Needles & Pins - The Searchers. Two six-string guitars are playing in unison on the intro...it sounds like a 12-string guitar because an engineer accidentally left the echo switch on, but liked the result. Jackie DeShannon recorded the original in 1963, but her version barely made it onto the Hot 100.
Over The Rainbow - Judy Garland. This was almost cut from the movie. Some executives from MGM thought the film was too long and wanted this removed. They thought it slowed down the action too early in the movie. This would have been sung by Shirley Temple if the producers could have gotten her to play Dorothy in the movie. She was their first choice.
Rhinestone Cowboy - Glen Campbell. Rhinestones are fake jewels that are popular on Country-style clothing. A 'Rhinestone Cowboy' would be like someone who wants to be a real cowboy, but isn't. This was written and originally recorded by a Nashville-based singer named Larry Weiss. When Campbell heard this on his car radio he thought it could be about him and wanted to record it.
Roxanne - The Police. About a man who falls in love with a prostitute. Sting got the idea for this after walking through the red-light district of Paris. He imagined what it would be like to fall in love with one of the prostitutes. Sting chose the name Roxanne because it has a rich history behind it. Roxanne was the name of Alexander The Great's wife and Cyrano DeBergerac's girlfriend. The laughing at the beginning is Sting. It was recorded when he tripped in the recording studio and fell over the piano.
Stairway To Heaven - Led Zeppelin. The most famous rock song of all time, it never charted because it was never released as a single to the general public. Radio stations received promotional singles which quickly became collector's items. This is about a woman who accumulates money, but finds out the hard way her life had no meaning and will not get her into heaven.