1964 No. 1 Classic Hit, Originally a Flop, Became a Beloved Live Duet Featuring 'Queen of Rock' 17 Years Later
Any classic rock fan can tell you that Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty made beautiful music together, but not everybody knows that "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" wasn't their only hit duet (even if it was their most successful).
In 1981, Nicks (who was deemed the "Reigning Queen of Rock and Roll" by Rolling Stone that year) joined Petty and the Heartbreakers onstage at the Forum in Los Angeles to perform a cover of the '60s classic, "Needles and Pins." The song was later released on Petty's first official live album, 1985's Pack Up the Plantation: Live!, per Ultimate Classic Rock.
While "Needles and Pins" didn't have the same chart success as the aforementioned "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" (which peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100), it did make it all the way to #17 on the U.S. Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart in 1986 and quickly became a fan-favorite tune. But 17 years before that duet at the Forum, another musical act took the song all the way to #1 in the U.K.
Originally written by Sonny Bono and Jack Nitzsche, "Needles and Pins" was first recorded by Jackie DeShannon in 1963. Unfortunately, her version of the song didn't climb any higher than #84 on the Hot 100.
In a Songfacts interview, DeShannon blamed the song's lack of success on her record company's unsatisfactory marketing campaign.
"For instance, 'Needles and Pins' was Top 5 in Detroit, Top 5 in Chicago, and Top 5 in every city it was played in," she recalled. "However, unless you're coordinated across the country and the song hits the charts at the same time, you can't get the big leaps. My record didn't have that, because it would be going down in Chicago while it was going up in some other city. So that was a problem."
Next, the song fell into the hands of English rock band the Searchers, part of the Merseybeat scene. The group heard singer Cliff Bennett perform "Needles and Pins" at the Star-Club in Hamburg, Germany, and decided it should be their next single. Released in January 1964, the Searchers' take on "Needles and Pins" didn't just top the charts in the U.K., it peaked at #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S.
Like the Beatles just a few months earlier, the Searchers made music history when they performed on The Ed Sullivan Show in April, 1964, where they brought "Needles and Pins" into the homes of music lovers all over the country.
In between the Searchers and Petty/Nicks, yet another notable band covered the song: In 1978, the Ramones put their own infectious spin on "Needles and Pins," which was released on their fourth studio album, Road to Ruin.
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This story was originally published June 24, 2026 at 8:58 PM.