History Main / BreakAwayPopHit

* In 1964, when the Apollo moon missions started, Music/FrankSinatra's cover of "Fly Me to the Moon" eclipsed the original song by Kaye Ballard in notoriety, though if you’re an anime fan, the cover from ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' is probably better known to you.

* In 1964, when the Apollo moon missions started, Music/FrankSinatra's cover of "Fly Me to the Moon" eclipsed the original song by Kaye Ballard in notoriety, though nowadays the cover from ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' is more well-known than either.

* ''Theatre/{{Hair}}'' was a big source of these, with the title song covered by The Cowsills, "Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In" covered by The Fifth Dimension, and "Good Morning Sunshine" covered by Oliver.

* ''VideoGame/{{Pikmin}}'': In the Japanese release of the original game, Nintendo commissioned an artist to perform a promotional song called "[[NonindicativeName Song of Love]]." [[LyricalDissonance It's actually about how the Pikmin continually do dangerous deeds for the protagonist and follow him without question; even though many of them lose their lives helping him, "We don't ask that you love us."]] The game sold modestly. The song was a ''huge'' hit, particularly with the {{Salarym|an}}en who identified with the Pikmin's plight.

See PopCulturalOsmosis and BreakawayAdvertisement for related phenomenons. See also AwardBaitSong. Naturally, this can be frustrating for fans of the popular song's source. Compare CoveredUp and WeirdAlEffect.

* The Johnny Rivers song "Secret Agent Man" is better remembered in the US than the show to which it was the theme song, ''Secret Agent'' (originally known as ''Series/DangerMan'' in the UK). At the very least, people will be more familiar with the show's SpiritualSuccessor ''Series/{{The Prisoner|1967}}'', or [[WeirdAlEffect its animated parody]] ''WesternAnimation/DangerMouse''.

* Music/BryanAdams' 2002 hit "Here I Am" reached Top 10 charts across the world when it was released, won a Golden Globe Award, and still continues to be played at major events (an instrumental version was used for the Vancouver 2010 UsefulNotes/OlympicGames bid) years after it was released. Still, how many of you remember the [=DreamWorks=] film ''WesternAnimation/SpiritStallionOfTheCimarron'', which opened in fourth place when it debuted in theaters and barely registered a blip in the weeks afterward? This track was the lead single from it; Adams provided a whole song score for the film.

* Music/JustinTimberlake may have invoked this with "Can't Stop the Feeling!", a summer pop hit that also happened to be his contribution to the soundtrack of the Dreamworks film ''WesternAnimation/{{Trolls}}''. It helps the song was released over ''7'' months before the movie officially came out in 2016. Even though Trolls became quite popular and successful, the song has mostly become distanced from it to the general public.

* Music/FrankSinatra's cover of "Fly Me to the Moon" eclipsed the original song by Kaye Ballard in notoriety once the Apollo moon missions hit in 1964. Nowadays the cover from ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' is more well-known than either.

->''"On top of that, [''WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail''] introduced the now-often-used idea of using a new soft rock song by a popular artist to boost the attention of the movie. I walk into clothing stores (although not often) and they're STILL playing "Somewhere Out There" on radio stations. And every time they do, I think of Fievel Mouskewitz because I can't help it."''

* VanderValk: The theme tune, "Eye Level", played by the Simon Park orchestra, became a smash hit in its own right. It was also the [[OneHitWonder only time that the Simon Park Orchestra would grace the UK charts.]]

* VanDerValk: The theme tune, "Eye Level", played by the Simon Park orchestra, became a smash hit in its own right. It was also the[[OneHitWonder only time that the Simon Park Orchestra would grace the UK charts.]]

* The UrExample of this is "WesternAnimation/RudolphTheRedNosedReindeer," which was originally written as a Montgomery Ward advertising jingle.

* ''Manga/CatsEye'' from the anime adaptation of the manga of the same name. The anime is best described as a CultClassic in Japan as due to obscurity from it's age, it's only known to a very scattered congregation of fans and is barely remembered by the mainstream. The theme song to the anime however somehow became a staple at various [[KaraokeBox karaoke venues]] in the country, with reports claiming that it is often requested at least once a night at any given karaoke venues in the country, and there are generations who have not seen the anime but yet are familiar with the song.

* "The Song That Doesn't End" was originally written for ''Series/LambChopsPlayAlong'', but became a popular PlaygroundSong outside of the context of the show.

* ''Theatre/{{Brigadoon}} is mostly remembered for [[TropeCodifier popularising]] the VanishingVillage trope and not much else, with the songs and specific plot really only known by die-hard theater fans. But one song, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ern9pZQaKv4 "It's Almost Like Being In Love"]], was insanely popular, and has been covered by ''literally everybody'' -- most famously Music/FrankSinatra.

