Muscatine police are investigating an incident near Franklin Elementary School on Friday

It turns out you can speed up perfection.

At least that was the case with the rock masterminds behind the Rolling Stones, the Police and the Beatles, all of whom wrote some of their biggest hits on the spot. Some musical prodigies have literally written hits in their sleep, like Keith Richards, Sting and Paul McCartney. Other bangers emerged during practice sessions that turned fingerpicking riffs into songs that have endured across the decades, like Kansas’ 1977 soft-rock hit “Dust in the Wind.”

Rock music, with its variety of genres and ability to channel authentic emotions, is particularly suitable for spontaneous inspiration. Likewise, the most effective songwriting strategies vary widely: Guns N’ Roses completed “Sweet Child O’ Mine” in less than a day, while Axl Rose reportedly took eight years to complete “November Rain.”

Of course, every moment of musical inspiration is preceded by countless hours of practice and discipline. But by briefly trusting a creative impulse — and following where it leads — these artists topped the Billboard charts, won Grammys and secured their place in the annals of rock history.

Stacker looked at historical records, music charts and magazine interviews and looked at 20 iconic rock songs that were written locally.