10 Perfect Songs That Had To Wait Years To Become Hits

10. Moonlight Drive - The Doors

When the '60s cultural revolution was just starting to get underway, the Doors were going for a much different vibe. While they may have been in the same circles that brought out bands like the Grateful Dead, Jim Morrison was about opening something in your mind, either through drugs or the poetry that was coming out of his mouth. It was all starting from that first record, but one of their first highlights came from before the Doors were even a thought in Jim's mind.

When Jim was still at art school, he had been thinking of moving back to Florida before meeting his old friend Ray Manzarak on the beach, and asked him about what bands he was playing with. After mentioning to Ray that he wrote songs of his own, Jim proceeded to sing the opening of what is now Moonlight Drive to Ray on the beach, with virtually no accompaniment and just nodding his head to the lyrics.

It might not have been the best audition or anything, but Ray talks about being mesmerized by what he heard, insisting that they should put a rock and roll band together. Bringing in friends John Densmore and Robby Krieger, Moonlight Drive was finally put through the songwriting machine, with Robby contributing his strange slide guitar to give the track a much more unhinged vibe on Strange Days. This was definitely a new flavor for rock and roll, but only a drop in the bucket of what the Doors could do when everything was in its right place.