Originally Posted by Fibromite59:
“Nature Boy was only a minor hit, but the other three were all big hits. Beyond the Sea reached No. 8 in 1960 and is still played a lot today. Things got to No. 2 in 1969 and If I Were A Carpenter reached No. 9 in 1966.”
Three of them were indeed Top Ten hits, but how often do you hear them played today? The only Bobby Darin songs that ever get heard now are "Dream Lover" and "Mack the Knife", his two chart-topping singles from the fifties. The only version of "Beyond The Sea" that ever gets played today tends to be the Robbie Williams one and the only version of "If I Were A Carpenter" that ever gets played today tends to be the one by the Four Tops. As for "Things", it may have been Bobby Darin's biggest UK hit of the sixties, but I feel it's been well and truly forgotten.
Generally, the OP's rule about non-hits and minor hits being suitable for the thread and Top Twenty hits being unsuitable is a good one, but there are definite exceptions to that rule. For example, "Brown Eyed Girl" by Van Morrison failed to chart, but I would still consider it to be too well known for this thread, while quite a few big hits such as the Darin ones and some others are for various reasons not very well known today, so I think they're fine for inclusion in the thread.
