Jim Beviglia

People longing to change their station in life can be fertile songwriting territory. There's something noble in their ambitions to improve their status, and there's something heartbreaking about the possibility they'll never quite get there.

Those who believe in the adage “the third time's the charm” can point to Culture Club as proof. After the band's first two singles failed to do anything, their third, “Do You Really Want To Hurt Me,” gave them a worldwide hit and turned lead singer Boy George into a superstar.

In 1969, they uncovered a little-known song with a mouthful of a title. But they nonetheless created balladic magic with “He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother.” Here's how this song made it into the pop-culture pantheon.

Top Gun possessed all the hallmarks of an 1980s movie classic. For all the film's heroics and histrionics, it wouldn't have been quite the same without “Take My Breath Away,” the ballad that tugged at the heartstrings of theatergoers.

In 1982, his song “I.G.Y. (What a Beautiful World”) became a hit, as Fagen ventured out from the Steely Dan umbrella for the first time. It's a song that certainly shares the blend of musical complexity and smoothness that many insist are the defining characteristics for yacht rock, even if some of its author's ironic prickliness sneaks into the lyrics.

Perhaps the top example of their easygoing style came with the 1965 single “Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter.” We're nearing 60 years since the song was first released, and it's still likely to induce as many grins now as it did then.

To this day, it feels like The Monkees have never received their due. Granted, they were manufactured in the beginning. But how many other artists or bands that were guided by management or record companies get a pass, while the TV show-having quartet gets maligned?

More than any other band that started out within the prog rock genre, Genesis was able to switch gears as their career progressed and move in a mainstream direction. The band went about a decade without even sniffing the singles charts, and then proceeded to dominate in that realm for another decade after that.

The hangover from The Beatles ‘ breakup was still stubbornly lingering in 1973. Legal proceedings entangling the principals were very much still in play. Fans of the Fab Four certainly couldn't take for granted any sign of unity from the four band members.

Few artists in music history proved as consistent and durable in terms of singles success as Neil Diamond . The legend posted an astounding 37 U.S. Top-40 hits over a stretch of roughly 20 years. That doesn't even take into account the songs that he wrote for others that turned into smashes.