Canon-forming and pop

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

On today's poll thread Cis raises the spectre (which may be a benign spectre, and may not be spectral at all) of a 'pop canon'.

I have a couple of questions which may or may not relate to it:

Are there any very well-known (and ideally well-loved) pop songs that weren't especially popular when first released?

Are there any very well-known and well-loved pop songs that have never actually been hit singles?

Comments

[lockedintheatti.livejournal.com]

There's loads of Beatles songs that were never singles that are incredibly well-known to a huge range of people, and loved by many too. Although quite a few of those have been covered and made hits by other people - Back in the USSR, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, When I'm 64, Lovely Rita, Drive My Car, Here Comes the Sun just to name the first few that spring to mind.

And I'm sure that there are a few Christmas singles that were never big hits at the time (or at all) that are well-known and loved by being played to death every Christmas & featuring on every Christmas compilation album. Christmas Wrapping by the Waitresses springs to mind.

In the same vein, Mariah's "All I Want for Christmas is You", while it went top 10 when it first came out, seems to be getting more and more popular every year (it's been near the top of the iTunes chart for the last 2 Christmases), and far more popular and ubiquitous than when it first came out.

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

Christmas songs: yes, OTM.

It seems almost unfair to bring Beatlesband into the discussion. The canonisation of their entire catalogue (pretty much done and dusted by 1969) is a phenomenon the likes of which I doubt we'll ever see again. Special mention must go to "In My Life", however, the popularity of which seems to be considerably higher today than it was in the 60s.

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Back In The USSR was a single but not in the traditional sense (1976 re-release). I've just been looking over the canons, innit :-)

Also a bunch of REALLY well known Queen songs aren't singles. Can't remember which ones, haven't got up to there yet...