> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://dailyrivet.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # 10 Songs That Were Never Supposed to Be Hits — But Became Huge Anyway - URL: https://dailyrivet.com/10-songs-that-were-never-supposed-to-be-hits-but-became-huge-anyway/ - Published: 2026-08-29T10:14:14.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-14T23:41:52.000Z - Author: Ryan - Tags: Features Some hit songs are carefully crafted for radio, polished for months, and released with a major promotional campaign behind them. These weren't. Some began as B-sides. Others were studio jokes, filler tracks, or recordings their own creators didn't particularly believe in. A few weren't even supposed to make the album. Yet somehow, listeners heard something the artists or record labels didn't—and turned these unlikely songs into enormous hits. Here are 10 of the best documented examples. ## 1\. “You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet” — Bachman-Turner Overdrive Few songs fit this list better than Bachman-Turner Overdrive's 1974 smash. Randy Bachman has repeatedly explained that **“You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet” wasn't originally intended for release at all**. It began as a work track the band used while setting up sounds in the studio. Bachman added the famous stuttering vocal partly as a joke involving his brother, who stuttered. Bachman later recalled that the song “was never supposed to be on an album.” When Mercury Records executive Charlie Fach heard it, however, he insisted that Bachman include it on *Not Fragile*. Bachman initially resisted. The record executive won the argument. “You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet” became a **No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100** and one of BTO's signature songs. **Why it belongs:** It was literally a throwaway studio recording that its creator didn't want on the album. --- ## 2\. “Don't You Want Me” — The Human League Today, “Don't You Want Me” is practically synonymous with early-'80s synth-pop. The Human League didn't necessarily see that coming. Band member Jo Callis has said the group **“almost viewed it as a filler.”** They didn't consider it one of the strongest songs on their 1981 album *Dare*, and singer Philip Oakey famously had reservations about releasing it as a single. Virgin Records thought differently. Released late in 1981, “Don't You Want Me” became a massive success, reaching **No. 1 in Britain and the United States** and transforming The Human League into international stars. **Why it belongs:** The band regarded one of the biggest songs of the decade as little more than album filler. --- ## 3\. “The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?)” — Ylvis Most artists hope their new song becomes a hit. Ylvis essentially tried to make the opposite. The Norwegian comedy duo had the opportunity to work with Stargate, the superstar production team behind major pop records. Rather than use the opportunity to launch a serious music career, the brothers intentionally devised an absurd song about animal noises. Vegard Ylvisåker later described “The Fox” as an **“anti-hit.”** The joke was that world-class producers were being used to make a ridiculously elaborate song centered on one question: What sound does a fox make? Then the internet got involved. The video exploded online, and “The Fox” climbed all the way to **No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100**. **Why it belongs:** Its creators explicitly set out to make an “anti-hit”—and accidentally produced an international one. --- ## 4\. “Kung Fu Fighting” — Carl Douglas “Kung Fu Fighting” sounds like the kind of novelty record a label might have carefully designed to capitalize on the martial-arts craze of the 1970s. Its origin was much less calculated. Carl Douglas was working with producer Biddu on another song when they needed material for the other side of the single. “Kung Fu Fighting” was quickly recorded and treated as secondary material rather than the centerpiece of the release. The supposedly lesser track had other plans. Released in 1974, “Kung Fu Fighting” reached **No. 1 in both the United States and Britain** and became one of the most recognizable novelty-pop songs ever recorded. **Why it belongs:** It was created as secondary material, only to completely overshadow the song that was supposed to matter. --- ## 5\. “Maggie May” — Rod Stewart Sometimes the easiest way to tell which song a record company expected to succeed is simply to look at which side of the record it placed it on. When Rod Stewart released his 1971 single, the label's chosen A-side was: **“Reason to Believe.”** On the flip side sat **“Maggie May.”