's cover has charted a bunch of times since 2007, peaking at #44 last year - this version could qualify for a 'surprisingly never a [top 40] hit' tag itself as it surely must be close to as well-known as the original!
• Danielle Hope (winner of some TV competition) got to #29 with it in 2010.
• The Glee Cast version got to #30 also in 2010, just three weeks after the Danielle Hope version charted.

'Baby Got Back' is a surprising one - never got higher than #56? Really? :o

 

-x-

 

This is just a personal one because of how much I love the song, but I was very surprised when I found out that Arcade Fire's 'Keep The Car Running' missed the top 40.

Edited April 10, 201213 yr by M.I.É.

A few covers of '[somewhere] Over The Rainbow' have charted:

• Matchbox got to #15 with a medley of 'Over The Rainbow' and 'You Belong To Me' in 1980.
• Eva Cassidy's version got to #42 in 2001.
• The Cliff Richard version that got to #11 in 2001 (as you already mentioned), which was a medley with 'What A Wonderful World'.
• Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's cover has charted a bunch of times since 2007, peaking at #44 last year - this version could qualify for a 'surprisingly never a [top 40] hit' tag itself as it surely must be close to as well-known as the original!
• Danielle Hope (winner of some TV competition) got to #29 with it in 2010.
• The Glee Cast version got to #30 also in 2010, just three weeks after the Danielle Hope version charted.

 

I'd say that Judy Garland's version is the most well known and that was the version I was referring to. :P The versions Danielle Hope, Cliff Richard, Glee and Matchbox released aren't at all known, I presume. :lol:

Stairway To Heaven is an undeniable classic, obviously the circumstances prevented it from ever becoming a hit, but its still quite surprising. Born To Run also was never a proper hit until a live version got it in to the top 20, but still nothing compared to its true classic status

 

also not a 'non hit' as such, but Mr Brightside's original top 40 run consisted of narrowly scraping the top 10 and then vanishing two weeks later - I don't think that run is indicative of its true popularity at all

 

 

Stairway To Heaven is an undeniable classic, obviously the circumstances prevented it from ever becoming a hit, but its still quite surprising. Born To Run also was never a proper hit until a live version got it in to the top 20, but still nothing compared to its true classic status

 

also not a 'non hit' as such, but Mr Brightside's original top 40 run consisted of narrowly scraping the top 10 and then vanishing two weeks later - I don't think that run is indicative of its true popularity at all

 

Although Stairway eventually did become a hit, it reached #37 in 2007 after their catelogue was added to iTunes.

i always thought it just entered at no39 or something in the 70s?!

Not sure how many of these were released as singles:

 

Beach Boys - Fun Fun Fun (a re-make with Status Quo did chart in the 1990s)

Stevie Wonder - Isn't She Lovely

Marvin Gaye - What's Going On

Hvae you a link to that marvin gaye song, never remember the names of his most famous songs?

Hvae you a link to that marvin gaye song, never remember the names of his most famous songs?

Or you could just visit youtube yourself.

Not sure how many of these were released as singles:

 

Beach Boys - Fun Fun Fun (a re-make with Status Quo did chart in the 1990s)

Stevie Wonder - Isn't She Lovely

Marvin Gaye - What's Going On

The Stevie Wonder version of Isn't She Lovely wasn't a single but a cover by David Parton was. The story at the time was that Stevie Wonder refused to allow a shortened, supposedly more radio-friendly version to be released.

Or you could just visit youtube yourself.

 

THIS

 

Werewolves Of London - Warren Zevon

Edited April 10, 201213 yr by Common Sense

Here comes the sun by the beatles just charted last week...and could eventually get top 40 soon!!!! :D

Werewolves Of London - Warren Zevon

A great song although I'm not sure how well known it is.

Abba - So Long - #91

A great song although I'm not sure how well known it is.

 

It used to be on Radio 2 ALL THE TIME in the 90s. I'd say it's better known than the aforementioned ABBA song tbh.

 

My candidate is Gazebo - I Like Chopin. Massive European hit in 1983 and supposedly had loads of UK airplay. But it never even went top 100.

 

 

My candidate is Gazebo - I Like Chopin. Massive European hit in 1983 and supposedly had loads of UK airplay. But it never even went top 100.

 

That's a good one! It's still a radio standard here.

 

Kirsty MacColl's 'They Don't Know' reached #2 on the Music Week airplay chart in 1979. However, complications involving a strike at her distributors prevented the single from being shipped and promoted properly, preventing release of the single - it thus failed to appear in the UK Singles Chart.

Another potential one. "Don't Give Up on Me" by the late Gerry Rafferty. It still gets played regularly on BBC Radio 2 and sounds like a standard, yet never charted.