“I Put A Spell On You” by Screamin' Jay Hawkins

Screamin' Jay Hawkins cut "I Put a Spell on You" in 1956, and it became the biggest commercial success he ever had, reportedly passing a million copies, even though it never made Billboard's pop or R&B charts. Instead it grew into a cult classic, the kind of record other singers keep reaching for, and a whole line of them have covered it.

The honors piled up later. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame counted Hawkins's recording among its 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll, Robert Christgau listed it in the "Basic Record Library" of his 1981 Record Guide, and Rolling Stone slotted it in at 313 in its 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.