** Radio DJs began playing the B-side instead, and listeners responded. Before long, “Maggie May” had completely eclipsed the song it was supposed to support, reaching **No. 1 in both the United States and United Kingdom** and helping turn Stewart into a superstar. **Why it belongs:** The record company literally put another song on the side intended for radio promotion. --- ## 6\. “Tequila” — The Champs In 1957, guitarist Dave Burgess went into the studio to record a song called **“Train to Nowhere.”** The session still needed a B-side. That requirement eventually produced an instrumental built around a saxophone riff and one unforgettable spoken word: **“Tequila!”** The musicians who recorded it weren't even initially an established band in the traditional sense. The Champs were subsequently formed around the recording. The intended throwaway track overwhelmed its A-side and raced to **No. 1 in the United States** in 1958\. It later won a Grammy. **Why it belongs:** The musicians were assembled to create a B-side—and that B-side became a No. 1 record. --- ## 7\. “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye” — Steam This song's famous chorus partly exists because its creators **needed to make a B-side longer**. Paul Leka and Gary DeCarlo had recordings Mercury Records wanted to release as singles. When they needed another song for the flip side, they resurrected an older unfinished composition. While working on it, Leka needed a chorus and began filling space with “na na na” because there weren't finished lyrics. The musicians didn't exactly regard the resulting recording as a masterpiece. Leka later described it as embarrassing compared with DeCarlo's other recordings. Then a Mercury executive heard it and decided the supposed B-side should actually become the A-side. “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye” reached **No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100** in 1969 and eventually became a permanent fixture at sporting events. **Why it belongs:** It was assembled because a B-side was needed, complete with placeholder-style lyrics—and became a No. 1 hit. --- ## 8\. “Rock Around the Clock” — Bill Haley & His Comets “Rock Around the Clock” would eventually become one of the records most closely associated with the birth of rock and roll. But when Decca Records first released it in 1954, it wasn't even given top billing. The A-side was **“Thirteen Women (And Only One Man in Town).”** Rock Around the Clock was placed on the B-side. The record initially enjoyed only modest success. Everything changed when it was used in the opening of the 1955 movie *Blackboard Jungle*. Teenagers responded immediately. The re-released song went to **No. 1 on the Billboard chart**, where it remained for weeks, becoming one of the defining records of early rock and roll. **Why it belongs:** One of the most important rock songs in history started life on the wrong side of the record. --- ## 9\. “Beth” — Kiss A piano ballad sung by drummer Peter Criss didn't exactly sound like the obvious single for a band famous for face paint, explosions and hard rock. Initially, it wasn't. In 1976, Kiss released **“Detroit Rock City”** as a single, with “Beth” appearing on the B-side. But radio stations began receiving requests for the ballad instead. As “Beth” gained momentum, Casablanca Records reversed course and released it as an A-side. It eventually climbed to **No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100**, becoming Kiss's highest-charting U.S. single. **Why it belongs:** The hard-rock anthem was supposed to be the attraction. Radio listeners preferred the drummer's unexpected ballad on the back. --- ## 10\. “Loser” — Beck Before Beck became one of alternative rock's most recognizable artists, “Loser” was hardly the product of a massive record-label hit machine. The song emerged from sessions Beck recorded with producer Carl Stephenson while Beck was still an obscure struggling musician. Its unusual combination of folk guitar, hip-hop-style beats, surreal lyrics and Beck's deadpan delivery didn't exactly scream mainstream pop hit. The initial independent release was tiny. But college and alternative radio stations began playing it, creating growing demand around a record nobody had expected to become a mainstream phenomenon. After Beck signed with Geffen, “Loser” was re-released nationally and climbed to **No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100**. **Why it belongs:** What began as an obscure independent recording unexpectedly became the song that launched Beck's career. --- ## Sometimes the Audience Chooses the Hit What makes these songs interesting isn't simply that they became successful. It's **who was wrong about them**. Record labels put some on B-sides. Artists dismissed others as filler. One began as a studio joke. Another was deliberately conceived as an “anti-hit.” Yet once listeners got a chance to hear them, none of those original expectations mattered. And perhaps that's the best part of the story: even an industry built around trying to predict the next big thing occasionally has absolutely no idea what people are going to love.