These classics weren't written by the band's chief songwriter

22 March 2024, 10:41

Which other bands have had hidden talent in the ranks?

What happens if you’re in a band that features a great songwriter who has guided you to fame and fortune with their work… but you feel like you have a really good song that you’ve written yourself, if only you’d give it a chance, come on guys…?

Here are a selection of songs that were NOT written by the band’s chief songwriter. Were they any good? You decide!

By Radio X

@RadioX

1. Oasis - Songbird

   Little James was Liam’s first contribution to an Oasis album in 2000, and he followed it up with this slightly more successful tribute to his then squeeze Nicole Appleton. It got to number 3 in the charts in February 2003. Noel said of the composition: “Songbird blew my head off when I first heard it because it was that fucking simple and direct.”

   

   Oasis - Songbird (Official Video)

2. The Beatles - Octopus’s Garden

   Ah, Ringo. Imagine being in a band where John Lennon and Paul McCartney give George Harrison a hard time with his own songwriting efforts. You’d keep any ideas like that to yourself, wouldn’t you? Ringo got a co-credit on the song What Goes On on Rubber Soul in 1965, but it wasn’t until three years later that he submitted Don’t Pass Me By for The “White Album”… The following year, he came up with this cheery tribute to underwater life for the Abbey Road LP. It was based on a story a boat captain in Sardinia told the drummer about how octopuses like to gather shiny stones on the seabed.

   

   Octopus's Garden (Remastered 2009)

3. The Who - Boris The Spider

   In 1966, The Oo’s managers Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp realised that the band could make more money for themselves if each member wrote two songs each for their next album. This arrangement didn’t last, and Pete Townshend remained the chief songwriter, but bassist John Entwistle was to contribute a few classics along the way. One of the most memorable is this charmingly silly story of a spider that was inspired by a night out in the pub with Stones bassist Bill Wyman, in which the two would make up stupid names for animals.

   

   The Who - Boris The Spider

4. Queen - Another One Bites The Dust

   Who was the chief songewriter in Queen? Like The Beatles, the band are unusual in that all members have composed songs - but Mr Deacon statistically wrote the least, even though he had a couple of genuine chart hits. The bassist's most durable single was propelled by this classic riff that got the band plenty of airplay in the US.

   

   Queen - Another One Bites the Dust (Official Video)

5. Guns N’Roses - You Could Be Mine

   Most of the classic Appetite For Destruction was credited to the band, but for the two Use Your Illusion albums in 1991, guitarist Izzy Stradlin copped a few co-writing credits (most notably for You Could Be Mine and Don’t Cry) and even took lead vocals on songs like 14 Years.

   

   Guns N' Roses - You Could Be Mine (Official Video HD)

6. The Rolling Stones - In Another Land

   The Stones were late starters to the songwriting thing, having kicked off their career covering blues numbers, but once Mick Jagger and Keith Richards proved themselves as a duo to be reckoned with, old Bill Wyman stepped forward from behind the bass and offered this ponderous track from the band’s psychedelic flop Their Satanic Majesties Request.

   

   The Rolling Stones - In Another Land (Official Lyric Video)