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Some Guys Have All the Luck
Jeff Fortgang wrote it fresh out of Yale; the Persuaders cut it first, and Stewart took it to number ten.
Jealous
Jonas cut it while training for the series Kingdom, chasing what he called a Lionel Richie vibe.
Paper Doll
Cut in under fifteen minutes as a B-side in 1942, it sat at number one for twelve weeks.
Lately (Jodeci)
Twenty-four hours to learn a Stevie Wonder ballad for MTV Unplugged, and K-Ci and JoJo owned it.
Honey Don't
Flipside of Blue Suede Shoes, cut at Sun with both Perkins brothers, and later Ringo's turn on Beatles for Sale.
Teardrops On My Guitar
Nathan Chapman's production stays hushed while Swift and Liz Rose leave the real classmate's name, Drew, in the lyric.
Santeria
Built on a bassline lifted from a Robbin' the Hood dub, and issued months after Nowell's death.
It's Not Unusual
Written for Sandie Shaw, who heard Jones's demo and told them to give him the record instead.
Is She Really Going Out With Him?
Graham Maby's bass carries the whole thing, a 1978 flop until reissue, and Jackson insisted it was a funny song.
The Boy Is Mine
Brandy got the idea from a Jerry Springer love triangle, and Darkchild's clipped beat held number one thirteen weeks.
The Kids Are Alright
Recorded at IBC in October 1965, it stalled at 41 in Britain, then became the mod movement's calling card.
Jessie's Girl
A Pasadena stained-glass class, a friend's girlfriend, and Neil Giraldo's guitar turning ordinary envy into a number one.
Heart of the City (Ain't No Love)
A Bobby Bland soul record from 1974, rebuilt by Kanye West, and Jay-Z sounding untouchable and unloved at the top.
Bernadette
Dozier had three Bernadettes in mind, and Levi Stubbs shouts the name at the false ending like a man drowning.
Watching the Detectives
Costello wrote it after a night with the first Clash album; Nieve's piano stalks it like Bernard Herrmann.
I Can See for Miles
Townshend called it his ace in the hole and never forgave Britain for stopping it at number ten.
Sweet Emotion
Three sounds in that intro: Hamilton's bass riff, Perry's talk box, a bass marimba. Aerosmith's first Top 40 single.
You Got Me
Jill Scott's hook, re-sung by Badu at the label's request, and Questlove driving the outro into drum and bass.
Down By The River
Young wrote it in bed with a 103-degree fever, and Crazy Horse stretched it to nine ragged minutes.
I Put a Spell on You
Intended as a blues ballad until the producer brought wine; Hawkins said he never remembered recording it.
Hey Joe
Hendrix took Tim Rose's slow arrangement off a jukebox, Chandler hired the Breakaways, and Britain answered at number six.
You Oughta Know
Flea on bass and Dave Navarro on guitar, recorded in Glen Ballard's home studio, behind the nineties' fiercest kiss-off.
St. Louis Blues
Armstrong's cornet answering every line Smith sings, with only a wheezing harmonium underneath, cut in New York in 1925.
Mr. Brightside
Flowers wrote it after a bad night at a Vegas bar; Britain has kept it charting past 500 weeks.
Stop! In the Name of Love
By Dozier's account the title came from a motel argument; Paul Williams supplied the hand at a rehearsal.
Roxanne
Copeland turned Sting's bossa nova into a tango, and the piano clang at the top was an accident they kept.
Say My Name
Rodney Jerkins chopped the beat into stop-start halves, and a phone call full of suspicion became two Grammys.
Every Breath You Take
Sting woke at Fleming's Goldeneye with the melody; Summers cut that arpeggio in one take and made surveillance sound tender.
Suspicious Minds
Mark James flopped with it first, in the same Memphis studio; Moman then handed Presley his last American number one.
Maybellene
Ida Red, a 1938 Bob Wills fiddle tune, turned into a car chase, with Johnnie Johnson's piano running underneath.
Jolene
Dolly pleading with her rival rather than fighting her, written the same day as "I Will Always Love You."
I Heard it Through the Grapevine
Motown shelved Gaye's version for over a year; it came out sounding like paranoia set to a Funk Brothers groove.