* ''Theatre/{{Brigadoon}} is mostly remembered for [[TropeCodifier popularising]] the VanishingVillage trope and not much else, with the songs and specific plot really only known by die-hard theater fans. But one song, "It's Almost Like Being In Love", was insanely popular, and has been covered by ''literally everybody'' -- most famously Music/FrankSinatra.

* Several songs from musicals by Creator/AndrewLloydWebber were released as singles, such as "I Don't Know How to Love Him" from ''Theatre/JesusChristSuperstar'' and "Love Changes Everything" from ''Theatre/AspectsOfLove''.

* ''Series/WickedCity'' only lasted for all of 3 episodes but in the same vein as [[Film/JemAndTheHolograms "Youngblood"]], Music/KTTunstall's version of "Should I Stay Or Should I Go" remained fairly popular on iTunes afterward.

* For the Japanese release of the original ''VideoGame/{{Pikmin}},'' Nintendo commissioned an artist to perform a promotional song called "[[NonindicativeName Song of Love]]." [[LyricalDissonance It's actually about how the Pikmin continually do dangerous deeds for the protagonist and follow him without question; even though many of them lose their lives helping him, "We don't ask that you love us."]] The game sold modestly. The song was a ''huge'' hit, particularly with the [[{{Salaryman}} salarymen]] who identified with the Pikmin's plight.

* The "Peter Gunn Theme" by Music/HenryMancini. Nobody remembers [[Series/PeterGunn the original show]] but everybody recognizes the tune.

* "How Do You Talk to an Angel", credited to the fictional band The Heights from [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Heights_(TV_series) the early '90's FOX show of the same name]], was nominated for an Emmy and went to #1 in the US, but the show was canceled a week after the song fell from its peak.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Anastasia}}'' had two: Aaliyah's cover of "Journey To The Past", which was successful due to the artist's popularity, and Richard Marx and Donna Lewis' "At The Beginning", which was known for being the song that topped the Adult Contemporary charts before the long reign of [[Film/Titanic1997 "My Heart Will Go On"]]. Both of them still play on some mainstream pop stations, though the Aaliyah version of "Journey" is seen as one of her lesser songs (the in-movie version has often been compared to ''WesternAnimation/Frozen2013''[='=]s "Let It Go" in that regard). The Deana Carter version of "Once Upon a December" is in the same boat, though its popularity is mostly limited to country radio.

* ''VideoGame/MirrorsEdge'' [[AcclaimedFlop was commercially a flop despite being a]] CultClassic, but its theme song, "Still Alive" by Lisa Miskovsky(no relation to the ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}'' theme) reached #29 in her native Sweden and #8 on the UK Indie chart, and also received a remix maxi single that peaked at #23 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart.

* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usFFKNRB2z8 Run with Us]]", the theme from the Canadian animated series ''WesternAnimation/TheRaccoons'', was initially recorded by Steve Lunt as a [[SingleStanzaSong single-stanza]] [[ChorusOnlySong chorus-only song]] for the first season, but [[RearrangeTheSong rearranged]] [[ThemeTuneExtended and extended]] by Lisa Lougheed, who was [[TheDanza also the voice of Lisa Raccoon]] on the show. Sadly, [[OneHitWonder this was her only hit song]].

* The Kelly Clarkson song "Broken and Beautiful" was written for the movie ''WesternAnimation/UglyDolls'', which flopped in North America due to strong competition from the billion-dollar juggernaut ''Film/AvengersEndgame''. The song would get frequent airplay on radio stations even after the film left most theaters.

* Loretta Haggers was an aspiring country singer on ''Series/MaryHartmanMaryHartman''. Mary Kay Place, who played Loretta, recorded an album in character, ''Tonite! At the Capri Lounge Loretta Haggers'', which hit the top 10 on the country album chart in 1976, and the single "Baby Boy" reached No. 3 on the country chart.

* ''VideoGame/MirrorsEdge'' [[AcclaimedFlop was commercially a flop despite being a]] CultClassic, but the theme song, "Still Alive" by Lisa Miskovsky(no relation to the ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}'' theme) reached #29 in her native Sweden and #8 on the UK Indie chart, and also received a remix maxi single that peaked at #23 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart.

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usFFKNRB2z8 Run with Us]]", the theme from the Canadian animated series ''WesternAnimation/TheRaccoons'', was initially recorded by Steve Lunt as a [[SingleStanzaSong single-stanza]] [[ChorusOnlySong chorus-only song]] for the first season, but [[RearrangeTheSong rearranged]] [[ThemeTuneExtended and extended]] by Lisa Lougheed, who was [[TheDanza also the voice of Lisa Raccoon]] on the show. Sadly, [[OneHitWonder this was her only hit song]].
[[/folder]]