Buttmunker

Kenny Rogers first #1 hit was Lady in 1980, written by Lionel Richie.
Kenny Rogers second #1 hit was Islands In The Stream (1983), written by Barry Gibb.

Frankie Valli was no stranger to the top of the charts, but Grease was written by Barry Gibb and hit #1 in 1978.

Hokeyboy

I like the fact that we had a forum member named 'KevinSmithIsGod'.

Jim Steinman's name hasn't cropped up yet. He gave Bonnie Tyler "Total Eclipse of the Heart" (#1) and Meatloaf "I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)" (#1). I think those are their only #1 singles, but I could be wrong.

rw2516

Neil Diamond wrote "I'm A Believer". Monkees had #1 single of the year in 1966 with it.

I don't know what was a #1 and what wasn't but several people have had hits with songs written by Todd Rundgren.
How well did Rick Springfield do with "I've Done Everything For You"? Written by Sammy Hagar.
I believe Bryan Adams has written songs that others recorded. Don't know if they were hits or not.

The Infidel

I don't think cover songs fit the criteria of the thread, since Prince didn't write that for Sinead. She covered it after it had been recorded by The Family, one of Prince's side projects. It wasn't mentioned, but I also don't think "I Feel For You" works, since Prince had already recorded it himself years earlier, and Chaka Khan covered it. "Manic Monday" fits, since Prince did write it for Susannah Hoffs and The Bangles. And let's not forget "Sugar Walls", written for Sheena Easton.

(I also don't know if any of the songs I mentioned were number ones, but there it is.)

Supermallet

Another chart-topping cover is "I Got My Mind Set On You."

Spiderbite

If Justin Timberlake hadn't been so successful in his solo career, I would have thought they "elvised" those songs.

reverie

So then technically speaking, where does "These Dreams" fit then?

It was written by Taupin/Page, but not *for* Heart. They wrote it for Stevie Nicks, but she passed on it. Heart then heard it around the same time in the studio, liked it and recorded it.

clckworang

"Because the Night" wasn't a No. 1 song, but it was Patti Smith's only hit. Originally written by Bruce Springsteen but reworked by Smith. The cover by 10,000 Maniacs was the first time the group had a top 40 hit. Not sure if any of that counts for this thread but still some interesting facts.

The Infidel

There's been tons of songs recorded by artists that they didn't write themselves. My impression was to name artists whose biggest hit was written by someone other than themselves. The fact of whether the song in question was actually written "for" that artist is a bit of a gray area, I guess.

Heart had lots of hits, so the fact that "These Dreams" was written by someone else I think is irrelevant, unless it happened to be their "biggest" hit, as the thread title implies. Who knows, maybe I misunderstood the use of the phrase "Songwriters giving bands their career #1 single".

Ky-Fi

I believe Simple Minds' "Don't You Forget About Me" was not written by them.

starman9000

Aerosmith wrote Come Together?

AnonomusBob15

No, who said that?

starman9000

The OP.

Buttmunker

certainly not the OP. The OP mentioned Aerosmith doing I Don't Want To Miss A Thing. Aerosmith covered Come Together, but the OP never said anything about it.

nothingfails

Actually Manic Monday was first recorded by Apollonia 6 before Prince ended up deciding to give it to The Bangles.

nothingfails

Dolly Parton's regarded as one of country music's finest female songwriters, yet one of her two pop #1 hits, "Islands In The Stream" was a Gibb composition.

starman9000

You just said that was their only song not written by them. Since Come Together is one of their greatest hits it seems like an odd sentiment.

I see all the cover talk now though, so I get it.

clckworang

I wouldn't describe Come Together as one of their greatest hits. Not even close. Especially when you consider they have had 15 singles that have charted above Come Together, which peaked at #23.

nothingfails

True, but put it in the context of 70's Aerosmith, which weren't quite the hitmakers that 1987-2001 era Aerosupply were. It was one of their biggest 1970's hits and it's the 70's material that is the most beloved IMO.

Hokeyboy

The hair-splitting in this thread is making my eyes hurt.

al_bundy

Big difference between 1970's aerosmith and everything after permanent vacation

Rypro 525

i like it when a metal ballad gets on the radio (or in the case of some metalcore bands), the one song without screaming, gets on the radio, only for the poor unsuspecting listener to find out...

rw2516

And she wrote that Whitney Houston hit from "The Bodyguard"

big whoppa

Who's complaining? The songwriters make the big dough with a hit song.

milo bloom

In a similar vein, Len's "Steal My Sunshine" is a master of pure pop goodness, but the rest of the album is unlistenable.

Or Sugar Ray, half are alt-rock/pop radio friendly songs, half are some bizarre metal-rap hybrids.

I wasn't aware of Prince writing Manic Monday, but playing it in my head now I can totally see the connection.


As for the phenomenon in general, I'd wager sometimes maybe singers/bands get too close to their own material and need the outside perspective of different material to make them push themselves a little harder.