We all remember buying a vinyl record or a cassette and bringing it home only to discover that the best song on the album was, invariably, hidden at the end. Sometimes, even the musicians did not want these tracks on the record. Often, bands would throw together a quick song just to fill the remaining minutes on blank tape. Today, we call these happy accidents legendary. Let’s look back at some of the greatest musical afterthoughts that defined our youth and still rule the radio dials today.
#1: Roy Orbison — “Oh, Pretty Woman”
It took Roy Orbison and his co-writer Bill Dees just one afternoon to compose this song. Roy’s wife, Claudette, told them she was going out to the store, and Bill Dees joked that “a pretty woman never needs any money.” By the time she got back, the song was virtually finished.
