songs that were on albums for years before becoming hits

[jamesanthony]

I think there is an old thread about this below somewhere. What are some songs that were out for years before they exploded? This one goes back a bit: The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face by Roberta Flack was on her debut album in 1969. It was used in the Clint Eastwood movie Play Misty for Me in late 1971 and became so popular in the spring of 1972 that Billboard listed it as that year's most popular single. I find this song dreadfully slow and dreary; what was it about 1972 that a song as slow and brown as this and Alone Again Naturally wound up being the year's top 2 singles? There were a few other really down and out songs that were huge that year like A Horse With No Name and Song Sung Blue). Flack had released 3 albums by the time First Time became a big hit and all 3 were selling at the same time although the very first one was the one that sold the most copies and to many she was a "new" artist.

Oddly, the recording of First Time which I think wasn't remade by Flack for the movie was the top grammy winner that year which seems like cheating to me, but I've never read anywhere about anyone having an issue with a 3 year old recording winning. Then again it beat out Song Sung Blue and Alone Again Naturally.