Songwriting
10 songs you might not know who wrote
From 'Thriller' to 'Umbrella': the songwriters behind records you know by heart and the musicians hiding in the credits.
Updated 27 September 2026Stage KeyboardsOrgansSynthesizers
How to use this
Ten songs that were never anyone else's first. They were written for the singer who made them famous, or handed to them after somebody else turned them down, by people most listeners could not name. The credit is the only place they appear.
Each card says who you know the song by, who wrote it and what happened in between. Open 'Who wrote it' for the writer's story and the other hits they are responsible for, which is usually the surprising part.
Songs where somebody else recorded it first are in Covers that buried the original.
The writer nobody sees
1979
'Girls Just Want to Have Fun'
Cyndi Lauper · Written by Robert Hazard
- Written: 1979
- Cyndi Lauper, 1983
- US and UK No. 2
What happened: Robert Hazard, a Philadelphia new-wave singer, wrote it in 1979 from a man's point of view and demoed it. Cyndi Lauper didn't like the lyric. She rewrote it into the song everyone knows, a declaration rather than a boast, and it became the breakout single from 'She's So Unusual'. It is one of the best examples of a song being more hers than its writer's, and the credit still says Robert Hazard.
Official upload from CyndiLauperVEVO. Loads from YouTube when you press play, or watch it there ↗
Written by: Robert Hazard
Hear the versions
Robert Hazard, 1979
Uploaded by occupiedmind. Loads from YouTube when you press play, or watch it there ↗
Cyndi Lauper, 1983
In the catalogue: Yamaha reface CS, Nord Lead A1
1981
'Bette Davis Eyes'
Kim Carnes · Written by Jackie DeShannon and Donna Weiss
- Written in 1974
- Nine weeks at No. 1
- Bette Davis wrote to say thank you
What happened: The song is seven years older than the hit. Jackie DeShannon recorded it herself in 1974 as a piano shuffle and nothing happened. Kim Carnes's producer rebuilt it around a synthesiser hook and a drum machine, and it spent nine weeks at No. 1 in the US.
Written by: Jackie DeShannon and Donna Weiss
Hear the versions
Jackie DeShannon, 1974
Official upload from Jackie DeShannon - Topic. Loads from YouTube when you press play, or watch it there ↗
Kim Carnes, 1981
1982
'Thriller'
Michael Jackson · Written by Rod Temperton
- British writer
- Vincent Price's rap
- Title track, 1982
What happened: The biggest Halloween song ever made was written by a quiet keyboard player from Cleethorpes in Lincolnshire. Rod Temperton wrote 'Thriller' for Michael Jackson's album of the same name, including the spoken-word section at the end. That part is performed by Vincent Price, the actor from dozens of horror films, and Temperton wrote it in the back of a taxi on the way to the studio on the day Price came in to record it. Price did it in two takes.
Official upload from michaeljacksonVEVO. Loads from YouTube when you press play, or watch it there ↗
Written by: Rod Temperton
Hear the versions
Michael Jackson, 1982
In the catalogue: Yamaha reface CS, Nord Lead A1
1983
'Total Eclipse of the Heart'
Bonnie Tyler · Written by Jim Steinman
- Written for Bonnie Tyler
- US and UK No. 1
- Roy Bittan on piano
What happened: Bonnie Tyler's biggest record, and the one with the 'turn around, bright eyes' that half of any pub can sing. Jim Steinman wrote and produced it, and said it had started life as a vampire love song. It went to No. 1 in the UK and the US in 1983, and on the week it reached the top in America, the No. 2 was Air Supply's 'Making Love Out of Nothing at All', which Steinman had also written.
Official upload from bonnietylerVEVO. Loads from YouTube when you press play, or watch it there ↗
Written by: Jim Steinman
Hear the versions
Bonnie Tyler, 1983
In the catalogue: Nord Grand 2, Yamaha CP88
1984
'What's Love Got to Do with It'
Tina Turner · Written by Terry Britten and Graham Lyle
- Turned down twice
- US No. 1
- Comeback record
What happened: Tina Turner did not want it. Neither did Cliff Richard, or Donna Summer, or Phyllis Hyman — the song went round the industry being turned down before it reached her, and she thought it was weak and not a rock song. It became the biggest hit of her career and the record that restarted it at 44.
Written by: Terry Britten and Graham Lyle
Hear the versions
Tina Turner, 1984
1986
'Manic Monday'
The Bangles · Written by Prince, as 'Christopher'
- Credited to Christopher
- Written for Apollonia 6
- UK and US No. 2
What happened: The credit on the sleeve reads 'Christopher', a character Prince played in the film Under the Cherry Moon. He had written the song for Apollonia 6 in 1984, shelved it, then offered it to the Bangles. It gave them their first hit, and it was kept off No. 1 in both Britain and America by Prince's own 'Kiss'.
Written by: Prince, as 'Christopher'
Hear the versions
The Bangles, 1986
1988
'Wind Beneath My Wings'
Bette Midler · Written by Larry Henley and Jeff Silbar
- Written in 1982
- Recorded 200+ times first
- Grammy Song of the Year
What happened: By the time Bette Midler recorded it for the film Beaches, the song was six years old and had already been cut by more than two hundred artists, including Roger Whittaker, Sheena Easton and Gary Morris. Hers is the one that sold, and it won Song of the Year.
Written by: Larry Henley and Jeff Silbar
Hear the versions
Bette Midler, 1988
1998
'…Baby One More Time'
Britney Spears · Written by Max Martin
- Offered to TLC first
- Cheiron Studios
- Swedish glam-metal singer
What happened: Max Martin wrote it for TLC, who turned it down. The line everyone mishears — 'hit me baby one more time' — is a Swedish songwriter's rendering of American slang for 'call me', which is not what most of the English-speaking world heard, and the record company eventually shortened the title to avoid the argument.
Written by: Max Martin
Hear the versions
Britney Spears, 1998
2001
'Can't Get You Out of My Head'
Kylie Minogue · Written by Cathy Dennis and Rob Davis
- Written in a day
- Turned down by S Club 7
- No. 1 in 40 countries
What happened: Written in an afternoon by a former pop singer and a glam-rock guitarist, offered to S Club 7 and to Sophie Ellis-Bextor, and turned down by both. Kylie Minogue heard it and took it, and the 'la la la' hook went to No. 1 in about forty countries.
Written by: Cathy Dennis and Rob Davis
Hear the versions
Kylie Minogue, 2001
2007
'Umbrella'
Rihanna · Written by The-Dream, Tricky Stewart, Kuk Harrell and Jay-Z
- Turned down by Britney
- Built on a stock drum loop
- Ten weeks at UK No. 1
What happened: Britney Spears's camp passed on it, and so, reportedly, did Mary J. Blige. The drum sound at the front is a preset — the 'Vintage Funk Kit 03' loop from GarageBand — which Tricky Stewart built the track around in a few hours.
Written by: The-Dream, Tricky Stewart, Kuk Harrell and Jay-Z
Hear the versions
Rihanna, 2007